Of Salvation, Its Loss, and its Perseverance

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, "Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:28-39)

This is, quite simply, a hard passage. As a TULIP pusher (coined by our own Pilot Missionary), I do not believe this contradicts the doctrine of the Perseverance to the Saints. I am going to make three points on this subject. I will present two arguments why this does not contradict the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints and why it does pose a problem for that doctrine of spiritual insecurity; i.e., we can loose our salvation. But I do feel it is very necessary to first put forth wither in Scripture as defines the doctrine of Perseverance. Lets us look to Scripture as our advocate, in John 5:24 we are told them as "hear the Word and believes him who sent me[Christ] has eternal life" and will not come into judgement. Both John 6:35-37 and John 10:27-29 tell us that "All that the Father gives me[Christ] will come to me, and whoever comes to me I[Christ] will never cast out" and that "My Father, who has given them[Christ's sheep] to me[Christ], is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." And thees not to mention Romans 8:1, Romans 8:35-39, Rom 11:29, and Hebrews 3:14. These passages strongly defend the doctrine, and many others as are said to contradict this doctrine do nothing of the sort. However, the passage of Hebrews 10:28-29 seem to throw a monkey wrench into the mix. Therefore, I hope to clarify with the following three points.

First, we need always, when reading a passage as defines a theological point to read it in context. Above I quoted the whole passage all the way to verse 39. Wherein we will find our first defense and a great point. Verse 39 says:

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

We have here where Paul explains to us that we have 1.) "faith" and 2.) "preserve" our souls. Please note Ephesians 2:8-10. By faith, our souls are preserved and from Ephesians we see that this faith is not of us but a gift of God. Quite simply, the Lord saved us and will carry His work to completion (Philippians 1:6). So what does this say to the loss of our salvation in context of the full passage in Hebrews 10? Well, what we have here is a picture of the terrible wrath that should come on us should we shun what the Lord hath done in our hearts. This is a picture of the consequence of what could be if we did shun the Lord but, as v.39 says, we hope of promise in our sealed faith. What then are we told? We are told not to fall away and that the wrath of God for doing so would be great. It is a warning of what would happen, not what does happen to them as are chosen.

Second, we do infact have examples of them as appear to "fall away". The argument for this goes thusly, that these individuals were quite simply never saved in the first place. Our Biblical example was King Saul, 1 Samuel 16:14, "Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul". We do not have a picture of a man "after God's own heart" but a man of rebellion and sin. He was never truly of God's fold. This can be evidenced in Saul's life. Let us look briefly, in 1 Sam. 9:5-8 shows us that Saul was not a man of God and that his servant knew more about the Lord and the Prophet Samuel than even did he. Saul himself had tried to hide himself from God's calling (1 Sam. 10:22). Further, Samuel disobeyed, a sign of his reverence in his heart for God, before the Spirit of the Lord left him (1 Samuel 15:22). Samuel was never truly saved. However this passage would and did apply to him as the Lord was quick in His wrath upon Saul and the kingdom was indeed torn from him. Which brings us to our final point.

Third and finally, this passage posses a problem for them as believe you can loose your salvation and you must come back to faith. If you read this passage fully, you will see that when one "shrinks back" he is "destroyed". The passage is very harsh in its description of them as "spurn the Son of God", "profane the blood of the covenant", and has "outraged the Spirit of Grace" (Heb 10:29). And we are told in v.39 that these "who shrink back... are destroyed" (Heb 10:39). So this passage is as difficult for those against the Perseverance of the Saints as it is presumed to be for them who hold to that doctrine. For my part, I feel that my first point is our strongest defense and, as always, encourage you to read in context and let Scripture interpret Scripture. The grace of Christ be with you.

Soli Deo Gloria

Recorded

This is a poem that was written out of the frustration that many believe they are saved because they made a decision for Christ on a given day. This is completely absurd! "Making a decision for Christ" does not save you! It is Christ's sacrifice that saves us! By His shed blood are we redeemed (Matt 26:28)! The day you "made a decision", recorded in the front cover flap of your Bible does not shew that you are indeed saved. Yay, that date means naught. Even if you do not remember the day you were saved does not mean that you are not saved. Behold, the day we were saved is recorded in the Word!

Recorded

The day I was saved
Was written
Grave Stone Engraved
Where within
My Bible Displayed

Was written within
So I knew
that the Devil when
Whispered new
I knew my salvation

I know not exact
month and day
My sin to exact
I knelt to pray
so to sign contract

The line, "My Decision"
is as blank
White as is clean
as is blank
The book of my sin

Where then is written
that am I
saved from Perdition,
though I die,
Will I to Heaven?

Within the Scriptures
Recorded
Is Christ to the Cross
Reported
My salvation thus

And praise the Most High
I was saved
Christ, me for to die
Recorded
In Lamb's Book of Life.

Soli Deo Gloria

(c) James Marikle 2010

An Exercise in Allegory (Salvation)

I am going to ask you to observe (Psalms 114:7-8)

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.

We will notice that this is an obvious allusion to Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11 as well as a not so obvious reference to Psa 78:15; 105:41; 107:35 and Deut. 8:15. Behold the allegory! What we have here is a picture, beautifully portrayed of our salvation. But what need I say for it is very clear, Christ came and saved. God initiated our salvation by first touching our hearts like when Moses struck the stone. Out hearts, like the stone, were turned to water! Look in Ezekiel 11:19 which is also repeated,

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

These are all gorgeous pictures of our salvation in the Old Testament. But look ye,

Joh 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I [Christ] will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Soli Deo Gloria

Darcy v.s. Edward v.s. Christ

Now please do not mistake me, I am one of Austen's greatest fans and I find Pride and Prejudice the crown of her works! I adore the depth of the story, the detail of the characters, the love, the romance, the honour. So know that this is no slight on this great gem of literature! My concern is strictly with the object of worship.
I am going to continue my discourse, on Eph. 5. As you may infer from the title, I am now addressing the ladies of the audience. I will indeed try to keep this short as the passage does indeed address the wife quite briefly:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (Ephesians 5:22-23) and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33b)

I wish wives, wives-to-be, and ladies in general to observe this, "submit... to the Lord." This is quite simply what you are told here. For the fact that I am in fact a gentleman, I cannot boast knowledge on all that you may draw from this allegory. But you must understand this command. Ladies, this submission is quite simply a complete surrender and adoration of the one and true love of your lives.
But first, lets us not continue to the end ere we have dwelt on the beginning. Lets us thither with this question, what is the ideal sort of a man to marry? Historically, it has been universally accepted that this type of man is Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Well for this, ladies, we find a man perfect. A man full of honour, a man of love and devotion. A man who worships her whom he loves. And in this we find his greatest fault. That is the very reason why there is no "real" Mr. Darcy. And it is his greatest strength that fails him completely. For you see, if infact the man you ladies love and wed worships you, he will fail you. And he does not infact love you chief in his soul; but rather, he loves himself. He will only wish to satisfy himself, for now, with your love, but when that fails him, he will fail you as he will seek that which does. And on that note, we might easily turn to the one gentleman who now turns every lady's heart, or so it seems. Let us look to Edward Cullen, a man so far beneath even Darcy. For you see ladies, Edward did not give himself up for his love as you suppose. He infact won his prize by ultimately drinking her blood, the which he denied himself for love, and still, in the end, took the heart of her after whom he lusted. Edward himself lusted and was a man of his lusts, he thusly, in the end, gave way to those lusts. So here we have two men who are not perfect.
So now, we come to the point. you ladies ought instead submit to Christ as your perfect bridegroom. He is in all ways perfect, unfailing in love (Heb 13:5), giving of Himself; that is, humble even to death (Philippians 2:8), very goodness Himself (Psalm 34:8; 100:5; 135:3; 145:9 and Lamentations 3:25). Ladies, seek a husband after the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). For he will be humble, he will give himself completely for you, and he will be good, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"(Galatians 5:22-23). He will love you truly for he truly knows how to love. As He loves Christ completely, he can fully love you without giving himself to the impediments of his own flesh (Gal. 5:24). Now ladies, you will never find a Darcy to satisfy you. You will never find an Edward to love you. And any man you wed will fail you at some point. So then, know that your greatest bridegroom is Christ. Love Him, adore Him, seek after Him with all your heart.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Holy Allegory of Matrimony

I will confess with all truth, I am a hopeless romantic. Should it happen that one of my friends or my family, or my friend's family, or the friend of a friend's family's friend were to wed I will rather go romantic and be all congratulations. I mean, what is not to like? There is love in the air, hearts pine for one another in dearest adoration, and there is sweet feelings for one another! Ah! Such beauty. But what is it that makes Matrimony so gorgeous? Holy Matrimony is beautiful because it is a beautiful representation, even allegory of Christ and His relationship with the Church! That is indeed the very reason I love it so much!
This is all seen very clearly in Eph. 5:25-33. This is the "profound mystery" of marriage and why it is strictly a Christian institution. Holy Matrimony is intended an allegory of Christ and His Church. But this is not my chief point, merely my introduction. As I passed through this passage, I was reminded of its structured guidelines for how a Christian man is to conduct himself as a husband. As holy matrimony is a picture of our relationship with Christ, we are to thus mirror Christ as the perfect bridegroom. Quite simply, we don't need psychologists' theories, therapy, or how-to manuals (and this goes for "Christian psychologists as well). Instead, we need Sola Scriptura.
So how does this break down? How are we as husbands to conduct ourselves? Why, after the image of Christ for His Bride the Church, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). My goodness! That is sooo simple, but as Spurgeon said of Salvation, it is also so complicated and hard. So what does this mean? Well, as any good theologian will tell you, let Scripture interpret Scripture. What did Christ do for His Bride? Christ gave Himself up for her, yay unto very death on the cross.

And being found in human form, he [Christ] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

I want you to notice some very important facts in this verse, which also explains how we, as husbands, must conduct ourselves. 1.) Christ "humbled Himself". Men, you must do this constantly, as a Child of Christ, you will notice that this is the same as we do in the mortification of the flesh. We must put down our own desires and put first them of our wives (and eventually children but that is another allegory altogether). As leader of your household, you must see that you are to be the first to serve and the last to be served (John 13:5-16). I need not provide examples of this as you will know full well where to apply this; that is, in all of your life. If you hold anything back, it is much the same as when we attempt two masters (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13 [this in reference to idols and our service to God Almighty, keep in mind that this is still the allegory of Christ's relationship with us and our relationship with Him; thusly it often goes both ways]). 2.) Christ "became obedient". No, this is not an argument for feminism. It was not Christ who became obedient to the Church, but rather, to God Almighty "even to death on the Cross". So also we become obedient to Triune God. We must obey the Word, as outlining the Law of God and further put forth by Christ in Matt. 5. We must obey Christ as He commanded us to live in His earthly ministry. We must obey the Holy Spirit as He inspired the apostles post Ascension. How then are we to be godly husbands? Through Humility and Obedience to God's Holy Word. This is laid out to us in the first verses of Eph 5:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Soli Deo Gloria

Peace on Earth?

Hear ye! Hear ye! The voice of angels, "Glory to God in the Highest and Peace on Earth!" (Luke 2:14). But Hold up! There is something wrong with this picture... look ye, don't you see? There is no peace on earth! There are wars and rumors of wars, there are drugs hither and yon, abortions to fill the streets with blood, and a sex trade as would make stone statues blush with shame. So where is this peace?
Ah! But look, lets us "Tolle Lege, tolle lege!" Let us take it up and read it; that is, the Word. What does the Word say? Well if we read in context, we will discover this truth, that this peace is not a world, temporal peace:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14)

Ah! Well now that we have the second half, we can observe that, by the fact that the Lord is pleased only with them that are His children (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Isaiah 55:7) that this is peace to His Children. But wait!? Do we not see the opposite in the following passages; Luke 12:51 and Matt 10:34-36. Which is really the point. Christ did not come to bring temporal peace. He came to save our souls from damnation. The peace referred to by the Heavenly host would be that peace of Salvation;

For in him [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:13-16)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

So then, it is the peace in our hearts that Christ brought in His first coming so let us praise God and sing glory glory to God in the Highest!

Soli Deo Gloria

Judge Not That Thou Be Not Judged (Part 1)

You are probably aware of the above phrase in some way or another. It seems America's very anthem. Every which way we turn, we true Christians are told not to judge others. Well what is this? Is this really and truly Scriptural? Lets us take our answers from Sola Scriptura! The passage in question is from Matt. 7:1-5,

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

This is a beautiful passage from the very words of Christ which we should not take lightly. Indeed, I am worthy of hellfire if I do not obey them verily! It would appear then that we are indeed not to judge! Well I suppose then this leaves us in great peril as, following this, we are not given room to distinguish them that feed us and them that feed us to the wolves! Ah! But it is in these perplexities that the beauty of Scripture shines forth like a lamp! There is a simple solution. All we need do is read the rest of the chapter and the message becomes clear. For following the chapter we find immediately in verse 6, "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." (Mat 7:6) There must necessarily be a judgment to know whom are dogs and swine so as not to give what is holy nor cast pearls before. This verse even instructs us how to judge rightly whom are the dogs and swine. We are told that they are them as would "trample them underfoot."
But we find stronger proofs yet in vv. 15-20,

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

We are told here not only how to discern but we are infact told to judge! That we will "know them by their fruits"(KJV). This is even telling us to judge within the fold. To judge, discern, know them is our command.
Well then, how do we reconcile these two seemingly opposite commands of Christ? Quite simply actually. Scripture again answers our questions for us. The two passages in this chapter that condone, encourage, and command us to judge both lay out whom we are to judge. Namely, we are to judge, per vv. 15-20, them as are false teachers and those as would lead the flock astray, they are wolves in the Church. And the Dogs and Swine of v. 6 are quite clearly the unsaved, degenerate. This we easily infer from the fact that we are not to give anything "holy" to them and as we, the children of God are holy before Him, the only other camp are them unsaved. This leaves us to the conclusion that those in vv. 1-5 are quite literally, our "brothers"; that is, our true brothers and sisters in Christ. We are commanded not to self-righteously condemn our fellow redeemed as Paul expounds in Romans 14. The practical application therefore is that we are to be as wise as serpents but as gentle as doves (Matt. 10:16). To our brothers in Christ, we are not to be pompously judgmental, remembering that we were all redeemed by the blood of the lamb. But to them who clearly pretend to be of the faith, we are indeed to be watchful, warning, and proclaiming the truth in hopes that they would come to true repentance. And this in love, remembering our own condition ere we were bought by Christ's sacrifice.

Soli Deo Gloria

Death (and Life)

In response to my fellow Brother in Christ, I thought to post my own treatise on death. I am posting a quote from an old blog of mine. But I believe Martinus brought up a very good point the which I should touch on. Again, I would be one who advocates that death really is essential to the Christian faith. I here expound,

Death ought to be embraced by the Christian. And I know that sounds a little insane, but come let us reason together. Look here at what our blessed Lord did for us in His mercy while we were yet in our transgressions and at enmity with Him? Christ died for us while we hated him, showing undeniable love. Thus we we were bought by blood. By His death, we live.
But lo, death is still our lot. Look, as Adam ate the forbidden fruit we all have been cursed to die once. That curse we must still yet bear, but for God's blessed gift in the sacrifice of His Son, we no longer bear the condemnation of death. Now that we are children of God, our flesh will one day die but we shall rise to our Saviour to praise Him forever in eternity! Now death is our hope and anticipation. For to live is Christ and to die is gain.
In the mean time we must daily crucify the flesh. We must mercilessly slay all that is evil in our corrupt and sin bound bodies. Until we are given a new body, our flesh shall be our mortal enemy until the day it dies. This is the Christian life, to deny ourselves for the blessed Christ. Let us seek Him daily, which itself crucifies the flesh and glorifies our Risen Saviour. Let all praise Him!

However, I did not touch on Martinus point of suicide. I believe he quite accurately pointed out that this is an insane thought and that it is of selfish reasons. The true believer would not entertain the thought of suicide. I believe that it is the Christian very core to embrace death but not morbidly. We have what might be considered an ethereal love for death. We know that it means our redemption. We know that it purposes our life. We know that it brings God glory when them that were dead are made alive (1 Cor. 15:21; Eph. 2:5). And we know that death is not the end of the story nor our end (Rom. 5:10) for, just like Christ, it is just the beginning to newness of life (Rom. 6:4). There is, in Christian redemption, a marriage between death and life. These two, it would seem, are necessarily inseparable. Yes, we must truly and rightfully love death but we also must love the life Our Lord has given us! And this to give Him glory! Yes, in this life and, yes, we are to rejoice in it (Phil. 4:4) for this is the day the Lord hath made (Psalm 118:24)! Rejoice my brethren! Rejoice in Life! Yes, look toward death with anticipation but rejoice in life abundantly, both Spiritual and physical! For in both death and life, God is glorified, and we live to glorify His Mighty Name!
To answer the question of the previous post, "What Is It That We Do Seek?", we seek Christ, and Him Crucified; we seek Christ who is Life.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Joh 14:6)

Soli Deo Gloria

What Is It That We Do Seek?

A long time ago I stumbled upon two very disturbing thoughts.

1) If we attain heaven upon death, why are we so afraid of death?

2) And if that is so, why don't we also welcome death, in fact long for and seek it?

The implications are obvious. What I'm proposing is that I had pondered at one point why don't Christians consider suicide an option? This thought was rightfully dismissed from my mind almost immediately after it had entered. I concluded that since murder is condemned in the Bible, it was not even a consideration of the true believer. Yet it still nagged at me that the Christians around me were afraid to die. I considered the fact that even Paul considered death gain (Philippians 1:21) and that this life was a constant struggle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Why not end it permanently and enjoy the benefits of heaven forever? It is now clear to me that this thinking is entirely based out of selfishness, self love. I desired the delights of heaven and no more. I am ashamed of my thoughts then. I am ashamed of my selfishness. Later on I was confronted with an idea. I was confronted with this thought: "How would you like to spend eternity worshipping God?" The thought of golden streets and a mansion all to myself was more appealing at the time. I thought of a thousand things I would do and a thousand people I'd want to meet. Sadly, God and worshipping God was not on the list. My view was so wrong, so selfish. My case, extreme though it was, is I believe similar to many Christians in the US. We desire the things that appeal to the flesh. We have been told for ages "don't you want to go to heaven?" and "when you turn to God you will inherit eternal life and heaven!" I in such a sinful and carnal state wanted that! I wanted to life for ever enjoying life! How foolish. God is life! What we see here is nothing! A big house is nothing! The enjoyment I want now (when I am not warring with my flesh, alas!) is to worship God in truth and absent of my tainted flesh, my sin! For me to die is truly gain but it is not gain for the flesh it is firstly gain for God. He will be glorified forever by the saints. The reason why I share this with you is to contrast it with (in better words than I can muster) the words of a missionary: David Brainard. He stated it like this:

"I do not go to heaven to be advanced, but to give glory to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high or low seat there, but to live and please and glorify God. My heaven is to please God and glorify Him and give all to Him and be wholly devoted to His glory."

That is the point. We are afraid of death because we are fleshly and desire to hang on to, down to the last finger, the earthly things that we desire. Oh! Sinful flesh of mine! Our goal is to glorify God now and forever! despise your flesh and its desires. Truly a Christian will not be so base and selfish so as to commit suicide to avoid the trials of this earth and attain glory, not while our fellow creatures stand round us sinking into hell. Do your Father's will and serve Him because He is the object of our affections. God have mercy on our souls!