Posted on 10/20/2013 11:29:26 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Once upon a time, Groucho Marx hosted the popular game show, “You Bet Your Life.” At the start of the show, a “secret word” was revealed to the studio audience. If a contestant said the word during the course of the show, a reward would descend from the rafters (a one hundred dollar bill).
Whether we know it or not, we are all, Christians and non-Christians alike, contestants in the spiritual equivalent of “You Bet Your Life.” If we bet wisely, our reward is eternal life. But if we bet foolishly, we condemn ourselves to eternal damnation.
That brings to mind Pascal’s Wager, credited to the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal. He famously posited that every human being bets his or her life on whether or not God exists.
“Let us,” he wrote, “weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.”
To put this in terms to which most of us can relate, even if the odds of God’s existence are, say, 1 in 175 million – the odds of winning Powerball on a single ticket – it is worth the wager.
Because, if we have bet on God, and God does not exist, we lose nothing. That is, save for indulging in certain behavior proscribed by God, including sexual promiscuity, idol worship, adultery, homosexuality (and other sexual perversions), thievery, greed, substance abuse, slander and robbery.
But if we bet against the Almighty, and indeed He does exist, we shall be cast into the lake of fire, eternally separated from God. We shall be condemned to place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Where we will be burned with unquenchable fire. Where we will be tormented day and night forever and forever.
Most of us are rationale. So we heed Pascal’s advice.
Even if we are uncertain there is a God, we hedge our bet. We respond to an altar call at some point in our lives. We say we accept Jesus as our personal Savior. We get baptized.
In so doing, we believe we have ensured our eternal security. We believe that, because we went through the ritual of being “saved,” we have a lifetime “Get Out of Hell Free” card. And that we can live our lives as it pleases us – not God – with impunity.
But what if we are wrong? What if this doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved,” espoused by many Godly pastors, preached in many purpose-driven churches, is errant? What if it actually is possible for us to forfeit our eternal salvation, to condemn ourselves to hell, by living brazenly and unrepentantly in defiance of God’s law?
That presents a corollary to Pascal’s wager, one that has not been considered by those who profess themselves Christ followers, but who are not truly leading a Christian life.
Let us call this corollary the Salvation wager, in which we weigh the gain and loss in betting on “Once Saved, Always Saved.”
Those who reject the doctrine, who believe those of us whom the Son sets free, must go and sin no more, must faithfully strive to live in obedience to God, have everything to gain if the doctrine is wrong and nothing to lose if the doctrine is right.
But those who subscribe to the doctrine, who believe that, having been saved, they can commit any and all manner of sin and it doesn’t matter in the eternal scheme of things, have hell to pay if they are wrong.
So what might Pascal advise?
That even if it’s more likely that once a person is saved, there is absolutely nothing they can do to lose their salvation, and that even if the odds are, say, 175 million to 1 that the widely-accepted doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” is right rather than wrong, it still is wise to bet against the doctrine.
Because there are many who claim themselves Christians, who think their names have been written in the book of life, who will appear before the great white throne of judgment, who will find themselves sinners in the hands of an angry God.
They will look to Jesus and say, “Lord, Lord,” hoping He will spare them from punishment. But He will declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice wickedness.”
That’s a warning to those abiding unabashedly and unrepentantly in sin. They have bet their lives on “Once Saved, Always Saved.” And if they are wrong, eternal torment awaits.
Mrs. D, you have the right words to live by. But please answer me this (or anybody out there):
How do I love the Democraps and the RINOs?
Kind of knocks the snot out of your out of context verse.
Yes indeed Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.
It is wrong.
" Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. NAY, in ALL THESE THINGS we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US. For I am persuaded, that NEITHER DEATH, NOR LIFE, NOR ANGELS, NOR PRINCIPILATIES, NOR POWERS, NOR THINGS PRESENT, NOR THINGS TO COME, NOR HEIGHT< NOR DEPTH, NOR ANY OTHER CREATURE SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD." (Rom. 8:35-39).
This says that neither my life NOR my death can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ. And it also says that neither things present NOR things to come can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ. You can't get any more secure than THAT.
Kind of knocks the snot out of your out of context verse.
I'm sorry but I really have to question your comprehension level...
Jesus did not go to party with those people...He went to ram the bible down their throats...The partying is fellowship...The bible ramming is preaching...Jesus did not go to fellowship, but to preach...
What happens when a person dies unexpectedly four days after receiving communion?
What happens if you’re ‘born again’ and your obstetrician was Jim Jones, David Koresh, Jim Bakker (before he was indicted), Harold Camping, or Marjoe (before he exposed the fraud)?
What i was referring to was first the innate sense of morality, in which the law in essence is written on the heart.
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) (Romans 2:14-15) Paul here is indicting the Gentiles without the Law as being accountable, as are the Jews which have the superior detailed Law. This interior code shall judgment them "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Romans 2:16)
This is not saying such any will be actually saved by keeping the moral code they have, as no one does, and thus Paul goes on in chapter 3 to present both the Jews and Gentiles as in need of redemption.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:9-10)
But the day of Judgment will reveal whether they obeyed that light, and their hidden motives. And punishment will be according to light and ability given, and thus "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city" (Matthew 10:15) which was given greater grace and light.
And which teaching also reveals that God gives more grace to some than others, thank God I am a recipient of such, but grace is unmerited, and thus God's justice owes no man any more than another, except in the sense that in His covenant of grace He rewards believers according to their manner and degree of work, believers who in reality deserve Hell in strict Justice. (1Cor. 3:8)
Not because the Light failed, but because some willfully blind themselves, or with damned resoluteness, turn away.
I believe all are given some grace to obey light, obedience to which would lead to Christ, and the elect are saved because God draws men, (Jn. 12:32) opens hearts, (Acts 16:14) and grants repentant faith, (Eph. 2:8,9) which man otherwise could not and would not do.
And sinners are damned because of what they did, not due to ignorance, except ignorance that is due to what they did by rejecting what they did know which was right.
In the Religion forum, on a thread titled What if ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’ is Wrong?, redleghunter wrote:
What happens when a person dies unexpectedly four days after receiving communion?
I responded:
If they are in a State of Grace, they are saved. If they are not, but have the time to regret the sin that removed them from God’s Grace and contritely ask forgiveness, they are saved. Anyone who dies in a sin-filled state of rebellion is not saved.
Please correct or amplify, as needed.
So you never sin? Or you sin knowing that your sins are already forgiven?
The chances are overwhelmingly high that one will choose the wrong god to believe in. Fortunately, only a few gods - like that of the Christian religion - casts non-believers into a lake of fire for making the wrong educated guess.
Marcus Aurelius:
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid.
I am “in Christ”, narses. As in “...shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of GOD, which is IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” (Rom. 8:35-39). And as I just posted, I am dead, and my life is hid WITH CHRIST IN GOD. (Col. 3:2). If you cannot comprehend that, then you should examine yourself, whether you are in “the faith”. It’s very easy to understand, if you are there. And impossible to understand, if you are not.
Agreed. I don't think there is any other way of seeing this and which doesn't contradict other Scriptures. If it is by grace, then its grace ALL the way.
Exactly...But one must be grounded in the scriptures to really understand this, I would think...
The Pentecostals have it covered tho by getting saved again every time they commit a sin they feel is worthy of losing salvation...It's called getting born-again again...
The real difference with that very large religion and us is that they teach that a person is not really saved until they pass thru the White Throne Judgment...Therefore, no on can be saved by trusting Jesus Christ...And of course, it's impossible to know if you are saved until it happens...And not one of them will really search the scriptures to see if those things are so...
Wrong-o. It "basically claims" no such thing. Scripture establishes that Jesus Christ is the Light; it also establishes that He is the Light who enlightens every man who comes into the world.
Jesus can appear to anyone as Light, anytime He wants to. He did so to St. Paul. Will you dispute that?
Are you privy to the fact, closed off to all the rest of us, that Jesus either cannot or will not come to Mongolian boys, Scripture to the contrary notwithstanding??
This would seem to be not a Savior you believe in, but a System: an automatic, inexorable, clanking, grinding, soul-sorting System. And one rich only in damnation.
I trust my Savior more. I have to. My life is in His hand.
I liked that. Thanks for posting it.
So you never sin?
“Wrong-o. It “basically claims” no such thing. Scripture establishes that Jesus Christ is the Light; it also establishes that He is the Light who enlightens every man who comes into the world.
Jesus can appear to anyone as Light, anytime He wants to. He did so to St. Paul. Will you dispute that?”
This is more of an emotional response, than it is to anything I had said, otherwise you would not have said it. Obviously when Christ appeared before Paul, He did so as Jesus Christ and, not, say, a pagan god, or no God at all. Keep in mind I do remember our previous conversations on this same matter. Do you claim that an atheist can get into heaven as long as he “follows” his conscience, or is, by your Catholic reckoning, a good person? If not, then you are proposing then is that a Mongolian somewhere can come to revelation that Jesus is the Christ. I’m not sure I am displeased with that. Even Muslims have had dreams and visions of Jesus Christ, and have been taught the Gospel in that way. When Paul was confronted with Christ on the road to Damascus, Christ did not fail to reveal who and what He really was. It wasn’t Plato envisioning the “One” through His reasoning, who, inevitably, still sinned, and therefore would go to hell for his sins.
But if the Mongolian is merely following his conscience, speaking in the sense of a Pope Francis, and is being saved through a devotion to some higher ideal of goodness, like that Atheist reporter Francis was interviewed by, then he is most certainly damned, since the scripture is clear that all the gentiles are guilty outside of Jesus Christ.
Like Tevye's rabbi said in "The Fiddler on the Roof": "A blessing for the Tsar? Why, of course.. 'My G-d bless the Tsar and keep him.... far away from us.'"
Seriously, you pray for their coming to a knowledge of the truth: for their remorse, repentance, and redemption.
This is how I would want to be prayed for: so I'm doing unto them what I would want them to do unto me.
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