The following was originally written to a professor at a Baptist university, as part of a discussion of two pivotal Baptist doctrines – salvation by faith alone and eternal security. It has been edited to remove names and clarify a few statements.

Dear Baptist Professor,

I have spent much of this year studying the Scriptures, reading the writings of the early Christians, and following the development of various doctrines throughout church history. This study has given me more clarity regarding the two issues we discussed previously (salvation by faith alone and eternal security), and that is one of the reasons I would like to discuss them one final time.

I think we would both agree that these two doctrines are pivotal. If your view is right, my eternal salvation may be at risk. If my view is right, your eternal salvation (and that of your students) may be at risk. While you have more education and experience than I do, we both hold firmly to our beliefs, and it is unlikely that either of us will “convince” the other. That being said, these are important topics, and I will do my best to present the case for what I believe is the Scriptural viewpoint.

Introduction

When I was in third grade, I heard many of the stories of Jesus’ earthly ministry for the first time. My favorite stories were when He answered questions – particularly simple questions that I knew the answers to, such as, “What must I do to have eternal life?” Keep the commandments, sell your possessions, and follow Me????

I also liked His altar calls… but He never seemed to do them “right.” When crowds came to Him, He didn’t present the gospel message and lead them in a prayer. He said, “Follow Me,” and He taught them very practical things… give to the needy, love your enemies, don’t take oaths, let your light shine so that others will see your good works.

My 8-year-old mind thought that maybe Jesus would do better at one-on-one evangelism. He had at least three opportunities – Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the rich young ruler. But He didn’t explain to any of them that they couldn’t trust in their own works, He didn’t present a clear salvation message, and He didn’t lead them in the sinner’s prayer.

Every time I heard these stories, I wondered why Jesus didn’t seem to know how to present the gospel. (Or did He?) I was frustrated that Jesus Himself – the Author of salvation – didn’t give a clear summary of how to become a Christian. Somehow, we had to rely on Paul to do that, and even then, we had to jump around in his writings to find the verses. Even as a third grader, I wondered how people living back then – without a complete Bible and with a hard-to-find message that no one seemed to know how to explain – would ever figure out how to be saved.

As I grew older and was indoctrinated in Baptist theology, I was told why Jesus gave the answers He did, why Paul’s theology was so complicated, etc. Those answers were satisfactory – at least for a time. But as I started to read the New Testament for myself, it bothered me that Jesus never actually meant what He said. If we took His words literally, we ended up with “bad theology.” Jesus was always referring to something more complicated – something that none of us were ever smart enough to figure out on our own – something that we needed theologians, pastors, and professors to explain.

As I continued studying the New Testament, I realized that Jesus said a lot of controversial things – many of which would be pronounced heretical and get Him thrown out of most churches today:

• “If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.”
• “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• “Anyone who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
• “Only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!”
• “The good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.”

The apostles wouldn’t fare much better:

• “Those who fulfill the desires of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
• “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good.”
• “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
• “You call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.”
• “It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment.”

I was reassured by pastors, teachers, commentaries, and study Bibles that those verses shouldn’t be interpreted in isolation, they aren’t meant to be taken literally, or they don’t apply to this dispensation. In most churches, the typical response to these verses would be a variation of “Jesus and the apostles didn’t mean it that way” or “You have to take that in context.” But what if they actually DID mean that? And what if most verses are simple enough to stand on their own? Let me explain.

“Jesus Didn’t Mean That”

When Jesus taught, He taught simply. His primary audience was not the educated of society – the Pharisees – but the uneducated, common people. In fact, Jesus criticized the Pharisees because, though they had diligently studied and memorized the Scriptures, they had missed its plain meaning (John 5:39). In all their intellect and education, they had failed to recognize and live by its simple teachings. They thought they were faithfully teaching the Scriptures, but Jesus said, “You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matthew 23:13).

This is why Jesus’ message appealed to the common person – because it was simple and easy to understand. He spoke in the language of the average, uneducated person on the street. He didn’t use the big words, lofty thought patterns, and theological arguments of the Pharisees. Rather, He taught simply: Love your neighbor, follow Me, keep My commandments (Matthew 22:39; 16:24; John 5:10). His teachings were simple enough that the apostles, most of whom were “uneducated, common men” (Acts 4:13; 2:7), could understand, live, and teach faithfully what He had taught them.

In such a context, it is hard to imagine that Jesus’ teachings would be as difficult to understand as they were for me in third grade – or for many seminary students today. What if Jesus actually meant every single thing He said? What if, when Jesus said not to take oaths, He meant that we shouldn’t take oaths? What if, when He said to keep the commandments, He meant that we should keep the commandments? What if, when He said that the Father would not forgive those who do not forgive others, He meant exactly what He said?

In many churches, one of the first objections at this point would be, “That would wreck our doctrinal system if we took Jesus’ words literally.” I know! Jesus wrecked the Pharisees’ doctrinal system too. It is His gospel, not ours. He has the right to define it; we don’t.

So the question remains… what if Jesus meant every single thing He said?

Context

Many committed Christians know their Bibles well and are confident in what they believe. Yet regardless of their beliefs, if someone brings up a verse that seems to go against their doctrine, their first response is typically, “But if you look at the context…”

Of course context is important. Of course we should understand the historical and cultural context – or at the very least, read the entire chapter to avoid misapplying a verse. But what if the search for literary context has gone too far?

What if the search for context is really a search to explain the verse in a way that makes it mean something it was never intended to mean so that it fits our doctrinal system? What if the verse was intended to mean exactly what it says? What if Jesus’ exhortations to keep the commandments, forgive others, and refrain from oaths need very little context – because they mean exactly what they say?

“This would wreck our doctrinal systems too.” Jesus taught simply enough that children could understand and do what He said – and most children don’t have very developed doctrinal systems.

So the second question remains… what if most verses mean exactly what they say?

It is with these two foundational assumptions – Jesus meant what He said, and most verses mean exactly what they say – that I present the case for salvation through Christ alone and conditional security.

Salvation through Christ Alone

When Jesus called people to Himself, He never said, “Stop trusting in your own works, and trust in Me alone.” Rather, He said:

• “Believe in Me.” – John 17:20
• “Follow Me.” – Matthew 16:24
• “Abide in Me.” – John 15:4
• “Keep My commandments.” – John 14:15

According to Jesus’ teaching, there seems to be an initial act of believing in Him and subsequent acts of following, abiding, and keeping His commandments. Thus salvation is a two-step process – the initial stage of turning from sin and turning to Christ (believing in Him), and the subsequent stage of continuing in His teachings (following, abiding, and keeping His commandments). This is exactly what is taught in Ephesians 2:8-10:

• “For by grace you have been saved through faith [the first step]. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works [the second step], which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

No one is righteous; we were all born in sin (Psalm 51:9). Our godless lives before accepting Christ could never procure salvation. We need God’s grace (a common word that simply means favor in the original languages, contrary to how it is defined in many theology books) through faith to redeem us, set us free, and make us new creatures in Christ. However, this is only the first half of the gospel. Stopping here leaves the way of salvation wide and easy, allowing many to enter (Matthew 7:13).

However, Jesus said that the way would be narrow and hard, and few would find it (Matthew 7:14). This is because the second step of salvation – keeping Jesus’ commandments – is hard:

• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 7:21
• “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – John 14:15
• “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32
• “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” – 1 John 2:3-6
• “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. . . . By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” – 1 John 3:6-8, 10
• “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” – Revelation 22:14

James 2 exhorts of the necessity of works to accompany faith. James describes the faith and righteous deeds of Abraham and Rahab, concluding: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Likewise, Paul in many epistles lists the works of the flesh, warning that “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). Peter writes, “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). All of the New Testament epistles were written to believers, yet nearly all of them include exhortations to live righteously and warnings for those who fail to do so.

I could quote many other verses, but these will suffice for now. In concluding this section, I return to a point I made earlier. Jesus was teaching in the villages when someone, hearing His hard words and perhaps being disturbed by them, asked Him to clarify: “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23). Jesus responded, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24).

Most churches today preach that salvation is simple and easy, and that many will be saved. However, Jesus said just the opposite. The “faith alone” gospel is a wide road in which many can be saved. The “Christ alone” gospel (referring to faith and subsequent obedience to His teachings) is a narrow road that very few will find. Which of the two seems more in line with Jesus’ words?

Conditional Security

Jesus and the apostles taught simply and meant every word they said. As a result, no theological gymnastics are required to conclude that Scripture teaches conditional security – only a plain reading of the text.

• “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62
• “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” – John 15:6
• “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” – 2 Corinthians 13:5
• “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?” – Hebrews 10:26-29
• “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” – Hebrews 3:12-13
• “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” – Romans 8:13
• “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.” – 2 Peter 2:20-21

Scripture abounds with warnings similar to these. It is clear from these verses that falling away from Christ – and thus from salvation – is a very real possibility. However, there are passages that, on the surface, do seem to teach eternal security, and these will be addressed next.

John 10:27-28

• “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:27-28

Those who remain in Jesus’ fold (continue to be His sheep) will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of His hand. The verse in no way implies that those who do not abide in Christ will be saved. In fact, Jesus had harsh words for those who do not remain in Him (John 15:6).

Ephesians 1:13-14

• “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” – Ephesians 1:13-14

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that God will fulfill His part of the contract, but we must fulfill our part as well. Losing the Holy Spirit through disobedience is possible according to Scripture (see Psalm 51:11; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 6:4-8). According to Hebrews 10:36, our salvation is contingent upon our continuance in the faith: “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

Jude 24

• “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy . . . .” – Jude 24

The Lord is able to keep us from stumbling – provided we look to Him to do so. Jude 21 (a few verses prior) exhorts us to keep ourselves in His love: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

John 6:37; Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:3-5

• “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” – John 6:37
• “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6
• “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1:3-5

These verses likewise speak of God’s faithfulness to keep His end of the contract. However, salvation is contingent not only on God’s faithfulness but also on our obedience. Perhaps this is why the Scripture exhorts us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

What If We Are Wrong?

As a teenager, I loved studying theology. At one point, I was a 7-point Calvinist (TULIP plus the two points John Piper added). I knew all the arguments and verses on both sides of the issue, and I could argue either side. Even though at the time I thought the Calvinist side was stronger, researching the issues showed me that there were plenty of verses and valid arguments on both sides. Yet I realized that logically, two opposite doctrines cannot both be right – and one question kept haunting my mind: “What if I am wrong?”

As I have dialogued with people, I have noticed that, for many people, this is a question that never crosses their minds: “What if I am wrong?” Several months ago, I heard the testimony of one person who went to a prominent fundamental Baptist school and became a pastor. As he continued to study the Scriptures to teach his own congregation, he came to realize that he had been wrong on several points, and he renounced some of the things he was taught. In describing his journey, he said that as a student and a new pastor, it never occurred to him that he might be wrong. He said, “I was arrogant, and I never thought it through – why am I so sure that I’m right and everyone else is wrong?”

The reality is that all of us will be wrong about some things – perhaps a lot of things. Yet too often the traditions in which we were raised, as well as our own pride and insecurity, make it difficult to admit that we don’t yet see things clearly (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Ideally, we would start from scratch – we would read the Bible with no preconceived notions, no denominational glasses, and no doctrinal biases. We would read Jesus’ words exactly as the average Jew understood them when he heard Jesus speak. We would listen to Peter, Paul, and John as though we were there when they taught and could ask them questions.

Of course, we can’t do that. We are 2,000 years removed from their time, living in a culture that has little relation to theirs, with a developed Western worldview that stands in stark contrast to their Eastern system of thought.

Yet God, in His wisdom, did not leave us without a way to get into the minds and hearts of the people living in New Testament times. He left us a gold mine of writings from the earliest believers – people like Polycarp, Ignatius, and Clement of Rome, who sat at the feet of the apostles – and others who grew up in the churches founded in Acts, knew what their contemporaries believed and lived, and wrote about it.

Were these men correct in every point? No, of course not. Neither are we. Neither were the great preachers of history. Jonathan Edwards was a slave owner and a postmillennialist. Spurgeon had no college education, was never ordained, believed he could “smoke to the glory of God,” and operated in the supernatural gifts including healing and prophecy. Luther and Calvin are well known for their anti-Semitism, name-calling, and support of the death penalty for their theological opponents. C. S. Lewis believed in purgatory, and D. L. Moody allowed women to preach. Yet we still study these people – not because they were perfect, but because for the most part they loved the Lord and were honestly searching for the truth, even if they ended up getting a few things wrong. (And back to my earlier point, why are we so sure that they are wrong and we are right? Is it because we are smarter than they were? Do we have more of the Holy Spirit than they did? Are we searching for the truth more than they are? Or is it perhaps that we, like nearly every human being who has ever lived, are arrogant enough to think that we must be right and everyone else must be wrong?)

In the same way that we study and cite the great preachers of history without agreeing with them 100%, and in the same way that we sing the great hymns of the faith without agreeing with everything their lyricists believed (“It Is Well with My Soul” and “Joy to the World” are prime examples), it seems to me that we should be able to read, study, and learn from the writings of the people who lived during the first 250 years of Christianity.

Continuing in the Apostles’ Doctrine

Acts 2:42 says that the early believers following Pentecost “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” By the end of the first century, the apostle John wrote to the “fathers” and “young men” in the collective church, “You are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14). Who were these “fathers” and “young men” in the church at the end of the first century? Undoubtedly, two of them were Polycarp (69-155) and Ignatius (c. 35-108), both disciples of John himself and bishops of the church at Smyrna and Antioch, respectively. (In Revelation 2, Jesus commended the church at Smyrna and had nothing negative to say about either Polycarp or the church itself. In contrast, He wondered if He would even find faith on the earth in the Last Days’ church [Luke 18:8].) As John wrote these words, perhaps he was also thinking of Papias, Clement of Rome, and Hermas, the latter two of which are likely referred to in Scripture (Philippians 4:3; Romans 16:14).

These men were true heroes of the faith. They lived righteously and died in the same manner, as most were martyred for their beliefs. As Scripture indicates, they held faithfully to the teachings of the apostles. Perhaps this is because many of them were taught directly by the apostles, were raised in churches established by the apostles, and – if they had questions – were able to ask Paul or John the next time they were in the area.

Furthermore, there is a unity of thought in the writings of the early Christians. Whether the topic is salvation, entertainment, the Sabbath, or how Christians should live day to day, these early writers – from various cultures, geographical areas, and time periods – were in universal agreement as to the major principles and practices of the church. Just as the similar design of humans, monkeys, and dogs points to a common Designer, the unity of thought in the first 250 years of Christianity points to a common origin – the oral and written teachings of Jesus and the apostles.

For these reasons, I would venture to say not only that the early Christian writings should be read and studied alongside those of modern preachers, but that they should be valued more highly than those of later authors. Furthermore, some of these writings were originally considered part of the canon of Scripture and were read alongside Paul’s writings in the churches (1 Clement, the Didache, and the Shepherd of Hermas).

Do We Really Know More?

Many pastors would say that we should not study the writings of the early Christians because they disagree with Scripture. (Actually, most pastors have not even heard of these writings, much less read them – but that is another topic for a different day.) However, if these pastors were honest, they would say that the reason we do not study these writings is that they disagree with us and our doctrine. Yet that is precisely why we should study the early Christian writings – because they disagree with us and our doctrine!

We, the 21^st century church, have become expert interpreters of Scripture. Whether Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, or anything in between, every doctrinal system has a way of “making all the verses fit.” Yet why would we think that we know more than the early Christians, than Paul, or than Jesus Himself? What gives us the authority to reinterpret the words of Scripture to fit our own doctrinal system? Shouldn’t we instead reform our doctrinal system – and ultimately our lives – to fit the teachings of Scripture?

Studying church history is similar in many ways to watching a game of telephone. Jesus and the apostles established the true doctrines and practices of the church, yet over time they became corrupted. By Augustine’s time, there had been a few deviations from the apostolic way. By the Middle Ages, there were more. By the Reformation (and Counter-Reformation), the church was even more corrupt. Today, the modern church – for the most part regardless of denomination – would be completely unrecognizable to any of the apostles. So what gives us the authority – or the audacity – to call ourselves better interpreters of Scripture than those to whom it was written?

The Early Christians on Faith Alone and Eternal Security

Most (although not all) of the surviving writings of the early Christians through AD 325 can be found in the 10-volume Ante-Nicene Fathers set. It is also available online and in PDF format, which is helpful for searching. The 700-page Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs is a collection of quotations from the ANF organized by topic, and it is helpful to give an overview of the early Christian perspective on many topics.

Nearly universally, the early Christians understood Scripture to mean exactly what it said (reference the previous headings “Jesus Didn’t Mean That” and “Context”). As a result, their understanding of salvation reflected a very literal reading of Scripture. In short, no early Christian writer believed that salvation was by faith alone, and no early Christian writer believed in eternal security (although church history textbooks try to fudge on both of those points). Following is a representation of their perspective on the two-step process of salvation – faith and obedience to Christ:

• “For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he worked righteousness and truth through faith?” – Clement of Rome (ANF 1.13)
• “Into this joy, many persons desire to enter. They know that ‘by grace you are saved, not of works’ [Eph. 2:8-9], but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. . . . But He who raised him up from the dead will raise up us also – if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness.” – Polycarp (ANF 1.33)
• “Only those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments have life with God; but as for those who do not keep His commandments, there is no life in them. . . . If you return to the Lord with all your heart, and practice righteousness the rest of your days, and serve him according to His will, He will heal your former sins, and you will have power to hold sway over the works of the devil.” – Hermas (ANF 2.25, 30)
• “And let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved, according to His word: ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’ [Matt. 7:21].” – Justin Martyr (ANF 1.168)
• “If you repent of your sins, and recognize Him to be Christ, and observe His commandments, then . . . remission of sins will be yours.” – Justin Martyr (ANF 1.237)
• “‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin’ [Ps. 32:2]. That is, having repented of his sins, he can receive remission of them from God. But this is not as you [Jews] deceive yourselves, and some others who resemble you in this. For they say that even though they remain sinners, the Lord will not impute sin to them because they know God.” – Justin Martyr (ANF 1.270)
• “To believe in Him is to do His will.” – Irenaeus (ANF 1.468)
• “Trusting is more than faith. For when one has believed that the Son of God is our Teacher, he trusts that His teaching is true.” – Clement of Alexandria (ANF 2.464)
• “When we hear, ‘Your faith has saved you,’ we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever will be saved. For works must also follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance. Those persons were Jews who kept the Law and lived blamelessly. All they lacked was faith in the Lord. No one, then, can be a believer and at the same time be licentious.” – Clement of Alexandria (ANF 2.505)
• “Rightly, then, to those who have believed and obey, grace will abound beyond measure.” – Clement of Alexandria (ANF 2.196)
• “‘For by grace we are saved’ [Eph. 2:8] – but not, indeed, without good works. Rather, we must be saved by being molded for what is good, acquiring an inclination for it. And we must possess the healthy mind that is fixed on the pursuit of the good.” – Clement of Alexandria (ANF 2.445)
• “This shows that transgressions are blotted out and that reconciliation is made for sins. But who are the ones who have reconciliation made for their sins – except those who believe on His name and propitiate His countenance by good works?” – Hippolytus (ANF 5.181)
• “We do not teach concerning the unrighteous man that it is sufficient for him to humble himself on account of his wickedness. Rather, God will accept him only if – after passing condemnation upon himself for his past conduct – he walks humbly on account of it and in a righteous manner for his remaining days.” – Origen (ANF 4.489)
• “He follows Christ who stands in His commandments, who walks in the way of His teaching, who follows His footsteps and His ways, who imitates that which Christ both did and taught. . . . To put on the name of Christ, and yet not to go in the way of Christ – what else is this but a mockery of the divine name! It is a desertion of the way of salvation. For He Himself teaches and says that the persons who keep His commandments will come into life.” – Cyprian (ANF 5.494)
• “How can a man say that he believes in Christ, if he does not do what Christ commanded him to do? From where will he attain the reward of faith, if he will not keep the faith of the commandment? . . . He will make no advancement in his walk toward salvation, for he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation.” – Cyprian (ANF 5.422)

The early Christians likewise believed that salvation can be lost by those who reject Christ or fail to continue in His teachings:

• “Those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation, and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death – you will by no means be saved.” – Justin Martyr (ANF 1.218)
• “Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.” – Irenaeus (ANF 1.525)
• “We should not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of olden times. Rather, we should fear ourselves, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but are shut out from His kingdom. And for that reason, Paul said, ‘For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also not spare you’ [Rom. 11:21].” – Irenaeus (ANF 1.499)
• “It is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope, nor the endurance of one day; rather, ‘he that endures to the end will be saved’ [Matt. 24:13].” – Clement of Alexandria (ANF 2.600)
• “The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.” – Tertullian (ANF 3.673)
• “Some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised [to give]. So they turn His liberality into His slavery. . . . For do not many afterwards fall out of [grace]? Is not this gift taken away from many? These, no doubt, are they who, . . . after approaching to the faith of repentance, build on the sands a house doomed to ruin.” – Tertullian (ANF 3.661)
• “God had foreseen . . . that faith – even after baptism – would be endangered. He saw that most persons – after obtaining salvation – would be lost again, by soiling the wedding dress, by failing to provide oil for their torches.” – Tertullian (ANF 3.639)
• “The soul that . . . is neither holy nor blameless because of wickedness . . . is not part of the church that Christ builds upon the rock. But if anyone wishes to embarrass us in regard to these things because of the great majority of those of the church who are thought to believe, it must be said to him that ‘many are called, but few chosen’ [Matt. 22:14]. . . . ‘Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and will not be able’ [Luke 13:24]. You will understand that this refers to those who boast that they are of the church, but who live weakly and contrary to the Word.” – Origen (ANF 9.457)
• “Whoever has confessed Christ is not greater, or better, or dearer to God than Solomon. As long as he walked in God’s ways, he retained the grace that he had received from the Lord. But after he abandoned the Lord’s way, he also lost the Lord’s grace. Therefore, it is written, ‘Hold tightly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown’ [Rev. 3:11]. But certainly the Lord would not threaten that the crown of righteousness could be taken away, were it not true that the crown must depart when righteousness departs. . . . It is also written, ‘He who stands firm until the end will be saved’ [Matt. 10:22].” – Cyprian (ANF 5.428)
• “It is a small thing to have first received something. It is a greater thing to be able to keep what you have attained. Faith itself and the saving birth do not make alive by merely being received. Rather, they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God. The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said, ‘Look! You have been made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you’ [John 5:14].” – Cyprian (ANF 5.542)
• “A son . . . who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and of having his name removed forever from his family. How much more so does a person [deserve to be disinherited] who forsakes God? . . . Of what punishments, therefore, is he deserving who forsakes Him who is both the true Master and Father?” – Lactantius (ANF 7.155)
• “We believe that our children have been corrected when we see that they repent of their errors. And though we may have disinherited them and cast them off, we again receive, cherish, and embrace them. Why, then, should we despair as if the mercy of God our Father might not be appeased by repentance? He who is both the Lord and a most indulgent Parent promises that He will remit the sins of the penitent. He promises that He will blot out all the iniquities of the one who begins afresh to practice righteousness. The uprightness of one’s past life is to no avail to him who lives badly, for the subsequent wickedness has destroyed his works of righteousness. Likewise, former sins do not stand in the way of him who has amended his life. For the subsequent righteousness has wiped away the stain of his former life.” – Lactantius (ANF 7.191)

Are We Gnostics?

Considering that the early Christians were unified as to their views regarding salvation and conditional security, it is surprising that they wrote as much about these topics as they did. However, a deeper study reveals the reason for these writings: they were combatting the heresies of the Gnostics.

Gnosticism was a heretical movement that originated in the first century and was popularized by leaders such as Basilides, Cerinthus, Marcion, Nicolas, Simon Magus, and Valentinus. The Gnostics’ teachings varied somewhat, as each group had a slightly different focus. However, all of the Gnostics believed that they had obtained knowledge peculiar to their group – often given by divine or angelic revelation. A key premise of all the Gnostics was that the material world was evil and to be avoided. Consequently, they came to the following conclusions:

• Jesus did not come in the flesh. According to Irenaeus, “They deny that the Son assumed anything material. For [according to them] matter is indeed incapable of salvation” (ANF 1.324).
• Because the material world should be rejected, good works play no role in salvation. Many of the Gnostics lived wicked and immoral lives because they believed that lifestyle did not affect their ultimate salvation. Irenaeus wrote, “The ‘most perfect’ among the Valentinians addict themselves without fear to all kinds of forbidden deeds. I mean, the deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that ‘those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God’” (ANF 1.324).
• People are predestined to be saved or condemned. Saturninus was the first to teach this doctrine, and the other Gnostics followed suit. According to the heretic Manes, “If man is fashioned of the evil nature, it is manifest that he is such a fruit whether he sins or does not sin. From this, this name and race of men are once for all and absolutely of this character” (ANF 6.191). Clement of Alexandria countered, “The teachings of both the Old and the New Testaments are unnecessary if a person is saved by nature (as Valentinus would have it) and is a believer and an elect man by nature (as Basilides thinks)” (ANF 2.444-445).
• Because works play no part in salvation, those who are saved are eternally secure. Irenaeus wrote, “[The Valentinians] hold that they will be entirely saved for a certainty – not by means of their conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature” (ANF 1.324).

The Gnostics developed their heresies not from the Scriptures but from the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, and other pagan Greek philosophers. However, they presented themselves as Christians and, as such, had to twist the Scriptures to fit what they believed. Rather than looking to Scripture to inform their theology, the Gnostics reinterpreted Scripture to explain their theology and fill in the gaps:

• “Where diversity of doctrine is found, there, then, must be corruption both of the Scriptures and the explanations of them. . . . One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume [of Scripture], he has nonetheless laid violent hands on the truth only with a more cunning mind and skill than Marcion. Marcion expressly and openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject-matter. Valentinus, however, abstained from such excision, because he did not invent Scriptures to square with his own subject-matter, but adapted his matter to the Scriptures; and yet he took away more, and added more, by removing the proper meaning of every particular word, and adding fantastic arrangements of things which have no real existence.” – Tertullian (ANF 3.262)

Second-century writer Irenaeus penned the five-volume work Against Heresies, exposing and refuting Gnostic teachings. In a chapter entitled “How the Valentinians Pervert the Scriptures to Support Their Own Pious Opinions,” Irenaeus wrote:

• “Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skillful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skillful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king’s form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king.” – Irenaeus (ANF 1.326)

Needless to say, the early Christians believed that Scripture meant exactly what it said. Sadly, many commentators today use the same tactics of which Irenaeus wrote.

Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Christians on the Gnostics

The early Christians wrote extensively against the Gnostics. In the second century, Irenaeus penned the five-volume work Against Heresies that influenced Christian writers for centuries. In his Stromata (or Miscellanies), Clement of Alexandria contrasted the lifestyle of the Gnostic with that of the person who truly knows God. Near the beginning of the third century, Tertullian wrote The Prescription Against Heretics, The Five Books Against Marcion, and several shorter works exposing the heresies of other Gnostic teachers. Around the same time, Hippolytus penned The Refutation of All Heresies, a thorough work explaining and refuting the doctrines of paganism and 33 Gnostic heresies. In the fourth century, Epiphanius of Salamis wrote the Panarion, a 7-volume work refuting 80 heresies since the time of Adam. Following are excerpts indicating how the early Christians viewed and responded to the Gnostics:

• “Certain ones of those [heretics] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a way that they cannot be lost.” – Origen (ANF 4.308)
• “It is fitting, therefore, that you should keep aloof from such persons [i.e. the Gnostics]. You should not speak to them either in private or in public.” – Ignatius (ANF 1.89)
• “There are also those who heard from [Polycarp] that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus [a Gnostic leader] within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, ‘Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.’ And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion [another heretic], who met him on one occasion, and said, ‘Do you know me?’ ‘I do know you, the firstborn of Satan.’ Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, ‘A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he is subverted, and sins, being condemned of himself’ [Tit. 3:10].” – Irenaeus (ANF 1.416)
• “You should keep at arm’s length those [Gnostics] . . . who are servants above their Lord, and disciples above their Master.” – Tertullian (ANF 3.231)

These second-century writers were not the only ones who condemned the Gnostics. Peter, Paul, and John warned against these false teachers in their epistles, as early Gnostic leaders (Cerinthus, Nicolas, and Simon Magus) had already gained influence during their lives. With an understanding of basic Gnostic teachings, it is easy to recognize passages that were specifically referring to these false teachers:

• “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.” – Romans 16:17-18
• “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.” – 1 Timothy 6:20-21
• “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” – 2 Peter 2:1
• “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” – 2 John 7-9

One of the first Gnostic groups was the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were followers of Nicolas, one of the seven deacons appointed in Acts 6:5. Nicolas left the faith and formed this early Gnostic sect that influenced other prominent groups. The Nicolaitans are condemned – not only by the early Christians and the apostles – but by Jesus Himself in the book of Revelation:

• “You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” – Revelation 2:6
• “So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” – Revelation 2:15-16

Although the doctrines of faith alone and eternal security were popularized by the Reformers, their roots are in the heretical movements of the first and second century. As seen in the above passages, the early Christians were not alone in their opposition to Gnostic teachings. They were following in the footsteps of Peter, Paul, John, and even Jesus Himself.

Conclusion

Jesus criticized the Pharisees for “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). Yet many Christian leaders today, though well-meaning, are teaching not only the commandments of men but the doctrines of heretics – heretics that were condemned by the early Christians, the apostles, and Jesus Himself. In contrast, the Scriptures still stand – their hard but simple teachings affirmed in plain language by Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians to mean every word they say. Which side will we choose?