Bible Question:
You know, one of the biggest struggles I have with an otherwise rock-solid doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (sorry, eternal security carries too much "pray a prayer and no matter what you do, you must be saved" baggage these days) is the one word "again" in Hebrews 6. Renewal again to repentance would assume that they had been in a state of repentance in the first place. How does our "once saved, always saved" group here (of which I consider myself a member) deal with the word "again"? --Joe! |
Bible Answer: Dear Joe! and Forum Saints, Greetings and blessings in the name of Jesus! With fear and trepidation I enter in to this topic. I, too, believe in the pereseverance of the saints, aka eternal security, aka "once saved, always saved." However, I think that I believe so on the basis of vantage. From God's point of view, salvation is absolute, as the words 'once' and 'always' have a much more complete meaning to Him than they do for us. (By the way, I also agree that the 'sinner's prayer' theology is pretty thin! "Repeat after me, and you are saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost!") From our point of view, we may see a person walk away from the Lord, even 'renounce' his faith. can we then 'know' that he indeed has either 'lost' his salvation, or 'never had' salvation? I don't believe that we have been given the ability to absolutely discern another's justification before God. In the same manner, can we know for sure that a person is saved based on our perception of his actions? For instance, because a person makes a public 'confession of Christ,' submits to water baptism, and starts attending Sunday services, do we have absolute proof that he is saved forever? I can't find anywhere in the Bible that clearly says we have been given this awsome discerning power. What now? Are we to just say, "We don't know WHO is saved, even our OWN salvation is not secure!"? May it never be! We walk in faith assuming that certain 'signs' will follow those of faith. We assume (believe!) that God knows all, and will work everything out in due time. We extend a hand of fellowship to those that (to our eyes) 'seem' saved, and do not build our own faith upon this perception. Instead we serve the Lord, trusting Him in all things, even this matter. We press on to bring the Good News to the lost, and continue to disciple the 'found' in the Good News, too! Therefore, I believe that Hebrews 6:6 may be talking about our perception of things, not God's. Indeed, our enemy does NOT have the ability to 'snatch' away the saved from God's hand! This is how I view the 'unforgiveable sin' as well. Certainly *I* cannot imagine what it would be like without Jesus. I shudder to even entertain the thought! But many do 'theorize' about these things all the time! Some are constantly worried about the state of salvation of 'others.' Some are constantly worried about the state of their own salvation. I truly have to look askance at their (both!) trust in God! I wish I had a long theological argument for you, full of Greek roots and tenses, and backed up by several big name scholars. I don't. But your question begs for a simple answer, not a complicated one! :-) In Christ Jesus, charis |