Eternal Security

I very much enjoyed Norman Geisler’s book Chosen but Free.  Although I enjoyed many of the topics the topic that interested me the most was the idea of Eternal Security.  This topic caught my attention because I have just recently had a long discussion about this with a friend of mine.  He says he professed his faith in Christ and asked Jesus Christ to be the leader of his life when he was 9 years old.  A year later his parents got a divorce and his world fell apart.  He went to live with his mom and stopped going to church.  His mom and stepfather who both did not believe in Christ raised him.  For the next ten years he did not go to church or have much of a relationship with Christ.  Recently, he has started going back to church and he asked if he could have lost his salvation by not keeping up with his relationship with Christ. 

            This book would have been a great resource to have back when I was talking to him.  Geisler gives his readers Four Views on Eternal Security.  The four include views from Extreme Calvinists, Moderate Calvinists, Classical Arminians, and Wesleyan Arminians.  When reading this I had in mind the Baptist phrase I had always heard when I was growing up, “once saved always saved.  The passage that I like thee most regarding this issue, and is mentioned in this book is John 10:27-29 which says, “
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”  This section of the book was especially reassuring to the security of my faith.  I had always heard “once saved, always saved” but I did not know all the Bible passages to back it up.  It was also good to understand the views that are out there.  The first is the extreme Calvinists that believe the elect can never lose their salvation but they can also never be sure if they are actually elect.  The second is moderate Calvinists who believe there is both “eternal security and present assurance of salvation.”  Next are classical Arminians that believe salvation can only be lost through the “sin of apostasy or the total denial of the Christian faith.” Also once you lose you faith you can never regain it.  The last view is that of Wesleyan Arminians can be lost by “any deliberate serious sin.” 

            It is good to know the different views so that you know where different people are coming from.  It is also a great resource to have a list of Bible passages that address this issue.  Although everyone has different interpretations, I have assurance that I can not l;ose my faith because thankfully I do not have control over my salvation, God does.  

Worship in the Church

Worship is an essential part of every church, but is a very disputed topic.  Although every Christian should agree that worship is important, everyone has his or her own opinion about what worship should be like.  There are many aspects of worship including:  prayer, tithe, offering, communion, singing, etc.  All forms of worship are equally important, but the music and signing seems to be the one that attracts the most controversy.  Since there are many different genres or preferences of music, there are bound to be arguments over with kind of music is best for church.  Although this happens a lot, it should not.  Style or genre should not matter.  As long as you are glorifying the Lord in what you are singing, then style should not matter.  There are two major things about the music in church that do bother me and tend to stand out.  The first is that I think that many worship songs are too self-centered.  There are many that tend to focus on us and talk about us and do not focus on praising God.  I think if the word “I” is used too often, even if it is not meant to, the song is focused more on the person singing than it is on God.  Another thing we need to keep in mind is that the worship songs are not there for our entertainment.  We must remember that we are not at some concert.  I know people make comments; I do at times, about a singer or a group not sounding very good.  I need to remember they are not singing to entertain or please me.  They should be singing to worship God and please him.  I think it is very easy to make worship self-centered because people have such strong opinions about music that they like or do not like.  This also is true with speakers.  If a speaker is preaching the word of God, just because it did not entertain you necessarily or keep your attention the whole time does not mean it was a bad message.   God could have used that speaker’s words to touch someone else’s heart, even if it did not resound with you.  

My Testimony

I grew up in a home where both of my parents were Christians.  I had been going to church ever since I was born.  When I was little, it was just part of life and I thought everyone went to church.  My parents always talked about God, my dad taught a class at church on Sunday mornings, we thanked God before every meal, and my mom prayed with me every night before I went to bed.  I was used to hearing about God, but it was never personal for me.  One night when I was 8 years old after going to church on Wednesday night, I asked my mom how I knew for sure I was going to go to heaven, because I did not want to go to hell and I wanted to understand more about God like she did.  She told me, like I had heard several times, that God created me and loves me, but we all do things that make God sad like lying or cheating.  She said this behavior separated me from God.  She said God is perfect and cannot stand for the people he created to do bad things, and because we do bad things, we deserve to go to Hell and be separated from God. He sent His son Jesus to die in our place.  Because Jesus died, we could live with God in heaven forever if we ask for forgiveness. I asked God to help lead me through life. Since I talked to God and asked forgiveness, I became a Christian.  I have not always been super close to God, but I know I am the closest to Him and know the most about Him when I as praying and reading the Bible.