The Hand of God

I have blogged about the security of the believer before, but the other night I had something pointed out to me that finally brought into focus something that I had heard several years ago. Many, many moons ago, I had someone tell me that he knew that once a person was saved, then they were always saved because, once you believe, then you are in God’s hand, and how can you take something out of God’s hand? I challenged him to show me Scripture to that effect, and he couldn’t, so I basically ignored his statement as best I could (it’s kind of been floating around in the back of my head, though, wondering where did that come from?). The other night, though, somebody pointed out to me that in John 10:29, Jesus is talking about Christians as being sheep, and He says that no man is able to pluck them out of His Father’s hand. Son of a gun! There really is Scripture to support that idea (sort of). Here’s the thing, though: yes, Jesus did say that no one can steal one of His sheep from Him; He didn’t say that we, as sheep, aren’t free to wander off. The parable of the lost sheep doesn’t make too much sense if we couldn’t, does it?
In my earlier post, I mentioned Romans 8:35-39, which gives a long list of things that cannot separate us from the love of God, but I also mentioned Isaiah 59:2: "...your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you..." It comes down to the same thing: No one else can come between us and God, but we are free moral agents. Every day we make choices that can either bring us closer to God, or take us farther away. How far can one get from God and still be saved? I don’t know; I’m not sure I want to find out.
In First Peter 3:16, Peter tells us that there will always be some that will wrestle against the Scriptures to their own destruction. Some people will study the Scriptures to see how much they can get away with, while others study to try to get closer to God. If your whole purpose in reading the Bible is to find excuses to not do what God wanted you to do (or called you to do), then that makes it very easy for God to find excuse to keep you from where you would want to spend eternity. Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” God knows what you are up to; don’t think that you are going to fool Him. It just doesn’t happen.

Security of the Believer

A lot of people think that once you have made a profession of faith, that you can never fall from grace. Still others seem to think that the 'old man' waits around every corner. Let's spend a little time examining these two philosophies.

One passage that is commonly referred to in support of the idea that God will never allow one to fall from grace is Romans 8:35-39. This is an impressive list of things that cannot separate us from the love of God: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, nor any other creature... Let's contrast this list, though, with a statement that God made in Isaiah 59:2: "...your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you..." The difference is that in Romans Paul lists things that could happen to us, while in Isaiah, it talks about things that we have done. Now, I realize that some would say that the bigger difference is that we are under a new covenant, God doesn't deal with us the way He dealt with Israel in Isaiah's time. That's true, but it's also true that God doesn't change.

Let's consider some other scriptures: Paul said, in Hebrews Chapter 6, that if one falls away, there is no way to renew them again unto repentance. Now, some have said that the word 'if' there denotes a hypothetical situation; it could never really happen. Seems like Paul spent an awful lot of time preaching about something that could never really happen, if that's the case. Wouldn't he have been more concerned about teaching us what we need to know? In Romans 3:3, Paul asks the question, "...what if some did not believe?" Does the word 'if' denote a hypothetical situation there, too; is it impossible for some people to not believe the gospel message? In Romans 4:24, Paul uses that word again, saying "...if we believe on him..." so, apparently we can't believe, either. In Hebrews 10:26, Paul uses that word again, but this time in very much the same meaning as in Hebrews 6. Was this a waste of ink?

Apostle Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2 that it is better to have never known 'the way of righteousness' than to know it and then turn from it. That would be pretty meaningless if one couldn't fall from grace, wouldn't it? He is clearly referring to the parable that Jesus taught in Luke chapter 11. So, did Peter misunderstand Jesus? I don't think so. Let's look at what else Jesus had to say:

In Luke 8, in explanation of the parable of the sower, Jesus compares different types of people to different types of ground, and he says the the rock represents people that, in time of temptation, fall away. In Matthew 24:13, and Mark 13:13, Jesus said that one must endure to the end to be saved. That doesn't sound like something someone would say if they believed it was impossible to fall away. In Matthew 25, Jesus taught a parable about ten women that had kept themselves pure, and yet, when the bridegroom came, five of them needed oil, because their lamps had gone out. It doesn't say that their lamps were never lit, it says that their lamps had gone out. If He wasn't talking about falling from grace, then what do you suppose that was about? I know already that there will be some people that read this and say, but those were just parables, it's not like those things actually happened. Keep in mind that Jesus told those stories to help us to understand how God's judgment works. He got to choose the details in order to make His point. Don't sell parables short.

Airport Security

Today was my first experience with Airport Security in awhile. Today was the first time that I was asked to remove my shoes. Apparently that's standard procedure for everyone, now. I thought I had flown since Richard Ried, but perhaps not.

I think they've adjusted the sensitivity on the metal detectors since the last time I flew, too. I took everything out of my pockets that I thought might cause a problem, and still ended up setting off the alarm. Fortunately, I had gotten to the airport well in advance, like they tell you to. I don't usually. The first time I flew after 9-11 I get there way in advance and ended up sitting at the gate for what seemed like an eternity. For a long time after that I pretty much gaffed off the be there two hours before flight time rule. This time I didn't, and I still wound up sitting at the gate for a long time, but at least I wasn't anxious that I was going to miss my flight having to go through all that rigmarole at security.

The airplane had XM satellite radio. I'm not sure if that's a promotional deal (hey, we'll let you have XM radio on airplanes for a reduced rate, because a lot of people will try it and decide to buy it for themselves); if it isn't, it should be. I visited a website once that was supposed to let you try out XM radio--get a sense of what XM had to offer--I was completely and totally underwhelmed. Being able to actually listen to it on the plane was much better. To be honest, I'm still not really inclined to spring for it, but I'm closer to it than I was.

In a way, it's ironic. One of the reasons that I was considering XM radio is because I do occasionally drive cross-country, and I hate having to find a new radio station every so often. With satellite radio, you can tune in to a station at your front door, and still be listening to that station 800 miles down the road. Of course, I got to try out XM radio because this time I flew instead of making the long drive.