Guest post - John Toohey

My long time friend, John Toohey, is a deep thinker, a lover of God’s Word, a kindhearted servant, and most importantly, a wholehearted disciple of Christ. The paths of him and his precious wife, Kathy, intersected with Paul’s and mine during college days. How wonderful that God employs social media for good and enables us to remain connected (and to share pics of the gifts of grandchildren with each other<3) John recently wrote this in response to some errors he had been confronted with and I so loved his answer that I asked if I could share it with you all. He graciously agreed.

Take it away, John!

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; ...”

(1 John 1:10-2:1)

John wrote this brief epistle to reassure true believers in Ephesus (and the surrounding areas) of several foundational truths that were under attack by false teachers within the church. These teachers, known as Gnostics, 1) denied the existence of sin in their own lives, 2) asserted that Jesus’ physical body was not real but only appeared so, and 3) consequently that He was only a spiritual, not physical, being.

John understood that if the reality of Jesus’ physical body was in question, then his physical death and resurrection were also in question. And if His physical death and resurrection were in question, then so was the believer’s salvation, since Christ’s physical death on the cross alone satisfied God’s wrath for sin. This, and other doctrinal disputes, were the environment and context for John’s letter, which authoritatively settled the assurance of eternal salvation dispute.

John Confronts the False Teachers

First John 1:10 challenges the first Gnostic false teaching, i.e. that they have no sin in their lives: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” The Scriptures clearly state that we, even as true believers, continue to sin. Since this is true, how can a believer ever have any hope, let alone assurance, of eternal salvation since both the Old and New Testaments demand death for even one sin?

• “... The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4); and

• “... the wages of sin is death ...” (Romans 6:23).

First John 2:1 provides that hope and assurance. The author presents his response to the Gnostics in the form of a courtroom examination, specifically using the legal term ‘Advocate’ to:

• highlight the fact that the outcome could not be any more life threatening for the sinning believer, since the law mandates a death sentence; and

 • to highlight Jesus Christ’s pivotal role as the believer’s ‘defense attorney’ in appealing the mandated sentence.

Verse 1 in Chapter 2 is a straightforward assurance of God’s continuing mercy and forgiveness for those who are His, even when they sin. Revelation 12:10 tells us that even though Satan accuses believers before the Father (see also Job 1:6-11 and Zechariah 3:1-2) day and night on account of their sin, Christ not only guarantees sympathy, but acquittal (Hebrews 4:14-16). According to 1 John 2:1, the believer has an ‘Advocate’, Jesus Christ, who makes continuous intercession before the Father on the sinning believer’s behalf. Likewise, the author of Hebrews stated ... “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25). John assured his readers of their continuing salvation because the perfect (Hebrews 5:9) and sovereign creator of the universe and all that is in it, Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16), continually pleads on their behalf.

Similarly, Paul employed a courtroom setting to make the same point when he asked his readers, in essence, ‘if God is for you, who can nullify or negate your salvation since it is the sovereign creator of the universe, Jesus Christ, who continuously defends you?’ (Rom 8:31-34)

Yet, a majority of professing christians believe otherwise. They contend that a true believer can in fact lose his/her salvation. If that’s true, what does that say about Jesus Christ? If John and Paul’s statements on Christ’s power to preserve believers forever are not true, it means that everything concerning Christ must be called into question. It also means that His actions contradict John and Paul’s words. For instance:

• If a believer loses his/her salvation, does that not mean that his/her ‘Advocate’, who ‘argued’ their case before the Father, ‘lost the case’ and therefore ‘failed’? Must we then concede the logical conclusion, i.e. that He ”... wins some, loses some...”? Must we not logically concede that He is capable of failure?

• And if He ever ‘fails’, He is not perfect (see Hebrews 5:9). If He is not perfect, He cannot be holy. If He is not perfect, He cannot be “without blemish” (1 Peter 1:19) sent to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). If a true believer ever loses his/her salvation, must we not

 conclude that His blood was insufficient to satisfy God’s wrath for the some believer’s sin, as 1 John 2:2 claims?

• Therefore, the Jesus Christ who sometimes ‘loses cases’ and whose blood sometimes fails to satisfy God’s wrath for sin cannot be the same Jesus Christ that John and Paul knew.

The Loss of Salvation Calls the New Covenant into Question

“Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant ...” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

“He will remember His covenant forever.” (Psalm 111:5)

God has established several covenants with His people over the ages, three of which are: the Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3), the Mosaic (Deuteronomy and Leviticus), and the New Covenant, which was foretold in Jeremiah 31:31. Later, in Ezekiel 37:26, the prophet stated that this new covenant would be eternal: “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them...” This is the covenant announced by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20). As the author of each covenant God, not man, sets the terms and conditions of each.

• Abrahamic: God set no conditions or obligations on Abraham’s part for the fulfillment of the covenant and declared it everlasting. Man has no role in it fulfillment.

• Mosaic: Unlike the Abrahamic, God set forth specific conditions and obligations, i.e. blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience, on Israel for the fulfillment of the covenant. The curses were pronounced because the people violated God’s law given to them on Mt. Sinai. It ceased to be applicable on Calvary.

• New: Like the Abrahamic, God set no conditions or obligations on the believer’s part for the fulfillment of this everlasting covenant. (Hebrews 10:14). It, like the Abrahamic, is eternal. Man has no role in its fulfillment.

 If Jesus Christ either cannot or will not keep the covenant He established with His church, He cannot be trusted. If He cannot be trusted, the New Covenant itself is in question. Thankfully, that is not the case. Just as He made, and has kept, an unbreakable covenant with His covenant people Israel (Genesis 12:1-3), so He made, and will keep, an breakable covenant with His bride, the church.

God has promised to be no less eternally faithful to His covenant bride, His church, than He is with His eternal covenant people Israel. Addressing Israel’s redemption, God said ...

“Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43:13)

“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

In both the Abrahamic and New Covenants, God’s unchanging character and His unswerving commitment to His covenant promises is evident.

No one, including Israel itself, was able to reverse God’s covenant promises to Israel. Likewise, no one, including the believer him/herself, is able to reverse Christ’s covenant promises to His church.

Perfect Harmony in Peril

Jesus spoke of His ‘perfect harmony’ with the Father numerous times, to include a shared purpose. For example ...

• “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34)

• “I can do nothing on My own initiative ... because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30)

• “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will

 have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:38-40)

• “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:29-30) //“no one” includes the believer//

• “... that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in you ...The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they be perfected in unity so that the world may know that You sent Me ...” (John 17:21-23)

Clearly, the will of God cannot be divided. The Son does nothing on His own. He descended from heaven solely to accomplish the Father’s will, i.e. to redeem, through His death on the cross, those whom the Father elected for salvation.

If even one believer, whom the Father sent the Son to redeem, has ‘lost his salvation’, it would mean that Christ simultaneously failed to honor the covenant He made with believers at the Last Supper, and that he violated the Father’s will. If a true believer could lose his/her salvation, it would mean that:

• the Son violated the Father’s will ... and therefore;

• the Father and Son do not always work in perfect harmony; and

• the Father and Son sometimes compete or contradict each other’s

plans.

If any of the above is true, it destroys John’s claim of perfect harmony between the Father and the Son. Thankfully, the believer is eternally secured since the Father and Son work in perfect harmony and no one, including the believer, can thwart the Father’s will.

The Authority of Scripture Comes into Question

The absence of any assurance exposes God, and His Word, as fraudulent. As such, He can not be trusted, let alone redeem. Conversely,

 a believer’s assurance of eternal salvation reveals the depth and breadth of God’s sovereignty, holiness, and love for those who are His.

If a believer can lose his/her salvation ...

• Jesus is not who He said He is and therefore a liar;

• Jesus Christ failed, He did not keep His promise, and therefore can not

be perfect;

• If He is not perfect, He cannot redeem;

• His death on the cross was insufficient to satisfy God’s wrath for sin;

• He lied about the nature of the New Covenant, i.e. that it is eternal;

• He has violated His own covenant by not being able to preserve the

sinning believer;

• Perfect harmony between the Father and Son is a myth; and

• He cannot be the same Jesus Christ spoken of by John and Paul, let

alone the God of Abraham and Jeremiah.

If any of the above are true, then the integrity of both the Old and New Testaments completely collapse, leaving a believer still under a death sentence with no valid hope of salvation.

Unspoken Theological Consequences

Conversely, if a believer cannot lose his/her salvation it proves,

though not directly stated, that ...

• Jesus Christ is everlasting because only an eternal God is able to guarantee an everlasting covenant;

• His death on the cross perfectly satisfied the wrath of God for sin;

• Jesus Christ is sovereign;

• Jesus Christ is perfect;

• Jesus Christ kept the promises of the Old Testament and keeps His

New Covenant promises with believers. Therefore He is absolutely and

completely trustworthy; and

• Perfect harmony between the Father and the Son is real.

As I said earlier, 1 John 2:1-2 is a straightforward answer to a straightforward question. But below the surface, this verse proclaims the glory of God by what it does not say. It is a statement on the grandeur of

 God’s holiness, His sovereignty and perfection, as well as His mercy and eternal love for those who are His.

The Father and Son cannot have conflicting characters, qualities, or agendas. The Jesus, who assures sinning believers of their continuous salvation is not, and cannot be, the same Jesus who plays a critical role in a sinning believer’s loss of his/her salvation. God will punish or discipline a sinning believer - yes - but His eternal covenant with true believers will never allow Him to abandon them.

The question ultimately boils down to this: who is the real Jesus Christ and which one are you trusting ... the One who is faithful and certain or the one, who is sometimes unreliable and inconsistent?

Reading plan - what's next?

I am working on a reading plan for us to use through the end of the year. My idea is that December would be an Advent theme - preparing our hearts for to celebrate the birth of our Savior. And to prepare our hearts for the Advent season, we will be looking at the Old Testament Scriptures that foretell the coming, the mission, the life and death of the Messiah and the verses in the New Testament that show how Jesus fulfilled them. I am pretty excited!

I will need a few more days to pull that together :) so let’s use this week to finish up the rest of the reading plan or to focus on something new. My church is reading through Ecclesiastes so feel free to do that alongside me, even though I won’t be assigning that through the blog.

Look for a new set of readings in a week or so and we will get our hearts intent on Jesus!