Home | FAQ | Message Boards | Site Map | Subject Index | Other Resources | We Believe...
Perilous Times | Unitarian Christology | Logically Speaking | Sacred Names | Faith-Doctrine

Grace Found and Lost

by Phil Maxwell September 26, 2005

Let me begin by plainly stating my bias regarding the so-called "eternal security" doctrine espoused by many mainstream Christians: It is a spiritual anesthetic that invites otherwise earnest seekers of the kingdom of heaven to indulge the safe feeling of immunity from judgment whenever their own failures might otherwise provoke earnest, life-changing repentance.  Also rhetorically invoked in the popularized phrase, "once saved, always saved," this doctrine appears to extend the boundaries of grace, but in reality, it only punches holes in it.  

In proposing that the doorway to heaven isn't followed by a narrow and treacherous path, it obscures the senses that would otherwise allow the Spirit of God to perform the renewing and transforming of the mind.  People who don't know they have to do more than just go through the door won't be as motivated to go the distance, as those who think there's a safety net aren't as likely to measure their steps, and those convinced that all roads ultimately lead to heaven in the end aren't as likely to measure their course as carefully.  The effect is the same as telling a soldier headed into real combat that it is only an exercise involving blank ammunition.  No commander wants his troops depreciating the stakes of a battle or the danger of the enemy, who, in the case of Christians, should be taken as though a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and who is quite capable of doing so.

Fear is a necessary and unavoidable part of life.  It is seldom welcomed or pleasant, but fear can also be a critical component of our choices great and small.  How we respond to fears plays a major role in defining our character and personalities, and also serves as a primary way the Lord transforms our mind and hearts to align with His.  We aren't supposed to live in fear of divine reprisals, and don't have to since we've been given virtual carte blanche grace on anything we take responsibility for.  Nevertheless, fear of God remains the first lesson of wisdom, and those who have received of His goodness should fear the consequences of failing to dispense the same. 

It is a simple matter of accounting:  When we ask for grace, the debt of sin we owe is erased from our account and posted on Yahshua's account.  (Yahshua's love for us cancels out our sins in the eyes of the Father, who loves Him more than He despises our sin.)  However, the transaction includes a lifetime employment contract that includes conducting ourselves thereafter as bearers of His name as both servants and brethren.  While the Lord is certainly slow to exercise this option, the consequences of persistent refusal to do so is a complete reinstatement of the formerly erased sins coupled with immediate demands for payment.   In other words, being less than Christ-like (which doesn't always mean 'nicey-nicey') towards others is a good way to find oneself suddenly buried in adverse consequences of one's own life, no longer shielded by grace and angelic hosts formerly taken for granted.

Here's how it works, as presented by the Lord Yahshua Himself:

Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"

Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

"The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.' And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.'  So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.'  He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

"So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me.  Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?'  And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."  Matthew 18:21-35 NASB

The first thing to point out here is who the Lord was speaking to, the apostles.  Thus, when he said, "So shall My heavenly Father also do to YOU, if each of YOU does not forgive his brother from your heart," we would do well to take it personally.  He neither misspoke, nor have I misconstrued His meaning in this:  He said 'you' and meant the apostles and all who would believe and receive their testimony, meaning the entirety of Christianity past, present, and future. 

Obviously, the Lord intended these words to have an impact on His friends, disciples, and future apostles.  The servant who had been forgiven a great debt was suddenly required to pay that same debt in full through imprisonment and torture, since he obviously couldn't actually repay the debt.  That's harsh...but it's also entirely just according to an irrefutable standard -- the man's own standard of judging others.  It wasn't being merciless that got him; it was being merciless after having been given so much mercy.  In modern vernacular, he was saved by grace, and he was thus obliged to relinquish not only his accounts payable, but also his accounts receivable to the One who bought out his bankrupt accounts.

Notice, also, that it was the intercession of other saints that brought the matter of injustice to the Lord's attention, and how swift and decisive His response is.  The intercessors demonstrate their faithfulness by correctly counting a fellow servant's affliction at the hands of another a matter of grave concern for both their Lord and themselves.  One can only wonder how the Lord might have filled out the story with others who did not intervene as these, but it would at least naturally follow that they might not be able to count on representation before the Lord in their own time of need. 

That aside, it is clear that the Lord Himself counted the forgiveness of sins as a probationary thing, subject to reinstatement upon egregious offenses against His servants and brethren.  Therefore, since sins forgiven can be reinstated insofar as judgment is concerned, then to say 'once saved, always saved' or the like is to misrepresent the true grace of God available through serving Christ.  Salvation is a process that isn't complete until the resurrection, which shouldn't be taken for granted along the way.  Those who pay the price to keep their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life are the truly "saved"; everyone else is just working on it.

Home | FAQ | Message Boards | Site Map | Subject Index | Other Resources | We Believe...
Perilous Times | Unitarian Christology | Logically Speaking | Sacred Names | Faith-Doctrine