“predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ”
10
(Eph. 1 He says about our present experience, ‘You The Saving did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,Work of but you received the of And
Christ by him we cry Father’ Gk. ho our own language], (Rom. 8:
15).
We are fully sons though [Aramaic, Father not yet fully mature. Then, in the future, when we lay aside mortality, we will receive “our adoption as sons, the re- demption of our bodies” (Rom. Adoption is a present reality, but it will be fully realized in the resurrection from the God gives us these family privileges through the redeeming work of His unique Son, the One who is not ashamed to call us brothers (Heb.PERSEVERANCE
If the doctrine of election raises the ire of nonbelievers, among believers the doctrine of perseverance does the same. The caricatures that the proponents of the views give of every other view most often have no basis in reality. Some among the Wesleyan-Arminian persuasion insist that Calvinists believe once they are saved they can do whatever sinful thing they please, as often as they please, and still be saved-as if believe the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the Word does not affect them. Whereas some Calvinists might insist that Wesleyan-Arminians believe any sin they commit jeopardizes their salvation, so that they “fall in and out of” being saved each time they sin-as if they believe that God’s love, patience, and grace are so fragile that they shatter at the slightest pressure. Any person who is biblically and theologically alert recognizes the lie in both of these caricatures. The presence of extremes has led to unfortunate
Of course, we must understand the impossibility of
“‘English versions differ in how they translate pneuma here. NRS, and NASB do not capitalize the word, though the NASB does in a footnote. and NEB see it correctly as a reference to the Holy Spirit.
is so often the case when Christians are called sons or brothers, the meaning is generic and includes daughters and sisters.
‘“Paul suggests interesting contrasts in use of the term. See Rom. 8: Gal.
“‘I been exposed by personal experience and in academic to the extremes, have been frightened by the arrogant presumption some express and saddened by the terrorizing fear some experience.
cepting as equally true both the Calvinist and
CHAPTER
Arminian positions. Either the Bible gives the assurance to a truly saved person that no matter how far at times the believer
may depart from living out biblical Christianity he or she The Saving cannot and will not ultimately depart from the faith, or it Work of does not. Both cannot be But it is not impossible to Christ seek a more balanced biblical orientation.
Biblically, perseverance does not mean that everyone who professes faith in Christ and becomes part of a community of believers is secure for eternity. In 1 John we read that the rise of “antichrists” shows that “it is the. last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” This is a favorite camping ground of Calvinists to argue that those who “depart” from the faith so as to be lost were believers in name only. Some argue that Simon the Sorcerer (Acts is an example of such a person. Non-Calvinists do no service to their position by weakening the force of these statements. Not everyone in our churches, not everyone who gives apparent external evidence of faith, is a true be- liever. Jesus said to some who claimed extraordinary spiritual powers (which He did not deny), that He never knew them (Matt. Such statements are not intended to strike fear in the heart of a genuine and simple-hearted believer, but to warn those who depend on external performance for assurance of salvation.
Biblically, perseverance refers to the ongoing operation of the Holy Spirit through which the work of God begun in our hearts will be carried on to completion (Phil. It seems that no one, regardless of theological orientation, should ob- ject to such a statement. And one wishes it could be left at that. But in light of the necessity of seeking to exegete the Bible with integrity the wish proves impossible. What does the Bible say specifically in this matter?
Significant New Testament support exists for the Calvinist view. Jesus will lose nothing of all God has given Him (John
The
sheep will never perish ( God al- ways hears Jesus’ prayers ( and He prayed that the Father would keep safe and protect His followers (“‘Such is the case of most doctrines and truth statements, unless, of course, one holds to the relativistic notions of so-called New Age thinking. Either God exists or does not; either Christ is divine or is not; and so on.
370 Systematic Theology: A Pentecostal Perspective The Order of Salvation 371
CHAPTER We are kept by Christ ( 1 John 5: 18). Nothing shall separate
10
us
from God’s love (Rom. The Holy Spirit in us isThe Saving the seal and guarantee of our future redemption (2 Cor.
Work of Eph. God will guard what we commit to Him
Christ (2 (Heb. Tim. 1: 12). He is able to save for all time those who believe His power guards us (1 Pet. God in us
is greater than anything outside of us ( 1 John What grand assurances! No believer can or should live without them. And if that were all the New Testament had to say, the position of Calvinism would stand secure.
But there is more. Wesleyan-Arminians readily accept the strength and assurance of the above passages. But it appears that Calvinists sometimes resort to exegetical and
twists and turns to avoid the implications of other passages in the New Not merely formal but real apostasy is possible (Heb. The Greek word
“apostasy,” rebellion,” comes from
“leave,” “go away,” conveying the idea of moving away from a place where one stands. Millard Erickson says, “The writer
is discussing a hypothetical situation. Jesus
is telling us what happen, namely His sheep will not perish. The Bible then can be understood as saying that we
could fall away, but through the keeping power of Christ we
If it could happen, why is it only hypothetically possible? Erickson and most Calvinists refer to Hebrews as evi-
dence: “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case.” Such a justification is tenuous in light of Hebrews “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Continuing in faith and practice makes sure a hope and an inheritance. Is it really possible to exegete Hebrews even in spite of verse 39, in such a way as to conclude it refers merely to a logical but not a real possibility?
treatment of Testament data in Robert Shank,
Life in the (Springfield, MO.: Wcstcott Publishers, 1961).
“‘Millard J. Erickson, I Relieve? (Grand Rapids:
1992)
Apostasy Without pp. for a discussion of impossibility of Millard J. Erickson,
Introducing (Grand Rapids: Baker
discusses 6 in to but not this passage.
To state the case further, Jesus warns, ‘The love of most
will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be
10
saved’ (Matt. 3). He says that looking back makesus
unfit for the Kingdom (Luke and tells us, The Saving ber Lot’s wife!’ (Luke 1732). He also says that if a person Work of does not abide in Him, that person will be cut off (John Christ cf. Rom. 11: 17-2 1; 1 Cor. Paul says that we can bealienated from Christ and fall away from grace (Gal. that some have shipwrecked their faith ( 1 Tim. that some will abandon (Gk. the faith ( 1 Tim. 4: 1); and that
if “we disown him, he will also disown us” (2 Tim. 2: 12). The writer of Hebrews says that “we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast” that we should see to it that none of us “has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away [Gk. apbistamai] from the living God” (3: 12); and that we “have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first” Peter speaks of those who “have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righ- teousness, than to have it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’ (2 Pet.
John says that eternal life is not the believer’s possession independently of possessing Christ (1 John The Father “has granted the Son to have life in himself” in the same sense as the Father has life by His own right and nature (John He has not granted that to us. Eternal life is Christ’s life in us, and we have it only as we are “in Christ.” In dealing with these warnings as essentially hypothetical for a true believer, Calvinists use various illustrations. Erick- son refers to parents who fear their child may run into the
all three uses the word for “know” is root compound word conveys a fullness of that head knowledge. 1 Phil.
1 ‘Tim. 2 In commenting on the refers to who say that described could
not have In of the of