The conditional preservation of the saints , or generally conditional security , is the Arminian belief that believers are kept secure by God in their relationship with Him under the conditions of the persistent faith in Christ. Arminians find the Scriptures that explain both the initial act of faith in Christ, "where the relationship is done, and the persistent faith in Him where the relationship is preserved." The "believer's relationship to Christ has never existed an existing static relationship as an irrevocable consequence of past decisions, actions, or experiences." On the contrary, it is a living unity "proceeding on the faith that lives in the living Savior." This unity of life is captured in this simple command by Christ, "Remain in me, and I in you" (John 15: 4).
According to the Arminians, the faith that saves the Bible expresses itself in love and obedience to God (Galatians 5: 6, Hebrews 5: 8-9). In the Arminian Confession of 1621, the Remnants (or Arminian leaders) affirmed that the true faith or life operates through love, and that God chooses to provide salvation and eternal life through His Son, "and ultimately glorify all men and only those who truly believe in His name, or obey His gospel, and persevere in faith and obedience unto death... "
Arminians believe that "It is clear from Scripture that believers are safe." In addition, believers have a certainty in knowing no external forces or circumstances that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ (Romans 8: 35-39; John 10: 27-29; ). Nevertheless, the Arminians see many warnings in the Bible addressed to true believers about the possibility of falling in unbelief and thus disconnected from their saving union with God through Christ. The Arminians argue that if a believer becomes an unbeliever (apostasy), they naturally cease to partake of the promises of salvation and eternal life made for the believer who continue to believe and remain united with Christ.
Therefore, the Arminians tried to follow the biblical writers to warn believers about the real danger of apostasy. The sure and biblical way to avoid apostasy is by rebuking believers to mature spiritually in their relationship with God in union with Christ and through the power of the Spirit. Maturity occurs when followers of Christ continue to meet fellow believers to encourage and strengthen each other; counsel each one to love God and others; to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and persevere in faith in prayerful intercession to God through trials and temptations.
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The free Will Baptist scholar Robert Picirilli states:
Right between the points of tension between Calvinism and Arminianism is the question of whether those who have been regenerated must have survived (or preserved) or may have been apostatized and lost... Arminius himself and the original Remonstrants avoided a clear conclusion on the matter. But they ask questions. And the natural implications of the view at the heart of Arminianism, even at an early stage as a formal movement, tend to question whether Calvinism's assumptions about the required persistence are truly biblical. The trends indicated by the questions asked do not take long to achieve results, and thus Calvinism and Arminianism have traditionally been divided over this issue.
Before the time of debate between Calvinists and the Arminians at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), the views on the early church seemed to be on the side of conditional security. From his research on the writings of early church fathers (AD 90-313), patristic scholar David W. Bercot came to this conclusion: "Because the early Christians believed that our constant faith and obedience are necessary for salvation , naturally follow that they believe that the 'saved' person can still be lost. "
Arminius and conditional security
Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) arrived at the same conclusion in his own reading of the early church father. In response to the Calvinist argument of William Perkins for the perseverance of the saints, he writes: "In relation to the sentiments of the early church fathers, you must know that almost all the ancients were opinions, that believers could fall and perish. "On another occasion he noted that such a view is never" counted as a heresy, "but" always has more supporters in the church of Christ, than is denying its possibilities. " Arminius's opinion on this subject is clearly communicated in this relatively short statement:
My sentiment of respect for the perseverance of the Saints is that those who have been transplanted into Christ by the true faith, and thus have taken part in the life-giving spirit, have sufficient power [or strength] to resist Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to gain victory over these enemies - but not without the grace of the same Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ also by His Spirit helped them in all their temptations, and gave them ready-made help from his hands; and, as long as they are ready for battle, plead for their help, and not wanting themselves, Christ protects them from the fall. So it is impossible for them, by the ingenuity or cunning power of Satan, whether tempted or dragged out of the hands of Christ. But I think it is useful and will be indispensable in our first convention, [or Synod] to institutionalize the diligent investigation of the Scriptures, whether it is impossible for some individuals through neglect to leave the beginning of their existence in Christ, to reunite with the world evil today, to reject the healthy doctrine that was ever conveyed to them, to lose a good conscience, and to cause divine grace to be ineffective. Although I am here openly and firmly asserting, I have never taught that a true believer can, either wholly or ultimately fall from faith, and perish; but I will not hide that there are parts of the scriptures which to me seem to use this aspect; and answers for those who have been allowed to see me, not in such a way as to approve all the points for my understanding. On the other hand, certain passages are produced for the opposite doctrine [of unconditional persistence] that is appropriate for many considerations.
For Arminius, the security of believers is conditional - "as long as they are ready for battle, beg for help, and do not want to be alone." It complements what Arminius said elsewhere in his writings: "God decides to receive the support of those who repent and believe, and to save in Christ, for Christ, and through Christ, those who persevere, but leave in under the sin and wrath of those who do not repent and disbelieve, and curse them as strangers from Christ. "Elsewhere he writes:" [God] wills that those who believe and persevere in faith will be saved, but that they, the unbelieving and unrepentant, will remain under a curse. "
The Remonstrants and conditional security
After the death of Arminius in 1609, the Remnants retained their leader's view of his conditional security and his uncertainty about the possibility of apostasy. This is evidenced in the fifth article composed by its leaders in 1610:
That those who are put into Christ by the true faith, and thus become part of the life-giving Spirit, thus have full power to fight against their own Satan, sin, the world, and their flesh, and to win victory; it is well understood that it is through the companionship of the Holy Spirit; and that Jesus Christ helps them by His Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hands, and if only they are ready for conflict, and wants his help, and not inactive, makes them fall, so they, by no means or the power of Satan, can be led astray or uprooted from the hands of Christ, according to the Word of Christ, John 10:28: 'No one will uproot them from my hand.' But are they able, through neglect, to abandon the first beginnings of their life in Christ, to return to this evil world, to turn from the sacred teachings that liberate them, to lose a good conscience, to be without grace, to be more determined than the Book Holy, before we ourselves can teach it with full enticement of our minds.
Sometime between 1610, and the official process of the Synod of Dort (1618), the Remnants became fully convinced in their minds that the Scriptures teach that a true believer is able to leave faith and die eternally as an unbeliever. They formalized their views in "The Opinion of the Remonstrants" (1618). Points three and four in the fifth article read:
True believers can fall from the true faith and fall into sin as inconsistent with true and justified faith; not only is it possible, but it often happens. True believers can fall into their own faults into shameful and horrible deeds, to persevere and die in them; and therefore eventually fall and perish.
Picirilli states: "From that early period, then, when the matter was being examined again, the Arminians have taught that those who are truly saved need to be warned against apostasy as a real and possible danger."
Other arminians who affirm conditional security
John Goodwin (1593-1665) was a Puritan who "presented the Arminian position falling under Redemption Redeemed (1651)" which attracted much attention from the Calvinists. In his book, the English bishop Laurence Womock (1612-1685) provides many scripture references for the fifth article on perseverance conveyed by later Remnants. Philip van Limborch (1633-1712) wrote the first complete Systematic Theology of Remotex in 1702 which included a section on apostasy. In 1710, a minister in the Church of England, Daniel Whitby (1638-1726), published a masterpiece that criticized the five points of Calvinism - which involves the doctrine of unconditional diligence.
John Wesley (1703-1791), founder of Methodism, is a firm defender of conditional security and criticism of unconditional security. In 1751, Wesley defended his position in a work entitled, "Serious Thoughts After Perseverance of the Saints." In it he argues that a believer remains in a rescue relationship with God if he "continues in faith" or "endures in faith to the end." Wesley asserts that a child of God, "while he continues a true believer, can not go to hell." However, if he makes a "shipwreck of faith, then a man who believes it now may become an unbeliever sometime later" and becomes "a demon child." He then added, "God is the Father of those who believe, as long as they believe, but the devil is the father of those who do not believe, whether they ever believe it or not." Like his Arminian predecessors, Wesley was convinced from the testimony of Scripture that a true believer can leave faith and the way of truth and "fall from God to perish forever."
From John Wesley and beyond, it seems as though every Methodist/Wesleyan pastor, scholar or theologian in the print media has opposed unconditional persistence: Thomas Olivers (1725-1799); John Fletcher (1729-1783); Joseph Benson (1748-1821); Leroy M. Lee (1758-1816); Adam Clarke (1762-1832); Nathan Bangs (1778-1862); Richard Watson (1781-1833); Thomas Thornton (1794-1860) Samuel Wakefield (1799-1895); Luther Lee (1800-1889); Amos Binney (1802-1878); William H. Browning (1805-1873); Daniel D. Whedon (1805-1885); Thomas N. Ralston (1806-1891); Thomas O. Summers (1812-1882); Albert Nash (1812-1900); John Miley (1813-1895); Philip Pugh (1817-1871); Randolph S. Foster (1820-1903); William Burt Pope (1822-1903); B. T. Roberts (1823-1893); Daniel Steele (1824-1914); Benjamin Field (1827-1869); John Shaw Banks (1835-1917); and Joseph Agar Beet (1840-1924).
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Apostasy: definitions and dangers
Definition of apostasy
Apostasy "means the denial of a deliberate belief in Christ made by a Christian who previously believed." "Cremer states that apostasia is used in the absolute sense of 'passing to unbelief,' thus the dissolution of 'union with God lives through faith in Christ'." The Arminian scholar, Robert Shank writes,
The English word apostasy comes from the Greek noun, apostasia . Thayer defines apostasia as "falling, defection, apostasy, in the Scripture of the true religion." The word appears twice in the New Testament (Acts 21:21, 2 Thessalonians 2: 3). is well described in its use in Acts 21:21,... "You teach apostasy (defection) from Moses."... A similar word is a synonym of apostasion Thayer defines apostasion apostasion "with reference to 'divorce deed.'" The meaning of the verb [related] aphist? Mi ... is, of course, in accordance with the meaning of the noun. It is used transitively in Acts 5:37,... "draws people after them." Intransitive, it means to go, go, go, back, fall, become unbelieving , etc.
I. Howard Marshall notes that aphistemi is used to release faith in Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4: 1 and Hebrews 3:12, and is used for the departure of God in LXX [ie the Septuagint, Greek translation of the Old Testament]. "Marshall also notes that" the failure to persevere in faith is expressed by other [Greek words] meaning to fall, drift and stumble. " Of particular theological significance is the verb scandaliz? ("fall out of faith") and the noun scandalon ("persuasion for distrust, cause of loss of salvation, seduction").
Shank concludes: "An apostate, according to the definition of the New Testament, is the one who has decided union with Christ by withdrawing from the real saving relationship with Him.The apostasy is impossible for those who have not yet entered into the relationship of salvation with God. Warnings not to succumb to the perilous danger of apostasy directed... to people who are obviously true believers. "J. Rodman Williams added,
One of the mistakes made by people who insist on an unchanging salvation salvation is to see too much salvation as a "country". From this perspective, to be saved is to enter the "state of grace." No matter how true that one moves into a new realm - whether it is called the kingdom of God, eternal life, or other similar expressions - the crux of the matter is the formation of a new relationship with God. Before being saved, one is "without God" or "against God," cut off from His presence. Now through the reconciliation of Jesus Christ - "at-one-ment with God" - has taken place. Moreover, the Holy Spirit, being present, is not merely a force or an energy but God Himself in a new and intimate relationship. Therefore, if someone starts to "float," it is not of some static condition or "state" but of the Person . It is a personal relationship which is thus betrayed, defaced, released; this is the tragic meaning of apostasy. Not too much to sacrifice something, even amazing as salvation, but ignore the Person. Surely through such rescue action will also be lost. But the critical issue is severing the relationship with the personal God.
The danger of apostasy
Marshall discovers four biblical dangers that can serve as a precursor for apostasy:
- 1. Persecution by unbelievers - "Believers... are often tempted to give up their beliefs because of the difficulty of defending them in the midst of fierce opposition."
- 2. Accepting False Teachings - "Whatever the form itself is... the temptation is to blunt the end of faith in Jesus Christ and finally destroy it altogether."
- 3. The Temptation of Sin - "The importance of this temptation is that it causes believers to deny God's power to protect him from sin, to return to the things from which he is saved by faith in Christ (and which by its very nature exclude mankind from the kingdom of God), and to carry out acts explicitly forbidden by God... In other words, sin is an act and attitude that is inconsistent with the obedience of faith, and therefore a denial of faith. " dd>
- 4. Fatigue in Faith - This is where "believers are gradually drifting from their faith and entering a state of apostasy."
Marshall concludes: "The New Testament contains too many warnings about the dangers of sin and apostasy for us to be complacent about these possibilities.... The danger is real and not 'hypothetical.'" Methodical expert Ben Witherington will add: "The New Testament shows that one is not always safe until one is secure in eternity. Therefore, there is the possibility of apostasy or rebellion against God by those who believe in Christ, but apostasy, not to be confused with the notion of accidental or unconscious "apostasy." "Apostasy is a deliberate and deliberate rebellion against God... Unless a person commits such an act of apostasy or rebellion, one does not have to worry about one's salvation, for God has a firm grasp on the believer."
With apostasy as a real possibility for Christians, the Arminians seek to follow the example provided by the New Testament writers in encouraging Christians to persevere. Scot McKnight explains what it means to be persistent and meaningless to Arminian:
It does not mean to be sinless; it does not mean that we are in a steady state and never fail to become pure sanctification; it does not deny spirituality tripping or falling apart; it does not deny doubts and problems. It just means that the person keeps walking with Jesus and does not walk away from him firmly.... What it means to continue believing in God.
Because the Arminians view sin as "actions and attitudes that are... a rejection of faith", believers who persist in acting like unbelievers will eventually become one of them and share in the same destiny and destruction. Therefore, "the only one who needs perseverance is a Christian," and "the only person who can do apostasy is a Christian, and non-Christians do not have to be patient or apostate." Thus, when Christians are properly warned about the dangers of apostasy, such a warning "can serve as a moral commandment that strengthens commitment to holiness and the need to give full trust in God in Christ through his Spirit."
Bible Support
Arminians find further support for the conditional security of the various Scriptures in which the verb "believe" takes place in present tense Greek. Greek scholars and commentators (both Calvinists and non-Calvinists) have noted that Greek tense verbs generally refer to sustainable action, especially the present one. For example, In his textbook, The Basics of Grammar Bible , Calvinist William D. Mounce writes: "The present participle is built on the current tense verb rod, it describes a continuous action. it is often difficult to bring this 'ongoing' nuance into your translation, but this should be a key consideration in your mind. "Calvinist Daniel Wallace presents this" ongoing "nuance for the present" believing "in John 3:16, "Everyone who believes in him will not perish... In this Gospel, there seems to be a qualitative difference between the ongoing act of belief and the simple fact of believing." He argues for this understanding not just because it believes present in the present tense, "but for the use of the present participle of pisteu, believe, especially in the soteriological context [ie, salvation] in the NT." Wallace mel explain by explaining,
The power aspect of the [participle] current? ???????? [one believe] seems to contrast with [AORIST PARTICIPLE]? ????????? [who has faith].... Today [participle for believers] appears six times more frequently (43 times) [compared with aorists], most often in a soteriological context (see John 1:12, 3:15, 16 , 2:44, 10:43, 13:39, Rom. 1:16, 3:22; 4:16, 3:36, 3:36, 6:35, 47, 64; (1 Corinthians 3:22, Eph. 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1: 7; 2:10, 1 Corinthians 1: 13: 1 Pet 2: 6, 7; 1 John 5: 1, 5, 10, 13). So, apparently because AORIST PARTICIPLE is a life choice to describe "believers," it is unlikely that when the present is used, it is flat structurally. Nowadays it is the most likely tense choice because New Testament authors generally see the continuous belief as a necessary condition for salvation. Along these lines, it seems significant that the promise of salvation is almost always given to? ???????? [who believes] (see some of the texts quoted above), almost never? ????????? [people who believe] (apart from Mark 16:16, John 7:39 and Heb. 4: 3 come closest...).
Greek scholar Arminian J. Harold Greenlee provides the following literal translation of several verses where the Greek word translated "believe" (in our modern translation) takes place in the tension of continuous action.
- John 3:15, "... that all who believe may have everlasting life in him."
- John 3:16, "... that anyone who believes in him should not perish but must have eternal life."
- John 3:36, "The one who believes in the Son has everlasting life."
- John 5:24, "The one who listens to my words and believes the one who sent me has eternal life."
- John 6:35, "those who believe in me will never thirst."
- John 6:40, "... that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him must have eternal life."
- John 6:47, "Believers have eternal life."
- John 11:25, 26, "The one who believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."
- John 20:31, "... in order to believe you may have life in His name."
- Romans 1:16, "is the power of God for salvation for all who believe."
- 1 Corinthians 1:21, "it pleases God... to save believers."
What is more important is that "In many cases, the result of faith is also given in a continuous form.When we continue to believe , we continue to have eternal life (John 3).: 15, 16, 36; 20:31.) "This is the kind of evidence that directs the Arminians to conclude that" lasting security is pledged prominently to "believers" - those who continue to believe in Christ - but not " believe, "- one who has only done one act of faith some time in the past. " Indeed, "True security lies in the fact that saving faith is not a historical act, but the present-tense, up-running process and continue. "
Scriptures that appear to conflict with conditional security
Those who hold the perseverance of the saints cite a number of verses to support their views. Here are some of the most frequently quoted:
- John 5:24 - Indeed, really, I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes he who sent me has eternal life. He does not enter into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (ESV)
- John 6:35, 37-40 - Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will not starve, and whoever believes in Me will never thirsty. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never be expelled. Because I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but His will sent me. And this is his will send me, that I will not lose anything from everything he has
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