Monday, November 14, 2005

With "P" I end my postings on Calvinistic teachings, at least for now!

Okay, I found these definitions at this site regarding the P in TULIP.

Calvin's Teaching:
Perseverance of the Saints - Since God has decreed the elect, and they cannot resist grace, they are unconditionally and eternally secure in that election.

And explained a little further:
The Calvinist doctrine of the "perseverance of the saints" teaches that once you are a Christian, you are forever a Christian. Once born into God's family, you can't quit being a family member. God will never disown you. Once made alive in Christ, you can never die—"once saved, always saved." To the Calvinist, you can never divorce God out of your life, and he won't divorce you under any circumstance. In a word, "you can't, He won't."

Contrasted with Wesley's Teaching:
Assurance and Security - There is security in God’s grace that allows assurance of salvation, but that security is in relation to continued faithfulness; we can still defiantly reject God.


And then, there's also Kc's explanation:
"Perseverance of the saints means that what God started He will finish and what He said He will do He will do. ... Some people say 'once saved always saved' but it's more than that."

I'm not sure if the Wesleyan teaching above is to be interpreted that it is possible to lose one's salvation or not. But if that's what it is saying, then of course I disagree with that one completely.
Whether we remain faithful to God or not is not in question when considering our eternal security. God has given those who believe everlasting life, not probationary life. (John 6:47; I John 5:11-13; John 10:28; John 6:37-39)

If we had to do something or perform a certain way in order to keep our salvation, then of course, it would not be salvation.

I think we all agree on this, right?

Even though we have been saved from our sins, our salvation will not be complete until we get to Heaven, and I, for one, am "fully persuaded that what He has promised He is also able to perform" (Rom. 4:21) God is faithful; He will keep His promises.

However, God definitely is not finished with us here on this earth when we believe; actually, He has just begun a complete life-changing process. Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." II Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature..." I Peter 2:2 "As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby."

God is not content to leave His children as babies. He will work in our lives to mature us and grow us to be sons and daughters who are shining examples for Him in this world.

The Holy Spirit will be working in us to help us "put to death the old man" and "put on the new man," (in other words, "starve the flesh and feed the spirit") until we do reach that day when our positional and practical sanctification are complete in a new glorified body which cannot sin.

Do we all agree on this point?

6 comments:

Kc said...

I think that was very,very well put!

PackerPundit said...

Hey Kristi... I wanted to invite you to my site today... there's a poem I wrote called
"The Dream" I think you'll enjoy.

romey

oh LOL and how have you been gorgeous??

Kc said...

Kristi you and your readers might be interested in the discussion Brandon and I are having. The one started at SOFYST has been moved to Running from God.

Tim said...

I definitely agree withthe Calvinistic viewpoint.

Eloquently said and well written.

sofyst said...

Kristi, I am sorry I have not gotten back to you on this sooner. I have been working on my site and it has consumed my time. I have also been working on a feature that I have had you specifically in mind for. If you email me, I can tell you about it. I do not want to publically tell everyone as it is not done yet. I would also like your opinion on it. So, could you email me?

Also, from what I read, I think that you and I agree on the 'P'. It was very much expected given that you are Baptist. I do believe that at the least one must accept 'P' to be Baptist. :)

dogpreacher said...

Not to be a thorn here, but....

Think about it. I can't see anyone believing in 'P' while NOT believing in 'U', without contradicting themselves. If you do not believe in 'U', because of course, man has "free will", then you can't believe in "eternal security" or "once saved always saved". The reason is because the person 'once saved' can simply exercise his free will, and be unsaved/lost.

There is a reason that 'P' is the last 'letter'. Believing 'P' is contingent on belief in the previous letters...IF one is going to be intellectually honest, anyway.