That exact question was asked to me in a July 6 email.
Psalm 73:27 says, “those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry.”
At first reading, it is hard to see the problem. There is a persistent teaching in both the OT and NT that those who rebel against the Lord will die prematurely, whether believers or unbelievers. That is the point in Ps 73:27.
So, what is it that led someone to think that this verse disproves eternal security?
It must be the word perish.
In John 3:16 that word refers to eternal condemnation (compare John 3:17-28). So the questioner understands the first line to mean, “those who are far from You shall be eternally condemned.”
In my book The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible, I have a chapter on the word perish. I show that 90% of the time it is used in the NT, it refers to death or temporal loss or temporal destruction. John 3:16 is a rare use of the word.
The NT repeatedly shows that the wages of sin is death. There is a sin unto death that believers experience (1 Cor 11:30; 1 John 5:16-17).
All through the Psalms and Proverbs and all OT and NT wisdom literature we are told that rebellion against God results in judgment from God. That is the point in Ps 73:27.
Compare Psalm 1. The one who delights in the law of the Lord is blessed. But the ungodly are like chaff. It ends with the words, “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” The righteous there are those who live righteously. The ungodly there are those who live unrighteously. Believers may live righteously or unrighteously. The one dying under God’s judgment could be a believer or unbeliever. It is anyone living unrighteously.
Eternal security concerns one’s eternal destiny.
Temporal security concerns one’s experience in this life.
There is no guarantee of temporal security for the believer. If we walk in rebellion against God, we will experience His wrath as Rom 1:18-32 shows.
Believers are eternally secure. But our wellness here and now depends on our walking in the light of God’s Word and confessing our sins. Only by walking in fellowship with God will we reap His blessings.
