My Take On “Losing” Our Salvation
It's impossible to lose it but it's possible to throw it away.
The Bible does tell us to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12 If we can't turn our back on the Lord we have no free will and if we have no free will we are nothing more than robots. In addition, working out our own salvation requires some decision making. There would be no need for fear and trembling for a Christian if we had no possibility of turning from the Lord or we were “Once saved, always saved.”.
Calvinism that teaches no man can be saved and then turn from God or "once saved always saved" is flat out wrong. It is the same belief system that teaches that God creates men deliberately to be damned and they have no choice in the matter and his teaching prohibits men from salvation even if they wanted to repent and turn their lives to Christ.
God's offer to whosoever will believe shall be saved (John 3:16) would be a lie if we are selected to be saved or selected to be damned with no choice or say in the matter. Paul speaking in to the Christian church in Hebrews 6:4-6 states "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost; and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come; If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucify the Son of God to themselves afresh and put him to an open shame."
These verses can only apply to a person who has been saved. Unbelievers have not been enlightened, never partook of the Holy Ghost, and they never experienced the powers of the world to come. These verses can only apply to believers.
Another scripture that is vitally important to consider is “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). If God is not willing for any to perish then he could not create people designed to perish without violating his own words. This scripture is so obvious that it should need no explanation and should also invalidate any questions..
1 Timothy 2:4 states; "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This speaks of God's will that all mankind would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. How then can any person objectively think that God created some specifically to perish?
If God says “all” who are we to claim anything different?
C R Lord © 3/17/2021
To better understand the Calvinist position on election one only needs to read the
words of eminent scholar, Robert Shank who wrote; "The thesis of unconditional particular election and reprobation is predicated (presumably) on Romans 9:6-29, which passage is regarded as the definitive passage, and in essence, all that the Bible posits on the question of election. But Calvin's thesis of unconditional particular election is predicated on misapprehension of the import of Romans 9:6-29 which is in radical contradiction of both, context (9:30 - 11:36) and the central thesis of the epistle to the Romans, "The just shall live by faith." (1:17).
From the fatal misapprehension of Romans 9:6-29 is derived the assumption ofm monothetism-determinism the concept so apparent in Calvin's definition of election
By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined within himself whatever
he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, but others to eternal damnation; and accordingly as such has been created
for one or the other of these ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or to death
The thesis of monothetism-determination posited in the above quotations is to
be rejected, first, because it is in radical contradiction of the witness of the scriptures (including the central thesis and total context of the epistle to the Romans, in which it supposedly is posited), specifically of such universal passages as, 1 Timothy 2:4-6, 2 Peter 3:9, Titus 2:11, John 3:14-17, 6:33,51, 12:32, 1 John 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:19 Romans 5:18 and many cognates, all of which are categorical.
The most objectionable feature of Calvin's theology is the necessity it imposes of resorting, or its defense, to ingenious interpretations of some of the most explicit categorical affirmations in the scriptures, to wild proof texting that cares nothing for context, and to irresponsible manipulation of such critical factors as frames of reference. An objective, grammatical, contextual approach to the Holy Scriptures dictates the rejection of Calvin's central complex of theology and the unwarranted assumptions on which it rests."
Elect In The Son by Robert Shank © 1970 page 223, bottom, to most of page 224)
THE THOUGHTS OF JOHN WESLEY
ON THIS SUBJECT BELOW
John Wesley
His rebuttal to Calvinism
T - Total Depravity - Human beings are so affected by the negative consequences of original sin that they are incapable of being righteous, and are always and unchangeably sinful; human freedom is totally enslaved by sin so we can only choose evil.
Deprivation - Human beings are sinful and without God, incapable (deprived) on their own of being righteous; however, they are not irredeemably sinful and can be transformed by God’s grace; God's prevenient grace restores to humanity the freedom of will.
U - Unconditional Election - Since human beings cannot choose for themselves, God by His eternal decree has chosen or elected some to be counted as righteous, without any conditions being placed on that election.
Conditional Election - God has chosen that all humanity be righteous by His grace, yet has called us to respond to that grace by exercising our God-restored human freedom as a condition of fulfilling election.
L - Limited Atonement - The effects of the Atonement, by which God forgave sinful humanity, are limited only to those whom He has chosen.
Unlimited Atonement - The effects of the Atonement are freely available to all those whom He has chosen, which includes all humanity, "whosoever will."
I - Irresistible Grace - The grace that God extends to human beings to effect their election cannot be refused, since it has been decreed by God.
Resistible Grace - God’s grace is free and offered without merit; however, human beings have been granted freedom by God and can refuse His grace.
P - Perseverance of the Saints - Since God has decreed the elect, and they cannot resist grace, they are unconditionally and eternally secure in that election.
Assurance and Security - There is security in God’s grace that allows assurance of salvation, but that security is in relation to continued faithfulness; we can still defiantly reject God.
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