B Griffin
Well-Known Member
Great points. I am beginning to wonder if a person is really saved if he does not place all his hope in Christ. Can anyone put forth arguments that they are really saved?Gotta love these verses that provide us with such a priceless promise! The issue here that's commonly misunderstood has to do with the perception of human free moral agency as it relates to the issue of the eternal security of the believer. Once a person has freely [through the utilization of their free moral agency] received the free gift of God through the instrumentality of faith ... they simply will never be snatched out of God's hand ... He will preserve them in the faith ..."they will never die" = "Once Justified, Always Justified" [OJAJ].
"My sheep recognise my voice and I know who they are. They follow me and I give them eternal life."
It's vital to realize that Jesus said that His sheep follow Him ... He didn't say that only some of His sheep follow Him or that some of His sheep will begin following Him and then later decide to depart from Him ... but plainly declared that His sheep follow Him = His sheep will follow Him [due to the fact that they have been made new creatures in Christ - 2 Corinthians 5:17].
"but you do not believe because you are not my sheep."
Therefore, it only logically and scripturally follows that those who have never placed their trust exclusively on Christ's atoning work on the cross, rather than anything they can bring to the table for their justified standing before God ... were never Christ's sheep, and for that reason they have never believed unto justification, nor can continue believing unto the day of the redemption of their bodies [at glorification].
This is the first time i've ever heard about Molinism. I read a little about it on GotQuestions.org. I would just say that a more straightforward view of predestination is that the destiny of all saved people is pre-determined, but a person's decision to place their trust in Christ is not pre-determined (though it is foreknown by God). It is not likely that this issue will be settled in this forum.Concerning Herschel Hobbs statement, "He believed that God affirmed every free human choice in such a way that the choices are not predetermined." :
Well, I can't presently find any of his writings where he expounds his personal detailed understanding on the issue of God's providence and predestination, but I believe the following statement best summarizes my Molinist view in a nutshell :
"Concerning God's selection of the particular world that He chose to actualize :
It is up to God whether I find myself in a world in which I am predestined ; but it is up to me whether I am predestined [to salvation] in the world in which I find myself.......
Acts 13:48,"Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."
God chooses which feasible world to actualize ; in every feasible world God gives sufficient grace to every person for salvation."
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