have a paper due, over what I believe about Soteriology, or the study of salvation. The questions are drawn from a catechism. There are 24 total questions within this paper that I will answer. On executive decision, I chose to post each of these on Answers! but.... I am going to do them about once each day. They will be titled "Soteriology - Q # ______ . " I am going to poast the remaining bit of questions today. If you would like to answer all 24, search them through my name, and answer as many as you would like to. PLEASE BACK YOUR ANSWERS UP WITH REFERENCES TO SCRIPTURE, THOELOGICAL QUOTES, ETC. I want you to be as creative as possible, and I want as many people to participate as possible. Thank you for your participation! I do not want you to do my research. I want more opinions than just people I can find on my own. In a sense, think of it more as an interview.
2007-03-21 16:03:08 · 4 answers · asked by ictoagsnstii 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It is true that individuals who think they have been / are being / will be completely saved by God can feel assured about this yet NOT be saved at all (Jer 17:9). It is also true that some who are so saved remain unconvinced and worry that they might not be. Perhaps they are not making their calling and election sure, as Peter urged (2 Pet 1:10).
Infallible assurance rests upon God's infallible Word, grace within the believer's heart and the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:16 1 Jn 2:3 & 3:14).
True assurance manifests qualities such as unfeigned humility, holiness, honest self-examination, desiring more intimate fellowship with God. Those graces are actually possessed. God has promised (and he cannot lie) that those who believe in Christ already possess life everlasting (Jn 3:36). When we do believe in Christ and keep his commands, the Holy Spirit enables us to know that we do, and this gives us true assurance. It's not ours by private revelation of the Spirit apart from, or in addition to, the Bible (2 Tim 3:16,17).
Grasping the Bible's teaching on "adoption" gives clarity to this assurance (which unbelievers ridicule as the 'once-saved-always-saved' attitude). In Roman 1st century law, a Roman citizen could disown his flesh and blood son, but he could never disown his adopted son, because he had chosen him. So when Paul wrote to the Roman Christians about God's adoption of them as sons, they understood the point better than we do today. They were utterly assured by such language. God would never throw them out of his family because he had chosen them! What assurance!
2007-03-22 04:20:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Assurance of salvation means that when your saved and begin living for God, you have eternal life in Heaven when you die and a personal relationship with God. There is nothing, no sin or anything, you can do to lose your salvation, your eternal life, and your relationship with God. The only unforgiveable sin is blasphemy. Some verses about this are: Titus 3:7; John 5:24; John 3:16; any many more. The Bible is full of scriptures about salvation. For your assignment, I would look at John 5:24 first. It basically says that if you accept God, you will not be judged and will live in Heaven forever. I hope I was able to answer your question, and I wish you good luck on your assignment.
2007-03-21 17:00:26 · answer #2 · answered by KT Runner 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This would be the "P" in Calvin's TULIP, Perseverance of the Saints. God's people, to borrow from Q 23, are given a new heart that cannot be turned back by Man. In other words, we are not only powerless to look to God for salvation, we are also powerless to erase our names from the Book of Life. Arminians would see this as robotic, a forced issue that denies Man God's love through free will, Calvinists would tilt their heads at how rescue can be given an analogy like this if our eyes are opened to what could have become of us save for God's grace.
2007-03-22 03:14:20 · answer #3 · answered by ccrider 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You basically have a choice between Arminius, Calvin and Melancthon, right? But I think the dispository pericope is
Romans 8:28, 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
I don't see how you avoid the Calvinist position in light of this passage.
2007-03-21 16:11:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋