Tuesday, March 23, 2004
OSAS
A few posts down, I mentioned that I didn't agree with the doctrine of "Once Saved, Always Saved" (OSAS). While I am convinced that we can lose our salvation, and acknowledging that this is extremely difficult to do for one who has been Saved, there is another factor in play, too. Somewhat like Pascal's Wager, OSAS is a safer bet. If I'm wrong, and it turns out that we can never lose our salvation, then the worst possible outcome is that a person spends time worrying about their status than they needed to. However, if OSAS is wrong, then people may believe that they have a license to do wrong so long as they made that commitment at some point. I've met people like this, but I recently became aware of a shocking example of this recently.
It turns out that a few days ago, a guy in Navs I know was randomly called by someone who said that they "wanted to talk about Christianity." My friend wasn't the first guy; I know that person immediately before him alphabetically (among guys) was also called, and had tried to set up a time later, as he was occupied. My friend was free, and so the two of them met at one of the dining halls on campus. It turns out that this was a homeless guy living in town (I didn't even know Blacksburg had homeless people), who had once made a promise to a friend to talk to a Christian about religion. He'd been searching around on the libarary computer, and somehow found the Navigators' website, including phone list. Anyway, this guy asked my friend if a person could lose their salvation. My friend, having a different view than I do, told him that one could never lose their salvation. This is where my starts to become apparent. The homeless guy told my friend that all he had was a car with enough gas to get to a certain town, but that he had a job waiting for him out West. He had tried calling churches along the way, but none said they could help him. My friend counseled that he stay in town and try and find any temp jobs that he could, since within about a week or so he'd have enough money. The guy said that he didn't know what to do, but that he was thinking of driving to a certain nearby town, robbing a store, and then leaving.
This is why OSAS is dangerous. As I read it, the guy was basically checking to see if he would go to Hell for robbing the store, as he'd already been Saved. Now, we can argue all day long about whether or not he actually had been, but I don't believe that any of us can say for certain. However, this doctrine of OSAS, which I view as untrue, can cause nominal Christians (and even actual ones) to commit sins, thinking that it won't affect them.
A few posts down, I mentioned that I didn't agree with the doctrine of "Once Saved, Always Saved" (OSAS). While I am convinced that we can lose our salvation, and acknowledging that this is extremely difficult to do for one who has been Saved, there is another factor in play, too. Somewhat like Pascal's Wager, OSAS is a safer bet. If I'm wrong, and it turns out that we can never lose our salvation, then the worst possible outcome is that a person spends time worrying about their status than they needed to. However, if OSAS is wrong, then people may believe that they have a license to do wrong so long as they made that commitment at some point. I've met people like this, but I recently became aware of a shocking example of this recently.
It turns out that a few days ago, a guy in Navs I know was randomly called by someone who said that they "wanted to talk about Christianity." My friend wasn't the first guy; I know that person immediately before him alphabetically (among guys) was also called, and had tried to set up a time later, as he was occupied. My friend was free, and so the two of them met at one of the dining halls on campus. It turns out that this was a homeless guy living in town (I didn't even know Blacksburg had homeless people), who had once made a promise to a friend to talk to a Christian about religion. He'd been searching around on the libarary computer, and somehow found the Navigators' website, including phone list. Anyway, this guy asked my friend if a person could lose their salvation. My friend, having a different view than I do, told him that one could never lose their salvation. This is where my starts to become apparent. The homeless guy told my friend that all he had was a car with enough gas to get to a certain town, but that he had a job waiting for him out West. He had tried calling churches along the way, but none said they could help him. My friend counseled that he stay in town and try and find any temp jobs that he could, since within about a week or so he'd have enough money. The guy said that he didn't know what to do, but that he was thinking of driving to a certain nearby town, robbing a store, and then leaving.
This is why OSAS is dangerous. As I read it, the guy was basically checking to see if he would go to Hell for robbing the store, as he'd already been Saved. Now, we can argue all day long about whether or not he actually had been, but I don't believe that any of us can say for certain. However, this doctrine of OSAS, which I view as untrue, can cause nominal Christians (and even actual ones) to commit sins, thinking that it won't affect them.
