John 5:24 KJV
[24]Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life.
John 6:37 KJV
[37] All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 10:28 KJV
[28] And
I give unto them eternal life; and
they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand.
When I break it down like this:
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me-
- hath everlasting life
- shall not come into condemnation
- is passed from death unto life
- him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
- I give unto them eternal life
- they shall never perish
- neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
It seems that in just three verses, Jesus not only promises eternal life for everyone who believes in Him, but He also says that once we believe salvation can't be lost. That is what He means when He says they shall never perish. If He is God then when He says they shall never perish, He means it. That means no going back. To further emphasize this, He goes on to say they shall not come into condemnation, they're passed from death (meaning hell) unto life (meaning everlasting life). He then goes on to say that there is no way He would cast anyone out from eternal life once they believe. That is what He means by "in no wise cast out." He goes on to re-emphasize this point by citing its corollary. That is that no one will be able to pull the believers away from Him. That is what He means when He says no one is going to "pluck" the believers out of His hand. Upon believing in Jesus, eternal life is granted, along with eternal security. Jesus did not mention works, sacraments, baptism, keeping the commandments or any of that. He just says to put all your faith in Him. God knows how to keep the believers out of temptation. He also tells us that anyone who is capable of murder doesn't have eternal life. That means that once eternal life is granted (upon belief in Jesus), premeditated murder becomes impossible for the believer [
1 John 3:15], because it is God who holds the power over life and death, and He isn't going to let the believers destroy their own souls.
For breaking the commandments, there is punishment in this life. [1 Corinthians 5:1-5]
A good man is above pettiness. He is better than that.