Forest Keeper wrote:
“ I can’t remember ever having a conversation with a Lutheran concerning this before on FR. May I assume this is the first?”
That would be an affirmative.
FK also wrote:
“If so, then would that make you Sola Scriptura but not Sola Fide? How do you stand on the other Solas?”
Sola Gratia
Sola Fide
Sola Scriptura
Solus Christus ... and because of them Soli Deo Gloria
FK also wrote:
“This appears to say that true salvation can be held, and then lost through rejection.”
Correct. Hence the many admonitions in OT and NT to repent, hold fast, believe, endure correction, etc. etc.
FK also wrote:
“If correct so far, then presumably salvation could be won back again through some means.”
Yes, that is what repentance is all about. We continue to sin as believers, even though against our regenerated will (”the good that I would I do not, and the evil that I would not, that I do”), for the old nature (old Adam, old man) is not finally destroyed until our own death. When throughout our lives we are again (and again and again) found wanting by God’s law, we repent, throwing ourselves on His mercy, which He has promised to us for the sake of the bitter suffering and death of His Son.
FK also wrote:
“If that was done then what would replace the adult baptism and what it represents (since it looks like you believe in only one baptism)?”
Nothing replaces it. Baptism is more than representation, much more. It is something done at the command and promise of God. It is His doing, His calling us His own, forgiving us and promising us His eternal kingdom. It is His gift to us. When through life we sin, it is not baptism that goes wrong, it is we who go wrong, sinning, doubting. To live your baptism is to live a life of daily repentance and faith, recognizing that God’s law condemns us, but that Christ has paid that full penalty of the law and, so, we are no longer under the condemnation of the law. Baptism is God’s gift to us. It needs no repeating. We need only believe that He who claimed us as His own is faithful in His mercy. To live one’s baptism is to live not under the law, but under grace. This is why Christ commanded His apostles to remit sins in His stead, that the baptized and repentant might be assured that while their faithfulness lapsed, God’s did not. Lutherans come to the divine service on Sundays (and other times) not because they are good, but because they aren’t. They come seeking mercy, forgiveness, renewal, and strength to go forth once more and sin no more. But without God’s continual faithfulness and mercy for the sake of His beloved Son, the Crucified and Risen, we are lost.
And finally, yes, the “no one” means no power on earth can or will tear away from God the one who believes in the Savior Jesus Christ. Only unbelief can do that, only unbelief damns. It is, of course, the only unforgivable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit. To die in unbelief is to die separated from God forever.
So, that is the short, quick answer to your questions.
Now it is late. So, good night and God bless.
It also appears that the modern day Lutheran may have no assurance of salvation since it is conditional on making the choice to repent on an ongoing basis. Yet, Luther himself had full assurance.
Apart from gratuitious Protestant sloganeering, good and very Catholic answer on repentance and baptism.
Here’s a follow up: When you as Lutheran say “Sola Fide”, do you per chance mean faith that is well formed and inseparably blended with good works?