Much of the debate around eternal security and apostasy boils down to a false dichotomy. Either you are eternally secure and therefore incapable of ever walking away from God, or you can lose your salvation at any moment through sin, disbelief, or some other failure. I reject both extremes.
The Scriptures teach that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their safe delivery to what Paul calls “the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). That seal is neither provisional nor tentative. It is absolute. It is God’s earnest payment, His pledge to bring the believer to the point of final glorification. The Greek word arrabōn refers to a down payment that obligates the one who gave it to fulfill the contract, or else the earnest payment is forfeit. God cannot deny Himself, and such a guarantee is, therefore, as ironclad as can be conceived.
When researching for this post, it became clear that it is necessary to define just what the “day of redemption” actually is. In short, and without trying to sound flippant, it is the day when a believer is redeemed. I believe this day is personal and not tied to any one particular eschatological event. Whether through death, the Rapture, or final resurrection, each believer’s day of redemption is the moment that they meet Christ face to face. Whether that happens in a group or alone is only a matter of timing.
We know that, for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord:
Now then, what happens if one of those sealed persons is someone who at some point placed their trust in Christ, but over time, through bitterness or tragedy, became so alienated from God that their values have been inverted? What if they now hate what is good, love what is evil, and despise the very righteousness they once trusted?
Will such a person be forced to remain in Heaven against their will?
I say no.
Heaven will not be populated with people who hate God, and God does not force people to love Him. The entire structure of redemption is aimed at restoring a relationship freely entered into. If a person arrives at the day of redemption still sealed, then God has kept His promise. They were delivered. But love cannot be forced. If that person, even in full knowledge and unveiled clarity, freely chooses to reject the God who saved them, then God will not chain them to His side. He will not impose eternal fellowship on someone who hates righteousness and scorns holiness.
Such a person would surely be extremely rare. Most who have believed, even if stumbling along the way, will rejoice when they see Him. But we must allow for the possibility that someone could arrive at that moment so corrupted in heart that even the presence of God is repulsive to them. That their values have inverted to such a degree that justice seems cruel and righteousness seems oppressive.
This does not mean they “lost their salvation” in the Arminian sense. They were sealed. They were delivered. The Spirit was not revoked. The promise was kept. What it means is that God will not hold someone in eternal fellowship against their will.
Now, some might say that such a person is not possible, that there there could be no such person who, once sealed with the Holy Spirit, could ever end up with their values so totally inverted. The problem with this idea is that there is no biblical evidence to suggest such an impossibility. Nowhere does Scripture say that the seal overrides the will of the believer, guarantees an permanent desire for fellowship, implants moral instincts or preserves them regardless of how distorted they become or that it prevents moral degradation or the inversion of values. The seal is not described as a personality override, a moral compass implant, or a sanctification auto-pilot. It is a pledge, a mark, and an earnest payment, not a leash, a chain, or a magic barrier.
What makes the gospel beautiful is that God saves those who believe, even if they fall, even if they fail, even if they wander far. His grace is not earned, and His seal is not revoked. But He does not imprison anyone in Heaven.
If someone believes the gospel and is sealed by the Spirit, God will keep His word. They will be delivered. They will be brought face to face with Christ. But if in that moment they freely and fully reject Him, then it is not because God failed. It is not because God cut them off. On the contrary, it is in spite of God! It is because relationship cannot be forced and love cannot be faked.
Whether anyone actually chooses to walk away at that moment is unknown. Perhaps not. Hopefully not! But that someone could do so, as a matter of principle, is what I believe Scripture requires us to acknowledge because without that, either love ceases to be real or Heaven becomes a prison.
The Scriptures teach that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their safe delivery to what Paul calls “the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). That seal is neither provisional nor tentative. It is absolute. It is God’s earnest payment, His pledge to bring the believer to the point of final glorification. The Greek word arrabōn refers to a down payment that obligates the one who gave it to fulfill the contract, or else the earnest payment is forfeit. God cannot deny Himself, and such a guarantee is, therefore, as ironclad as can be conceived.
When researching for this post, it became clear that it is necessary to define just what the “day of redemption” actually is. In short, and without trying to sound flippant, it is the day when a believer is redeemed. I believe this day is personal and not tied to any one particular eschatological event. Whether through death, the Rapture, or final resurrection, each believer’s day of redemption is the moment that they meet Christ face to face. Whether that happens in a group or alone is only a matter of timing.
We know that, for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord:
II Corinthians 5:6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Philippians 1: 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
We also know that those who are now with Christ will yet receive a new physical body at some future date (i.e. the Rapture):I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Finally, we know that the Bema Seat judgment before Christ takes place after the Rapture, not before:Romans 14:10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
II Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
I Corinthians 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
In other words, not all of this happens at once. That is why it does not seem appropriate to refer to the day of redemption as one eschatological event shared by all believers. The term appears to refer to something specific, not to a sequence of events. That specific moment, I believe, is when the believer is brought, at the end of their earthly life, into the presence of Christ.Now then, what happens if one of those sealed persons is someone who at some point placed their trust in Christ, but over time, through bitterness or tragedy, became so alienated from God that their values have been inverted? What if they now hate what is good, love what is evil, and despise the very righteousness they once trusted?
Will such a person be forced to remain in Heaven against their will?
I say no.
Heaven will not be populated with people who hate God, and God does not force people to love Him. The entire structure of redemption is aimed at restoring a relationship freely entered into. If a person arrives at the day of redemption still sealed, then God has kept His promise. They were delivered. But love cannot be forced. If that person, even in full knowledge and unveiled clarity, freely chooses to reject the God who saved them, then God will not chain them to His side. He will not impose eternal fellowship on someone who hates righteousness and scorns holiness.
Such a person would surely be extremely rare. Most who have believed, even if stumbling along the way, will rejoice when they see Him. But we must allow for the possibility that someone could arrive at that moment so corrupted in heart that even the presence of God is repulsive to them. That their values have inverted to such a degree that justice seems cruel and righteousness seems oppressive.
This does not mean they “lost their salvation” in the Arminian sense. They were sealed. They were delivered. The Spirit was not revoked. The promise was kept. What it means is that God will not hold someone in eternal fellowship against their will.
Now, some might say that such a person is not possible, that there there could be no such person who, once sealed with the Holy Spirit, could ever end up with their values so totally inverted. The problem with this idea is that there is no biblical evidence to suggest such an impossibility. Nowhere does Scripture say that the seal overrides the will of the believer, guarantees an permanent desire for fellowship, implants moral instincts or preserves them regardless of how distorted they become or that it prevents moral degradation or the inversion of values. The seal is not described as a personality override, a moral compass implant, or a sanctification auto-pilot. It is a pledge, a mark, and an earnest payment, not a leash, a chain, or a magic barrier.
What makes the gospel beautiful is that God saves those who believe, even if they fall, even if they fail, even if they wander far. His grace is not earned, and His seal is not revoked. But He does not imprison anyone in Heaven.
If someone believes the gospel and is sealed by the Spirit, God will keep His word. They will be delivered. They will be brought face to face with Christ. But if in that moment they freely and fully reject Him, then it is not because God failed. It is not because God cut them off. On the contrary, it is in spite of God! It is because relationship cannot be forced and love cannot be faked.
Whether anyone actually chooses to walk away at that moment is unknown. Perhaps not. Hopefully not! But that someone could do so, as a matter of principle, is what I believe Scripture requires us to acknowledge because without that, either love ceases to be real or Heaven becomes a prison.
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