I'm continuing this from Innocent Bystanders, where a post on Daylight Savings Time quite naturally turned into a discussion of Romans chapter 8. (Yeah, they're weird over there. But then my husband and I value weirdness in friends. I should post about that...) Anyway, reading over this, I have a few points for discussion.
1. From Romans 8:1, what does it mean to be in Christ Jesus, and therefore not able to be condemned?
2. Does the concept of once saved/always saved go along with the concept of predestination?
Since I'm Lutheran, I'm linking to a Preface to Romans, by none other than Martin Luther, for further reading and though
4 comments:
Luther's Preface is wonderful. How does he find time to blog? ;~)
Not only does Luther blog, he reviews movies too!
Barb, is your first link going to the right place?
Once saved always saved is a doctrine invented by those who don't believe in the objective Gospel and objective regeneration worked in us at our baptism. Since faith for them is a matter of the heart, they can never be sure if they have it or not. Christians NEED and MUST HAVE assurance of God's love, bigger than their own feelings and/or experiences.
Because Arminians (baptists and the like) and Calvinists (presbyterians, reformed etc.) can't be sure that they are saved, they torture the Scriptures (as if they were Jack Bauer in a Chinese prison) and come away with their desired answer.
To be "in Christ Jesus" means to be baptized, born again, regenerated or whichever of the dozens of Bible metaphors you choose to employ.
That's the Gospel answer. Beware. You may not even use the word baptism if you're talking Law. These two vocables are not allowed in the same sentence.
Can a believer fall away? Yes. But that information and judgment is only given to a believer who is living in unrepentant sin, and has thereby laid his faith aside. And the purpose of that knowledge is to frighten him into repentance.
It's very difficult to discuss this theoretically. If anyone has any specific questions about himself, he should talk with his pastor.
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