Neo Calvinism vs. The Bible 038 - Hebrews 11:29. Dr. Andy Woods. 8-3-25.G
Many evangelicals promote the idea of eternal security, also known as "once saved, always saved" (OSAS). However, it is critical to note that OSAS is unbiblical. In fact, the concept of unconditional eternal security was not introduced until the Reformation in the sixteenth century, approximately 1,500 years after the formation of the church. The Calvinist doctrine of "the perseverance of the saints", the P in TULIP, is a key teaching connected to what Calvin described as "the horrible decree", i.e., the doctrine of double predestination. John Calvin (1509-1564) argued that salvation is unconditional and that believers are assured of their eternal salvation.1 Woods' version of OSAS, "the preservation of the saints", is a modification of Calvinism. However, OSAS was never taught in any form until the Reformation.The teaching that faith plus works done in faith is the biblical model for believers following initial salvation. The false doctrine of "works salvation" is not contradicted by this teaching. Believers are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. However, the scriptures indicate a process of continuing in faith following conversion.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The following scriptures collectively emphasize the importance of remaining steadfast in faith and obedience to God. They confirm that salvation is not merely a one-time event, but that it is a continual process involving the active commitment of believers to walk by faith: Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Ezekiel 18:24; Hebrews 6:4-6; Revelation 3:5. Verses like Jude 1:24, John 3:16,10:27. Ephesians 4:30 and Romans 8:38-39 do not negate personal responsibility of believers to walk by faith. The command to "make disciples" is often neglected due to this dangerous teaching. (Matthew 28:19). The result is that many believers' salvation is put at risk. They either are not sufficiently motivated to follow their high calling and fail to meet their potential. Even worse, they may apostasize and yet still believe themselves to be saved.
Woods' "proof text" below includes the phrase "guarded through faith".
Benson: "through faith — Through the continued exercise of that faith, by which alone salvation is both received and retained..2
Nevertheless, Abraham was put to the test. It was by his act of faith that he was justified.
Woods cites various examples from the "Hall of Faith" in Romans 11. Woods: "Abraham was justified right when he believed. Justification is something that already happened. So there is no big question mark if you have trusted in Christ for your salvation as to your justification, and there is no question mark as to your glorification.."
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son.. (Hebrews 11:17 cf Genesis 22:1-18).
Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? / You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. / And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:21-23).
Woods' examples are interesting, but they do not constitute final evidence of eternal security. We are certainly not looking at sinless perfection in Paul's examples, and inevitably, all of them sinned to some degree, some worse than others. Only God knows the particular circumstances of each individual's life and their heart condition before Him.
Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. (Judges 16:28-30).
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. (1 Samuel 31:1-7).
The scriptures are always our first priority. However, it is very interesting that the early church fathers did not recognize OSAS.
“Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time.” (Didache, A.D.140)
“That eternal fire has been prepared for him as he apostatized from God of his own free-will, and likewise for all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes, by means of such men, the Lord who brings judgment [upon him] as being already condemned, and imputes the guilt of his apostasy to his Maker, not to his own voluntary disposition.” (Justin Martyr, fragment in Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, 5:26:1, A.D.156)
“Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, ‘For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive tree, wert grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert made a partaker of its fatness.’” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4:27:2 A.D. 180)
“But some think as if God were under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy, what He has engaged (to give); and they turn His liberality into slavery. But if it is of necessity that God grants us the symbol of death, then He does so unwillingly. But who permits a gift to be permanently retained which he has granted unwillingly? For do not many afterward fall out of (grace)? Is not this gift taken away from many?” (Tertullian, On Repentance, 6 A.D. 204)
“Therefore, the ones who are pardoned are those who slip into sin unintentionally and incautiously. He who sins willfully has no pardon.” (Lactantius, A.D. 304)
“By believing in Him you will live. But by disbelieving you will be punished.” (Apostolic Constitutions, A.D. 390)
“Grace with the Lord, when once learned and undertaken by us, should never afterward be cancelled by repetition of sin.” (Tertullian, A.D. 203)
“He who keeps them will be glorified in the kingdom of God. However, he who chooses other things will be destroyed with his works.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“Only those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments have life with God; but as for those who do not keep His commandments, there is no life in them.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation. Otherwise, the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, may hurl us forth from our life.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“Let us therefore repent with the whole heart, so that none of us perish by the way.” (Second Clement, A.D. 150)
“I hold further, that those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation [i.e. the Mosaic Law] and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death—you will by no means be saved.” (Justin Martyr, A.D. 160)
“Rather, we should fear ourselves, lest perchance, after we have come to the knowledge of Christ, if we do those things displeasing to God, we obtain not further forgiveness for sin, but are shut out of His kingdom.” (Irenaeus, A.D. 180)
“He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the gospel not turn back.” (Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 195)
“God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out.” (Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 195)
“The world returned to sin…and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.” (Tertullian, A.D. 198)
“Rather they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God.” (Cyprian, A.D. 250)
“A son who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and having his name removed forever from his family.” (Lactaintius, A.D. 304)
“He who sins after baptism, unless he forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna.” (Apostolic Constitutions, A.D. 390)
“These things, beloved, we write unto you, not merely to admonish you of your duty, but also to remind ourselves. For we are struggling on the same arena, and the same conflict is assigned to both of us. Wherefore let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look stedfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God.” (Clement to the Corinthians, 7:33-36)
“Day and night ye were anxious for the whole brotherhood, that the number of God’s elect might be saved with mercy and a good conscience.” (Clement to the Corinthians, 2:7, 8)
“On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp. Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades.”(Clement to the Corinthians, 4:20, 21)
“Having obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immovable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face which may I ever enjoy in God! I entreat thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all that they may be saved. Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit.” (The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp, 1:1)
“What we gather from all these quotes is that the early Church believed one was saved by faith in Christ and His blood, apart from works. That we’re redeemed and washed from our sins, there must be repentance, if one sinned and did not repent they would be lost. They believed God’s foreknowledge and predestination, and they believed by blaspheming the Holy Spirit and/or forsaking God that one would lose salvation.” unknown
“God is a God of mercy and compassion, He is long suffering, patient, and willing to call you back, but if one persists in willful abandonment and blasphemy against His Spirit, how can He put up with that?” unknown
Justin Martyr- c. 100/114AD – c. 162/168 AD. He was another early Christian apologist (defender) of the faith and was martyred by beheading. His works represent the earliest surviving Christian apologies of notable size:
• Man acts by his own free will and not by fate. (20)
• We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and rewards are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Otherwise, if all things happen by fate, then nothing is in our own power. For if it be predestined that one man be good and another man evil, then the first is not deserving of praise or the other to be blamed. Unless humans have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions-whatever
they may be…. For neither would a man be worthy of reward or praise if he did not of himself choose the good, but was merely created for that end. Likewise, if a man were evil, he would not deserve punishment, since he was not evil of himself, being unable to do anything else than what he was made for.(21)
• But that you may not have a pretext for saying that Christ must have been crucified, and that those who transgressed must have been among your nation, and that the matter could not have been otherwise, I said briefly by anticipation, that God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so.
Andy Woods' rebuttal against Neo Calvinism is correct in many respects. However, his failure to recognize the false doctrine of OSAS is a very serious error. Problematically, Woods is a hyper-dispensationalist who teaches that the Church began after the events of the Book of Acts, as against Pentecost. He promotes the false hope of the pretribulation rapture, and in doing so, he denies the obvious fact that the Olivet Discourse references the rapture! When teachers put their own spin on the scriptures, incalculable damage is done to the body of Christ.
1. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
2. 1 Peter 1:5 Commentaries: who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
3. 1 Samuel 28:19 Commentaries: "Moreover the LORD will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the LORD will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!"
4. 1 Samuel 28 Brenton's Septuagint Translation
5. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Commentaries: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? / You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. / And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:21-23).
Woods' examples are interesting, but they do not constitute final evidence of eternal security. We are certainly not looking at sinless perfection in Paul's examples, and inevitably, all of them sinned to some degree, some worse than others. Only God knows the particular circumstances of each individual's life and their heart condition before Him.
I do take issue with some of Woods' conclusions; specifically, the question of whether Samson committed suicide. Scholars have debated this question, and most take the view that although Samson's actions resulted in his death, it was not strictly suicide. That is because Samson’s mission was to kill the Philistines and to take the lead in saving the Israelites from oppression. (Judges 13:5). Samson achieved his ultimate goal that day by killing over 3,000 Philistines. Commentators have reasoned that Samson sacrificed himself to finish the work God had called him to do, and that his death was a result, not the aim of his actions. It should be noted that he sought the Lord about his actions and asked for the strength to avenge the Philistines, and he asked God to let him die with the Philistines.
In contrast, the narrative concerning Saul is completely different. Samuel informed Saul that the Lord had turned against him and had become his enemy. (1 Samuel 28:16). Samuel prophesied that the Lord would deliver Israel into the hands of the Philistines and that the next day, Saul and his sons would die in battle. (1 Samuel 28). The end result was that Saul took his own life to avoid capture after being severely wounded by the Philistines.
Regarding the phrase spoken by Samuel: "..tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me." (1 Samuel 28:19). There is much discussion in the commentaries about this verse, and I do not regard this phrase as proof positive that Saul was saved. Samuel's statement may be referring to Sheol. (1 Samuel 25:1). At that time, Sheol or Hades was the abode of departed spirits of righteous and wicked alike. (Job 3:17; 2 Samuel 12:23).3 It is interesting that the Septuagint or the LXX translation of I Samuel 28:19 reads: “and to-morrow thou and thy sons with thee shall fall". If this 2nd-century translation is more accurate, then Samuel may have simply been referring to their death.4
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 1:3-5).
Woods teaches that the Israelites destroyed in the wilderness lost their physical lives but that ultimately they were saved. However, the context of Jude discredits his assertion. Jude continues his epistle with the example of the angels who rebelled and were punished with eternal destruction, i.e. the same punishment as those who sinned in Sodom and Gomorrah ~ eternal fire:
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7).
Paul also refers to the Israelites who were overthrown in the wilderness: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:1-12 cf. 2 Peter 3:17 ).
Paul warned the Galatians that to fall away from grace is to be severed from Christ: You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:4).
To be severed from Christ necessitates that one must have been attached to Christ previously. Similarly to fall away from grace also necessitates prior attachment.
Meyer: "But all the admonitions, from 1 Corinthians 10:6 onwards (see, too, 1 Corinthians 10:14), have a direct reference to falling into sins, the consequence of which is a falling from grace so as to come under the divine ὀργή {wrath}(comp Galatians 5:4)."5
Woods teaches that the Israelites destroyed in the wilderness lost their physical lives but that ultimately they were saved. However, the context of Jude discredits his assertion. Jude continues his epistle with the example of the angels who rebelled and were punished with eternal destruction, i.e. the same punishment as those who sinned in Sodom and Gomorrah ~ eternal fire:
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7).
Paul also refers to the Israelites who were overthrown in the wilderness: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:1-12 cf. 2 Peter 3:17 ).
Paul warned the Galatians that to fall away from grace is to be severed from Christ: You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:4).
To be severed from Christ necessitates that one must have been attached to Christ previously. Similarly to fall away from grace also necessitates prior attachment.
Meyer: "But all the admonitions, from 1 Corinthians 10:6 onwards (see, too, 1 Corinthians 10:14), have a direct reference to falling into sins, the consequence of which is a falling from grace so as to come under the divine ὀργή {wrath}(comp Galatians 5:4)."5
The Ante-Nicene
Fathers..
“Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time.” (Didache, A.D.140)
“That eternal fire has been prepared for him as he apostatized from God of his own free-will, and likewise for all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes, by means of such men, the Lord who brings judgment [upon him] as being already condemned, and imputes the guilt of his apostasy to his Maker, not to his own voluntary disposition.” (Justin Martyr, fragment in Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, 5:26:1, A.D.156)
“Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, ‘For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive tree, wert grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert made a partaker of its fatness.’” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4:27:2 A.D. 180)
“But some think as if God were under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy, what He has engaged (to give); and they turn His liberality into slavery. But if it is of necessity that God grants us the symbol of death, then He does so unwillingly. But who permits a gift to be permanently retained which he has granted unwillingly? For do not many afterward fall out of (grace)? Is not this gift taken away from many?” (Tertullian, On Repentance, 6 A.D. 204)
“Therefore, the ones who are pardoned are those who slip into sin unintentionally and incautiously. He who sins willfully has no pardon.” (Lactantius, A.D. 304)
“By believing in Him you will live. But by disbelieving you will be punished.” (Apostolic Constitutions, A.D. 390)
“Grace with the Lord, when once learned and undertaken by us, should never afterward be cancelled by repetition of sin.” (Tertullian, A.D. 203)
“He who keeps them will be glorified in the kingdom of God. However, he who chooses other things will be destroyed with his works.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“Only those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments have life with God; but as for those who do not keep His commandments, there is no life in them.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation. Otherwise, the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, may hurl us forth from our life.” (Barnabas, A.D. 70)
“Let us therefore repent with the whole heart, so that none of us perish by the way.” (Second Clement, A.D. 150)
“I hold further, that those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation [i.e. the Mosaic Law] and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death—you will by no means be saved.” (Justin Martyr, A.D. 160)
“Rather, we should fear ourselves, lest perchance, after we have come to the knowledge of Christ, if we do those things displeasing to God, we obtain not further forgiveness for sin, but are shut out of His kingdom.” (Irenaeus, A.D. 180)
“He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the gospel not turn back.” (Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 195)
“God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out.” (Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 195)
“The world returned to sin…and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.” (Tertullian, A.D. 198)
“Rather they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God.” (Cyprian, A.D. 250)
“A son who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and having his name removed forever from his family.” (Lactaintius, A.D. 304)
“He who sins after baptism, unless he forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna.” (Apostolic Constitutions, A.D. 390)
“These things, beloved, we write unto you, not merely to admonish you of your duty, but also to remind ourselves. For we are struggling on the same arena, and the same conflict is assigned to both of us. Wherefore let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look stedfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God.” (Clement to the Corinthians, 7:33-36)
“Day and night ye were anxious for the whole brotherhood, that the number of God’s elect might be saved with mercy and a good conscience.” (Clement to the Corinthians, 2:7, 8)
“On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp. Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades.”(Clement to the Corinthians, 4:20, 21)
“Having obtained good proof that thy mind is fixed in God as upon an immovable rock, I loudly glorify [His name] that I have been thought worthy [to behold] thy blameless face which may I ever enjoy in God! I entreat thee, by the grace with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all that they may be saved. Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit.” (The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp, 1:1)
“What we gather from all these quotes is that the early Church believed one was saved by faith in Christ and His blood, apart from works. That we’re redeemed and washed from our sins, there must be repentance, if one sinned and did not repent they would be lost. They believed God’s foreknowledge and predestination, and they believed by blaspheming the Holy Spirit and/or forsaking God that one would lose salvation.” unknown
“God is a God of mercy and compassion, He is long suffering, patient, and willing to call you back, but if one persists in willful abandonment and blasphemy against His Spirit, how can He put up with that?” unknown
Justin Martyr- c. 100/114AD – c. 162/168 AD. He was another early Christian apologist (defender) of the faith and was martyred by beheading. His works represent the earliest surviving Christian apologies of notable size:
• Man acts by his own free will and not by fate. (20)
• We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and rewards are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Otherwise, if all things happen by fate, then nothing is in our own power. For if it be predestined that one man be good and another man evil, then the first is not deserving of praise or the other to be blamed. Unless humans have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions-whatever
they may be…. For neither would a man be worthy of reward or praise if he did not of himself choose the good, but was merely created for that end. Likewise, if a man were evil, he would not deserve punishment, since he was not evil of himself, being unable to do anything else than what he was made for.(21)
• But that you may not have a pretext for saying that Christ must have been crucified, and that those who transgressed must have been among your nation, and that the matter could not have been otherwise, I said briefly by anticipation, that God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so.
Andy Woods' rebuttal against Neo Calvinism is correct in many respects. However, his failure to recognize the false doctrine of OSAS is a very serious error. Problematically, Woods is a hyper-dispensationalist who teaches that the Church began after the events of the Book of Acts, as against Pentecost. He promotes the false hope of the pretribulation rapture, and in doing so, he denies the obvious fact that the Olivet Discourse references the rapture! When teachers put their own spin on the scriptures, incalculable damage is done to the body of Christ.
1. John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
2. 1 Peter 1:5 Commentaries: who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
3. 1 Samuel 28:19 Commentaries: "Moreover the LORD will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the LORD will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!"
4. 1 Samuel 28 Brenton's Septuagint Translation
5. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Commentaries: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
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