From what I understand of the
belief of eternal security is that once one accepts Jesus Christ into their
hearts and pray the ‘sinners’ prayer then there is no sin, no evil this
individual can do so as to keep them from reaching heaven. They only need to believe in Jesus (John
3:16) and they’ll be ‘saved’. They have
absolute assurance of salvation. And
since works do not gain our salvation, our works cannot contribute to our losing
our salvation. We are now “hid” with
Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). There is
“no condemnation” for those in Christ (Romans 8:1-2).
In fact some also bring up
John 10:27 as proof that they can never lose their salvation since Jesus
proclaims that “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
And yet nowhere do we find that one cannot willingly jump out of His
hands through ones own choosing.
In fact, one Protestant
writes:
“However, it is not merely
from the Levitical laws that we were discharged, but also from the moral
ones. God only has one law. Does that mean we can sin freely? No, for God hates sin, and if we love God, we
will live according to His commandments.
However, it does mean that no sin will be held against us once we
receive Christ, for upon receiving Christ we are discharged from the very law
against which our sins would have been reckoned.”
Let’s look at the question of
absolute assurance. Is there such a
teaching in Scripture? NO, there
isn’t. Romans 8:1-2 does not say
absolute assurance.
Rom 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law
of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
And Romans 6:15-16 says that
sin leads to death. Now, this verse is
found in the SAME letter as the verse supposedly showing absolute
assurance. Decidedly, Paul does not
agree with this. We are not discharged
from the moral law because there are consequences to sinning!!
For example, what happens if
a believer in Jesus cannot forgive the sins of another? Jesus Himself says that: “…if you forgive other people when they sin
against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not
forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mat
6:14-15)
God is infinite in His
resources, He spares nothing to convince us to come to Him and remain BUT because
of our free will, we are always free to refuse God's infinite help and support
and in this way even lose our own salvation and therefore the Protestant
doctrine of Eternal Security is unequivocally false.
God Bless
Nathan
Of course, the Protestant argument is that if someone "leaves" or "jumps out" of His hand, they were never "saved" to begin with. They were never one of His sheep. They don't seem to ask the question, "How did they get into His hand to begin with?"
ReplyDeleteAMDG,
Scott<<<
The same goes with John 15:1-6. Those who are members of the Body of Christ (part of the vine)therefore 'saved' can still be cut off and burned.
DeleteOr even the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 when the father plainly states that at first the son was alive (ie saved), was lost (not saved) and alive again (saved).
btw, what does 'AMDG' stand for again?
God Bless
Nathan
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - it is traditionally a Jesuit saying meaning "To God (goes the) Greater Glory." I've been adopting the signature more recently due to our new Pope Francis (a Jesuit).
ReplyDeleteAMDG,
Scott<<<