Salvation, page 2

Provision, election, atonement, faith, security. Most of the argument lives here.

121 questions answered, showing 18 on page 2 of 7. About this doctrine · All topics

Whosoever WillDoes baptism save you? Is baptism required for salvation?No. Baptism follows faith and pictures it; it does not produce salvation. The thief on the cross was saved without it (Luke 23:43), and Paul says Christ sent him "not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1 Cor 1:17).
Whosoever WillDoes being called from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5) mean I was chosen for heaven?No. Both verses that say it name what the womb-setting was for, and it's a mission, not salvation. Jeremiah was ordained a prophet; Paul was set apart to preach. The calling is to a work.
Whosoever WillDoes free will make God less sovereign?Whosoever Will, The Crown That Can Be Withheld: This is where the usual accusation gets turned on its head. We are told that free will is the weaker doctrine of sovereignty, that it somehow diminishes God to let the creature truly choose. The reverse is true. It takes more power, not less, to will into being creatures with real, derived agency, genuine others who can respond or refuse, than to will into being extensions of yourself that only ever echo your own decree back to you. A God who can only make mirrors is the smaller God. The greater sovereignty is the one that can speak into existence a being who is genuinely other, set him before the throne, and receive from him a worship that he could have withheld and did not. God did not create a hall of mirrors. He created a throne room full of beings who choose to fall down.
With Chuck SmithDoes God force people to believe?Chuck Smith said it in one line: "the Lord does not force Himself on people." Christ's own picture is a knock, not a battering ram: "if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20). Read Chuck on Zechariah 1:1 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.
With Chuck SmithDoes God let us choose between life and death?Chuck Smith called this "the perpetual story of God," and drew the point: "you must exercise your own capacity of choice to choose either life or death." The Lord sets both ways before the people: "Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8). Read Chuck on Jeremiah 21:8 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.
Whosoever WillDoes God love everyone, even those who go to hell?Yes. Scripture says God so loved the world, is longsuffering toward all, takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and sent His Son to save the world, not a select fraction of it.
With Chuck SmithDoes God still love me and forgive me when I keep sinning?Chuck Smith, Answers for Today, chapter 11: You can only feel it as you believe His promise to you: God’s love is unconditional. God doesn’t love good children and hate bad children. God loves good and bad children alike! You need to realize that glorious grace God has extended toward you and receive His love and grace—even though you realize more and more how totally undeserving you are of that love. I have discovered that accepting grace gracefully is difficult, but I’m slowly learning how to do it. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8–9). What is the sin for which a man will be condemned? It’s the rejection of Jesus Christ. I have accepted Him. I still may be weak and fail, but at the base of my life is a love and a desire for Jesus Christ. That’s what He counts for my righteousness—my faith in Him! Scripture, King James Version: 1 John 1:8-9, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
With Chuck SmithDoes God take pleasure in judging the wicked?Chuck Smith pressed the word "any": "God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, any wicked. But God cries unto them to turn." The Lord says it under oath: "As I live ... I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33:11). Read Chuck on Ezekiel 33:11 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.
Whosoever WillDoes Hebrews 6 teach you can lose your salvation?No. Hebrews 6:4-6 is the strongest-sounding warning in the New Testament, but it warns against the danger of falling back, addressed to real hearers, without teaching that a true believer is finally lost; the same book affirms Christ "is able... to save them to the uttermost" (Heb 7:25).
With Chuck SmithDoes Isaiah 53:6 teach unlimited atonement?Chuck Smith applied the verse to his hearers: "God forsook His Son when your sin was placed upon Him," and "He was forsaken of God in order that you won't have to be forsaken by God." The verse begins and ends with the same word: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). Read Chuck on Isaiah 53:6 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.
With Chuck SmithDoes James 2 teach that we are saved by works?Chuck Smith held Paul and James together: "Your good works don't save you. They cannot save you, but your good works are a proof of your faith, for faith is active." James says the works are what shows the faith: "I will shew thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18). Read Chuck on Titus 3:8 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.
Whosoever WillDoes John 10:26 prove the Calvinist view of election? ("Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep")No. John 10:26 fixes an order, not a cause. It says they do not believe because they are not of Christ's sheep; it does not say what makes someone a sheep or not a sheep. The same chapter defines a sheep by hearing and following (10:27), and calls people "other sheep I have" before they have heard (10:16), so "sheep" is not a sealed tag that makes belief impossible. The verse cannot carry the weight of proving unconditional election, because it never states the ground of the sheep-status it names.
Whosoever WillDoes John 8:44 teach that some people are born children of the devil and cannot believe? ("Ye are of your father the devil")No. In John 8, "of your father the devil" is defined by the verse itself as a present allegiance, not a birth. The same sentence that names the father names the cause: "the lusts of your father ye will do" (8:44), ye will, a wanting they are doing. Jesus calls it the slavery of sin a few verses up ("the servant of sin," 8:34), a bondage entered by sinning and breakable by the truth, which is why he offers these same men freedom: "the truth shall make you free" (8:32). It is a condition of the will in the wrong service, not a nature sealed at birth.
Whosoever WillDoes Proverbs 16:4 mean God made the wicked for destruction?Whosoever Will, God Chose Judas: Someone will reach past Judas for Proverbs 16:4: “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” It does not say He made men wicked. It says the wicked have a day appointed. Read the next verse and the cause is named: “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished” (16:5). Punishment, not production. Then four verses down, both halves at once: “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps” (16:9). The man devises. God directs. The devising is still his. Scripture, King James Version: Proverbs 16:4, "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."; Proverbs 16:5, "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished."; Proverbs 16:9, "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.".
Whosoever WillDoes Provisionism make God's will depend on man's cooperation?No. God does not need man's yes to accomplish His will; He willed that the yes be real. Revelation 22:17 is part of the counsel that stands. The will of God that visibly does not come to pass is the one in 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9.
Whosoever WillDoes regeneration come before faith, or does faith come first?Faith comes first. Scripture states the order plainly: "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born... of God" (John 1:12-13). Received, believed, then born.
Whosoever WillDoes regeneration come before faith?Not in the order Scripture writes. John 6:45 defines the drawing as hearing and learning; John 6:40 puts believing before life; Ephesians 1:13 puts believing before sealing; and John 1:12-13 runs received, believed, given power to become sons, born of God. The Reformed reading reverses that last sentence.
Whosoever WillDoes Romans 5:18 mean all men will be justified?Whosoever Will, Not For Ours Only: Romans 5:18 extends the scope explicitly: "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." The parallel is precise. The all men who came under condemnation through Adam's offense = all humanity. The all men upon whom the free gift came through Christ's righteousness = all humanity. The same scope on both sides. If "all men" in the first half means all human beings (and this is not disputed), then "all men" in the second half means the same thing. Paul is not saying all humanity will be justified. The free gift must be received through faith (Romans 3:22; 5:1). But he is saying the basis of justification (the righteousness of the One) has been made available to all men in the same way that condemnation fell upon all men. The provision is universal. The reception is through genuine faith. Scripture, King James Version: Romans 5:18, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."; Romans 3:22, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"; Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:".