If You Only Knew What Eternal Security Taught: Part III

Dispelling Folk Assumptions

I made clear in both Part I and II of this series that most 'lay' Christians (I have found) who hold to the idea of 'eternal security' do so in a folklorish fashion; in other words, they don't really know what Eternal Security teaches, and I have suggested that if they did they would either readily reject that system or else reject the facts and choose to live in blissful ignorance. But I have held off until now on the specifics of what distinguishes 'folk eternal security' from Eternal Security as a reflective theological model. So for starters it is important to dispel the 'folk' assumptions and then reveal the distinction between the ‘common folk’ view of eternal security and the actual Calvinistic teaching on the subject.

It is not uncommon to hear lay ‘Calvinists’ or lay adherers to eternal security, (and of course those Arminian folk who argue against them and who are also confused on what eternal security teaches), to use phrases such as ‘once saved always saved’ to crudely express this view. Unfortunately, what is often implied and otherwise communicated is the idea that once a person is saved they will remain saved until they die and go to heaven (i.e. eternal security) despite the lifestyle they choose to live in the here and now.

In other words, and to use an extreme example to make a point, if a person was to say the ‘sinners prayer’ (if there were such a thing) then spend some time in church singing ‘hallelujah’ and shock everyone with an obvious transformation of lifestyle, then sometime afterward declare that he was ‘brainwashed’ and emotionally drunk, that he believed in Christ during a period of mental weakness, and then openly declares that Jesus is a phony and God does not exist. Then suppose that this person was to go on to write polemic books against the Christian God, and imagine this became his life mission until one day he dies an old rich man in bed. We must assume (according to folk eternal security) that because he said a ‘sinner’s prayer’ and showed himself to be ‘saved’ for a time, he therefore went to heaven. This of course is all due to God’s tremendous grace. He was once saved and therefore was always saved.


Calvinism Does Not Teach That!
Two Calvinists theologians, Robert Peterson and Michael Williams wrote a book titled, Why I Am Not an Arminian ©2004. In the introduction the authors make it clear that the title they preferred was, “Why I Am a Calvinist” (p.13), for the simple reason that the book itself is more a reflection and articulation of what Calvinists believe then it is a polemical attack on Arminians (p.10-13).

Concerning the subject at hand, the authors write, “Arminians and Calvinists agree that professed Christians must continue to the end in three areas if they are to be saved”. Right away this sentence should cause the folk eternal security guy to get chills down his spine and ask the question, ‘are not all professed Christians saved all the way to the end, as in once saved always saved?’ Not necessarily, lets read on. What three areas must a professed Christian continue in in order that they be saved? These Calvinist theologians write that a person must continue “believing the gospel, loving Christ and others, and living godly lives” (p.77, Italics added).

So Calvinists and Arminians alike agree that one cannot simply say a sinner’s prayer, go to church, sing hallelujahs, and do that for twenty years or so, then one day openly declare that they have, 1) stopped believing in the gospel; and/or 2) stopped loving Christ and others, and/or 3) begin to live consistant ungodly lives, and yet expect to go to heaven when they die. This high view of 'holy living to the end' is a prominent theme among most (if not all) Calvinistic writings. “Easy believism,” says Peterson and Williams, “the view that persons are to be regarded as Christians who have made professions of faith but whose lives are unchanged, is incompatible with biblical teaching. On this point Arminians and Calvinists agree” (p.81).

So much for folk eternal security that so many believe in, it simply does not exist as a model for either the Calvinist or the Arminian. It is wishful thinking on behalf of many well intended (albeit misguided) believers.


What Calvinists Teach on Eternal Security
Now that we've answered the question 'what eternal security is not', dispelling commenly believed assumptions, the question we now turn to is, what does Eternal Security teach?


The Arminian perspective seems to provide little comfort for many Christians because it teaches that an individual can choose to ‘fall from grace’ (that may be too crude of a description, but for brevity sake I'll let it stand). A fanciful doctrine of Eternal Security seems to provide the perceived security that many Christians are looking for - the sense that when they die they will go to heaven (I don’t like limiting our scope of the afterlife to the vague term ‘heaven’ as I have been doing, but that will have to be a discussion for a later date). It is unfortunate for them, that no biblical and professional theologian (at least none that I have heard of) would agree with them simply because this view of eternal security is unbiblical.

So the question becomes, what do Calvinists teach regarding Perseverance of the Saints (i.e. Eternal Security)? Calvinists theologian, John Frame states that “When God intends to bring someone to faith in Christ, he cannot fail… When God gives his people a new heart, it is certain that ‘they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws’” (No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, ©2001, p.117). In other words, when someone does truly ‘get saved’ they will continue to believe, continue to love Christ and others and continue to live a godly life to the very end!


But then the question arises, what about the countless examples of those who professed Christianity and lived it for a time but then seemed to walk away from it all? This is an obvious scenario that no credible Calvinist (or any other observant and reflective Christian for that matter) would deny because it has been happening ever since the beginning of Christianity.

The answer, says Frame is that “there are also situations where people who appear to be elect turn away from God and prove themselves not to be among his people. There are also cases where God chooses someone for a task and for a limited kind of fellowship with him, without the intention of giving him the full benefits of salvation” (Ibid. See his footnotes. Italics added). Stop right there and read the Calvinists answer again and think about the implications. Are you a Christian? Are you truly saved? How do you know? You could be a pastor, a missionary, a global evangelist, and prayer warrior, but none of this means you have been called to eternal life. On the contrary, you may have been called to a ‘limited kind of fellowship with him’ for whatever purpose he may have, though his ‘intention’ may never have been to give you the ‘full benefits of salvation’!

So where is your security? You won’t know if you are one of the elect until after you breathed your very last breath. And hopefully in the moments leading up to that final breath you will not deny God, but you may not have a choice in the matter. If God has called you for a purpose, a limited fellowship with him, a life of appearant election, but not to eternal life, then rest assured one day (no matter how faithful you are today) you will surly deny him and go to hell. But take comfort in the idea that your decreed dismissal from Gods presence only brings more glory to God - and so you have served him will in going to hell.

Welcome to the God of the Calvinist.

“If they don’t believe to the end, they have not come to share in Christ. This indicates not a loss of salvation but a demonstration that the professed Christians had not really been united to Christ in the first place” (Why I Am Not an Arminian, p.80, Italics added).

Are you united to Christ?


For the Calvinist, the answer is to cross his fingers and hope for the best.
For the Arminian, one simply chooses to continue in relationship with his God.



I love my God and am sure of my hope and my salvation. Are you?


Just a thought.


Derek
http://www.pensees-derek.blogspot.com/