A Closer Look At John 14:16

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

(Joh 14:16)

In a previous post, I was wrestling with the notion of eternal security.  Some, perhaps including my family, believe that once you are in Christ, there is nothing you can do, good or ill, that can make you lose your salvation.  I heard of a quote, from many sources, just recently, by Martin Luther, that seems to illustrate this point.  The gist of it is:  "If men only believe enough in Christ that they can commit adultery and commit murder 1,000 times a day without periling their salvation."  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!  In what way can such a person ever have eternal life anyway?  Even just the murder, is it not written:

"and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."  -- I John 3:15b

I have high doubts that a mass adulterer and murderer is a penitent believer.  Such a man does not believe in Christ.  Such a man is going to Hell.  Now, if such a person were a false christian, and a mass adulterer and murderer, and then came to the true Christ in repentance, such a man would indeed be saved.  For that kind of man, the murders and adulteries would stop (I John 3:9).

But anyway, I digress.

The above verse concerning the Holy Spirit was something I wrestled with, because at first, I interpreted it as the permanence of the Holy Spirit being guaranteed, with nothing or no one stopping such a permanence.  

However, there is that little word called "may".  I am reminded of another piece of Scripture:

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

This is in reference to the intolerable kind of fornication committed by a member of the Corinthian church.  Paul was commanding the church to hand the offender over to Satan for the "destruction of the flesh", in order that salvation of the spirit might be possible.  You see, using the word "may" implies that salvation is not guaranteed on the other end of the destruction.  Thus, it seems it is also not guaranteed that the Holy Spirit abides in believers forever, even though that is the goal.

Now, you might say, "But that's just the King James Version.  You can't just preach a doctrine based on one version of the Bible!"  You're right.  Let's see:

ESV: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

NLT: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
(
NKJV: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another [a]Helper, that He may abide with you forever—

The ESV and NKJV use "to be...", and "that He may...", implying that the point of the Holy Spirit is a permanent residence.

The NLT suggests that the residence is guaranteed to be permanent...

but wait!

Let's say it is true that it IS guaranteed that the Holy Spirit will be with a believer forever.  Thus, the Holy Spirit keeps His end of the bargain.  But what about the believer?  Let's look again at Hebrews 6:4-6:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

(Heb 6:4-6)

The Holy Spirit didn't leave.  The apostates left.  This fits the notion of "quenching" the Holy Spirit in I Thessalonians 5:19, in which His influence is drowned, as if to say, "Nah nah nah, I'm not listening to You."

Again, you might say, "But He seals the believers!  Our inheritance is guaranteed!" (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Now, this is where I have to ponder.

https://ibelievedthereforeihavespoken.blogspot.com/2024/02/eternal-security-is-not-what-you-think.html