Category Archives: salvation

God, man and salvation

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Adam and Eve driven out of gardenI’m going to change my usual modus operandi a bit and state my beliefs near the beginning of this study. I still want to try and present different views as objectively as I can, but I think it might be helpful if I lay out my current understanding.

  1. I believe in salvation by grace through faith. I admittedly view that differently than some, because I believe that faith is more than intellectual assent. It includes action. Faith that does not express itself in obedience is mere belief, not faith.
  2. I believe that Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to save all men from all times. That sufficiency is never in question. How God applies that sacrifice is a matter of debate. Some would put no limits, arguing that all men will eventually be saved. Others limit it in different ways: to all believers, to believers who do certain things, etc.
  3. I believe that the New Testament teaches that Christians can “fall away from grace” (as Galatians states it), “believe in vain” (1 Corinthians), “be disqualified” (2 Corinthians), “be cut off” (Romans), “shipwreck their faith,” “lose their crown,” or any of a number of phrases used to describe what happens when a Christian chooses to return to the world.
  4. I do not believe in “DAISY,” the idea that people can come in and out of the body of Christ on a daily basis. As long as we are walking in the light, Christ’s blood continually cleanses us. As long as we continue to seek that cleansing, God will grant it to us.
  5. Since some of the doctrines John Calvin taught do influence our beliefs on this issue, I will mention that I do not believe in TULIP. I believe that God has granted unto man free will, especially regarding salvation. I believe that man chooses whether or not to accept God’s salvation. I believe that Jesus died for the whole world, not just a few. And I believe that saints can lose their status as saints.

That should be enough to start with. I think I’ve given just about everyone something to disagree with. Let the protests begin!

Some readings on perseverance of the saints

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Adam and Eve driven out of gardenI rarely deal with serious matters on Friday, mainly because all of the websites that I maintain or track (about 10) show a sharp decline in readership on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Still, I don’t want to completely drop this discussion, so let me share some “assigned reading” for the weekend:

J.R. Sheets (is that how you write your name?) defends the concept of “perseverance of the saints” in at least a couple of posts:
Nothing Can Pluck Me From His Hand! (well, except me?)
Response-to-Comment Post

Royce Ogle posted, over two posts, an article by Edward Fudge:
Eternally Secure? Edward Fudge answers…
Are Believers Secure? more from Edward Fudge

Jay Guin did a series of posts concerning perseverance of the saints:
Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 1
 Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 2
 Election: The Problem with Perseverance of the Saints, Part 3
 Election: Further Conclusions

Al Maxey has an interesting study on TULIP theology:
John Calvin
Introduction
Total Hereditary Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

Those are just a few people that I’ve interacted with. There are lots of studies out there. If you’ve found certain articles to be especially helpful, feel free to suggest them in the comments section.

Can the saved be lost? — Some initial thoughts

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Adam and Eve driven out of gardenAs we explore the topic of saints ceasing to be saints, let me encourage us all to proceed with caution. I see no profit in a war of proof texts. Those that disagree with us don’t do so out of ignorance of any certain biblical text, so comments like “You obviously haven’t read…” don’t add anything to the discussion.

(By the way, I really had no idea that Jay Guin was going to post on the same subject yesterday. I’d encourage you to read his post “Perseverance: A Reply To Randall,” especially reading through the comments there.)

If Christian history teaches us anything, it’s that godly, intelligent men have come to different conclusions on this. Differing views are not the private property of any one group, not even the fellowship we call the church of Christ.

A couple of thoughts:

(1) We need to be careful about making salvation merely a question of “going to heaven” or not. I’d encourage us to think in terms of forming part of the body of Christ, being a member of the family of God. The question we are discussing is whether or not you can be counted among the saints, then cease to be in that group.

(2) As JR has pointed out, it’s not easy to discuss this topic without touching on other theological ideas. I’m open to that. To be honest, this is not a pre-packaged presentation; I’m making this up as I go. I have a few concrete ideas and lots of questions. I’m hoping we can all grow through this discussion.

(3) As Royce said, many things will be said that have been said before, and it’s doubtful that anything will be “settled.” Hopefully, though, we will learn truth along the way.

I’m still unsure of the structure of how we’ll move forward. Feel free to offer suggestions.

Can the saved be lost?

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Adam and Eve driven out of gardenI’ve been wanting to spend some time examining the subject of whether or not salvation can be lost.

It’s funny how hard it is to even describe that topic. I didn’t know until recently that people make a distinction between “perseverance of the saints” and “once saved, always saved.” “Eternal security” is a more formal expression of the latter viewpoint. But, theopedia.com says, “assurance of eternal life” is not the same as any of the above. Confused? I know I am.

Some people favor In-n-Out salvation, seeing salvation as something that is received and lost on a regular basis.

Others see a Safe Bet salvation, where you can be fairly sure of your salvation, except in a few extreme circumstances.

Others take the Wait and See approach, feeling that you can never really know until the very end.

I’ve seen the arguments that say that since salvation is a new birth you can’t be unborn and therefore can’t be “unsaved.” These often go with “if he fell away, he was never really saved anyway.”

I want to try and examine as many relevant texts as possible. I’ll try and be respectful towards views that don’t agree with mine, but I know I’m not always successful at that. And I want to be open to revising or rescinding my views as we go along.

As I get ready to launch into this, I’d like to know your thoughts. What are some passages to be considered? What concepts come into play? What ideas need to be included?

Study based on Acts 2

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Here’s something I drew up a few years ago. It actually came from some materials Randy Mayeux gave me years ago. It’s a simple explanation of how to talk to someone about becoming a Christian, based on Acts 2. Tell me what you think:

If someone were to come to you and ask how to become a Christian, what would you say? There are many ways to explain God’s plan of salvation. One of the easiest is to use the first sermon that Jesus’ followers preached after his ascension.

Let’s look at Acts, Chapter 2. The apostles were in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as Jesus had promised. When the crowd began to question what had happened, Peter stood up and preached the first Christian sermon (Acts 2:14ff). From examining that sermon, we can learn what we must do to be saved.

(1) We must accept certain facts about Jesus(2:14-35):

(a) He lived on earth and did wonders by the power of God.
(b) He was crucified.
(c) He died and was buried.
(d) He rose again.
(e) He went to sit at the right hand of God.

(2) We must recognize Jesus as Lord and Christ. (2:36)

(a) Lord—the owner of a slave; we must be fully obedient to everything that Jesus tells us.
(b) Christ—the anointed one; Jesus was the one chosen by God for our salvation. Salvation is through him and him alone.
(Other passages show that there should be a public confession of this belief)

(3) We must admit our need for salvation. (2:37)

(4) We must repent. (2:38)
Repent = completely change our lives to live under the rule of Christ

(5) We must be baptized (2:38)

(a) This baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. It is at this time that God washes away our sins.
(b) This baptism is to receive the Holy Spirit. We are baptized into Christ, and He will live in us.

(6) We must live in accordance with this change of life.(2:42-47)

(a) We dedicate ourselves to studying God’s word.
(b) We dedicate ourselves to prayer.
(c) We dedicate ourselves to fellowship.
(d) We dedicate ourselves to sharing food with our brothers (especially the Lord’s supper).