S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

"Conditional security" is a theological term used in reference to the salvation of believers in Jesus Christ. It describes the supposedly tentative quality of the Christian's salvation. In other wo...

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July 01 2013 • 6 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Daniel Carlson Pastor of the Community Bible Church in Aguila, Arizona

Conditional Security is an emotionally charged subject. As S. Michael Houdmann points out, there are an abundance of scriptures on both sides of the issue - which can be slanted in whatever direction one chooses.

To my way of thinking, the controversy comes down to the very nature of God. We all agree He is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent - fully capable of doing what He wants, when He wants, and to whom He wants.

It all boils down to what kind of God we really believe in. Does the God we believe in use His sovereignty in an unpredictable, uncaring, and ruthless manner? Are His actions arbitrary, whimsical and capricious? Or is His nature revealed to us as loving, righteous, just, truthful, merciful and compassionate?

Does He send some people to hell for no reason whatever? Or because He relishes seeing them writhe in unrelenting anguish for eternity? Or because they weren't one of the frozen-chosen? (One could find scriptures to support these assumptions.)

Or does He use His sovereignty in an absolutely just, perfectly loving, equitable, unbiased, and nondiscriminatory manner, based on His omniscience and omnipotence? (Scriptures also support these conclusions.)

Does He extend His offer of grace and mercy to "whosoever will," or just to those who were born with a special tattoo? Are all others earmarked for eternal damnation, irrespective of their choices and actions?

Granted, His ways are past finding out. We are mere humans and our thoughts are from a mortal perspective. Does that mean we cannot know anything about His nature? Has He not shown us anything about His character and attributes? Is our concept of God as the author of perfect justice, and possessed with pure goodness, impartial fairness, and uncompromising truth unreasonable or unbiblical?

I personally would have a hard time believing in a God who existed in absolute defiance of the standards of justice and mercy He demands of His children. God is love and He tells us to love one another even as He has loved us. That I can understand and believe.

I had a "Calvinist" explain it this way: "Humanity is a bucket of worms. God, in His sovereignty, picked a few of those worms out of the bucket and transformed them into butterflies. He has a perfect right to do what He wants with those worms. Don't you agree?"

That's reasonable - until you ask yourself: who created those worms in the first place. And if God made them, for what purpose? To squirm forever in a bucket of misery simply because they had not been designed to be butterflies - except for the few He handpicked to be transformed?

One may believe in an irrational and self-contradictory god who is unpredictable and discriminatory, That's a characteristic of heathen gods.
But it's impossible to truly love and worship such a being. I don't want to reduce the God I adore to the level of a pagan god.

The God I worship is Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Peace, Righteousness, and Faithfulness. His compassions fail not! His embrace is all- encompassing! He is joy unspeakable! His love knows no bounds! His mercy endures forever! His goodness is everlasting! His forgiveness is absolute! His ways show infinite wisdom! That's the God I worship!

June 19 2014 • 15 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

James Kraft 74 year old retired pipeline worker

If my salvation depended on whether I was chosen or not, I would be shaking in my boots wondering if I was one of the chosen.

But, I have nothing to worry about because Jesus paid my sin debt in full and I can never be condemned again based on what he did for me, not on what I do or do not do. John 3:16-18.

Before I believed I was already condemned. But since I believed I was given the free gift of eternal life. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Since it is a free gift, there are no conditions. If there were conditions, then it would not be free. There is one condition. That ye believe on the one He has sent. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent me, that ALL that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have EVERLASTING LIFE, and I will raise him up on the last day.

So, what is the only condition for everlasting life? Acts 16:31: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Faith alone in Jesus' finished work on the cross alone plus nothing. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of your selves, it is the GIFT of God, not of works lest any man should boast. 

Jesus made the one payment for all sin, so that anyone who would believe on Him would be saved. Believing is the only condition for salvation by grace.

August 13 2019 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report