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Conditional Security: A Relationship of Love Penned on Mar. 18, 2008
Maybe I'm feeling controversial lately, or maybe I just feel the need to post something with a bit more substance...but either way, today I'd like to explore the topic of security (whether conditional or not) in salvation. I did two posts on this awhile back (Part 1 & Part 2), but the issue is still one that I consider quite frequently, and something of a "hot topic" in many churches today. I realize that many people on here will disagree with me on this, and I don't mean to be rude or pushy--in fact, I would love to hear ya'lls thoughts on the subject!
In order to discuss this, it's important to get our definitions straight--I've been in a lengthy "debate" over this topic where no consensus could be reached simply because the smallest definition could not be agreed upon. Therefore, I'd like to define these two factors:
Salvation: Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin--namely, a removal of our inherent decline towards eternal destruction.
An interesting aspect of salvation is its all-encompassing nature--it can be referred to in the past, present, or future tense. I was saved (Rom. 8:24); I am being saved (Rom. 13:11); I will be saved (Rom. 5:9).
The nature of man: Man is inherently sinful, and without the influence of a Savior is on the road to hell. He is incapable of saving himself (Ps. 3:8); utterly dependent on God's mercy.
Generally speaking, advocates of eternal security (or 'perseverance of the saints') believe that a person, once saved, will never be lost; if he appears to backslide, he was never saved to begin with. This is because God, having saved a person who is now completely dependent on him for life, can and will not let go of said person (John 10:28-29).
Conditional security rejects none of this; I cannot state more firmly that God will not let go of those who are his. These are the promises spoken of so often in the New Testament. God is faithful! There is no need to fear that the Author and Perfecter of our faith will suddenly let go his hold, and we will fall back again into our former sinful nature.
Rather, I believe that man, being made in the image of God, is also endowed with a will. Once freed from our sinful state, are we free to be good, but not free to be bad? Can God honestly be blamed if a young Christian turns his back on truth, and returns to his former ways of his own will (Luke 9:62)?
C.S. Lewis (surely I don't need to give his credentials...) has a very insightful quote on this matter:
"God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata--of creatures that worked like machines--would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free."--from his book, Mere Christianity
The very fact that there are so many warnings against apostasy in the Bible seems to strike a discord with eternal security. I've heard it argued that Jesus was simply warning us against things which could never come to pass--he was being "hypothetical." Take a look at this passage:
Heb 10:26-27
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Does the author of Hebrews give any hint that he is speaking hypothetically? When I read these verses, I get the idea that he is simply laying out the consequences for our actions--in this instance, "sinning wilfully" after we've received knowledge of the truth. The question then arises: does this mean a saved person? I believe it does; if you care to disagree...well, that's another discussion.
Here's another:
Heb 6:4-6
4 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,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Paraphrased, this passage does away with the notion that we can hop back and forth twixt salvation and ****ation. Once saved, if we choose to turn our backs on Christ, it is impossible to be "renewed again unto repentance."
There is an aspect of the eternal security which poses a threat to the Christian walk: simply the fact that the belief that your salvation is irrevocably sealed from the day you accept Christ gives a person leeway to do whatever they choose with the remainder of their life. Suddenly, every other warning against sin has lost its importance. Whatever happened to "working out your salvation with fear and trembling"? (Phil. 2:12) To be sure, our salvation is none of our doing, but we cannot sit back and relax afterwards--the "fear and trembling" as well as bearing fruit is our to fulfill.
So there you have it--my condensed thoughts on this very important matter. There's a part of me that could carry on about this topic for days on end, but in reality, as weighty as the subject is, I need to remind myself that a belief in either conditional or eternal security is not essential to our salvation. As edifying as discussion about it may be, we need to keep in mind the real focus of Christianity: Christ himself.
And now, the floor is open to all supporters, naysayers, and fellow apologists!
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