Last time we introduced the doctrine of the assurance of the believer, also called by several other names. Today we’ll discuss the controversy surrounding this precious doctrine. All Scripture is from the ESV Bible unless indicated. All italics within Scripture is mine.
F. Assurance of the believer
There is much disagreement with this doctrine, as there are with others. Many in the Wesleyan, or Arminian, tradition hold that it is possible for someone who is truly saved to lose his salvation; the Reformed Christian view (that of Baptists for example) is that it is impossible for the truly saved to lose his salvation. The latter view is what is taught in the Bible. However, I do understand why (if I do not consider the biblical teaching of course) the former group has a problem with this doctrine. There are thousands or more people out there who profess to be Christians, but then are living like the Devil! So this former group will assume those people have lost their salvation somewhere along the way; the latter group will just say that they’ve “backslid” or something crazy like that. Both views are very wrong. The truth is, those people were never saved to begin with, because they would not live lives of sin. It’s almost better to believe they’ve lost their salvation than to believe they are saved and are just backsliding and may eventually come back to God! Why? Because those people aren’t saved, and if they’re being told (by the church…) that they are saved simply because they said a prayer, or walked down the aisle, or did any other act, then they’re living a lie and will go to hell because of it. It’s better for them to know they aren’t saved even if they supposedly lost it, than to be told they are saved and lose their souls to hell. You MUST be born again; if you are, then you will be CHANGED, you WILL persevere, and you will NOT live a life characteristic of sin. If you’ve supposedly been saved, whether as a young child or even as an adult, but are living a sinful, immoral, reprehensible life, then you are not persevering, and you. are. not. saved. Dramatic? Yes. But it’s vital that you know that so you can take the necessary steps to change it.
One tragic misconception of the doctrine of the assurance of the believer is that since they now have their “fire insurance,” they can live as they please, that it is a license to sin—this is the view of many who think or say they are Christians but are not. But it’s simply not true. Evil ways of life are inconsistent with the Christian transformation, with new birth. True Christians are admonished even to stay away from those who profess to know Christ but don’t live the life (1 Cor. 5:11). Calling yourself a Christian while continuing to live an immoral life is reprehensible and degrading, and gives a false testimony to Christ. Christians are expected to resist temptation and they are certainly expected to flee from ungodly activity, and in this verse are told to not associate with people who call themselves Christians but live ungodly lives—if Christians are to have close intimate associations with these people, the non-Christian world will assume that the church approves such immoral, ungodly living, and therefore Christ’s name would be dishonored; the true Christian’s character could be questioned. The church today is already dishonoring Christ’s name with its acceptance of homosexuality, not to mention the dastardly deeds “holy” people in the church perform these days (such as priests molesting children), so it’s even more important for true Christians to not do anything that would further degrade Christ’s name.
Although I was hoping to end the study today, this very important section is quite long and I was unable to chop it up enough to put it in one post. So I will end here for this time and there there will be one more day of this study. Have a great day!
Niki Ƹ>Ï<Ʒ
No comments:
Post a Comment