Eternal Security and Romans 8:13 and Galatians 6:7-9

Here is another verse that is in Galatians that many get confused about:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:7-9).

Many that believe that one can lose their salvation will appeal to this verse. They often will use a similar verse with it found in Romans 8:13 that says,

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

These verses have caused many believers to stumble. I have talked to some believers that were not able to get rest over these verses. Just like I said in my first post about James 2 and the word "save" having more than one meaning in Greek as it does in English, the word death and corruption has more than one meaning as well.

Corruption is not a word for hell first of all. If I were to say, "Go to Gehenna, Lake of fire, hell" and so on then you would know what I am talking about. If I were to say to someone on the street today, "Go to corruption" then nobody would know what I am talking about as that would make no sense. We must realize that Paul is comparing this corruption to the reaping of life everlasting. What then is Paul talking about?

Paul is clearly saying that if you sow to the flesh (your carnal appetite) then to THAT very flesh you will reap corruption. It is pointing to the here and now and nothing stated about life hereafter or that one will lose his/her salvation when talking about your flesh and your reaping that corruption. If you sow to the flesh then of that flesh you will reap corruption.

Back at Bob Jones University, I had to do an expository sermon on Psalm 1:1-6. I used at least 10 commentaries when studying this passage and used various Hebrew dictionaries and so on. Look at verse 6 that says,

"For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

The word "perish" does not mean hell in that verse. Many would think that God in this passage is talking about the ungodly ending up in hell but that is not what He is saying. It is showing a distinction between the life of the righteous and the life of the ungodly. The word "perish" literally means to "end in ruin." The man who continues in ungodliness will reap the fruits of his labor one day but it will be a life of ruin while he is still alive and nothing at all being referred to there about the next life.

In Galatians 6:7-9, the person that sows to his flesh will experience that corruption as a result in this life. So what does the latter half of the verse mean? You must see the comparison again, if you sow to the flesh then that sowing you will reap here and now because of that flesh you will reap but if you sow to the Spirit then it will have everlasting quality to it. It will last forever.

There is a passage doesn't exactly match but Jesus talked about laying up treasures in heaven because laying it up there is where moth does not corrupt. If you sow to the things here and now then it will indeed corrupt. I hope that you can see the similarities between the two. See Matthew 6:19, 20:

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth CORRUPT, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."

According to 1st Corinthians 3, our worthless deeds will be burned up and there will be a loss of rewards.

Keep in mind, if a person that believes that you can lose your salvation tries using this verse against you then tell him that nothing in that chapter speaks about being saved by faith or that faith is necessary for salvation. Are we now to assume that Paul who just dealt with the Galatians in chapter 5 about their legalism problem is now telling them to merely sow to the Spirit and that is how they will be saved? Can you see "Sirs, what must I do to be saved...Sow to the Spirit and thou shalt be saved and thy house"??? Is that the gospel? Is that the message Paul was teaching when he said in the same book:

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16)???

How about in Romans 8:13 where it says that if we live after the flesh then we shall die? Again, a comparison is being used. This is where people get hung up on a word. They assume that "die" must mean spiritually. Let's quickly look at some of the verses and see what Paul has been teaching:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (8:1a). I did not quote the second half since the KJV translators added that exception clause because they didn't want people to think that "no condemnation" was a license for sin. They should have left that alone as it created more problems for those with sensitive consciences. No believer will experience any judgment. The Greek word is katakrima and that is a strong word meaning just that. The believers judgment that we only will experience is called the Bema (judgment) seat of Christ. The Bema seat is where rewards are given out. However, we will not experience katakrima ever. This chapter begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation. The final verses do not even mention sin or the past because that has been fully dealt with. Paul only was dealing with the present and future to argue that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Now some of the verses to follow in Romans 8 makes it clear that believers can walk "after the flesh" but believers are NEVER "in the flesh." To be "in the flesh" is to be unsaved. Notice the verses first that talk about believers:

"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us (believers), who walk not AFTER THE FLESH, but after the Spirit" (verse 4).

"For they that are AFTER THE FLESH do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit" (Verse 5). This would be the Corinthians.

Here is the description of an unsaved person:

"So then they that are IN THE FLESH cannot please God" (Verse 8).

How do I know that "in the flesh" refers to unsaved people? Look at the next verse:

"But ye are not IN THE FLESH, but IN THE SPIRIT, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Verse 9).

If you noticed the previous verses, whenever it said, "after the flesh" then "after the Spirit" was referring to our walk. In verse 9, it says "in the flesh" followed by "in the Spirit" that compares the lost to the saved. To be "in the flesh" is not to have Christ at all according to verse 9 as this is dealing purely with ones salvation. To be "AFTER the flesh" deals with our walk as the context clearly teaches. Always look to the surrounding context as it will tell you what he is saying. I just wanted to comment on those two phrases as many get hung up with those also. So we can know that we are "in the Spirit" not because we walk "after the Spirit" instead of the flesh as it is nowhere stated, but because the Spirit of God indwells us. Paul clearly did not refer to our works that we sow too as being the determining factor of whether we are saved or not. You can be a believer today that is walking AFTER the flesh but you cannot be a believer today if you are IN the flesh.

Now it becomes easier to see that Paul is making comparisons between our walk that is either according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The unbeliever is distinguished clearly as one that is "in the flesh" (not after the flesh) compare to the one "in the Spirit." Verse 13 is still a continuation of all of that. The word "shall die" in verse 13 is referring to here and now and not the next life. Eternal damnation is not in the context and to teach that is to add words not found. Paul is merely referring to our Christian walk as being functionally dead. Look at Ephesians 5:14, 15:

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise."

In Ephesians 5:14, Paul is dealing with the believers walk and uses a quote that says, "awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the DEAD" and see verse 15 that clearly is a reference to our walk. We have saved people dead but not spiritually dead. Yielding to the flesh will do this to you. A faith that does not have works is considered to be a dead faith. The word dead merely meaning inactive. As I argued in my previous post on James 2, the word "dead" does not mean a non-saving faith but an inactive faith. You can have a spiritual life that is dead and that is what Paul was speaking about in Romans 8:13.

If you live according to the flesh, you will reap corruption that is here and now. You will be like the man in Psalm 1:6 that has a life that ends in ruin. Living according to your fleshly appetite will kill you spiritually in this life but not eternally. To live fleshly is to have your worthless deeds burned experiencing a loss of rewards. You will live a life of misery and defeat. Once again in the words of Paul:

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." (Ephesians 5:14, 15).

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." (Romans 13:12-14).

"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT" (Eph. 5:8).

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not SLEEP, as do others; but let us WATCH and be sober.

For they that SLEEP SLEEP in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Who died for us, that, whether we WAKE or SLEEP, we should live together with him" (1st Thessalonians 5:5-10).

If you ever study 1st Thess. 5:10, then look to the context and you will see that "wake" refers to the watchful and diligent and those that "sleep" refers to the lazy and indifferent. This strongly supports the view of eternal security that whether we are serving the Lord or not, we are going to live with Him. Some try to make "wake" and "sleep" as meaning "alive or dead" and that is a serious error. First, look at verse 6 as that clearly defines what "sleep" there means and it means spiritually lazy. The Greek word for "sleep" is not the same word that Paul uses for "death" anywhere else. Paul used an entirely different Greek word to describe the death of believers such as in 1st Corinthians where the word "sleep" is used to describe the death of a believer and it is entirely different Greek word. This passage is a strong proof text for the eternal security of the believer.

So you can now see that "dead" and "sleep" are terms used by Paul to describe a believer that is living according to his sinful nature. This would be a person walking AFTER his flesh and not AFTER the Spirit. If you are sowing to the flesh then you will reap the product what the flesh can only produce and that is corruption. Sow to the Spirit will have eternal qualities that will last forever!!