Subject: Flesh or Spirit |
Bible Note: Dear Brother WOS, I was delighted to see Hank and JLHetrick contribute, along with your responses. Although it is commonly affirmed by my fellow Baptists, I do not care for the expression "once saved always saved." It is true, but it is misleading. Furthermore, it is touted by those who do not teach the whole Word of God. People are told that they can repeat a prayer, walk down an aisle, or be baptized, and all is well. How very tragic. Consequently I prefer the old phrase, "Perseverance of the Saints" or the even superior phrase "Infallible Grace." As the old divines put it, the saints "can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved." The problem is that there exists the potential for us to deceive ourselves. That is true of anyone and everyone. As Hank so eloquently put it, no one is ever free from needing the savior. We have nothing that can merit our salvation, not even living like a Christian at some point in the past! (Ezekiel talks about this in chapters 33 and 34.) It is how we are living at this very instant that shows the measure of God's grace in our lives! I also concur fully in your analysis of the so called "back-slidden" state. It is not a natural condition of a believer. If we find ourselves "camped out" in that state, no matter how short a time, we must understand that it is a place of danger. If we are saved, then God will not allow us to stay there, but the process of our restoration will be thoroughly unpleasant at best (per Hebrews 12 that speaks exactly to this point) or even death (1 Cor 3:15-16). Also, if we find ourselves "camped out" in that state, it may be a very good sign that we were never saved. No wonder we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling! Consequently, we must clearly understand what a saved person "looks like" when he is a disciple of Christ. I did a post on that subject a short while back (153858), but it would be great to do another one (perhaps you might take up the challenge) based on 1 John. We must be constantly examining ourselves to see where we measure up and where we fall short (see in particular 1 Cor 11:13). Now, I do not write all of this to say that the believer never has assurance of their salvation. I think that that would be a misunderstanding of Scripture as well. However, I truly do not believe that anyone deserves assurance nor can be guaranteed assurance! I can't seem to put my finger on it, but I recall A. W. Pink writing something to the effect that assurance was a gift for people who have been tried through the fire of adversity, have shown evidences of repentance, and have born much fruit. (Of course, he probably didn't mix metaphors.) What I'm talking about is something the theologians call "progressive sanctification." Now, I am not certain why God has done things as He has done them. We can be absolutely certain that at that final day of glorification we will be perfectly like Christ. Why, then, hasn't God just made us that way at salvation. We can be certain that he will receive greater glory by doing it the way He has done. But I suspect that He has done it in order to put on display the power of His work of regeneration, just as He used Job to that end. And, in the wonderful way that only God can do, He will use it all to the good of His children in ways that we cannot fathom. Thus, we are made holy in Him, but we are to pursue holiness. We are imputed the righteousness of Christ, but we are to walk in righteousness. We are given new affections, but we are to strain with all our power to love. We are united in Christ, but we are to strive for unity. We are divested of the old man, but we are to put on the new. We are sanctified, but we are to strive for sanctification. In the past, I've called this a "tension" -- and maybe I got that from someone else, I do not recall. However, the tension that the Scripture asserts over and over is never something for which it apologizes! Therefore, we must not do that either! Sorry for being long winded -- or should that be long keyboarded? In Him, Doc |