Eternal Security of the Believer

The funeral of Whitney Elizabeth Houston (1963-2012) was held today and was broadcast online and on numerous television, cable, and satellite channels in the United States.  Whitney Houston was an internationally known singer, actress, music producer, and model who sold more than 170,000,000 musical albums, singles, and videos during her lifetime.  On 11 February 2012, she was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California (USA).

Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of noted Gospel music singer, Cissy Houston.   She was of African-American, Native American, and Dutch descent and was raised in a Baptist/Pentecostal background.  In her early and teenage years she was a singer in her local Baptist Church.

Her death, at least at first glance, appears to possibly have been the culmination of years of substance abuse.  It also appears that only legal prescription drugs were found in her hotel room.  The official toxicology reports are still pending.   Regardless of the cause of her death, Houston’s life seems to have gone into a downward spiral from which she could not recover.

Whitney Houston’s death brings up troubling questions for those who are members of the ἐκκλησία, the Body of Christ.  Was she, as some claim, truly a Christian?  If she was a Christian, how could she so obviously go into so precipitous a freefall?  Was Whitney ultimately saved despite her questionable final few years?  What does the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer really mean?  Paul was quite adamant that eternal security does not mean that Christians can live in whatever way they wish (Romans 6:1-2).

Dr. Harry Ironside, on 24 April 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, said, 

“When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new life and a new nature and has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we do not mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that it necessarily follows that if one professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting, shakes the preacher’s hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, that that person is eternally safe. It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a profession of faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, and takes an interest in Christian work, that that person is forever secure. It does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts and exercises these gifts in Christian testimony, that that person is necessarily eternally secure.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Such people then may have been very active in what is called Christian work--they have preached, they have cast out demons, that is, their influence has been such that men and women have found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.” Notice, He does not say to them, “I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not know you any longer.” He says, “I never knew you.” “

Read Dr. Ironside’s full statement here. 

I cannot even pretend to know the answer to the question of Whitney Houston’s eternal fate.  Only she and the Lord know that.  None of us actually know for sure about anyone else, but we have the assurance that we, as Holy Spirit indwelled partakers of the divine nature, can never be separated from the protection and grace of the Lord.

Another discussion of the eternal security of the believer is here .