The Headache I Get From Discussing With Conditional Security Proponents
There's always several misrepresentations of eternal security whether it's by the Antinomians or the conditional security crowd. If it's wrong to preach that eternal security means one can be saved and sin all they want, there's also the problem of people who misrepresent eternal security as a license to sin insisting that works are needed to maintain salvation. There's always a big difference between why Christians do good works vs. why unsaved people try to do good works. One is an attitude of gratitude while the other tries to bribe God.
Attacks against the doctrine of eternal security can be traced to a huge misunderstanding to what it really means as the Bible teaches it. I prefer to use the terms the perseverance of the saints or the preservation of the saints to describe the walk of the believer in Jesus Christ. Persevering is indeed one mark of a person who possesses true eternal security. Doing good works, hatred for sin and a love for God all characterize the person who possesses eternal security. No person can ever get saved and still remain like the rest of the world. When a person is saved, there's bound to be a new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Another attack against eternal security can be rooted in the sin of one's pride of life. Many people hate the idea of salvation by grace through faith because works salvation appeals to the flesh. If I had to keep doing good works to stay saved then isn't that my personal merit rather than God's grace at work in my life? But if I do good works because I'm already saved and I'm grateful, because God is with me and I walk with Him, then that's not personal merit. Doing good works for the believer is God's grace at work and not of themselves (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14). It's much different than requiring people to do all the good they can to stay saved. One goes by God's grace teaching righteousness. The other tries to maintain righteousness with one's self.
To "prove" their point, there's always their favorite weapon of misquoting from Scriptures to misrepresent eternal security. Above is a clip by "Catholic Clips" which is a mockery of born again Christian tract ministries. As mentioned earlier, true Christians are not indifferent about sin and good works. They're by God's grace different from the rest of the world. What's even more of a headache in reading their arguments is this fact. They are quoting from the Scriptures to "prove" that you must do all the good you can. Like I even encountered somebody who misquoted Ephesians 2:10 to prove works are necessary for salvation.
To make Judas Iscariot an example of you can lose your salvation anytime is also out of context. John 17:12 makes it clear that Judas Iscariot is the son of perdition and that he's the only one lost among the twelve disciples. He may have been with Jesus but never gave his life to the Lord. He was only a pretender for those years he was with Jesus. Saying none is lost but him shows he wasn't saved even after all those years he was with Jesus. Many people today are Judas Iscariots namely they're just sit ins but they never truly belong to the Lord.
Attacks against the doctrine of eternal security can be traced to a huge misunderstanding to what it really means as the Bible teaches it. I prefer to use the terms the perseverance of the saints or the preservation of the saints to describe the walk of the believer in Jesus Christ. Persevering is indeed one mark of a person who possesses true eternal security. Doing good works, hatred for sin and a love for God all characterize the person who possesses eternal security. No person can ever get saved and still remain like the rest of the world. When a person is saved, there's bound to be a new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Another attack against eternal security can be rooted in the sin of one's pride of life. Many people hate the idea of salvation by grace through faith because works salvation appeals to the flesh. If I had to keep doing good works to stay saved then isn't that my personal merit rather than God's grace at work in my life? But if I do good works because I'm already saved and I'm grateful, because God is with me and I walk with Him, then that's not personal merit. Doing good works for the believer is God's grace at work and not of themselves (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14). It's much different than requiring people to do all the good they can to stay saved. One goes by God's grace teaching righteousness. The other tries to maintain righteousness with one's self.
To "prove" their point, there's always their favorite weapon of misquoting from Scriptures to misrepresent eternal security. Above is a clip by "Catholic Clips" which is a mockery of born again Christian tract ministries. As mentioned earlier, true Christians are not indifferent about sin and good works. They're by God's grace different from the rest of the world. What's even more of a headache in reading their arguments is this fact. They are quoting from the Scriptures to "prove" that you must do all the good you can. Like I even encountered somebody who misquoted Ephesians 2:10 to prove works are necessary for salvation.
The comic strip misquotes Romans 11:22 but let's take it into context than out of context. The same verse they're misquoting also belongs to the same context that Romans 11:6 which also says that salvation is not by both grace and works. What Romans 11:22 is warning people about is against apostasy. Continuing in God's kindness is a mark of a true believer. Many people today claim to be saved but they're not. It's just like when John warned in 1 John 2:19 saying that many who didn't continue in the faith were not really of the faith. They seemed to be genuine converts but time proved them that they weren't really true converts.
To make Judas Iscariot an example of you can lose your salvation anytime is also out of context. John 17:12 makes it clear that Judas Iscariot is the son of perdition and that he's the only one lost among the twelve disciples. He may have been with Jesus but never gave his life to the Lord. He was only a pretender for those years he was with Jesus. Saying none is lost but him shows he wasn't saved even after all those years he was with Jesus. Many people today are Judas Iscariots namely they're just sit ins but they never truly belong to the Lord.
What's worse is that many I've know who adhere or teach works salvation are in fact living like they've got a license to sin or complain that born again Christians are "legalistic". Many of them tend to have that love for a certain sin or a love for sin while believing in the heresy of conditional security. First they talk about how born again Christians teach a "license to sin" but the next moment you'll see them proud of their sinful activities. You might see them in loose, immoral, licentious lifestyles which all the worse gives me a headache listening to their arguments.