One of the non-negotiable truths of
Christianity is salvation by grace
through faith alone. Any deviation or denial of this truth is an
intentional departure from one of the essential historical claims of Christianity.
There are other indispensable truths connected to this fundamental concept, but
this grace through faith doctrine is a critical underpinning of a major tenet
of Christianity.
The only alternative, other than
rejecting the need for redemption, is work-based salvation, free of grace. Positional
salvation (being born again or providentially positioned into the body of
Christ) can never be a couplet of grace and works because they are mutually
exclusive (cf. Rom 11:6). Now, we are not talking about the process of
progressive sanctification where there is growing, maturing, worshiping, and
serving the Lord on a daily basis. In that stretch, there is plenty of work or
service to do. It is fruitfulness that identifies a genuine believer but also
reveals the fruitless life of an unbeliever (Mt 7:20). The important thing here
is that works have absolutely nothing to do with positional salvation or
entering the kingdom –
Titus 3:5 not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved
us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:6 whom He
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Titus 3:7 that
having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.
To avoid the appearance of a
work-based salvation, some conservative religions who cannot, for whatever
reasons, come to terms with eternal security, will introduce the idea that you
can lose your salvation so as to disguise what many would essentially see as
nothing more than a work-based salvation because it is so contrastive to a
grace-based gospel message. Thus, there is tremendous pressure exuded on its followers to conform to a theological agenda if they want to fit in and ensure
their prospects for glory. The conditional security camp believes that the
concept of eternal security promotes ungodliness or the need for fruitful behavior.
Anyone failing to adapt to a scripted acceptable sanctification is in danger of
losing their salvation which is antithetical to a biblically grace-based
gospel. It really is, in my opinion, a mechanism in which to control behavior
similar to the Pharisees of the New Testament.
Both work-based and grace-based claim to
be faith-based but operate completely on a different ruling principle; the
former is one of works (merited); while the latter is one of grace (unmerited)
for positional salvation. Grace-based views any acts of disobedience after authentic salvation as affecting fellowship with God, not salvation. This
is a critical distinction that must be made. Positional salvation is not a lifelong activity of pursuit; the
new birth is instantaneous. Progressive sanctification is just the opposite – it
is all about being like Christ, personally and publically, and bearing fruit for
the kingdom for an entire life!
There should be no fellowshipping with
the works of darkness that promote another
Gospel (Gal 1:8, 9). If any religion, conservative or otherwise, is sand-based
(Mt 7:26-27) though they may claim to be rock-based (Mt 7:24-25), then
ultimately their religious superstructure is bound to topple even though they
may look and feel, and sound “Christian.” We are surrounded by this kind of
false teaching of work-based salvation all throughout the world in various
religious forms. Only Christianity uniquely offers the beauty and eloquence of
a salvation that is free of works by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9)!
Since Heb 6:4-6 is often employed to
prove that believers can lose their salvation, keep in mind that I am going to
play the devil’s advocate for a while in sarcasm with this passage. Like any
other verse of Scripture, if it is lifted out of its context it can mean
whatever the interpreter chooses. If you are one who believes you are saved as
long as you remain faithful, then you do not believe in eternal security. Those
who hold to eternal insecurity should think twice before using the Hebrew
passage above because the clause mentioned by the author of Hebrews is that “For
it is impossible … to renew them
again unto repentance…” (Heb 6:4-6).
If we take this line of reasoning
above, once salvation is lost, you are forever lost. That’s the bad news if you
believe you can lose your salvation. What an awful thought as a young believer
if you messed up, or you lived a long and faithful life and sinned in the
latter years. Repentance serves no purpose, no hope of restoration if you believe
Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches you can lose your salvation! You might as well live like
the devil because he wants you to in the first place, and second, you’re kaput
anyway once you lost your salvation!
Well, there is relief by the
anti-eternal security side to make their theology work for a wayward believer.
It’s called ignoring the “it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance,”
and allowing them an opportunity for repentance before death even though the passage
used to refute eternal security is being twisted again to dovetail with their
theology. This is the problem with taking passages out of context; there is an ever-increasing need to twist and contort the falsehood to address new situations in life.
Those who oppose eternal security often
mock those who do by asking a frivolous question not worth
dignifying an answer – “So you believe you can get saved and go live like the
devil afterward because you got your personal ticket to glory; you just want
your cake and eat it, too!?” And in disgust, they trail off with “You Baptists are nothing more than self-righteous hypocrites with your ‘once saved always saved’ doctrine!” That is definitely not true, but tell me how you really feel about us!
Indeed, some Baptists do live like the
devil, but being a Baptist doesn’t mean you are saved any more than believing in
orthodox doctrine is a sure sign of salvation. Walking into a garage doesn’t
make you an automobile any more than walking into a church makes you a
Christian. Everyone knows evangelical churches have an admixture of genuine
believers, carnal believers, and tares. But since all of these groups attend
there, they are all considered true to the blood of the Baptist faith by the world!
You can know the right things about
salvation inside and out, but unless you personally receive and experience
God’s gift of redemption you are still under condemnation and wrath-bound (Jn
8:24; cf. Jn 10:37-38). Regardless of who you are, you must be born again before death strikes (Jn 3:3). Conditional
salvation theology has conveniently accepted a rationale that allows its
followers to be born again and again and again in order to bypass their
conundrum in Heb 6:4-6. This is an extremely dangerous proposition to believe
and teach others for it literally makes God out to be a deceiver and a liar.
When I was growing up, there were
times I had the opportunity of getting drunk in my High School days; I didn’t get
saved until I was two months shy of 24. Could I have gotten inebriated? Of course but the
problem was I had my father to deal with when I came home. If we are
bone-headed enough to sin against God, He will not prevent us from carrying out
something unwise and foolish. Let’s say that I did get intoxicated and
staggered back home. My relationship with my father is going to be strained
because I disobeyed his rules; there will be consequences until things are made
right.
Did I cease to become my earthly
father’s biological son because I rebelled? Even if he kicked me out of the
house and said to me, “You are no longer my son; the son I once had is dead”
will never change our DNA. My Dad can deny it to his dying breath that I am his
son, but I am still his biological son though “rejected.” From a spiritual
perspective, the new birth is similar to physical birth; when we accepted
Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became the spiritual seed of Abraham by virtue
of the Holy Spirit living within our hearts. God cannot deny Himself and unlike
our physical father, neither can He deny that we are now a part of His
spiritual DNA no matter what we’ve done.
We have the most emphatic verse of the
Bible in Heb 13:5 that Yahweh will never leave us nor forsake us. It is at the
very core of contentment and hints at eternal security by the promise of His eternally
abiding presence. But if eternal security is just a clever way of living like
the devil (having your cake and eating it, too), then Heb 13:5 is really a
useless, hollow promise if salvation can be lost for failure to be obedient.
Read Rom 7:1-25, Paul must have been one miserable apostle.
Once saved and now lost is essentially
returning back to the unregenerate state, “having no hope and without God in
the world” (Eph 2:12), except for one crucial difference, there can be no more
renewal to repentance according to those who use Heb 6:4-6; they are spiritual goners,
forever spiritually dead – “For they are re-crucifying the Son of God in their
own souls, and by their conduct exposing him to shame and contempt” (Heb 6:6b,
JBP); again and again, I might add. I am not quite sure how all that works,
teaching others you can lose your salvation, but it can’t be spiritually
healthy if it’s got anathema all over
it (Gal 1:8, 9). <><
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| To Part 2 |
