I 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.

I’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?