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(2 Corinthians 2:15) |
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The two alternatives given above have caused controversy amongst Christians. Most seem to hold the first; the second was, one understands, the doctrine of the Wesleyans. |
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As to the first, the problem arises that if a person is once saved, no matter how he (or she) lives subsequently that person is still saved, that is, will never perish. It is thus a recipe for antinomianism (continuing in sin - Romans 6:1). |
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As to the second, the problem arises as to whether a person will be saved in the end or not. If the proposition were true, logically one should kill a person immediately he (or she) is saved, because if that person lives until tomorrow he (or she) may be eternally lost ! (This is not going to be done, but it may be as well to note that in the mind of some Romanists, burning heretics at the stake was a way of saving them; the idea apparently being taken from 1 Corinthians 5:5 and/or 1 Corinthians 3:15) However, this doctrine leaves converts in a state of uncertainty whether they will be saved or lost in the end. |
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One can, of course, speak of election. The elect will be saved no doubt (e.g. Matthew 24:24), but as who the elect are is known only to God it does not really help us to solve our problem. |
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However, there is another side to the problem. If there is anything of God in a person he will undoubtedly be ultimately saved. One cannot conceive that anything that is of God will end up in the lake of fire, or as it is sometimes spoken of, outer darkness (Revelation 20:15; Matthew 8:12). The other side of the coin is that where there is anything of God it must ultimately end up in a place where God can take pleasure in it. It is the wicked that are turned into Sheol (Psalm 9:17). (This is in the Old Testament which does not go so far as to speak of hell (Gehenna) or the lake of fire). The child in 1 Kings 14:13 was said to have something good in him toward Jehovah the God of Israel and therefore would come to the grave. The Old Testament speaks often of the righteous and the wicked (e.g. Malachi 3:18). It distinguishes the two classes. The New Testament speaks of the believer and the unbeliever (e.g. 2 Corinthians 6:15). The point is that a |