EMPHASIZING THE TRUTH WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TEACH?

"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).

"But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life . . . Now unto Him who is able. to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy . . ." (Jude. 20:24).

If it be true that the Scriptures do not teach the unconditional security of those who have once believed ill Christ for salvation without further concern about its continuance, some closing word will be needed concerning the character of the salvation which the opponents of Calvinism profess to enjoy.

Controversy is never without its attendant dangers for either side. Too often slogans are adopted, epithets hurled and personalities discussed when the sole purpose of all concerned should be a mutual helpfulness to see and to enjoy the truth. In the Arminian-Calvinistic controversy this very thing has frequently happened. Arminians have labeled the Calvinists, "Once. in grace, always in grace -- no matter how disgraceful you may be." On the other hand, the Calvinists have sneeringly said of the Arminians, "Saved today and lost tomorrow -- and often a dozen times in between." Such religious mudslinging will get us nowhere. It will not help us to respect each other, which as followers of a common Lord we should endeavor to do despite all our theological differences.

To say that those who oppose the doctrine of the unconditional security of those who have once believed in Christ for salvation have swung to the other extreme and teach a doctrine of alternations, being in Christ one day and out of Christ another day, is far from stating the truth. We venture to say that, so far as we have been able to observe, there seem to have been fewer backslidings among Arminians than among Calvinists, the difference seeming to be that among Arminians the personal-life standard required by their doctrine is higher. Calvinistic backsliders are more easily concealed; they may go on in their sin and yet talk about imputed righteousness, declaring it is not what they are in themselves but what they are in Christ, while Arminian backsliders are conscious how useless it is to claim the merits of Christ as a protective covering before God when their lives are so unfaithful before their fellows. They realize that we may not continue in sin that grace may abound, and that it is only if we walk in the light as He is in the light that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

What then, is the actual position taken by those who refuse to endorse what appears to them to be the pernicious doctrines of predestination and unconditional final perseverance?

To those who have had theological training, what follows will hardly be necessary. We write, however, not for the theologian but for the layman who amid these mazes is groping to find his way.

We believe that when dying on Calvary's cross, the Son of God made an atonement which was full and sufficient.

That atonement provided a way whereby a corrupt and guilty soul might approach a just and holy God. Rom. 3:23-26; Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:14; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 3:18; and other Scriptures.

We further believe that this atonement is unrestricted in its reach, comprehending an entire world. John 1:29; 3:16; Rom. 5:18; 2 Cor. 5:14; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:1, 2, and other Scriptures. We insist, however, that according to the plain teaching of the Word of God, the benefits of this atonement are necessarily conditioned.

a. As to its reception.

The first condition of receiving atonement benefits is a radical repentance.

To accept Christ is not enough. The sinner is an alien (Eph. 2:12); an enemy (Col. 1:21); a rebel; and consequently he is exposed to the wrath of God (Col. 3:6).

The sinner's first business is to repent and that repentance must be deep; there can be no participation in saving grace without it.

This "repentance toward God" will also of necessity carry with it all needed restitution. It is on the ground of repentance, with a godly sorrow for sin, and on this ground only that a saving Christ may be approached. Matt. 3:2, 8; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 20:21, and other Scriptures.

The second step is an act of faith.

Repentance takes the soul onto believing ground where the seeker must plead for mercy, cast himself in contrition upon God, and believing His Word, trust Him for Jesus' sake to cancel the past and to make him a child of God. John 1:12; 3:16. Rom. 3:21-26.

In their desire to magnify the simplicity of the gospel, some men have shaved away far too much. The only believe teaching is only true as its preliminaries are faithfully observed.

b. As to its retention.

It now becomes apparent, surely, to all who will pause to think, that a salvation reached by faith on the ground of repentance for sin can only be retained by faith, and that while sin is abhorred and shunned. Moreover, such faith will of necessity be active, progressive, and obedient.

Salvation, while in its initial stages made real in the soul through an act of faith, is maintained within the soul by a life of faith, manifested in faithfulness. It is sustained in response to obedience to God-given light, the soul being led into the deeper experiences of entire cleansing and spiritual fullness and realizing that the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Saved today and lost tomorrow, do our critics say? No! We do not expect to be lost any more than they, and it is certainly not our purpose to backslide. We have started out with one purpose in mind; we intend to go through. We have sought from God that experience of establishing grace whereby carnality is removed and the soul is gloriously settled in God. We prove from day to day that He is able to keep us from falling, and we anticipate a blameless presentation in His presence when He comes again for His own. We expect to be held fast, but we are conscious that like the clasp of two hands the hold must be reciprocal. We must keep ourselves in the love of God while trusting Him to keep us from falling. No man can pluck us out of His hand, yet His domain is that of free men. He never arbitrarily held an unwilling soul.