Posted on 10/20/2013 11:29:26 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Once upon a time, Groucho Marx hosted the popular game show, “You Bet Your Life.” At the start of the show, a “secret word” was revealed to the studio audience. If a contestant said the word during the course of the show, a reward would descend from the rafters (a one hundred dollar bill).
Whether we know it or not, we are all, Christians and non-Christians alike, contestants in the spiritual equivalent of “You Bet Your Life.” If we bet wisely, our reward is eternal life. But if we bet foolishly, we condemn ourselves to eternal damnation.
That brings to mind Pascal’s Wager, credited to the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal. He famously posited that every human being bets his or her life on whether or not God exists.
“Let us,” he wrote, “weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.”
To put this in terms to which most of us can relate, even if the odds of God’s existence are, say, 1 in 175 million – the odds of winning Powerball on a single ticket – it is worth the wager.
Because, if we have bet on God, and God does not exist, we lose nothing. That is, save for indulging in certain behavior proscribed by God, including sexual promiscuity, idol worship, adultery, homosexuality (and other sexual perversions), thievery, greed, substance abuse, slander and robbery.
But if we bet against the Almighty, and indeed He does exist, we shall be cast into the lake of fire, eternally separated from God. We shall be condemned to place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Where we will be burned with unquenchable fire. Where we will be tormented day and night forever and forever.
Most of us are rationale. So we heed Pascal’s advice.
Even if we are uncertain there is a God, we hedge our bet. We respond to an altar call at some point in our lives. We say we accept Jesus as our personal Savior. We get baptized.
In so doing, we believe we have ensured our eternal security. We believe that, because we went through the ritual of being “saved,” we have a lifetime “Get Out of Hell Free” card. And that we can live our lives as it pleases us – not God – with impunity.
But what if we are wrong? What if this doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved,” espoused by many Godly pastors, preached in many purpose-driven churches, is errant? What if it actually is possible for us to forfeit our eternal salvation, to condemn ourselves to hell, by living brazenly and unrepentantly in defiance of God’s law?
That presents a corollary to Pascal’s wager, one that has not been considered by those who profess themselves Christ followers, but who are not truly leading a Christian life.
Let us call this corollary the Salvation wager, in which we weigh the gain and loss in betting on “Once Saved, Always Saved.”
Those who reject the doctrine, who believe those of us whom the Son sets free, must go and sin no more, must faithfully strive to live in obedience to God, have everything to gain if the doctrine is wrong and nothing to lose if the doctrine is right.
But those who subscribe to the doctrine, who believe that, having been saved, they can commit any and all manner of sin and it doesn’t matter in the eternal scheme of things, have hell to pay if they are wrong.
So what might Pascal advise?
That even if it’s more likely that once a person is saved, there is absolutely nothing they can do to lose their salvation, and that even if the odds are, say, 175 million to 1 that the widely-accepted doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” is right rather than wrong, it still is wise to bet against the doctrine.
Because there are many who claim themselves Christians, who think their names have been written in the book of life, who will appear before the great white throne of judgment, who will find themselves sinners in the hands of an angry God.
They will look to Jesus and say, “Lord, Lord,” hoping He will spare them from punishment. But He will declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice wickedness.”
That’s a warning to those abiding unabashedly and unrepentantly in sin. They have bet their lives on “Once Saved, Always Saved.” And if they are wrong, eternal torment awaits.
So true! Sad though how many doctrines there are out there based simply on man's rules.
It must be true...The face on the toast looks just like the face in the picture...
Don't know if you have heard. The Catholic NABRE is now on line:
You are one of the posters here that I respect most. We have been on the same side in the past. There's no need for this type of side comment.
Paul never used the term 'born again'.
He discussed the old man and the new man at length. Are you denying spiritual rebirth as a function of salvation?
Not at all. Not even close.
Or telling you why they’re right?
Happens a lot, doesn't it...I think I am getting used to it...
Well then, who certifies that you’re ‘born again, if Holy Jim Bakker (before he was indicted), or Saint Billy Graham (before he declared that there is freedom of religion in the Soviet Union) does not do it? You yourself? OK, fine, then I’m born again and I like the Catholic Church, and you can’t tell me that I’m not really ‘born again’!
I don't know what you mean by 'enter the Kingdom of God'. The kingdom exists within us.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
I responded in the very next post. If you deemed my response to be incomplete, then ask for more input, and I will be more than willing to give it to you.
Exactly. Faith is NOT static, it is DYNAMIC as you opined.
“Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”(Galatians 3:6)
Abraham was called by God to move out of the land of his fathers. He did so. What God told Abraham to do, he did it (sometimes not so perfect but he did it). Faith in action. Faith also implies FAITHFULNESS.
yet that is in contrast to osas
Well Jesus did call Judas the "son of perdition." I'm just saying...
I believe "born from above" is more accurate. However, even the footnotes of the Catholic NABRE say either "born again" or "born from above" is accurate. Saying "born from above" is not changing the meaning of the passage at all. As a matter of fact, some of the egg heads who dive into the Greek a lot more than we all do, some of them even use "begotton from above." I like that because like you I am Pro-Life and life begins at conception. The actual time a father 'begets' the child. So born from above is awesome and I like it because it is more accurate IMO.
Not only the Catholic NABRE has "born from above" but us dirty nasty Prots (/s) have the folks at Logos who published the Lexham English Bible (LEB). They tried to make that Bible as much a mechanical translation as possible and also came up with "born from above."
Very important point indeed. And a VERY dangerous proposition indeed. To deny the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin.
Indeed, I think that was the point of what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 10 as he discussed the Israelites that were saved by crossing the Red Sea only to fail and be executed for their unfaithfulness.
Paul called them examples for us to consider and learn from.
People say they are “saved” and may be but that salvation is contingent upon continued faithfulness.
Here is what the "fundie" LEB says in John 3:3:
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God
Eww...No amount of Clorox is going to wash that from some minds:)
No, He was not, or they would not have rejected. Therefore, they never put John 3:16 faith in Him. And, when we look at the entire scripture, we discover that is true:
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Jesus begins the passage in question saying they are false prophets and wolves. It is these people who will, cynical to the last, be saying to the Lord, "...did we not prophesy in YOUR name..."
Users to the end. One reason they needed to be consigned to outer darkness for eternity.
Wow! Did I post something in which it implied I was passing judgment on you? I don't think so. If I did, please shoot me a note with my quote. Here is the best answer I can give you from John chapter 3:
8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
You are just plain wrong.
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