The classic doctrine of eternal security gives great comfort to the children of God. The assurance that once received salvation can never be lost brings peace to many believers. Those Christians who honestly examine their own heart and life recognize how far we fall short of the perfection required by God. Despite the great gift of salvation, the ministry of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian believers often find themselves crying out with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) The comforting answer to that heartbroken cry is, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ.” (Romans 8:1)

Eternity is a very long time. The conscientious Christian may fear that at sometime in the far off future he will so completely reject God that he is cast out of heaven. Did not Adam and Eve chose the elusive promise of being like God over a daily walk with Him? Did not Satan rebel against God despite being constantly in the presence of the infinite glory of God? Will there not be an army of people who rebel against Jesus at the end of the millennium even though they have enjoyed the great bliss of His perfect reign? Who is to say that believers in heaven will never rebel against God?

The doctrine of eternal security promises those who are truly saved they will remain saved no matter what. God promises to keep His children by His mighty power. Not only does God keep His children, He transforms them inside and out. God keeps His children despite their sin and He keeps His children from sin. The transformation accomplished by God begins on earth and is finished in heaven. God’s transforming work is an entire transformation that the person’s behavior, attitudes and desires. Not only can no man pluck the redeemed out of the Father’s hand (John 10:29), the redeemed will never desire to jump out of His hand (Hebrews 10:39).

The nation of Israel is an excellent of the transformation God will do in every one who is saved. In the Old Testament the people of Israel shows the absolute impossibility of any one obeying God. Despite their constant failure and rebellion God promises He will make them His eternal people who will serve Him in righteousness and perfect obedience. God will accomplish this by giving His people a new heart. The commands of God will no longer be inscribed on tablets of stone but will be written on the heart of the man. (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Jeremiah 31:32-34) Obedience will no longer be by external compulsion but by a new internal desire. The Israelites will be able to obey God perfectly and will desire nothing less than perfect obedience. When believers are given a glorified body they are not just given a body freed from the pain and sorrow of sin. They are given a body and a being in which all longings for sin are forever removed. The possibility does not exist that any Christian in heaven will turn from God. No believer in heaven will ever want to do anything but what that which pleases and exalts God. Christians will be eternally confirmed in righteousness, kept in that righteous condition by the mighty power of God. Eternal security is just what it claims to be, a salvation secured by God for eternity.