Chapter 63 and arrington

ARRINGTON, FRENCH

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY II

PPt by Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD, DMin

TH 513 Systematic Theology II

Read this article, attached to folder Week 6Arrington, French (1993). Christian Doctrine: A Pentecostal

Perspective, Vol. 2. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press, pp. 185-190

Attachment title in the folder is:“Refuting Unconditional Eternal Security”

A. The Possibility of Falling

Away

Jesus spoke to His disciples, who obviously were true believers, saying, “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mk. 13:13). The parallel passage in Matthew 24:11-13 indicates that some will not endure.

The parable of the sower (Lk. 8:4-15) warns believers about the danger of falling away. There are those “who believe for awhile and in time of temptation fall away” (v. 13).


Away

The passage used to support unconditional

eternal security (Jn. 10:27-29), in fact

provides two conditions—hearing and

following.

Also, John 15:1-7 says that branches

(believers, disciples) which do not continue

abiding in Christ are “cast out” and thrown

into the fire.


Away

Eternal life is a present possession of believers, but for it to become one’s eternal possession, perseverance in the faith is required.

Apostle Paul warned that after his departure, “savage wolves” would come among the Ephesian believers “to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20: 29, 30). He said that even after preaching to others, he himself could be “disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).


Away

A concern for Paul with regard to the Galatian

believers was that they were turning so soon

from Him who called them in the grace of Christ

“to a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6).

He said to those who were trying to be justified

by keeping the law, “You have fallen from grace”

(5:4).


Away

In Hebrews, there are five warning passages. The first warns believers not to “drift away” from the gospel they had heard (2:1-4).

The second warns against the evil of unbelief, which can cause individuals to depart from the living God (3:704:13).

The third passage warns against apostasy and urges believers not to fall away (6:1-20).


Away

In Hebrews, there are five warning passages.

The fourth passage describes the severity of

divine judgment for apostasy (10:19-39).

The fifth emphasizes personal responsibility

for one’s self and for other believers (12:1-

17). The danger is that any who fall short of

the grace of God could defile other believers

(v. 15).

B. Conditional Security

1. Scripture teaches that the power of choice

remains for believers

The straw-man argument is to say that

Wesleyan Theology teaches that we can be

“unborn.” This is not what is taught. What is

taught is that according to 1 John 5:16, it is

possible for a Christian to die a spiritual

death (cf. also Rom. 8:13).


2. Christians are saved by grace, which they accept through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8); and they maintain their salvation by a life of faith.

Because saving faith leads to and results in obedience, they are more to be more and more conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:19; Phil. 3:10).

The security of the believer’s salvation is sure, but it rests on faith in both the receiving and keeping of salvation.


3. The practice of sin affects adversely the

faith of Christians.

The apostle Paul rejected that somehow more

sin is a way to demonstrate more grace. He

asked, “Shall we continue in sin that grace

may abound” (Rom. 6:1). His answer is

“Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin

live any longer in it?” (v. 2). According to 1

John 3:8, 9 those who practice sin are not of

Christ, but of the devil.

In Conclusion

God has given salvation to believers in Christ, but the only safe way for Christians to live is in continuing faith and obedience to Christ. Scripture recognizes that believers can forfeit their salvation. It is possible to believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away (Lk. 8:13). Eternal life can only be possessed by those in union with Christ. Therefore it is necessary to abide in the Savior who alone makes life available to us.

~Arrington, p. 190

Assurance

Despite the possibility that believers can fall away and utterly reject the gospel, we can, nevertheless have a deep and settled assurance about our salvation and great confidence that we are the children of God.

Unlike the picture sometimes portrayed by Calvinists, the Wesleyan position is not that God is looking for a reason to exclude people from His presence. Indeed, He has done and continues to do everything, short of excluding freewill, to insure that we will make it.

GEISLER, NORMAN

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY II

Chapter 63 “The Assurance of Salvation”

Geisler’s Terms for Assurance of Salvation

Perseverance: Illustrates the strong Calvinist belief that those who are truly among the elect will persevere in faith unto the end.

Eternal Security: Used for the certainty of salvation, used by moderate Calvinists to show that a true believer has more than present assurance of salvation. Christians can have current confidence that they will never lose their salvation—they are eternally secure.

Geisler’s Terms for Assurance of Salvation

Once Saved, Always Saved: Many Calvinist

believers use this term in lieu of eternal

security.

The Assurance of the Believer: Another

contemporary phrase in some circles, for

eternal security. Assurance deals with a

feeling or sense or experience that one is

saved.

Geisler’s Biblical Arguments for Eternal Security

Geisler states that Christians can have true

assurance of eternal salvation as evidenced

by Paul’s exhortation, “Examine yourselves

to see whether you are in the faith; test

yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ

Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail

the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5).


Geisler’s use of Job 19:25-26 to defend

eternal security is weak, at best. If ever there

was an example of entire sanctification, it

would Job. God called him a perfect man.

As such, any Wesleyan would readily agree

that a person living a righteous life has the

assurance of seeing Christ someday.


Geisler’s use of Ecclesiastes 3:14 and his

assertion that it assures eternal salvation

undermines his own “moderate” Calvinist

view which holds that it is possible to

“appostasize.” If Geisler was correct in his

use of Ecclesiastes then he is incorrect in his

view of “moderate” Calvinism.


Geisler’s use of John 3:18 fails to appreciate

the tense of the Greek verb “is not

condemned,” which is present tense and not

future or perfect tense. Every Wesleyan

could agree that if one is believing and

continues to believe then he is currently in a

position of forgiveness and grace and not of

condemnation.


Geisler’s use of John 5:24 again, the verb

tense is important. The word “believes” is a

present active participle. It indicates faith

that is active an ongoing. Again, Wesleyans

would agree that anyone in a state of

believing (which is reflected in true

repentance, i.e., turning from a sinful

lifestyle) is able to claim the promise that

follows: “. . . Has eternal life and will not be

condemned.”


Geisler’s use of John 6:37, fails to explore

what is implicit in the verse. Jesus said, “All

that the Father gives me will come to me, and

whoever come to me I will never drive away.”

No Wesleyan has claimed that Jesus drives

anyone away. The fact of continued freewill

after salvation (something Geisler argues for)

suggests the possibility of someone walking

away—not being driven away—by Jesus.


Geisler goes on to use many other verses,

but as my few examples demonstrate, when

verses are taken in their context, when verb

usage and the implications of verb usage is

considered, there is no convincing argument

for the position that once one is saved he or

she cannot forsake their faith through their

freewill and walk way from the benefits of

grace, i.e., eternal reward rather than eternal

punishment.

Calvinists and Wesleyans

What agreement is there?

Moderate Calvinists and Wesleyan can agree on many essential things:

1. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

2. Jesus died a substitutionary death in our place.

3. We are saved by grace through faith in the gospel, the Good News of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

4. No one can live in habitual unrepentant sin and make it to heaven. (The Calvinists say such a person never was saved or apostatized, and the Wesleyans say either they were never saved or if they were, they have since backslidden and have forfeited their salvation through their unbelief.)

Geisler’s Misrepresentation of Wesleyanism

Geisler asks, “If the performance of works is necessary for the maintenance of my salvation, How can I avoid the conclusion that I am saved by my good works?”

That is a misrepresentation of Wesleyan Theology. Though Geisler tries to connect Arminian position with the Roman Catholic view, Wesleyans do not argue for works as a condition for salvation. The Wesleyan view is the that we are saved by grace through faith—period.

The Position of the Writer of Hebrews

The Wesleyan position does not believe one can be “unborn,” but the Bible clearly speaks of “unbelief” in terms of believing and then turning to unbelief:

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).

The reading of this text is straightforward. The Writer calls them “brethren” a term used for people who share the faith. He refers to “unbelief in departing from the living God.” Nothing needs to be added or taken away from this text to make the point that believing “brethren” (Christians) could through “unbelief” depart from the living God.

Final Point Against Geisler’s View of Eternal Security

Geisler does not even attempt to answer the

statement found in Hebrews 3:12. He

references verses 3:12-14 on page 318 and

misrepresents the verse. He uses it to

support eternal security, but fails to note the

condition:

For we have become partakers of Christ if we

hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast

to the end (v. 14).

Education

Chapter 63 and arrington