Is God Playing A Trick On Us?
Is God Playing A Trick On Us?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
Despite Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians that Christians should avoid sectarianism and divisions and to “all speak the same things” (1 Corinthians 1:10), like most warnings in God’s Word, we tend to ignore them. It is believed that there are around 200 Christian denominations in the US alone. And every one of them stand fully convinced that their particular denomination is the one who has to the “correct” interpretation of Christianity. If that is not proof positive that we are ignoring Paul’s warning…I don’t know what to tell you.
Please do not misunderstand me. In those denominations that clearly espouse doctrine that flies in the face of Biblical truth, it is necessary for one to conclude that they are clearly wrong and that we should not believe the things proposed in that denomination. But for the most part, the various denominations differ in their views of what I would call fairly minor issues. But we too often allow these minor issues to devolve into divisions that clearly fall under Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians. This is the human element of Christianity that too often plagues the church.
To be honest, I can see why some denominations might look at others as “wrong” in their theology. To be blunt, some of them are simply wrong. But others have always intrigued me and I am reminded of this as I have been preparing for the sermon this week. As we have been making our way through the book of Romans, we are just about to finish up the halfway point of our journey. This week we will complete the 8th chapter of this Biblical masterpiece. And the latter half of this chapter contains something really cool. The Bible has long been described as a love letter from God to His children. Nowhere is that more evident than in this chapter. And in the last nine verses we see the culmination of that love. And it addresses an issue that has divided Christians for a very long time…and to be honest I am not sure why that is the case.
The issue in question is the age old question: Can a Christian lose their salvation? This one perplexes me. Don’t get me wrong. I have known good, solid Believers who hold this view. There have been many Bible savvy theologians who desperately love God who hold this view. But for me…it is something I do not understand. This is the one that confuses me the most. There may be some passages that if you squint…and engage in some exegetical gymnastics…might…maybe…suggest that this is a possibility. However, the verses that seem to suggest the opposite, that the Christian is eternally secure in that salvation, seem much more numerous and, interestingly, much more clear.
And the last nine verses of Romans 8 is one of the instances. There is clear, unambiguous language seemingly clear in its declaration of the Christian’s eternal security. It says God is for us. It says He gives us all things. It says God justifies us. It says God does not condemn us. It says God intercedes for us. It says no trial or tribulation can ever separate us from the love of God. It says God makes us conquerors. And lastly, it says that nothing…absolutely nothing…will be able to separate us from the love of God. Nothing…ever. No exegetical gymnastics are necessary here.
Even Jesus Himself gives us the reassurance when He said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” We are told elsewhere that God will blot out our sin and that He will never, ever remember them (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12). Again…no gymnastics. In fact it would take gymnastics to prove that is NOT what these verses are actually saying. This is why I say that while there are theological differences that have manifested into the copious numbers of denominations, this is the one that always leaves me scratching my head.
Simply put, it doesn’t even make sense. It would seem like God was playing a bit of a trick on us. It is as if He were saying: I’m blessing you with this amazing gift…unless I take it away from you. Giving a gift that you will then take away makes it not really a gift in the first place. None of this makes sense. I think every single true Christian on the planet would agree that salvation is the most important, loving, and gracious thing in the universe. There is not even a close second. And if God knows everything…which He does…why would He grant this amazing gift to someone that He KNOWS is going to later throw it in the trash? Why would He do that? And we hear or even personally know about Christians who have “renounced” their faith and walked away from Christianity. Again…if God knew this…and He certainly would…why would He save them in the first place? And therein lay the rub. Truth is…He didn’t.
The question is not whether we can lose our salvation…the question is whether we actually had it in the first place. But people will say about the folks who walked away from their faith: These were godly people. In fact, there have actually been fairly high profile pastors who have done this. And the only explanation for their “falling away” can be that they lost their salvation. Because certainly a godly person who exhibits godly behavior cannot really be an unbeliever. Well…not really. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 we see Paul warning Timothy about godlessness in the church. And he pulls no punches related to their character. He uses adjectives like: proud, arrogant, abusive, unholy, heartless, treacherous, and conceited. We clearly get the picture.
However, tucked away in these damning pronunciations, Paul also describes them as, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). The appearance of godliness. They are going to look godly to those around them…but in reality they have denied Christ. And this appearance can only be sustained for so long. Hence the point. The only way you can lose your salvation is of you never had it to lose in the first place. The reality of your lostness will eventually emerge from the form of godliness.
One of the single, greatest aspects of God’s salvation is that it is a covenant. Paul wrote it was the new covenant in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 11:25). God does not…He cannot…break His covenants. Are there a lot of people out there at risk of losing their salvation. Well…in a way…yes. Because they never had it in the first place. They believed a different Gospel. They believed in a Jesus that does not exist. And therefore…no covenant was made with them. And if this amazing news causes the first thing to cross your mind being: Cool, I can commit any sin and I don’t have to worry about losing my salvation. I’ve got a warning for you. That’s a very good indication that you never had it in the first place. It is meant to be an assurance to Believers who still struggle with sin but hate it. A reassurance to Believers who desperately want to stop sinning but still slip up. I’ve heard several pastors/teachers repeat the same line though I admit that I do not know from where it originated: If we could lose our salvation, we would. That is 100% true. God assures us that we cannot lose it…because left to us…we would lose it. That is the essence of true grace. So, rest easy my Brothers and Sisters. Why? “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). How cool is that?
-Dr, Danny Purvis
-Dr. Danny Purvis
Despite Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians that Christians should avoid sectarianism and divisions and to “all speak the same things” (1 Corinthians 1:10), like most warnings in God’s Word, we tend to ignore them. It is believed that there are around 200 Christian denominations in the US alone. And every one of them stand fully convinced that their particular denomination is the one who has to the “correct” interpretation of Christianity. If that is not proof positive that we are ignoring Paul’s warning…I don’t know what to tell you.
Please do not misunderstand me. In those denominations that clearly espouse doctrine that flies in the face of Biblical truth, it is necessary for one to conclude that they are clearly wrong and that we should not believe the things proposed in that denomination. But for the most part, the various denominations differ in their views of what I would call fairly minor issues. But we too often allow these minor issues to devolve into divisions that clearly fall under Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians. This is the human element of Christianity that too often plagues the church.
To be honest, I can see why some denominations might look at others as “wrong” in their theology. To be blunt, some of them are simply wrong. But others have always intrigued me and I am reminded of this as I have been preparing for the sermon this week. As we have been making our way through the book of Romans, we are just about to finish up the halfway point of our journey. This week we will complete the 8th chapter of this Biblical masterpiece. And the latter half of this chapter contains something really cool. The Bible has long been described as a love letter from God to His children. Nowhere is that more evident than in this chapter. And in the last nine verses we see the culmination of that love. And it addresses an issue that has divided Christians for a very long time…and to be honest I am not sure why that is the case.
The issue in question is the age old question: Can a Christian lose their salvation? This one perplexes me. Don’t get me wrong. I have known good, solid Believers who hold this view. There have been many Bible savvy theologians who desperately love God who hold this view. But for me…it is something I do not understand. This is the one that confuses me the most. There may be some passages that if you squint…and engage in some exegetical gymnastics…might…maybe…suggest that this is a possibility. However, the verses that seem to suggest the opposite, that the Christian is eternally secure in that salvation, seem much more numerous and, interestingly, much more clear.
And the last nine verses of Romans 8 is one of the instances. There is clear, unambiguous language seemingly clear in its declaration of the Christian’s eternal security. It says God is for us. It says He gives us all things. It says God justifies us. It says God does not condemn us. It says God intercedes for us. It says no trial or tribulation can ever separate us from the love of God. It says God makes us conquerors. And lastly, it says that nothing…absolutely nothing…will be able to separate us from the love of God. Nothing…ever. No exegetical gymnastics are necessary here.
Even Jesus Himself gives us the reassurance when He said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” We are told elsewhere that God will blot out our sin and that He will never, ever remember them (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12). Again…no gymnastics. In fact it would take gymnastics to prove that is NOT what these verses are actually saying. This is why I say that while there are theological differences that have manifested into the copious numbers of denominations, this is the one that always leaves me scratching my head.
Simply put, it doesn’t even make sense. It would seem like God was playing a bit of a trick on us. It is as if He were saying: I’m blessing you with this amazing gift…unless I take it away from you. Giving a gift that you will then take away makes it not really a gift in the first place. None of this makes sense. I think every single true Christian on the planet would agree that salvation is the most important, loving, and gracious thing in the universe. There is not even a close second. And if God knows everything…which He does…why would He grant this amazing gift to someone that He KNOWS is going to later throw it in the trash? Why would He do that? And we hear or even personally know about Christians who have “renounced” their faith and walked away from Christianity. Again…if God knew this…and He certainly would…why would He save them in the first place? And therein lay the rub. Truth is…He didn’t.
The question is not whether we can lose our salvation…the question is whether we actually had it in the first place. But people will say about the folks who walked away from their faith: These were godly people. In fact, there have actually been fairly high profile pastors who have done this. And the only explanation for their “falling away” can be that they lost their salvation. Because certainly a godly person who exhibits godly behavior cannot really be an unbeliever. Well…not really. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 we see Paul warning Timothy about godlessness in the church. And he pulls no punches related to their character. He uses adjectives like: proud, arrogant, abusive, unholy, heartless, treacherous, and conceited. We clearly get the picture.
However, tucked away in these damning pronunciations, Paul also describes them as, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). The appearance of godliness. They are going to look godly to those around them…but in reality they have denied Christ. And this appearance can only be sustained for so long. Hence the point. The only way you can lose your salvation is of you never had it to lose in the first place. The reality of your lostness will eventually emerge from the form of godliness.
One of the single, greatest aspects of God’s salvation is that it is a covenant. Paul wrote it was the new covenant in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 11:25). God does not…He cannot…break His covenants. Are there a lot of people out there at risk of losing their salvation. Well…in a way…yes. Because they never had it in the first place. They believed a different Gospel. They believed in a Jesus that does not exist. And therefore…no covenant was made with them. And if this amazing news causes the first thing to cross your mind being: Cool, I can commit any sin and I don’t have to worry about losing my salvation. I’ve got a warning for you. That’s a very good indication that you never had it in the first place. It is meant to be an assurance to Believers who still struggle with sin but hate it. A reassurance to Believers who desperately want to stop sinning but still slip up. I’ve heard several pastors/teachers repeat the same line though I admit that I do not know from where it originated: If we could lose our salvation, we would. That is 100% true. God assures us that we cannot lose it…because left to us…we would lose it. That is the essence of true grace. So, rest easy my Brothers and Sisters. Why? “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). How cool is that?
-Dr, Danny Purvis
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1 Comment
Danny, excellent blog and sermon this week. I think my favorite passages are Romans 8: 31-39. Thank you