Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A Calvinism I Can Chew on, and Find Tasty (part 1)

Last night at Bible study, Brother Tim Conway (pastor at GCC) was discussing the need to overcome sin, and how the warnings of scripture often go right over the heads of most Reformed folks because of the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. He suggested that Jesus wasn't just being hyperbolic in Matthew 5:29. If we don't take sin as seriously as Jesus talks about and mortify the deeds of the flesh, we are in danger of hell. Tim obviously believes that if you are "elect" you have no choice but to overcome; but he acknowledged that the emphasis of scripture is on us thinking that the possibility exists that the Saint might not overcome and enter heaven if we are not violent about it. He recalled a pastor friend of his, whenever asked by a young believer if it was possible to lose salvation, even though his theology would say "of course not," he would instead say with gusto, "You can if you DO."