home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- Unconditional Security - Another view.
-
- . I have real trouble with the concept of Unconditional Eternal
- Security for a few reasons. I thought that if you could answer the
- question from one point of view, I could take the other side. I will
- go about it using God's characteristics: holy (Isaiah 6:3) "And one
- cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts;"
- just (Psalm 89:14), "Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of
- Your throne;" respecter of freewill (Isaiah 1:18-20), "Come now, and
- let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as
- scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
- crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye
- shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall
- be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it;"
- and wrathful (Revelation 15:17-19), " And the seventh angel poured out
- his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple
- of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were
- voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great
- earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty
- an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into
- three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon
- came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine
- of the fierceness of his wrath." These characteristics again are
- holy, just, wrathful, and respecter of free will.
-
- . What is holy anyway? Holy is totally pure, incorruptible, set
- apart, and sinless. Man cannot go into God's presence because God is
- set apart. There's only one way to be able to stand in God's
- presence. And that's if we are covered in Christ's righteousness and
- holiness. The only way we can have Christ's holiness is if we are
- born again, but as a Christian goes around in the world, he sins. As
- he continues to sin, his heart gets harder and harder if he doesn't
- confess his sin and ask forgiveness. After a while, his heart is so
- hard that he doesn't even think about Christ. Perhaps because he's
- having such a good time, but it's more likely that he knows if he
- thinks about his sin, he will only feel guilty. The last step is he
- denies he needs Christ. I know REAL Christians who went on that path.
- Just because we are Christians, that doesn't mean we lost that urge to
- rebel or blame others. I am not saying if you sin once or twice, you
- will lose your salvation. That would be foolish and that would
- closely resemble the Law that Christ came to save us from. God looks
- at our hearts. If we become hard, rebellious, and proud, and we don't
- even attempt to live like God wants, God has no other choice. He will
- do everything that He can to bring us back, but He won't go farther.
-
- . The next thing is God's Justice. If we sin and sin and sin, God
- requires justice to be carried out. If a Christian grows cold and
- proud, there's no way he would even confess and repent of his sins.
- God has to exact punishment from that person. We can't overlook this
- aspect of God. He requires us to be saved by FAITH and to live by
- FAITH. If a Christian doesn't have faith anymore, he can't please
- God. "But without faith it is impossible to please him (Hebrews
- 11:6)." And another verse tells that a Christian can draw back more
- explicitly, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw
- back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them
- who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving
- of the soul (Hebrews 10:38,39)."
-
- . God absolutely hates sin. "For thou art not a God that hath
- pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The
- foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of
- iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will
- abhor the bloody and deceitful man (Psalms 5:4-6)." His anger burns
- against sin and He won't dwell with that person. If the person
- continues, he is in danger of provoking God to wrath. Again I stress
- that God won't leave a person if that person sins once or twice. That
- is going back to the Law. I mean the Christian who continues in sin
- and doesn't confess his sin and want to change. His heart gets harder
- and harder, so it will be harder and harder to humble himself, confess
- his sin, and ask forgiveness.
-
- . Finally we get to God's respect of freewill. He won't force us
- to accept Christ. After all, we weren't created robots. Using the
- same reasoning God won't ever force us to keep His gift of redemption.
- We always have the choice. Christians know once they are saved, their
- names go into the Book of the Lamb. However it's possible for God to
- blot out a name. Look in Exodus 32:32,33, "Yet now, if thou wilt
- forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
- which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath
- sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book." "And if any man
- shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
- take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
- and from the things which are written in this book (Revelation
- 22:19)."
-
- . Now consider some others who were condemned. How about the
- sinner of the sinners, Satan. He was perfect. He sure wasn't lost
- because God put him second in command. Maybe you don't understand
- what I am getting at. Satan's (fallen) angels weren't lost. Adam
- (the son of God in Luke 3:38) wasn't lost. All these decided to
- disobey God. And they are now condemned to the Lake of Fire. (There
- isn't anywhere in the Bible that states Adam was saved after he fell.)
- Saul was God's anointed king (and was pleasing to Him for a while
- until he started disobeying Him).
-
- . I think the real issue is FAITH. Everyone sins and God abhors
- sin. However God provided One Way (Jesus Christ) to deal with sin.
- Confess it and God will forgive you. We have to do it His way to the
- very end (death). In the parable of the "soils" or "sower" (Matthew
- 13:1-23) Jesus made it clear that some will believe for a time, but
- they withered away. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
- walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the
- light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
- the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we
- say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
- us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
- sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we
- have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 John
- 1:6-10)." To me, the Christian has to have four things: FAITH (in
- Jesus' redeemer and rising from the dead), HOPE (in God's promises),
- LOVE (love God and love your neighbor), and OBEDIENCE (doing God's
- commandments).
-
- . Supporters of Unconditional Eternal Security know that the just
- live by faith. I am not arguing that most of them are saved. The
- preachers preach salvation just as well as opponents. I am saying
- they are overestimating the Christian, saying the real Christian
- wouldn't lose faith ever to the point of him giving back God's gift of
- salvation. The supporter of Unconditional Eternal Security also has
- a different view of God than the Bible tells us. He's totally loving
- and forgiving, but also is holy, just, and wrathful towards those who
- to continually go against his will. Above all God respects man's
- freewill. Man is a very fickle being. Even if he does want to obey
- with all of his heart, he still has this weak body. (Mark 14:38),
- "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is
- ready, but the flesh is weak."
-
- Other scriptures include:
-
- Gal 5:4; I Tim 4:1; II Tim 4:10; Heb 6:4-6; II Pet 2:20-22; I John 2:15-17.
-
- These verses indicate the person is already a believer or Christian.
-
- Steve Luker
-
- Sysops Note: This file was written in response to file numbers 23 and 24
- in this section.
-
- Computers for Christ - Chicago
-