Tag Archives: eternal security

The Warning Conundrum

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A conundrum is a difficult or challenging problem. And if any book in the NT presents a conundrum it is the writing we know as Hebrews. Filled with incredibly profound  theological depictions of Christ and His work, it also has some of the most difficult passages for the reader to wrestle with. There is significant debate on who wrote the book, where the original audience lived, and to a lesser degree when it was written. But the real challenge is trying to determine what the warning passages are warning us about.

By Beeblebrox (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Picture by Beeblebrox via Wikimedia Commons

There is even debate as to which passages are to be considered warning passages (see this list here).

The warning passages confront the scholar and lay reader alike.

  • What does it mean to “hold fast our confidence”, “confession” or “hope” to the end (3:6, 14; 4:14; 6:18; 10:23)?
  • What happens if we fail to heed these warnings?
  • What punishment will we fail to escape (2:3; 10:28-29; 12:25)?
  • What rest will we fail to enter (3:11,18-19; 4:3-5)?
  • What does it mean to be part of “God’s house” (3:6) or to “share in Christ”? (3:14) or to “share in the Holy Spirit” (6:4)? How does enduring confidence and falling away affect how we participate in these things?
  • What does the author mean by sanctification? And is that something that is  considered in process, completed, and/or reversible (2:11; 10:10, 14, 29; 13:12)?

Continue reading →

The Apostasy Vortex

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From a scientific point of view a vortex is a circular, spiral motion in water or air that pulls things toward its center. The term is often used for topics that draw or pull people in and results in a challenging situation.

By Robert D Anderson (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) via Wikimedia Commons

By Robert D Anderson (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Recently I taught a lesson on the Hebrews warning passages and the inter-related topics of eternal security, faith, and apostasy, which created a vortex within the classroom.

In this post I hope to outline three major views of eternal security and how they relate to enduring faith and apostasy.

Before we do that, we will need to make an assertion and then define three terms.

While Christians may differ on how one comes to faith, all would agree that salvation is conditioned on a person having faith (John 3:16, 36; 6:47).

whoever believes has eternal life. – John 6:47

The doctrine of Eternal Security holds that if a person has been genuinely saved, then that  person cannot forfeit salvation. They will receive eternal life. However, how eternal security relates to the related doctrines of apostasy, and enduring (or persevering) faith varies among proponents. Continue reading →

Faith and Creed (Two views on Enduring Faith) – Part 2

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In the prior post we took a look at the literary context and form of the creed found in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 evaluating Charles Stanley claim that this passage strongly supports the idea that enduring faith is not necessary for salvation.

Since the creed is considered older than the letter to Timothy I thought it would be interesting to see if the ideas in these statements were expressed in Jesus’ teachings.

If we died with him, we will also live with him.

This passage is primarily understood as referring to our being raised with Christ to new life because of our identification with Christ by faith. This draws from the same ideas expressed in Romans 6, particularly 6:5 and 6:8. These ideas are also found in Col 2:12-13.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Paul, continues to explain that because we are identifying ourselves with Christ’s death we should live for Him (Rom 6:11-14; Col 2:20;3:1-6).

The idea of dying and giving up our worldly desires, kingdoms, and even life so that we might live as a disciple was expressed by Jesus (Matt 10:38-39; 16:24-25).

If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake (dies for him) will find it (live for him).

If this teaching of Jesus is what the creed is trying to capture then those who identify with him (and find life) are contrasted with those who do not. This would give support to the third line of the creed referring to those who deny Christ as losing or being denied eternal life. Continue reading →