Replies

I am not sure how to respond. Your link is to the Catholic Catechism, and much of it reads like any standard Protestant treatise on the same subject, with some difference to be expected due to our differences over imputation versus infusion of righteousness, and perhaps others I could discover on a more careful reading. But in the critical point of our own disagreement, it appears to agree with the position I have taken, and not you: “1972 ... a law of freedom, because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law”

I think the Catechism describes the critical point as "the Old Covenant has never been revoked." If you can admit this I think we can agree on most other aspects. The Spirit that gives life shows how Messiah explained the Law, holding us to a higher standard, and at the same time, giving us liberty and safety from judgment if we walk in the Spirit. I like how the Catechism explains it.

I have to get to work, so I don’t have time for treatment of Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS), except to say that Once Elect Always Elect (OEAE) is a much better expression of the Biblical doctrine. OSAS is mostly caricature.

Concur, much better, OEAE, like Israel.

In real life, nobody does that, “woo hoo now I’m free to sin” thing. There are other, more realistic ways to break that down, and anyone who thinks God will let them off for remaining in unrepentant sin will find that God is not mocked. Don’t think that Protestants don’t understand that.

I think some (many ?) are lulled into a false sense of security because they can point to a day they had a salvific experience. They believe all their future sins are covered by that day and ignore, or forget, the many warnings of the LORD and his apostles. They think their mortal sins don't count against them and could only end their life on earth early, with them still gaining an immediate entry into heaven no matter what they do after that event.

I think some (many ?) are lulled into a false sense of security because they can point to a day they had a salvific experience.

It's not a false sense of security. It's real security because it's a done deal.

We are saved by faith but are not kept by works.

If our works are not adequate to save us, they are not adequate to keep us.

They believe all their future sins are covered by that day and ignore, or forget, the many warnings of the LORD and his apostles.

ALL our sins are covered and forgiven. We have been (past tense) crucified in Christ, we have died IN Him.) We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and given a new nature. That new nature is righteous and when the physical body dies, the flesh dies with it and all that remains is the new sinless nature.

They think their mortal sins don't count against them and could only end their life on earth early, with them still gaining an immediate entry into heaven no matter what they do after that event.

That's true, because God does not count the record of debt that stood against us. It was nailed to the tree.

Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Then we wrestle with definitions. To agree that the provisional aspects of the Old Covenant are no longer binding on Christians is what most Protestants mean when they reference the Old Covenant generally. They are not speaking of the eternal principles of righteousness, which we can all agree are immutable because they reflect the holy character of God. But they transcend the Old Covenant. They are not contained by it. It is contained by them. And they do reappear in the New Covenant. In fact, that is a guiding principle. Whatever has been reiterated for Christians as moral truth, is not regarded as having passed with the Old Covenant.

But the function of the law is different in the New Covenant. We are no longer dealing with the insignia of a theocratic nation, but with the universal body of Christ. Thus the body of law that is inherently temporal and not eternal has indeed been set aside. The very term Old is a consequence of God Himself calling this revised use of the law a New Covenant. See Hebrews 8:13.

So we have that the eternal law does not pass away, but the Old Covenant does, and has, passed away. Not so much a revocation as a fulfilment of purpose. Not unlike a Chrysalis, it has done what it was supposed to do, lead us to Christ, and now it is an empty shell. The life within it has moved on to the higher life of living in God's grace by His Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ.

But the relation it has to the believer is no longer a function of condemnation:

(KJV)Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

So although we say that OSAS, if indeed it is used as a naked excuse for wallowing in sin, is serious error, we also say the law has no more power of condemnation against us. Our justification is forensic, by operation of divine law we are acquitted of all guilt because we have identified with the crucified Christ.

But for those who believe in Jesus it doesn't stop there. They also receive God's Spirit as a pledge that He will follow through on the entire work of fulfilling all the consequences of our salvation. The witness of His Spirit with ours that we belong to Him is real. It is experienced by everyone born of the Spirit, born from above, born again.

And it is transformative. The new birth does not leave you the same person you were before. All things have become new. Old things have passed away. It's no longer about dodging divine lightning bolts. It's about living out the new life of love God Himself has birthed within your heart. That's what it means to be elect. Unlike Israel of old, where the nation was chosen but individuals might fail, no one chosen for salvation in Christ will fail. There may be intermediate lapses, and with those lapses will come God's chastisement. But chastisement is not retribution. Retribution for our sins, all of them, was placed on our Savior. It was our sin that held Him to the cross.

But we do experience chastisement. Which as you may recall, is not administered to strangers and outcasts, but only to true sons and daughters. It gives evidence of His love for us. But it is not condemnation. It is not MSML, many times saved and many times lost, always worrying if some last second lapse, a moment of unjustified anger, a brief flicker of unseemly lust, might undo a lifetime of doing righteousness to the max. That is not reflective of the adoption we have as sons and daughters. Adoption is a steady state. It doesn't fluctuate. There will be good days and bad days, but always a Father and His child, working it through, faithful till the end. He who has begun a good work in you will finish the job He started. That's what I'm talking about.

Peace,