There are those who claim, vehemently sometimes, that we can lose our salvation. And it's understandable why. There are, indeed, Scriptures that warn about those who "fall away" (e.g., Matt 24:9-13) or "depart from the faith" (e.g., 1 Tim 4:1-3) or the famous "Dog returns to its own vomit" thing (2 Peter 2:20-22). The question is, how do we do it? Well ... sin, obviously. Some measure of sin. But ... I thought sin was forgiven. I thought it was "finished." Apparently, then, we have some work to do ... or else. And, in the end, we end up saving ourselves. With God's help, of course. It's interesting. If you look at all the warnings of Scripture that suggest (and, note, not all the warnings that people refer to do suggest) that salvation can be lost, you'll see they are written from the perspective of the saved -- us, our work, our efforts. On the other hand, all of the Scriptures that say that salvation is sure are written from the perspective of God's work. Can we draw conclusions from that? I think so. If we're counting on working to keep our salvation through our careful efforts, we're counting on us, but if we're counting on keeping our salvation through God's work, we're counting on Him. The question, then, becomes who do you trust more?
Scripture says that the beginning of our salvation is Christ and the completion of our salvation is Christ. "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Php 1:6). The author of Hebrews refers to Jesus as "the author and perfecter of faith" (Heb 12:2), and Jude was certain that He "is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy" (Jude 1:24). According to Paul, our salvation begins before time (Eph 1:4) and is executed in an unending chain -- "these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified" (Rom 8:30) -- without aid or interference from us. Our salvation is the work of God, not ours.
Jesus said the Father gives to Jesus those who are saved, and "no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:28-29). Unless Jesus meant, "Well, no one but you," we have to assume that no one, including us, can. John wrote, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36). If that eternal life can be lost, it's not eternal, is it? So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: Will we trust ourselves to keep our salvation, or will we trust Christ who "is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25)? Will we save ourselves by our faithful obedience, or will we trust in the promises of God to do it for us? Which one of those provides blessed assurance?
3 comments:
When Luther was arguing for the Fides, one of the arguments put against him was that would lead to a life of licentiousness. They argued that if you uncoupled works from salvation, then works meant nothing. Fast forward and most Catholics live as if their works don't matter and give lip service to penance, probably depending on Purgatory to save them. While we can never divorce works from salvation, we must realize that our works aren't salvation, and that fact should allow us to work boldly for Christ, without fear that messing up will cause us to ultimately falter.
If my salvation depends upon my faithful obedience, I am on very shaky ground. However, since my trust and my hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ on my behalf, my salvation is a sure thing. This blessed assurance is not a “pie-in-the-sky” fantasy for me but something that impacts how I live each day in very tangible ways. I know that, without this hope, my earthly existence--and my eternal one, even moreso--would differ in ways about which I don’t even like to think.
As you say, that position is all about trusting ourselves, our inherent goodness, and our ability to manage sin well enough to keep things minor, that we can maintain our won salvation. While avoiding the necessity of actually giving Christ Lordship over our actual lives.
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