How Does Romans 4:6-8 Shatter the Doctrine of Eternal Security?

First, some different translations of Romans 4:8.

NIV: Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.

NLT: Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.

ESV: Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

Berean Literal: Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will never reckon sin.

KJV: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Douay Rheims: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin.

Now, let us examine the immediate context of the passage.

Romans 3 and 4 are chapters in which St. Paul is dealing specifically with the topic of justification, explaining how it is that we get right with God. In Romans 4:1-5, Abraham's faith is used as an example of justification.

“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”

Then, Paul shifts to his second example of justification in verses 6-8. This time, he uses David's repentance.

“Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

So we have two Old Testament examples being used by St. Paul to prove his point of justification. Abraham's faith and David's repentance from sin. Let us now examine the case of David more specifically, and see how it shatters the Protestant notion of eternal security, and also how it completely vindicates the Catholic doctrine of justification.

In verse 6, we read, “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works.” Who is the blessed one that David is speaking of? It is himself. David is speaking of himself. He is the one who receives the blessing and God credits it to him as righteousness. How do we know this? Because St. Paul goes on to quote Psalm 32:1-2 in Romans 4:8. Here is the passage as quoted in Psalm 32, which was written by David:

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.”

David is speaking of himself, because he has been forgiven of his sins of adultery and conspiring to murder to cover up his sin. You can read the entire account of this unfortunate and tragic story in 2 Samuel 11. David fell into two serious sins: adultery and murder. We classify those as mortal sins. David had to be forgiven of these sins. So he repents of them, which you can find in Psalm 51. The entire Psalm 51 is his pleading with God to forgive him of his sins. God does forgive him, and thus in Psalm 32, David can now exclaim, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.” So he is speaking about himself.

St. Paul uses this very reference in Psalm 32 as part of his argument for how a man is made right with God in Romans 4:6-8. He uses this very example (where David commits two deadly sins, repents of them, and is then forgiven by God) to show us an example of justification. Protestant theology claims that a person is saved once in their life, and once they are, they can not fall away. So since Paul uses David as his example of a man who is saved, this would mean, from the Protestant perspective, that this was the point in time in which David was justified. Paul is using this example of David's repentance as the moment he was saved and made right with God.

If that is the case, it would mean, for the Protestant perspective to be consistent, that David was not saved prior to this instance. Otherwise, their entire understanding of justification collapses like a row of dominoes. Since Paul uses Abraham previously as an example of a man who becomes saved, that would mean in context he is using David as an example for the exact same reason.

So then that would mean David was not saved prior to this moment when God forgave him of his sins after he repented. Yet, Scripture does not give us this perspective in regards to David. Quite the opposite. It presents David as a man who had an intimate union with God prior to his sins of adultery and murder.

In 1 Samuel 13:14, the prophet Samuel says to Saul concerning David, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people.” In 2 Samuel 7:8-9, the prophet Nathan declares to David, “This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be leader over my people Israel. I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone, and I’ve eliminated all your enemies before you.” So we see that David was a saved man prior to his sins. God knew David on a personal level, even saying he was a man after His own Heart.

So what does all this prove? It shows that you can be justified and saved, and then you can lose your justification by falling into deadly sins. And once you do, in order to regain it, you need to have faith (like Abraham) and you need to repent of your sins (like David). The moment you do, you are saved and justified again, because God absolves you of your sins. This proves the Catholic position, which states that a man can be made right before God, he can lose that standing through mortal sin, and he can regain it through confessing his sins. In Protestant theology, St. Paul's point concerning David makes no sense. They teach that justification is a one time event, and that once you are saved, you can never lose that standing before God, since they argue His righteousness is imputed extrinsically to the sinner, whereas Catholicism says it is infused interiorly.

St. Paul uses David to teach his theology of salvation, and in so doing, he dismantles the Protestant position from its very foundation, and upholds the Christian doctrine which teaches that we must have faith in God and repent of our sins to be saved, and if we fall into serious sin, we lose that salvation and need to regain it through confessing our sins. Once we do, we are saved again. Had St. Paul used David as an example perhaps when God first called him to lead His people even though he was the youngest of his brothers, then the Protestants might have an argument. But since St. Paul chooses to use as his example the moment when David repented of his sins, their entire case is shattered.

David was a saved man in God's eyes, or as we would say, he was in a state of grace. He was a man after God's own heart. And God was with him. Then, he fell into mortal sin. He pleaded with God to forgive him, even crying out, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). God forgave him, and David exclaimed, “Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!” And St. Paul uses that moment as his example of a man who is saved by God, even though Protestant theology says we are only saved once, and once we are saved, we are always saved. St. Paul and David both prove this wrong, and they vindicate the Catholic position.