Before this question is answered, the term “Christian” must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Perhaps the best way to answer this crucially important question is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation, and to study what losing salvation would therefore entail. Here are a few examples:
A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.
A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.
A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared.
A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). As we learned in Romans 5:1, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies. Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
Many more illustrations of what occurs at salvation could be shared. Even these few make it abundantly clear that a Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation cannot be reversed. A Christian cannot be un-newly created. Redemption cannot be undone. Eternal life cannot be lost and still be considered eternal. If a Christian can lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and change His mind—two things that Scripture tells us God never does.
The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation are 1) What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle? 2) What about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these two objections is the phrase “who are Christians.” The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6). The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19). Therefore, neither objection is valid. Christians do not continually live immoral lifestyles, nor do they reject the faith and deny Christ. Such actions are proof that they were never redeemed.
No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29). God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. Jude 24-25, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Surrender to Fact that "Life Isn't Fair"
One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It's not, and it won't be. When we make this mistake we tend to spend a lot of time wallowing and/ or complaining about what's wrong with life. We share with others, discussing the injustices of life. "It's not fair," we complain, not realizing that, perhaps, it was never inteded to be.
One of the nice things about surrendering to the fact that life isn't fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have. We know it's not "life's job" to make everything perfect, it's our own challange. Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is delt a different hand, and everyone has unique strengths and callanges. This insight has helped me with problems in life, the difficult dicisions I've had to make about who to help and who I can't help, as well as with my own personal struggles during those times that I have felt victimized or unfairly treated. It almost always wakes me up to reality, and puts me back on track.
The fact that life isn't fair doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything in our power to improve our own lives, or the world as a whole. To the contrary, it suggest that we should. When we don't recognize or admit that life isn't fair, we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves. Pity, of course, is a self- defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make everyone feel worse than they already do. When we do recognize that lie isn't fair, hoever, we feel compassion for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving kindness to everyone it touches. The next time we find ourselves thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact. You may be suprised that it can nudge you out of self- pity, and into helpful action.
One of the nice things about surrendering to the fact that life isn't fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have. We know it's not "life's job" to make everything perfect, it's our own challange. Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is delt a different hand, and everyone has unique strengths and callanges. This insight has helped me with problems in life, the difficult dicisions I've had to make about who to help and who I can't help, as well as with my own personal struggles during those times that I have felt victimized or unfairly treated. It almost always wakes me up to reality, and puts me back on track.
The fact that life isn't fair doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything in our power to improve our own lives, or the world as a whole. To the contrary, it suggest that we should. When we don't recognize or admit that life isn't fair, we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves. Pity, of course, is a self- defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone, except to make everyone feel worse than they already do. When we do recognize that lie isn't fair, hoever, we feel compassion for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving kindness to everyone it touches. The next time we find ourselves thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact. You may be suprised that it can nudge you out of self- pity, and into helpful action.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
How does DNA point to the existance of a Creator?
Question: "How does DNA point to the existence of a Creator?"
Answer: Over the millennia, believers in God have marshaled numerous arguments in an attempt to demonstrate God’s existence. Various forms of the cosmological, ontological, and moral arguments have been developed and refined with much success. One frequently discussed form of theistic argument has been the argument from design. The design argument has had many notable proponents from Plato to Thomas Aquinas and beyond.
While several versions of the design argument are valid and have been persuasive to many, recent discoveries at the cellular level have provided further ammunition for design proponents. In 1953, researchers Francis Crick and James Watson elucidated the structure of the DNA molecule. In doing so, they discovered that DNA was a carrier of specific genetic information that takes the form of a four character digital code. This information is contained in an arraignment of four chemicals that scientists represent with the letters A, C, T, and G. The sequences of these chemicals provide the instructions necessary to assemble complex protein molecules that, in turn, help form structures diverse as eyes, wings, and legs.
As Dr. Stephen C. Meyer has noted, “As it turns out, specific regions of the DNA molecule called coding regions have the same property of “sequence specificity” or "specified complexity” that characterizes written codes, linguistic texts, and protein molecules. Just as the letters in the alphabet of a written language may convey a particular message depending on their arrangement, so too do the sequences of nucleotide bases (the A’s, T’s, G’s, and C’s) inscribed along the spine of a DNA molecule convey a precise set of instructions for building proteins within the cell.”
The information-bearing properties in the DNA molecule seem obvious. However, does this fact, by itself, force us to infer an Intelligent Designer as the cause of this intelligence? Meyer continues, “Whether we are looking at a hieroglyphic inscription, a section of text in a book, or computer software, if you have information, and you trace it back to its source, invariably you come to an intelligence. Therefore, when you find information inscribed along the backbone of the DNA molecule in the cell, the most rational inference, based upon our repeated experience, is that an intelligence of some kind played a role in the origin of that information.”
The information-rich features of DNA provide further confirmation that our universe was created and designed by God. As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Rome, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). This inspired utterance seems more obvious now than when it was originally written nearly 2,000 years ago.
Answer: Over the millennia, believers in God have marshaled numerous arguments in an attempt to demonstrate God’s existence. Various forms of the cosmological, ontological, and moral arguments have been developed and refined with much success. One frequently discussed form of theistic argument has been the argument from design. The design argument has had many notable proponents from Plato to Thomas Aquinas and beyond.
While several versions of the design argument are valid and have been persuasive to many, recent discoveries at the cellular level have provided further ammunition for design proponents. In 1953, researchers Francis Crick and James Watson elucidated the structure of the DNA molecule. In doing so, they discovered that DNA was a carrier of specific genetic information that takes the form of a four character digital code. This information is contained in an arraignment of four chemicals that scientists represent with the letters A, C, T, and G. The sequences of these chemicals provide the instructions necessary to assemble complex protein molecules that, in turn, help form structures diverse as eyes, wings, and legs.
As Dr. Stephen C. Meyer has noted, “As it turns out, specific regions of the DNA molecule called coding regions have the same property of “sequence specificity” or "specified complexity” that characterizes written codes, linguistic texts, and protein molecules. Just as the letters in the alphabet of a written language may convey a particular message depending on their arrangement, so too do the sequences of nucleotide bases (the A’s, T’s, G’s, and C’s) inscribed along the spine of a DNA molecule convey a precise set of instructions for building proteins within the cell.”
The information-bearing properties in the DNA molecule seem obvious. However, does this fact, by itself, force us to infer an Intelligent Designer as the cause of this intelligence? Meyer continues, “Whether we are looking at a hieroglyphic inscription, a section of text in a book, or computer software, if you have information, and you trace it back to its source, invariably you come to an intelligence. Therefore, when you find information inscribed along the backbone of the DNA molecule in the cell, the most rational inference, based upon our repeated experience, is that an intelligence of some kind played a role in the origin of that information.”
The information-rich features of DNA provide further confirmation that our universe was created and designed by God. As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the church at Rome, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). This inspired utterance seems more obvious now than when it was originally written nearly 2,000 years ago.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Character Creates Courage
"All you who put your hope in the Lord be strong and brave." -Psalm 31:24
A legand from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear... until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content untill he met a tiger- so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."
Sound familiar? How many people do you know who have built a formidable exterior, only to tremble inside with fear?... We face our fears with force...or... we stockpile wealth. We seek security in things. We cultivate fame and seek status. But do these things work?
Courage is an outgrowth of who we are. Exterior supports may temporarily sustain, but only inward character creates courage.
- Max Lucado
A legand from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear... until he met a dog, so the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content untill he met a tiger- so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."
Sound familiar? How many people do you know who have built a formidable exterior, only to tremble inside with fear?... We face our fears with force...or... we stockpile wealth. We seek security in things. We cultivate fame and seek status. But do these things work?
Courage is an outgrowth of who we are. Exterior supports may temporarily sustain, but only inward character creates courage.
- Max Lucado
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