Solomon is a guy who gets into the argument for or against eternal security. I had my thoughts on Solomon with this stand that in the end–he still made to Heaven and was a regenerate man. I remembered the pastor joked and said, “If you see Solomon in Heaven then you can ask why he backslid so horribly by having many wives.” Solomon’s story in 1 Kings 1-11 can be seen with the theme of revival to ruin. Why revival to ruin? Solomon started off as a young king who was but 20 when his father David died at 70. Solomon’s parents David and Bathsheba had a very huge age gap. David was already old enough to be Solomon’s grandfather because Bathsheba is that young. The Scripture is silent about how Bathsheba died.
I was thinking about Dan Corner’s foolishness. Corner is a malicious man who just takes Scriptures out of context. I can agree with him that Antinomianism is indeed a dangerous Hell-bound doctrine. Yet, Corner also wrote an entire page where he tried to refute Solomon’s eternal security. Corner is not a sound Bible teacher and should be treated just as dangerous as Jack Hyles. If Hyles taught the dangerous easy-believism then Corner tries to add works salvation while deceitfully saying he doesn’t. I will be quoting from the New International Version (NIV) which Corner loves to quote from. Some of Corner’s biggest opponents such as Paul David Washer use the NIV but don’t teach his utter foolishness. Washer probably made good by not responding to Corner’s silly arguments.
What makes me think Solomon was truly a saved man? We can see from this verse in Nehemiah that Solomon was indeed a saved man, no doubt:
Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.
Solomon, in fact, was truly a saved man. There’s no doubt that saved people can backslide as we can also see that God was chastising Solomon too. Solomon himself was getting chastised by God. To say Solomon didn’t write Ecclesiastes (as Corner wants you to believe it) is really mind-blowing. If Solomon lost his salvation then I wonder why is Corner still reading and quoting from Proverbs which was written by Solomon himself? Corner is an obviously confused guy who speaks with a forked tongue.
Protestant preacher Arthur W. Pink also wrote the book Eternal Security which he writes the following about Solomon:
3. The case of Solomon. This is admittedly the most difficult one presented in Scripture, and it is our belief that God meant it to be such. His history is such a solemn one, his fall so great, his backsliding so protracted, that had his spiritual recovery and restoration to fellowship with the Lord been made unmistakably plain, a shelter would be provided for the careless and presumptuous. In Solomon the monarchy of Israel reached its zenith of splendor, for he reaped the harvest of glory for which David both toiled and suffered, entering into such a heritage as none else before or since has ever enjoyed. But in Solomon, too, the family of David entered its decline, and for his sins the judgments of God fell heavily on his descendants. Thus he is set before us as an awful warning of the fearful dangers which may surround and then overthrow the loftiest virtues and most dazzling mundane greatness.
That Solomon was a regenerate man we doubt not: that he enjoyed the favor of God to a most marked degree the inspired narrative makes plain. That he suffered a horrible decline in character and conduct is equally evident. Neither the special wisdom with which he was endowed, the responsibilities of the exalted position he occupied, nor the superior privileges which were his, rendered him proof against the temptations he encountered. He fell from his first estate and left his first love. His honor and glory were sadly eclipsed, and so far as the historical account of the books of Kings and Chronicles is concerned, he was buried in shame, the dark shadows of a misspent life and wrecked testimony shrouded his grave. Over the fate of Solomon there rests such a cloud and silence that many good men conclude he was lost: on the other hand there are those who do not believe that he so fell as to lose the favor of God and perish eternally.
With others, it is our own conviction that before the end of his earthly pilgrimage Solomon was made to repent deeply of his waywardness and wickedness. We base this conviction upon three things. First, the fact that he was the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes (1:1) and that it was penned at a later period of his life than the Proverbs and Canticles (see 1 Kings 4:32). Now to us it seems impossible to ponder Ecclesiastes without being struck with its prevailing note of sadness and without feeling that its writer is there expressing the contrition of one who has mournfully returned from the paths of error. In that book he speaks out the bitter experiences he had gone through in pursuing a course of folly and madness and of the resultant “vexation of spirit”—see especially 7:2, 3, 26, 27 which is surely a voicing of his repentance. Second, hereby God made good His express promise to David concerning Solomon: “I will be his Father and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul” (2 Sam. 7:14, 15). Third, centuries after his death the Spirit declared, “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God” (Neh. 13:26).
What sets Solomon apart from Saul and Judas Iscariot? Saul himself was already showing several signs of being degenerate. Saul is a type of Antichrist and God can anoint wicked rulers to punish a nation. Jeroboam was a very wicked man yet God made him king over the Northern Kingdom. Did Solomon’s backsliding eventually lead the ten tribes to fall into idolatry? Maybe, and that’s why God was about to separate the two kingdoms to protect the Messianic Tribe. Saul showed more and more signs of being unsaved such as how he had no heart for God and was self-serving. Nothing in Saul’s life ever showed he was saved and he was portrayed to be rather wicked. While Samson’s biography in Judges 14-16 shows the backslider yet the same person is mentioned in Hebrews 11’s hall of faith. Judas Iscariot also was already called a devil and the son of perdition. There was nothing to show that Judas Iscariot was once a Christian and fell off. John 17:12 has Jesus mentioning that none of His disciples are lost but Judas Iscariot. Solomon, on the other hand, was beloved of his God.
What was proof of Solomon’s regenerate behavior as a saved man? Solomon sure made the mistake of marrying 999 other women. Before he asked for wisdom – he already entered an unequal yoke by marrying an Egyptian princess and even building her a house. Yet, Ecclesiastes really showed that Solomon was regenerated–something Corner somehow purposely ignores for his own purpose. Ecclesiastes has Solomon repenting of his foolishness and turning back to God. He really showed signs that he was still beloved of his God. If he did lose his salvation then he would return back to his wicked ways. Instead, Solomon throughout Ecclesiastes made a longer version of David’s Psalm 51 where he repents and gets restored to the joy of his salvation.
Though Solomon’s life also shows one thing. Just because eternal security is true and those true believers will be restored doesn’t mean consequences aren’t there. Samson’s misuse of his strength and flirting with three unbelieving women eventually led to his capture. David’s backsliding with Bathsheba caused his family to fall apart and his testimony to be wrecked. Solomon’s kingdom divided into two after Israel enjoyed its zenith and Rehoboam was a backslider. Peter’s denial of Christ carried severe consequences that ruined his testimony for some time. Let the life of Solomon be a lesson that sinning brings misery which hinders the work of the Lord. True, restoration is there though I’d still want to question myself and others if they ever take repentance for granted. It’s very easy to say we’d repent because a regenerate man is led to it. However, it’s very easy to ignore the consequences of one’s actions such as how David’s adultery with Bathsheba led to a dead child, Tamar getting raped, Amnon was slain by Absalom, and Joab slaying Absalom as it was to be paid fourfold.
The conclusion of the matter (which I’ll still quote from the NIV) says proving once again that Solomon was indeed repentant:
Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. 13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
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