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 Pascals 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 Gods 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 Pascals 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 Gods law?
That presents a corollary to Pascals 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 doesnt matter in the eternal scheme of things, have hell to pay if they are wrong.
So what might Pascal advise?
That even if its 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.
Thats 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.
Incoming in
3.....
2.....
1.....
I guess I missed that next response. It’s been a long day and I’m pretty tired and not thinking clearly.
But I have seen plenty of people telling me I’m wrong without ever telling me who I’m wrong or why they’re right. It gets old after a while and sometimes I lose patience when I see it or perceive that it’s happening again.
Sorry.
No it isn't.
Salvation is a done deal the second we accept Christ.
Growth is a dynamic process.
Huh? Where did I suggest that you were passing judgment on me? Re-read my reply and replace the word ‘you’ with the word ‘one’.
The Holy Spirit.
When He invades your life, you KNOW it.
There is no guessing. If you are wondering how you can tell if the Holy Spirit is in your life, there's really a pretty good chance that He's not.
Tertiary definition??? I couldn't count the times the Catholic scriptures go to the tertiary definitions and far to often, definitions that don't even exist in any manuscripts...
You don't have any original Greek...All you have is a lexicon...But whose Greek lexicon are you referring to??? Nestle's???
[3] Jesus answered, and said to him: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Douay Rheims version...
Almost every Catholic version out there says born again, even your Catholic Jerome...
If all these scholars feel it should be 'again', including Jerome, then we can be sure that they have the correct translation...
In view of this evidence, one has to wonder what the motive is behind this accusation of 'born again' being wrong...
I Peter 1:23, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
And
I Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"
In both verses the Greek word used is ἀναγεννάω (anagennaÅ), and means:
I.to produce again, be born again, born anew
II.metaph. to have one's mind changed so that he lives a new life and one conformed to the will of God
From the Vine's Expository Dictionary:
2 Verb Strong's Number: g313 Greek: anagennao
Beget, Bear (Of Begetting), Born:
ana, "again, or from above," with No. 1, is found in 1Pe 1:3, 23.
Note: In Jhn 3:3, 5, 7, the adverb anothen, "anew, or from above," accompanies the simple verb gennao.
In truth, the term "born again/from above" is acceptable to "Protestants" and which HAS been expressed many times here. It doesn't change ANYTHING and is a mountain out of a molehill thinking when used to presume ONLY the Catholics get it "right". Don't be fooled, hoodat!
We were talking about the Czech guy
How many times do you plan on going around this carousel??? John 3:3 uses the Greek word "ἄνωθεν (anÅthen)" for "born again/from above". we already know that. HOWEVER, to insist someone is "wrong" because they do not agree to your strict use of "from above" for that Greek word only proves your OWN error. How many times in the New Testament IS that Greek word used? I'll tell you - 13 times. In some of those verses "from above" would certainly fit, but in others it would be stupid to insist it ALWAYS meant that. For example,
Luke 1:3 - It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first (anothen) to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus
And, - Acts 26:5, Which knew me from the beginning (anothen) if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
And, - Galatians 4:9, But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again (anothen) to be in bondage?
The point is STILL that what Jesus told Nicodemas was that a new birth had to happen in order for a man to be saved. Even Peter used a term that meant "born again" (see I Pet. 1:3 and I Pet. 1:23).
I have a pretty good idea what that “motive” is.
But I appreciate it any time someone brings up the Greek meaning of anything scriptural. Thanks.
No problem, thanks.
Sure, no problem. I just wanted to let you know that this “conversation” over the subject has been hashed and rehashed many times on the RF. Some would like others to believe “they” have a corner on what is true and anyone who disagrees with them on one thing MUST be wrong on every other thing. From the few times you and I have interacted here, I think we pretty much agree on most stuff. I guess I was being “protective” of you. :o)
Nope, that is not what Jesus said. He said one could not see the kingdom unless one was born again. The whole point of Jesus ministry was to teach us how to live here and now. Unfortunately, many pass over that, focusing instead on where they will end up when they die. Salvation is not the finish line. It is the starting line. It is all about process and relationship here and now. It is about dying to self, renewing the mind, and becoming a new creation in right-standing with the Father. It is about the restoration of what God originally established in the Garden.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:17
Jesus came to save the world that God originally created, giving dominion to us. God is not a micro-manager. He does not go back on His word. Man forfeited dominion over to satan in the Garden. Christ came so that we could get it back.
My opinion on 'saved' is that it is something that technically won't happen until after I die. It's not something that I have to convince myself of while I am alive. As long as my relationship with the Father grows deeper, my assurance rests with Him because of who He reveals Himself to be in my life. If I truly relate with him as 'Father' and son, then I have no fear about where I stand.
Fear is the root of all sin. I want to get to a place where fear is permanently cut out of me forever. Needless to say, I have a long long long way to go.
Hus and Wycliffe both taught that the Bible should be translated into the common language and given to the people. Hus was burned alive for it. Wycliffe’s corpse was dug up and destroyed. The Church went after both equally, regardless of nationality. It was their belief that posed a threat to the power of the Church.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.