1. Salvation has been described in three tenses
- we are Saved
- we are Being saved
- We shall be saved
So argument from tenses means nothing. You don't get to choose which tenses fits your doctrine best, rather reconcile everything. If you don't, then you can not withstand knock out punches like:
Rom 13:
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Rom 8:
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
2. You don't choose your favorite words and make a doctrine out of them.
Yes it is true, Jesus starts, finishes and completes the work in those that are
saved (end of a process). You don't appoint yourself among them because of your belief. Those words will stand true at the end, only to those that
abide in Him (Christ). At the very end when they stand victorious, those words (starts, finishes, completes) shall come true to them, for now, they remain a promise.
3. Judgement day demonstration by Jesus in Matthew 25 doesn't give hope to eternal security doctrine. It destroys it.
Matt 25:
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, ....
33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
......
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
The surprise in this people(sheep) shows something else apart from the belief in eternal security. If they believed in eternal security, why should they be surprised that they made it? The surprise on the goats however, shows disappointment. A disappointment that comes when you think something is when it is not.