Alright, I will admit my supposed bias. The churches that I have grown up in all taught that it was possible to lose salvation after placing your trust in Jesus. About two years ago I moved into the “Baptist Bible Belt” and the fun commenced.

Most Baptists, including those who have rejected 3 or 4 other points of Calvinism still hold to a teaching that is called “Eternal Security” (Calvinists know it as “Perseverance of the Saints”).

I say “still hold to” for a reason. Before getting started, let’s name a few assumptions. The explanations for them would take more space than I wish to spend here tonight:

1. Men were created to have fellowship with God.
2. Man wrecked that by choosing to know how to do evil.
3. God made it possible for that relationship to be restored though the Christ, Jesus.
4. God calls men to believe in Him and what He has done.

Is that a good base to start from? Great. Sin separates us from God. God creates a way to restore the relationship. How can we do evil when God is working to restore us to Himself? Even worse, how can we willfully sin against Him while expecting that He will take us from our sins?

This makes no sense to me. In order to swallow it, I would have to also accept John Calvin’s (or rather, Augustine’s) teaching of “Irresistable Grace” because we can not do anything to resist or remove ourselves from God’s grace.

Even further than that, if God were to force His salvation on us, why do we have to accept it in the first place? How does Original Sin differ from the sins we commit willingly after coming to Jesus? I would have to accept “Unconditional Election” as well. And if I took that, there is only one satisfactory explanation that I have found to explain why only some people are saved: “Limited Atonement.”

It does not appear to me that many Baptists (those who reject “Unconditional Election,” “Limited Atonement,” and “Irresistible Grace”) are being terribly consistent with their beliefs.

Let us leave this logic for a moment and consider what the Bible says. Romans 8:35-39:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 10:28-30:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.

These are very common passages that are used to say that salvation is permanent. I would argue that they are speaking of external forces; things that we do not always control.

It was common in the early church for men to purchase accounts from the courts of tortures that took place. A few weeks ago I read an account from one of those that told how meat that was sacrificed to idols was forced down the throats of three Christian men. One had sharp sticks inserted under their fingernails, another had his tongue cut out, and the other was burned with fire. It was very gruesome and they were killed the following day. The reason that I bring up this story is that they resisted eating the meat as best they could. When the court representative jeered at them after the meat had been forced down, they told him that God saw their hearts and knew that they meant Him no irreverence. This is what the words quoted above from Romans and John are talking about.

If we take Scripture as a whole, we find that God does change the way that he deals with people based on their actions. In the Old Testament, physical and spiritual death are often linked. The first commandment with promise (Honor your father and mother; Exodus 20:12) speaks of long life. Solomon said that the expectation of the righteous would not be cut off (Proverbs 23:17,18). Ezekiel wrote of what happened to men who changed their ways. Ezekiel 18:26,27:

When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Turning to the New Testament, we find Jesus telling his disciples (as he sends them out to cast out demons and heal the sick!) these words in Luke 12:5**:

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

That is quite a sobering warning when read in context with the whole chapter. The writer of Hebrews gives another (3:14):

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

If we hold on to the end. There are many other passages that can be used to demonstrate this as well but let’s try to wrap up the post. One more verse, from the final chapter of the Bible. Revelation 22:19:

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.

There is at least one offense that would cause our names to be removed from the book of life. Tampering with some of God’s words is plainly off-limits. If our salvation is God’s glory (and He delights in it) how can our actions proclaim that sin is alright? Is this not a manner of making God’s words null?

Some people do find a way to separate the last four points of Calvinism. At the moment I do not see how it can be done. Does God force his salvation on us or do we have responsibilities also?

I’ll try to answer that question soon but for now I’ll simply quote a passage that Tiffany used in her reply to yesterday’s post. I Peter 1:5-10:

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

If we believe this, we have work to do in order to make sure that we do not lose our calling and election. This does not make our salvation one of works (it is still God who saves), but works must follow. There are conditions for God’s restoration but the only one before that work begins is that we place our trust in Jesus. John 1:12, from one of my favorite passages:

But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

One final note: Just because I argue that it is possible to lose your salvation, I am not saying that our salvation is fragile. God wants to save us from our errors. If He didn’t, He would not have put so much work into His plan for our redemption. But please don’t mock it. Turn, do what is right.

** Oops, I quoted a different author than I had intended. Matthew records the same event with slightly different details in Matthew 10:28.