SCRIPTURE Ezekiel 18:9, 21–22 “Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God” [v9], and “But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live” [v21–22].  

COMMENTARY This passage gives the same requirement for spiritual life we see in the New Testament, when we examine it as a whole.  The passage describes a person who trusts God and afterward demonstrates his faith by living in obedience to Him, with the result that he has spiritual life.  A declaration of faith in Christ, without any commitment of obedience, does not indicate saving faith, no matter what the proponents of eternal security claim.   Again, it should be a grave warning sign that the proponents of eternal security only leave two options to themselves.  Either a person will remain saved no matter what they do, or a person will be so strongly compelled to not depart the Lord and His ways (while acknowledging that people continue to resist the Holy Spirit and sin) that he never will.  Neither of these align with the breadth of Scriptural teaching.