Imagine this scenario.
Suppose I bought a car on credit. Each month, they deducted a certain amount from my checking account. And finally, I get it paid off. And then…
At the end, I get a certified letter saying something like this:
“Dear Customer: It has been our pleasure to receive your bank draft for $428.51 each month over the past year and a half. We here in the corporate offices of Auto Financial Services have come to a decision and want to inform you that we wish to continue receiving this amount from you after the contract has expired. We know that you are enjoying your new automobile and therefore will want to do your part to maintain this wonderful relationship. However, our legal department informs us that we should alert you to the reality that if you discontinue making these monthly payments, we will be forced to repossess the car. Have a nice day.”
So, even after the car is paid for, I must keep making the payments if I wish to continue owning their car. Miss a payment and they take it back.
Yikes.
All right. It’s just a little fantasy. Or perhaps a parable. Now, imagine this.
What if the Lord in Heaven said to us, “I have given you salvation. It is eternal. Salvation is a free gift. You did nothing to deserve it. In fact, quite the opposite. After all, the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. You no doubt have read that in Romans 6:23. Now, that’s all well and good, but there is something in the fine print which you might have missed.”
He continues. “In order for you to continue to enjoy this free gift from Heaven, it will be necessary for you to keep up your end of the bargain. We will expect you to do certain things–read your Bible, go to church, tithe, that sort of thing–and to refrain from certain things–smoking cigarettes, drinking alcoholic beverages, going to dances, and gossiping in order to maintain this salvation. Failure to keep up your continuing payments on salvation will result in a cancellation of the policy.”
So much for salvation by grace through faith.
But tell me if that’s not precisely how a lot of born again, sincere Christians interpret the gospel message of salvation.
I’m serious. Not putting anyone down. Neither am I doubting anyone’s salvation.
We’re talking biblical doctrine here.
Either we believe “Jesus paid it all” and “salvation is of grace” or we believe in a salvation by works.
We cannot have it both ways.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for a salvation not dependent on my continuing to make monthly payments lest it be repossessed.
Salvation is either eternal or it isn’t. It’s either of grace or of works, but not both. We are either sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption or we are on our own here.
I read somewhere of the little child crossing the street with his daddy. The child was crying that he could not hold on tightly enough and was afraid. His father assured him that “I’m holding on to you and you’re secure.”
That’s the point. Thank God a thousand times for saying what He meant and meaning what He said: “And they shall never perish.”
May I make a suggestion? Go to John 10 and read verses 27 through 30 several times. Read it slowly and thoughtfully.
Ask yourself whether Jesus can be believed.
How we answer that says volumes about our faithfulness.
That’s a really interesting thought experiment. It highlights how easily we can lose sight of the initial cost when a payment plan is running.
I tell people that eternal life has no end, and it has no breaks in the middle. This is supported by Hebrews 6:4-10, where the falling away in v. 6 is hypothetical. Every time our life in Christ is called eternal, that tells us that it is not interrupted and restarted.
By the way, Brother Joe, I was one of the 150 at FBC Columbus who read Hebrews ten times before you preached through it.
Wow, Tom. Did we do that? I had honestly forgotten it. Thank you!!
Bro. Joe, you are a treasure. The “parable” you used explains it so well. I would like to ask, what about people who made professions of faith, followed in baptism, was active in church but later decided they no longer believed in God, are they still saved or were they truly saved to begin with? It has been my long held belief that if a person tells you they are saved, then I must take that at face value because the truth of their heart is between them and God. But what do you do when someone decides, due to unknown circumstances, that they no longer believe in God and claims to be an atheist? There have been storms in my life that as I was sinking in despair that consciously and subconsciously I reached out to grab on to Jesus, even if it was just the hem of his garment; I would still cling to him for dear life. That’s why it’s so hard for me to understand why someone could just walk away. You may have already written an article on this. If you have, please direct me so that I may read it.
Thank you, Kimberly. Don’t know if we have an article on this or not, but briefly what I think is as follows:
1) The Lord alone knows who is saved and who isn’t. I love the line in 2 Timothy 2:19 that says “The Lord knows those who are His.” And aren’t we glad. But this also means: We don’t always know who is and who ain’t.
2)I would not be surprised if when we get to Heaven those people (who were saved as children and later changed) will be there too. After all, even if we are not faithful, He is! That’s what I John 3:19ff seems to be saying.
Thank you Bro. Joe. Like everything else, we should just leave it to God. He knows and sees more than our finite minds can comprehend.