How Can I Be So Sure?

This week, after a short train journey, I alight at Reading, into the warm sunshine. Then I stroll casually into the town centre shopping precinct. Among the crowds was a group of smartly-dressed men, shirt-and-tie and all that, their dress code making them stand out from the rest of us, that is, except for the passing school kids in their uniform.

Thinking they were salesmen, I did my best to avoid them. The one who approached me spoke in a dialect which made his introducing of himself difficult to understand. Like as if he's an annoying mosquito buzzing around in its hope for some blood, I waved him off and continued to where I was going.

Among the crowds was a group of smartly-dressed men...

Later, on my way back to the station, I passed them again. A different person was eyeing me up but this time, driven by curiosity, my attention was turned to the tiny lapel pinned to his shirt. On it was the wearer's name. Underneath, in almost microscopic lettering, were the words:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

To the uninitiated, such a title or church name looks impressive. After all, as a believer in Jesus as my Saviour and a member of Ascot Life Church, a revamped Baptist Church in East Berkshire, am I not a latter-day saint myself? 

I immediately spoke before he could get a word in, my actual speech here in italics.

Oh, you're Mormons! I have visited your headquarters over at Utah.

(That is, in Salt Lake City.)

I then went on:

I'm already familiar with Joseph Smith and his finding of the golden tablets buried in New York State. (Actually, I should have said "golden plates").

Tell me, what has happened to those tablets? Why aren't they in a museum where they can be checked (for their authenticity) as well as to be seen by the public?

The Mormon looked as if a little too embarrassed to answer. He already knows that the reason why those plates would never be found at any museum, nor stored away at some secret vault, is because they were taken up to Heaven by an angel soon after Joseph Smith had finished with them. 

I only read the Bible, I said, and I don't read any back-up books (referring to the Book of Mormon, said to be written by Joseph Smith as a direct English translation of the golden plates, originally written in "Reformed Egyptian" - a language unknown to secular linguists, with him using a huge pair of oversized spectacles, known as Urim and Thummim, which was also taken up to Heaven!)

Carefully avoiding the words, I believe, which would have weakened my testimony, I then finished the conversation:

I know Jesus Christ as my Saviour. He died on the Cross so that he gives eternal life to anyone who believes. Sorry, I have to go. I have a train to catch.

I immediately began to regret cutting the talk short so quickly. I wished that I have emphasised his physical Resurrection from the dead, despite not fully knowing what the Mormon's view is of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although I perhaps should have known. After all, I did visit their Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The site boasted the Temple, not open to the public, a choir auditorium which is open to visitors, and the Visitor's Center, which is a museum of the history and belief on the Mormon faith. Here and there were quotes from the Bible, but none on display from the Book of Mormon, which is held on equal terms by them as being the inspired Word of God, alongside the Bible itself. 

For the uninitiated, the history on which their whole faith rests can be taxing to the sane mind. The story goes that after trying out different Protestant churches across New York State and finding them all bickering against each other, Joseph Smith prayed to attend the right church. The answer he received back was quite extraordinary. He saw visions of disembodied spirits of two or three of the original apostles, along with an angel, who instructed him not to attend any of those churches, but instead to go to a certain site in the countryside with a spade and to dig up some golden plates and a huge pair of glasses, and to write in English what is written on the plates. The spectacles themselves will translate the text from "Reformed Egyptian" into English.

The story goes that during the Jewish exile from Babylon, around 600 BC, a group of them, known as Nephites, got into large boats and sailed the length of the Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic Ocean until they reached the continent of North America, and then built and settled into townships at was is now New York State. The leader of that community, Lehi, wrote on golden plates and had them buried for future posterity.

It 's a fascinating story. And despite that there is no archaeological evidence of any settlement dating back to that time in America, neither has any kind of "Reformed Egyptian" as a written language has ever been found on either the Old World or the New World alike. Furthermore, the ancient Jews had no history of being seafarers, and their language would have been Hebrew, possibly Aramaic as well, but certainly not Egyptian, reformed or whatever.

Joseph Smith has a Vision...

Yet these people I met in Reading, in Utah, as well as in my own apartment, all fully believed in these things and rested their eternities on such faith. To them, salvation is achieved through a combination of both faith and works: Faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ plus works in entering a covenant of baptism, constant repentance from sins, the partaking of the sacraments, and eternal marriage, the latter doesn't hold much hope for singles. All to earn and secure their own eternities.

Reading about the early Mormon settlers as they face persecution and then left to wander like nomads across the continent until finally settling in the State of Utah, they suffered for their faith. Even Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement, was martyred, calling curses on his persecutors rather than forgiveness, as both Jesus and Stephen did (Luke 23:34, Acts 7:60).

How such a story, lacking in any historical credibility, could convert someone to the point that he would suffer martyrdom, beats me. Yet they are convinced they are on the right path to reconciliation with God and surety of future sonship with him. This also reminds me of the stories told about Jehovah's Witnesses, another cult which has its origins in New York, putting themselves at risk of death in a hospital rather than accept a blood transfusion.

Massive family arguments had occurred in hospitals over this issue. There have been cases when the patient himself, often a child or an adolescent, would have consented to a transfusion. The doctors would have happily gone along with the youngster's consent, had it not been for the fierce opposition from his faithful parents or relatives. Conversely, there were many J.W. patients who have resisted a transfusion to the bitter end, despite pleading from both non-believing relatives and doctors alike. They are all convinced that whether breaking a Mormon covenant or disobeying the dictates of the Watchtower Society, any hope of salvation is lost.

But more than this, each of these followers is convinced that he is right and all others are wrong. It's not just a matter of holding on to the right doctrine, but also a heartfelt conviction. And I could say this about all religions. Whether Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Roman Catholic, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu - all have a heart conviction from one degree to another that they are on the right path to God.

Therefore, it leaves me to ask: Where do I stand? Even in my own church at Ascot, I was told specifically by just one person that when I stand before the Throne of Judgement, I will cry out:

Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many wonderful works?

To which the Lord's reply:

I never knew you, depart from me all ye who work iniquity.

Matthew 7:21-23.

Not that I actually prophesied in public in his name, nor have I driven out any demons, at least as far as I know. And many wonderful works - what "wonderful works"? Nevertheless, I was branded as wicked by this same person. And remarkably enough, it was not because I denied the Lord, whether publicly or secretly. Rather it was because I don't act like a "proper British person" whatever that suppose to mean - oh yes, I hug other people in public, I also lack self reserve, I have a trembling lower lip instead of a stiff upper one, and, according to this guy, I'm not that well educated. In reality, he is not the only one. There are several other Christian men who know me well, from other churches, who also exclude me, for example, from such Facebook profile sharing, for precisely the same reasons. Therefore, there are times I tend to feel that I'm standing all alone.

But I'm not all alone! Far from it. How can I be assured that I'm in the "right religion"? How can I be assured that my relationship with God is healthy?

Daily reading of the Bible and getting to know the Bible thoroughly. Knowing that from the moment I believe, God the Judge imputes his righteousness, that is, the very righteousness of Jesus Christ, into my soul, quickening my spirit, regenerating me, making me a son of God. And once that stage is accomplished, it can never be reversed. It's God who does the saving and its God who does the keeping afterwards. No other religion teaches this! It's not taught in the Mormon faith, neither among Jehovah's Witnesses nor even in the Catholic faith. My trust is in God alone, but furthermore, at my church at Ascot, there are many who accepts me as a brother and a friend, share Facebook profiles, and asks me to pray with them. When it comes to men's fellowship dinners and socials, I'm normally invited. And in all, my hugs go down well with them.

Faith in Christ is the only way to God the Father. He himself said so. For example, John 14:6 says:

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

But there is much, much more than just this. Jesus is the only one who fulfils Old Testament prophecy. For example, he is foretold in Genesis 3:15, when, at the very dawn of history, a prophecy about the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent, is made, ushering the Promise, which remains unhindered right up to the Crucifixion. Other astonishing prophecies such as Psalm 22, where King David foretells about the agony of Christ on the Cross, being mocked by the crowd surrounding him, and the throwing of dice over his clothing.

And read Isaiah 52:13-15 and the whole of Isaiah 53, a prophecy about the servanthood and suffering of Jesus on the Cross. And Zechariah 9:9, where a prophecy of the Lord's triumphant entry is foretold, along with Zechariah 11:12-13, which is a foretelling of the thirty pieces of silver God is priced at. Other prophecies such as Job 19:25-27 Job cries out that he will see his Redeemer after his skin has decayed, long after his own death, yet in his flesh, he will see God, because he already knows that his Redeemer lives (that is, Resurrected from the dead). Indeed, Eternal Security of the Believer is not confined only to the New Testament! Rather, it's intricately linked with the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth from the dead.

These are great truths, wonderful truths, fascinating truths! Jesus himself had said:

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is actually the Truth himself, not merely the source of truth or the right doctrine. This I know, that trusting in Jesus Christ to save me is the only way to the Father. And with this comes forgiveness of all sins - past, present and future, imputed righteousness, and adoption into God's family, which includes fellowship with other Christian believers.

Abraham once said, I'm but dust and ashes. Genesis 18:27.

King David, in addressing Saul, admitted I am but a dead dog, a flea. 1 Samuel 24:14.

Isaiah cries out: Woe is me, I am undone. For I am a man of unclean lips... Isaiah 6:5.

Paul the Apostle writes: In me dwells no good thing, that is, in my flesh... Romans 7:18.

With such statements, coupled with my own life's experiences, I know full well that I'm no better than those quoted four. Yet these four men were some of the greatest men of God in human history. All had faith in God, and not in themselves.

That is why no Mormon can help me, nor any Jehovah's witness, nor any religion or faith that adds works of any kind to faith. Nor any faith, come to that, which insist that I must stay faithful in order to remain saved.

In me dwells no good thing, that is, in my flesh... It's impossible to add an iota of human effort to be saved or even to remain saved. It's all about God, his faithfulness, and his promise to keep everyone who believes.

Outsmarted by a Vending Machine?

Alex my wife felt rather hungry, not having eaten for five or six hours. She asked me whether there is a vending machine in the vicinity. I answered that there is one at that particular corner, but when I arrived at the spot on the far side of the 'L' shaped room, the old machine had gone. Searching elsewhere, I found what appears to be a new installation at a nearby corridor, just out of my wife's view.

Just the sight of this high-tech snack dispenser has made my skin crawl a little. A reflection of our increasingly sophisticated society? Maybe so, maybe not, however, what I did notice for the first time ever, was that there is a debit card terminal built into the machine, along with coin slots and an array of push-buttons, or a typewriter-style keyboard, whatever it's referred as. Thinking that inserting my bank card into the slot and keying in the code number of the item chosen from the wide display behind the glass window, I would first type in the code, then the machine debits my card at the appropriate price. And so I thought.

Nothing happened, except that there was an electronic display of the price at a slot directly under the keypad. I managed to lift the lid located below the display window, but none of those coils, on which each item is suspended, made any effort to turn. Was my card debited? I don't know, but I decided to insert some coins instead - after removing the card from the terminal - and keyed in the code. 

Again some obscure message was displayed. I think it was reading, Continue Shopping. I was confused. All I wanted was one item, which was for Alex. I ended up gazing rather forlornly at the whole machine until another message appeared on the slot: Abandon Shopping? When I pressed the right button, some coins fell into the reject tray, which brought some relief, but nevertheless, I felt defeated by modern technology, but fortunately for me, with no-one near me to watch the whole episode, I was spared the embarrassment. I then apologised to Alex and with her kind response, answered, Don't worry about it.

Vending machines, of course, are nothing new to me. But my familiarity with them had always consisted of inserting the right coin(s) and out dropped the item. And that was it. And that applied to both food and drinks. And going back to the late sixties, how could I ever forget this particular vending outlet at college, where I had to attend on a weekly day-release scheme set by the Government at the time? It was a hot drinks dispenser, which I believe sold only tea. First thing in the morning, after nearly an hour's train travel into London, coupled with being squeezed into a packed Underground train, I made straight for that machine after entering the building.

On one occasion the plastic cup fell onto its side as it was automatically dropped from its holder. I felt a complete pillock as I watched the tea pouring over its side and into the drip-drain underneath it. On another occasion, I carefully drew the hot tea out of the dispenser, only to see a bluebottle floating dead on the surface. I had to chuck the whole thing out. But those were the days when vending machines were straightforward to use, even if a bug in the tea came, on one occasion, with the price.

Then again, there were other times when technology seems to run ahead of my capabilities. Topping up my mobile is one of them, at least occasionally. It is very fortunate that my regular cashpoint, at our local Sainsbury's superstore, has enough patience for me to hesitantly type in the eleven-digit number correctly, then to repeat the sequence for verification. No problem. Elsewhere I have been given a warning that my time is about to run out, then cuts short my transaction attempt when, out of panic, I tend to dither further.

I suppose these electronic dispensers and cashpoints are designed with the assumption that every individual who makes use of these machines must be rapid keyboard typists or graduates who know by heart how to decode the extreme complexity involved in buying a sandwich, a Mars bar or a packet of crisps. It is as if the food is some kind of reward one gets for solving a challenging problem, very like that of a dolphin receiving its food after performing an astounding act before an audience of onlookers, or that of a mouse finding its food after navigating a complex maze of transparent plastic tunnels. Indeed, so it looks to me, modern society is centred around the graduate.

Is life fair? Really, it looks to me that life is very unfair! For example, let's go back to that vending machine incident. Where about did this happen? Indeed, it was at the waiting room of Royal Berkshire Hospital A&E. But we were not waiting to be seen by the medic. Rather, we were waiting for a taxi to take us back home after my wife had suffered another episode of severe back pain and the resulting overdose of Oramorph. We called the ambulance, not so much for a backache as with the overdose, which requires her to be seen straight away. For her backache, we have medicine in place to meet the situation without the need for A&E. But an overdose is something quite different.

All this is quite contrary from my original perception of retirement. After working manually for nearly half a century after leaving school in 1968, I had hopes for full-time leisure - swimming, gym, sauna, day trips, holidays abroad, as well as, of course, church. Indeed, since my retirement commenced in 2015, all these were fulfilled, including two Eurostar trips to Paris. But at present, with my beloved confined to a wheelchair whenever she is outdoors, living on a knife-edge is certainly nerve-wracking. Like the time when we were extremely unfortunate enough for the elevator to break down in London at that moment when my wife just happens to be in it. The sudden jolt had jarred her back, the severe pain meant A&E instead of boarding the train home. After, the staff at nearby St. Thomas Hospital decided to keep her in overnight, resulting in further payment for an extra, unscheduled night spent alone at a hotel. 

And I wonder where God is in all this. How is it that of all married couples around us, we are one of a small minority to whom a wheelchair is needed? The worst thing about all this is Alex is considerably younger than I am. To see her like this is heartbreaking.

But I would never ever leave her! My love for her is strong, robust, and she loves me equally. I'm not exaggerating when she says that I am the best man she could have for a husband. And I always think of her whilst out on my own, whether it's on a quick trip to the shops, at the gym, sauna, or on a train trip to Reading or to London to visit a longstanding friend. And here is another setback. Her disability has put limits to her travel to the extent that she is restricted in using the London Underground, and I fear to take her back on Eurostar lest an episode overseas means treatment at a foreign hospital followed by a massive bill.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Why did we vote to leave the EU? Even if we as a couple voted to remain in the EU, we still lost the Referendum. Surely, that will put a real stickler on international travel, wouldn't it, especially to European countries, unless our Government can knock together a deal in time with the EU which would give us ease of access. 

But whether remaining in the EU or leaving, my wife's disability will always restrict travel, maybe for the rest of our lives. Nevertheless, I will, as I always have, acknowledge God in all things, especially the good. As in last week's blog which was about hiking the Grand Canyon, I can say with conviction that I wouldn't have been able to make such a trip without God's sovereign help. The same applies to all travel, whether it was to France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain, Israel, Singapore, Australia, Canada and the USA. All these I have recognised as being a rich blessing from God. And now, I see our marriage as a wonderful blessing from God, and I am and will be, always thankful to him.

Our 16th Wedding Anniversary, Bournemouth 2015.

It is too easy, too tempting to moan about my fate under such a burden of my wife's disability. The anxiety on when she would have another attack is always at the forefront of my mind. Yet by going through such an experience, there is something worth learning. And that is having a responsibility - a very special sense of responsibility. And I believe that this responsibility itself comes from God. That is why I so fervently believe in daily Bible reading, usually in the morning before getting up, this being the powerhouse upon which our marriage not only survives despite illness but thrives.

True enough, to read the Bible on a daily basis is a learnt habit. It did not come naturally at first after conversion. One of the reasons being, that I might have found something in Holy Scripture which contradicts my cherished beliefs. For example, believing in Once Saved Always Saved and then reading Hebrews 6:4-6. Rather than putting the Bible down and walking away in discouragement, instead I kept it open in my hands with the determination that somehow I would solve the apparent contradiction. And eventually, this has paid off. A thorough reading of the Bible over time has led me to discover that Hebrews 6:4-6 isn't about a Christian falling into apostasy. As this is a letter written for Jews at the time of the Temple offerings still being made, therefore the author is warning them not to reject the offer of salvation from the risen Lord Jesus in favour of maintaining Temple sacrifices.

I suppose the confusion comes from the phrase made partakers of the Holy Ghost found in verse 4. Does this indicate a fully committed, regenerated Christian falling into apostasy? Or, as I believe through means of studying the rest of the Bible, that it indicates a curious unbeliever who spends some time fellowshipping with true believers and enjoying all its benefits, but at the end of the day, decides that this Jesus of Nazareth is just an insignificant imposter, and being a Jew, returns to the Temple? 

After all, the letter is addressed to the Hebrews (indicating all Jews rather than just Jewish believers). The theme of the letter is about how the Temple and all the ordinances connected with it was to lead to Christ, his death, burial and resurrection, and having fulfilled the Law of Moses, therefore making the Temple obsolete. If someone rejects Jesus as Saviour, then there are no more sacrifices that can be made to atone for him short of the need for Jesus Christ to be crucified all over again.

I have a book by Philip Bell, an ardent Creationist, which is titled Evolution and the Christian Faith. In it, he gives the sad testimony of Charles Templeton, a one-time fervent American evangelist who was known to win many to Christ among massive revival audiences. Eventually, he himself had departed from the faith. In 1996 he wrote Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith, just five years before his death in 2001.

As one who believes in Once Saved Always Saved, this presents a dilemma. Any Arminian Christian would hold Templeton as a classic example that salvation can be lost by the believer. But reading other portions of the Bible, during the Judgement, we read of Jesus saying, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:23). If the Holy Spirit has actually used Charles Templeton to bring others to Christ for salvation, then how can I be sure that Jesus would actually say, I never knew you when actually, he did? Didn't Jesus himself say that the Holy Spirit will abide with and in you forever? (John 14:16-17).

I guess that such what looks to be a contradiction can boil down to our natural inability to accept that God can, and does, admit someone such as Templeton into Heaven. Many who share my Eternal Security truth would say that Templeton was never saved in the first place. I think that is nonsense! Rather, for such a former evangelist to enter Heaven would be a shock to his system and will demonstrate the very glory of God in showing mercy to such a one swallowed by intellectual deception.

But what I find interesting is what was the cause of Templeton's apostasy? It was his belief in Theistic Evolution! If ever there was such a force that turn Christian people into atheists and shut the minds of everyone else from the truth of the Gospel, it is Darwinism, whether theistic or not. And lately, I have read about a terrible shocker. So shocking this was and such a tearjerker, that it has an ongoing effect on my emotions.

It's about atheist Richard Dawkins' intention to write a children's book with the purpose of putting young children from any belief in God and direct their innocent young minds on Evolution, ensuring that any religious account of Supernatural Creationism is to be confined to myth and fairy tales.

God help me! Heaven help them! The very thought of a toddler being fed such intellectual poison is a heart-rending proposition. Yet we tend to forget that something very similar has been happening in Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and animistic countries for centuries. Newborn babies grow up in an environment where they never hear the Gospel of Christ, the only way to Heaven. Personally, I find all this heart-rending yet I feel totally powerless to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, popular presenters such as David Attenborough, Brian Cox, and Andrew Marr, all committed Evolutionists, continue to push their beliefs through television, especially the BBC. And the average man in the street absorbs all that is presented, perhaps without realising that all this stuff in the name of Science has stripped the Bible of any historicity, authority and credibility. However, such a denial of Holy Scripture is settled in his subconscious, a barrier between himself and the Gospel.

Evolutionist Prof. Brian Cox visiting the Grand Canyon.

I may not get to grips with the up-to-date vending machine. I may find a dead housefly floating in my tea or coffee. I could dither in panic while trying to key in my mobile phone number at a cashpoint. But neither of these indicates a deprivation of wisdom. Because the firm foundation of wisdom is to know God through faith in Jesus Christ and to be thoroughly stuck into the Word of God, the Holy Bible. There is nothing to lose by making a daily reading of the Bible as natural as eating and sleeping.

Sitting on a Park Bench...

Retirement certainly has its benefits! No more getting up in the mornings to survey the weather, and then after breakfast and Bible reading, having to hobble off to where my ladders and associate equipment had always awaited my arrival. But then again, retirement is a constant reminder that as each day comes and goes, every morning as I look into the bathroom mirror, I could see that I'm not getting any younger. Instead, I watch as I gradually age and my awareness of the grave approaching remains an inescapable reality.

Therefore, together with having to take five different pills everyday for life, I also accept my GP's recommendations seriously enough to visit the gym twice a week for a thorough two-hour workout. Other days of the week I put on my hiking boots and saunter off to Nowhere - just for the benefit of exercise. Then as if the icing on the cake, each Sunday I crack off five miles on the bicycle for church before repeating the journey home.

What a lovely day it was during the week as towards the end of one of those walks, when I paused at a park bench located within a copse of tall trees, mostly silver birch, but with a variety of other species too. It was while I was sitting to rest, pray and meditate, that a powerful thought crossed my mind:

God is not angry with me anymore. His wrath is completely removed.

His wrath against sin completely removed. Not only from me, not only from all other believers, but for the whole world. At this point a verse of Scripture comes to mind: 2 Corinthians 5:19 - To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (AV).

Although I was fully aware of this verse for many, many years, this time it was almost like a Damascus Road experience, the kind both Paul the Apostle and Reformer Martin Luther had experienced. God is not angry at us anymore! I think this is so difficult to take in. For example, all I had to do was Google Once Saved Always Saved, and 6,960,000 results appear in just half a second. And two of my blogs on the subject appears on the first page. But directly above my link there was one submitted by the Assemblies of God church, thoroughly debunking the concept of Once Saved Always Saved. And above that, another link to the Watchtower Society also led to a rebuke against the doctrine. By scrolling down the listing, I could see that the vast majority of links led to articles debunking Once Saved Always Saved.

And these articles weren't necessarily written by laymen. Rather they were written by church pastors and roving ministers, some of them even holding a doctorate. By reading some of their articles, I have come to the conclusion that they centre their opinions on three main New Testament passages: Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:8-10, and Hebrews 6:4-6. Other verses are quoted as well, including Philippians 2:12, where we are exhorted to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Ah, the threat of Hell-fire yet again! 

And so it is easy for them to assume that once you are saved, you will always be saved. Therefore eat, drink and be merry, for Heaven is guaranteed. Go out and revel in your sin - wine, women and song for you - as one eternally saved, you have no fear or worry about the consequences. Really. These pastors, teachers, and academics, some having the title Dr. in front of their names - come on! Are they so ignorant? How could I ask this about such a well-educated person? And with such teaching prevailing throughout our churches, what has come out of all this?

The most obvious reason for advocating Once Saved Always Saved, also known as Eternal Security of the Believer, is because God is omniscient. That means that God not only knows absolutely everything which is happening at this moment, but everything that will happen in the future. And that includes the life of every single individual who are yet to be born. And that where ignorance among these academics kicks in. With the abundance of prophecy found in the Bible, many which are already fulfilled with startling accuracy, can they really believe that God does not know what a person, especially a Christian, is going to do next? Especially if the believer is fully acquitted, has the imputed righteousness of Christ credited to him, a new creation, reborn of the Spirit, and adopted into God's family as a gift from the Father to the Son, and becomes a citizen of Heaven.

Then God himself being gullible as he is, a believer falls into sin which remains unconfessed, and he slips into apostasy. Then God has to undo everything he has already done - first he would impute his sin upon him, making his imputed righteousness of Christ null and void. Then somehow become unborn. Then he would remove the Holy Spirit from him, next he is disenfranchised from God's family and left to be claimed by the Devil again. Finally, he loses all his inheritance and has only the consequence of eternal loss. Talking of the Devil, this shows that Satan is stronger than God himself, whom with his lack of foreknowledge, the Almighty does not know what's going to happen next! Really, does the atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross have any power at all?

Can you see what wretched blasphemy all this is? Yet doctors of theology constantly preach and write such heresy, knowing that they will be listened to, just because of who they are. And the average Christian bow the knee to their authority, not because of a sound knowledge of the Bible but through admiration of the preacher's academic background. 

But where does it, for example, leave me and many other Christians? Or, for example, someone who is homosexual? That is a case in point, because this is mentioned in Romans 1:18-32. Generally, the LGBT community is hostile to God and the Bible, because on how the churches quote these Scriptures as proof  of their sin without assurance that God has already made peace with them, and he is no longer angry with them. They don't need to be told that what they are doing is wrong. Instead they need the love of God through faith in Christ. So this gay man has faith in Christ, but despite all assurances from the rest in the fellowship, he will be aware that he will be peered at from the corner of the eye by not a few with a Pharisaic attitude. 

The worst thing about being gay is that it is not out of personal choice to have his libido excited by a presence of someone of the same gender. It just happens, even without initial intention. And he was aware of his orientation from childhood without making any conscious choice to be gay or straight. Then an elder, pastor or visiting speaker raises the issue on how wrong and sinful homosexuality is. Of course, the speaker is a married man with children, and when he gets into bed later in the evening, he can enjoy his relationship with his wife without a strand of guilt and with full approval from God. The homosexual is fully aware of this. However if a dashing young man also walks in and he is sexually stimulated, the feeling of guilt within the crowd could well make him feel uneasy. Quite likely he has that longing wish to be "normal" with a wife and family. Instead, he listens to a guest speaker condemning homosexuality as a serious sin, yet still uttering the inept statement "to love the person, hate the sin" - and quoting Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:8-10 and Hebrews 6:4-6 as proof-texts that either he was never saved in the first place or he is in danger of losing his salvation.

The homosexual feels trapped, and cannot enjoy a loving relationship with Jesus Christ in the same way as the heterosexual speaker can. Oh, it's all very well for him! His wife will be waiting for him in bed. But for the gay, he feels trapped and cannot find a way out of his natural orientation. Rather, knowing and being fully aware that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself and not imputing their trespasses against them will go a long way towards personal holiness. 

It is human nature to anthropomorphise God. That is to liken God to "a big man" in the sky with human attributes and characteristics. True enough, we are made in his image. We have his threefold characteristic of thought, emotion and free will. Also, like him, each man is a trinity, having spirit, soul, and body, just as God himself is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we are not omnipresent, neither omniscient, nor omnipotent. And because of our fallen state, by nature we don't have his holiness either, but we do have a sense of morality put in us by God himself and a conscience to bear witness of this morality. If, as an example, my natural father had been overbearing, then it's most likely that I would perceive God in the same way - overbearing.

The idea of a Holy God reconciling a sinful world to himself without imputation of transgressions is rather too hot to handle. Probably that was why churches has struggled with this throughout the centuries, even to this day. The trouble which such struggling is eventually the rise of the Pharisee. And sadly enough, the Pharisee is not confined to some Jews living at the time of Christ. They are with us now, sitting in the same church as the rest of us. They debunk any idea of Once Saved Always Saved, they make great efforts to keep the Law, they are prone to be judgemental towards those who don't fit their model, and they are great believers in nationalism, classism, and culture. And they have a strong dislike for mavericks. 

And that is why not everyone likes me in our fellowship. I'm too much of a free-thinker. Pedantic too. And perhaps quite controversial. I stick up to by beliefs. More important, I will always uphold the historicity and verity of Holy Scripture. If the Bible teach that the Earth is only six thousand years old, then it's only six thousand years old. If the Bible imply eternal security of the believer, then I'm willing and ready to stand up and face down anyone who thinks otherwise, no matter how clever he might be or where he attended university. I would be willing to rebuke a doctor for dishonouring God in such a despicable way by teaching salvation by works, and placing a stumbling block at his hearers and hindering them from walking in holiness, which is the same as walking in love, as God himself is love.

I guess I am who I am. I stand up to what I think and feel. If some people don't like it - tough! I love independent travel, I love my church, I believe in hugging, I love the spirit of internationalism because that is a far better representative of the Kingdom of God than nationalism, especially here in England with its isolationist bulldog spirit which breeds hatred, prejudice and even physical violence. Not exactly godly, is it? And I am convinced that this "bulldog spirit" is actually a demonic entity dwelling invisibly in the air. After all, by deceiving people with pride, self-confidence and optimism, along with a history of imperialism sustained by Darwinism, this entity continues to send up to 95% of Brits into a lost eternity. It is a dreadful thought. Facing such a startling reality gives me no pleasure. Indeed, this is an awful and sorrowful tragedy. But it does not have to be this way. Instead, as I already mentioned in my last blog, anyone can come to Jesus Christ and be saved. Even if this means learning about who he is and what he has achieved by his sacrifice made on the cross for us, his burial, and three days on, his resurrection, conquering death and making eternal life accessible to all believers.

And then to change his mind to believe in his heart that this Jesus of Nazareth is the risen Christ, the Son of God. We call this change of mind Repentance. And here is something I still find very difficult to understand: If God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and not imputing their trespasses against them, then how is it that the vast majority of Brits are heading for a lost eternity?

The best illustration is at a Magistrate's Court. The defendant is proved guilty of a crime serious enough for a death penalty. However, his uncle, totally innocent of any offence, steps in and offers to die in his place. Therefore his uncle is executed and the defendant is free to go. But to be set free he has to accept it. But he doesn't. Instead he insist that his uncle was telling porkies. Eventually the judge had no other option but to execute him. Such a needless tragedy! 

Such as the state of Britain, deceived by the lie of Darwinism.

A Source for Assurance...

As we all have to endure the daily stresses of life, I believe that the majority of the Western population takes for granted that the human world will continue for years, decades, centuries, even millennia of years to come. And so we see ourselves evolving on a gradual upward spiral towards a kind of godhood or divinity, probably not much unlike the Karma of Buddhism or Hinduism where by means of many, many incarnations, one will eventually reach a divine realm of Nirvana. Except that whilst Nirvana may be some heavenly realm of the Blessed, the divinity reached by a typical Westerner remains firmly on the ground through by means of Science and Knowledge.

And so science continues to accelerate. Who would ever believed, merely thirty years ago, that I could send a message electronically to someone living halfway round the world, and the message would be received in an instant, therefore eliminating a trip to the Post Office to buy a stamp for the seven-day journey for my letter to reach its destination. And even then, believing that it would take a week for the letter to reach Australia from the United Kingdom was rather optimistic. Anything could have arisen on its long journey to have caused delays to its arrival. Not so with email. And just as an insight to our present teenagers: Yes, those red cylindrical pillars with an elongated rectangular slot, cemented into the ground at the High Street or shopping mall, is a letterbox, where letters are posted for the start of their "snail pace" journey to their recipients, whether just a block away or as far away from the UK as New Zealand.  

Email has eliminated much of this, and as a result there were talks of the Post Office going out of business, if it wasn't for the massive rise in both domestic and commercial parcel deliveries, which are made by orders carried out through none other than the Internet. But then again, I remember a time when receiving mail from distant relatives was always something of anticipation. Nothing was more exhilarating for my mother, for example, than to receive that unique envelope with its characteristic green and red striped edge, and then sitting down to enjoy a good read of the ballpoint pen script, handwritten by her parents living in Italy. And then afterwards, having written a response, off she went to post her letter at the local red letterbox, which back then involved some walking.

With the advance of instant communication, I find it sad that such nostalgic simplicity of letter-writing, along with the extra effort required to post it, is now confined to the past, leaving any post arriving at my door arousing anxiety for that dreaded brown envelope which within formal typewritten contents on a single sheet reminding me of a payment now due. But the advance of Science is not all about reminiscence, or the nostalgic simplicity of the past. Rather, it's due to the advance of scientific knowledge which enabled a team of surgeons to literally save my life when I had to submit myself for a major cardiac operation two years ago. And it is amazing that a regular taking of prescribed medicine can allow a patient such as myself to live normally, free of any symptoms. No doubt, I'm so glad that we are living in an age when Science has made our lives immeasurably easier. But there is always the tail side to the coin. Fears of a nuclear holocaust, developed by advanced science, wiping out the whole of mankind to extinction seemed to have aroused anxiety among a large percentage of the population.

Hence the rise of Pseudoscience, which began to make a prominence during the sixties and seventies. This followed the 1962 Cuba Crisis when both the USA and the USSR were a hair's breath from nuking each other, which would have posed a threat of virtually wiping out all human civilisation. This threat over Cuba took place some seven years into the American involvement of the Vietnam War, which was to continue into 1975. With mainstream scientists communicating mainly among themselves, including those in the field of Archaeology, the average man in the street was left wide open for unscrupulous writers, such as Erich Von Daniken, making a mint in writing popular science books intended to attract the public's attention and refute mainstream archaeology. Although Von Daniken had written several books on related subjects, his most famous was Chariots of the Gods? which scored quite a hit in university campuses, as well as in High Street bookshops. The book advocated an alternate theory explaining the existence of various ancient artefacts found around the world of having extraterrestrial origins rather than being the work of humans. This, according to Von Daniken, is the result of ancient astronauts visiting our planet around 40,000 years ago, and along with leaving behind such tell-tale artefacts. It is also thought that these ancient spacemen even tinkered with the genome of some primates, giving evolution a boost towards the rise of Homo Sapiens. The high reception of the book by undergraduates (I guess mainly in the USA) as well as the general public, indicates the need to save us from ourselves as we make a headlong journey towards a global nuclear catastrophe.

Prehistoric rock painting, Tassili - Ancient astronaut?

The Palenque "Astronaut" Mexico, according to Von Daniken

Despite its popularity, such books - and there were quite a number on closely similar themes by different authors - were dismissed as nonsense by mainstream scientists, even to the point of totally ignoring them in their research of their particular disciplines. But the snag was that by the mid 1970's, I was beginning to accept this pseudoscience as proper science and history. And yes, it is possible as a committed Christian believer to swallow pseudoscience as historical fact. For example, concerning the giant statues of Easter Island, in a documentary broadcast some years ago, the BBC has even listed Von Daniken's theory of extraterrestrial origins alongside that of mainstream archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl, who was a specialist on those statues.  

And so as I read this morning's issue of the Daily Mail newspaper, I came across a major article which could be considered as related to Von Daniken's idea, the only difference being that instead of the rise of the Homo Sapiens, this is about when the world may be destroyed by an asteroid impact, as the Earth is due to pass through the Taurid meteor stream around the year 2030. So according to eccentric archaeologist Graham Hancock, a highly advanced civilisation was destroyed by a mini Ice Age following a comet impact around 13,000 years ago. After discovering an ancient site in Turkey, he wrote a book Magicians of the Gods, based on his findings at Gobekli Tepe, which featured limestone pillars bearing ancient carvings of this bygone catastrophe.

A Pillar at Gobekli Tepe.

And this stream of future world catastrophes come and go. From Erich Von Daniken's need for advanced space gods to save us from ourselves, to Graham Hancock's warning from the ancient past that as our planet is due to pass through a meteor belt, to Jehovah's Witnesses and their prophecies with movable dates on the global Battle of Armageddon sent by God to wipe out all civilisation not affiliated with the Watchtower Society. Then not to mention the more realistic extinction of mankind by a global pandemic of a virus or bacteria totally immune to antibiotics. Or for that matter, a nuclear holocaust, perhaps between the USA and North Korea, including a strike at the UK, wiping us all out.

Local disasters? Yes, as living in a fallen world, local catastrophes are part and parcel of everyday life. But something that would annihilate the entire human species? Definitely not! Because the Bible itself reassures us that for a specific reason, such a worldwide annihilation will never occur. And that despite that most mainstream scientists who debunk pseudoscience also debunk the historicity of Divine Creation and the Global Flood of Noah's day. So what is this important reason that I find absolutely reassuring?

It is God's covenant with Israel. In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we read such wonderful words as these:

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

Thus saith the LORD; If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and there should not be day and night in their season;

Then also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

And as the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister to me...

Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

Then I will cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Jeremiah 33:19-22, 25-26 AV.

Here is the cast-iron promise - God's covenant with the people of Israel. As long as Israel exists, there will never be a worldwide annihilation of all mankind. In fact, there seems to be that the throne of David will be restored in the future, with his son sitting on it to reign. This person cannot be Solomon or any of his past descendants, for this was written after the collapse of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, in 586 BC. Then after seventy years, the Jews returned to their land to rebuild Jerusalem under the authority of governors Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah. Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who was a descendent of David and Solomon, but he was no longer the king of Israel or Judah. Neither was Zerubbabel, nor any of his descendants right down to Joseph husband of Mary. Therefore the promised son of David yet to reign in Jerusalem must be none other than  the risen Jesus Christ himself.   

Jesus Christ reigning on David's throne in Jerusalem! This is the same Lord who was crucified to atone for the sins of the world, was buried, and on the third day risen from the dead, physically - the first person in the whole of history to do so. When his reign begins, the whole planet will be transformed into a paradise, which is the restoration of the Garden of Eden, only this time it will be global. On top of this, according to Isaiah 30:26, the sunlight will be seven times brighter than at present. This will bring physical healing to all, and will also intensify the joy of everyone alive. It will be a far cry from the possibility of total annihilation of the human race. 

I can rest in these promises as every Christian believer can as well. These promises brings wonderful assurance that God is sovereign, and if sovereign then his omniscience also. It is these characteristics of God which allows me to believe in Once Saved Always Saved. 

Let all mainstream scientists debunk the historicity of the Bible, especially the early chapters of Genesis. But the Bible will endure, with all truth and historicity intact. It is like an anvil. It is solid and stable. When struck by a hammer, it it is the hammer that will break, not the anvil itself. Likewise these unbelieving academics will also break eventually if they continue to push away the Bible.

A Nerd Among Backpackers...

I had just exited the elevator at the Ground Floor within the recently opened backpackers hostel, which is just across the road from the Central Station. Not that the building itself was new. Rather it looked rather well-used, as it spent most of its life as just another office block right in the heart of Sydney, quite a walk away from the Harbour which boasts both the famous Bridge and close to it, the Opera House. However, its recent conversion from office to hostel meant that greeting me at the Ground Floor was a spanking new Reception, its long counter empty except for just one young female clerk, at that moment busy serving a customer. So like anyone else with a sound mind, I queued up behind him to wait my turn.

Sydney Central Hostel, visited  July/August, 1997.

As the customer in front was still being served, another young man appeared, looking to be in his late twenties, possibly early thirties. Instead of waiting behind me, he leaned next to me across the counter, and as the first backpacker was leaving, this new-arrival beckoned the clerk over, and I saw that she slightly bowed her head as if some form of obeisance. Immediately I raised my voice, and if any possible onlooker might have perceived to be in a belligerent tone, I told him direct to get in the queue and wait his turn. He face immediately turned red with rage over such an act of impudence, and delivered a torrent of expletives, including a quick lecture on how rude and disgraceful for me to have questioned what he saw was his rights. The clerk, perhaps feeling a little embarrassment, proceeded to serve me.

This particular incident remains unfazed in my memory for the past near-twenty years. For of all my entire travel and hosteling experiences in meeting so many people, this guy was dressed to the hilt in a business suit, shirt and tie, making him stand out like a sore thumb among the casually-dressed hosteling public. Or at least, if it wasn't for my sudden intervention, he would have successfully enticed the swooning clerk to skip over my turn to attend to his need, whatever need it might have been. 

I must be honest here, it was his style of dress which spurred me to intervene the way I did. Dressed up in a business suit and tie. In turn, a different kind of response I would have given to a casually dressed backpacker committing the same offence. More likely, it would have been a gentle tap on his shoulder and asking whether he was aware that he had jumped the queue. What was he doing here anyway? My one and only theory, and one I find to be most plausible, is that he was on a business trip to represent his company at a conference, and therefore received travel and accommodation allowance from his employers. But instead of staying at the Grand, Marriott, or Hilton Hotel, with such expenses which his allowance would have fully covered, he decided on a much cheaper backpacker's hostel, and then pocket the excess. The guilt resulting might have been the cause of his sudden rage at Reception.

And such is the world of backpacking, that golden moment in life when the last person on the planet I would have wanted to share the hostel with, was a man in a business suit. To me, backpacking and hostelling has always been an escape from the real human world of business and commerce, into a world of culture, history, and natural beauty. And startling coincidences.

The 1997 trip to Australia was part of what I call The Travel Triathlon, a Round-the-World solo trip taking in Singapore, Australia, and the United States. On that particular, rather eventful morning, I was planning a two-day trip to Blue Mountains National Park, a two-hour Intercity train journey out of Sydney Central Station. All I had to do was to make sure that a bed at the City Central Hostel was reserved on my return, for a further stay of seven days, before heading to the international airport to board the overnight flight to Los Angeles. I loved the Intercity train ride from Sydney Central to Katoomba, a country station in the midst of Blue Mountains National Park, a canyon totally covered with Eucalyptus trees which gives off a blue mist. On a calm day this mist hangs in the air, hence the name. It was there where I searched for a small hostel to spend the one night, along with hiking along a trail passing through dense rainforest and spectacular waterfalls. And also where Australian trains are concerned, the trains that run on the major Intercity line also runs underground as the Metro service to the Harbour and neighbouring districts. It's rather like having an Intercity 125 running through the Piccadilly, Northern, or District Line of the London Underground! Such is their culture.

Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains National Park.

I guess it had all started whilst backpacking across the United States two years earlier in 1995. After spending a night at a rather dingy hotel in central Manhattan, my first stop after a long Greyhound bus journey, was at St. Louis, Missouri. There I found an equally dingy hostel which, to my surprise, was affiliated to Hosteling International, well known for their thorough inspections for qualification into membership. I booked in for a couple of nights. I saw a mouse dash across the kitchen floor, and there were dead cockroaches in the food storage cubicles. Yet it wasn't long before I made friends with a young German backpacker, sharing our travel experiences whilst cooking our meals in the member's kitchen. When, during the conversation, I told him that I had forgotten to bring the Greyhound route map, which came with the Ameripass ticket, he was willing to give me his, making the rest of the trip better organised.

After spending several days at the Grand Canyon, and then at Phoenix, Arizona, I finally arrived at San Diego, early the next morning, and by chance came across the city YMCA building, with one of its floors let out to a H.I. affiliated backpacker's hostel. For me, it was the very best hostel I have ever visited, and I spent five nights there. Again, at the kitchen I made friends with two brothers from Scotland, and after dinner, with one other fellow, we played table football. Then on one evening, I became part of a group of four who went out to paint the town red. What lay beneath all this, a lone backpacker going out with a group of recently-made friends? Simple really. The want of love and acceptance.

Acceptance. This which can transform lone travel to an electrifying adventure! The need for acceptance. Like after the rest of the group had moved on, I remained in San Diego, where I shared a two-bed dorm with an Australian builder, whose contract had just ended, and he was preparing to fly home. The telling of his travels and building contracts whilst abroad was the inspiration which led to my own travels Down Under, two years later. Meanwhile, a young Jewish woman arrived to spend a couple of nights. When she learned that I was leaving for Santa Monica on the same day she was leaving, she too booked a bed at the same hostel, and asked me to accompany her all the way to the Los Angeles coastal district. She wanted my company for protection. This was fully justified, as after arrival at Los Angeles Greyhound Terminal, we had to wait for a connecting bus to the coastal district - at a rather iffy part of the city. But we stayed together, sharing our experiences. And our faiths. She was Jewish. It gave me the opportunity to testify about Jesus Christ - like I did to two backpackers at the hostel in Phoenix.

San Diego Harbour - taken August 1997.

Two years later, in 1997, I was on the Australian Greyhound Bus, using the same kind of pass ticket as I did in America. Having snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef at both Green Island and Low Isle coral cays, I was heading south towards Brisbane and eventually Sydney. The bus pulled in for an hour's service stop, where I enjoyed a snack at the cafeteria. Presently another bus pulled in for the same reason, and emptied of all passengers into the cafeteria. So there I was, literally at the other side of the world,  alone - thousands of miles away from family and from everyone who knew me, whether they be friends, acquaintances, or clientèle. 

"Hey, Frank!"

I looked up. "Who are you?" I asked the young man standing over me. "And how do you know me?"

"Don't you remember? The hostel in St. Louis? I gave you that map!"

I was astonished. Heavens! After chatting for a while, I boarded the bus. But that is what the sense of acceptance was all about while travelling and hosteling. Getting on well with fellow backpackers, sharing experiences, making friends. Even finding opportunities in sharing my faith without putting the listener off or hardening his heart. Wonderful, that is, all except with the suited businessman in Sydney, of course. The only time I have ever experienced anger and hostility while hosteling, both within and outside the UK, it had to be with a fellow dressed in a suit, shirt and tie!

Which brings me forward to the present. While I was browsing through the Internet, I came across a message which read:

Once Saved Always Saved - An Ancient Programmer's Proverb.

I admit, I was rather intrigued by such a message. Because I am an fervent advocate of Eternal Security of the Believer, or if you like, Once Saved Always Saved, basically he was calling me a nerd - for believing in and advocating such a wonderful truth. And that is what I found so wonderful about travel and particularly hosteling. You seldom come across religious people - at least I hadn't so far. Christians, yes. I came across a group of believers at a roller skating rink in Winnipeg during a backpacking trip way back in 1977. Then, more recently in 1998, I found myself chatting to a group of Christians at the H.I. hostel in Boston Massachusetts. As far as I recall, not one of them has ever made any derogatory remarks to other people or the beliefs of fellow brothers.

In referral to the above quote on the Internet, by clicking on various links connected with such a statement, I discovered that yes, salvation was through grace through faith in Christ, but after that you are obliged to "Keep the Commandments", including the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath. Apparently, according to this author, failing to keep the commandments would result in eternal loss. I wonder how anyone with some degree of intelligence can come to such a disastrous conclusion in Biblical soteriology! If only he understood what the apostle Paul has written when he compiled his letter to the churches in Galatia. That is, he who wants to keep the Law must keep the whole Law, which includes circumcision, and all the Jewish rituals and animal sacrifice (Galatians 5:3, also James 2:10). Failure to keep the whole Law perfectly result in condemnation. 

And I wouldn't be at all surprised that such a person would find it extremely difficult - dare say impossible - to love a brother in Christ who disagrees with him, or fail to live according to his expectations. Such a lack of love is the very root of sin and a serious breach of the Law, no matter how hard he may try to keep it.

Yes, there are two nerds among backpackers mentioned here. The man in a suit at a Sydney hostel is one. 

The other nerd must be me, for believing in Once Saved Always Saved.

A Common Issue Over Salvation.

Some weeks ago, when I listened to a preach in London endorsing the truth of Once Saved Always Saved, I wanted to stand up and allow my praises and thanksgiving for God's mercy to explode out of my spirit. Rather than allowing a licence to sin, the opposite was true - why would I want to sin, or even just to live for myself, if I had such an awesome, merciful Saviour, to live for, who suffered and died for me, so that I can enjoy his presence for ever? So here I type in an article in response to some who objects to this concept, preferring to believe that I could still end up lost if I were to walk away from the faith. This idea is held by not a few people, some who are members of the church I attend, among others who I know personally from elsewhere.

Such a concept of Once Saved Always Saved seems to be embraced by a very small minority of all who holds the Christian faith, while at the same time, it is totally rejected by Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and by many other Christians, even by Atheists. Even within Christendom, (including Catholic countries) the idea of Eternal Security of the Believer is held by only a few by comparison, while it's totally unknown in many other lands. So much of the teaching of Once Saved Always Saved being "the Devil's doctrine" - as claimed by some. If such an adversary, also known as the Prince of this World, has full control of the minds of the religious - (John 14:30) - then how ironic that he wasn't at all successful in deceiving the world that Once Saved Always Saved is a doctrine to be universally accepted and believed. 

Therefore anyone can ask: How did I become such a firm believer and advocate of this doctrine of Eternal Security? Perhaps that I grew up as a Roman Catholic played a major role in this, not by agreeing with it, but in strongly denying it. After conversion to Jesus Christ as Saviour in 1972, I began to see a discrepancy between the Catholic faith and my new faith. This puzzled me for quite a while.

Then one Saturday afternoon in 1974, I was browsing at a Christian bookstore which was located close to St. Paul's Cathedral in London. I have discovered that shop by chance, and nearly every week I can be seen browsing and buying literature. On the shelf I came across one book, False Doctrines Answered from the Scriptures by Dr. John R. Rice, D.D., litt. D. I picked it up, and it fell open on the first section, Errors of Romanism. After a brief read, I bought the book. However, to see such a book on sale here in the UK was very unusual, and I have not come across any other book written by this author, despite that he wrote quite a few other titles. Dr. Rice was once a professor at the Dallas Theological Seminary, known for its toughness in selection of its students. Later he became the founder of the Sword of The Lord Publishers, a para-church organisation in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, of which literature was produced for the American market. So for such a book to be sold here seemed out of the ordinary.

But as I studied the book, I have come to learn why I don't worship God in a Catholic Church. The discrepancy between the Catholic and biblical faith became clear, and I knew which side I was on. John Rice was also a strong advocate of Eternal Security of the Believer, or Once Saved Always Saved,* and he explained why, and where and how it's taught in the Bible. Such study began to change my outlook of the faith, and gradually began to undo what I have been taught as a boy. But this was far from easy. It had taken many years for the reality of God's love to sink in, and to dispel such an image of the Deity having a look of discontent for every misdemeanour I was unfortunate enough to commit. Over time, Dr. Rice became something of a mentor, even if I had never met him personally. By reading his book with a mind open for serious study, he became my home tutor in the faith. 

Some years later, while sitting in a pub with some friends, a Christian I met for the first time offered me three books for nothing, as he was not interested in them. I decided to accept them. One was The Cup of Trembling, another was Global Peace, and the third, How Close are we? All three were written by Dave Hunt, founder member of The Berean Society, Hunt, like Dr. Rice, was also an advocate of Eternal Security, and in his book, How Close Are We? he had given me a wonderful insight of the accuracy of Biblical prophecy, even though my fondness of the subject had already made me rather familiar with it. His other book, The Cup of Trembling, opened up a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the Muslim faith, its relationship with Israel, the Jews, and in particular, the city of Jerusalem, at present, a bone of contention between the Arabs and Israel, and its future fate. With such intrigued reading, I eventually bought two more books by the same author, Occult Invasion, with a wonderful insight of the impossibility of Darwinian Evolution, with the genome given special attention, and finally, A Woman Rides The Beast, giving a thorough history of the Roman Catholic Church as compared to Revelation chapter 17.

As accepting these two well-learnt men as mentors, no doubt had brought wonderful benefits, increased my knowledge, and certainly helped with my understanding of the Bible, including my acceptance of Once Saved Always Saved. But I have also became aware of a small but still a potential danger, the dependency on these two scholars in expense of reading the Bible unaided for myself. So I began to set aside times for Bible reading, and I have found that early in the morning, before getting up to face the day, to be a very suitable time-slot for daily Scriptural devotion. In it, there are very assuring chapters - not just an isolated verse or two - strongly implying Eternal Security. For example, how could I disregard the truth of John 10? After all, those were the words spoken by the Lord himself. Double safe in his own hand and in his Father's hand. Held tight, secure!

Then there is John 17, Jesus' prayer to his Father for the safekeeping of his immediate disciples, their converts, and to all believers worldwide throughout the ages to come. In this prayer there is a statement declaring that it was the Father himself who had given these believers to the Son, verses 2 and 6. This in itself makes the idea of being lost again rather ridiculous, as this not only denies his omniscience, but also weakens his omnipotent power, and makes God less than what he claims to be.

And this brings us to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In the first two chapters, the apostle emphasises several stages of an individual's conversion, beginning from eternity past, when God foreknew the decision the person will one day make. Then he predestined him to to be adopted forever into God's family, and to receive the Holy Spirit, and finally to enter glory. This is further backed up by the apostle's letter to the Romans, particularly chapter eight. Here he writes of his conviction that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

That is wonderful! It coincides with what Jesus had spoken about his hand, and the hand of his Father. It is impossible to walk away, because it is God himself who keeps him. But I wish that those who deny this truth begin to think for themselves instead of latching onto a public speaker on stage or at a pulpit, wearing a suit and tie, and therefore looking well educated. Think for a moment. If you are walking away from God's hand, does this not mean that you are going somewhere, in a particular direction? And don't you have eyes to see? You are walking towards something or to a location that looks appealing. And I let you work out who it was who drew your attention to that which you find appealing, thus walking out of God's hand and losing your salvation.

Echoes of Adam and Eve in the garden. They too were drawn to a delicious fruit hanging from the branch of a certain tree. But it wasn't God who drew them there, it was the serpent. And under persuasion, they took of the fruit and they died spiritually. Now if this is all true with us today, then all the above quoted Scripture comes to nothing. And that annoys me. We live in a culture where whoever dresses smartly and claims to have been educated at Oxford or Cambridge, then stands on a speaker's platform, whatever he says will be taken as gospel-truth, even if what he says contradicts a long-standing belief. People will follow him with unswerving trust - I have seen this in my own church, and I have seen this happen to other Christians too. The fact that it is easier to latch on to someone rather than take the trouble to check out the Scriptures for himself is endorsed by my own attachment to Dr. Rice and John Hunt as home mentors, and whatever they have said, goes.

Then there is one other chapter that prove the validity of Once Saved Always Saved as a valid truth, this is the twelfth chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. Here the writer instructs that God disciplines his children, and this discipline is not bullying or to get even, as may be the case of many earthly fathers, but it is done so the wayward believer will partake in God's holiness. In other words, God punishes for our good, because we are his adopted children and together with being secure in him and never to be lost again, he also wants the best for us. To partake in his holiness on a day to day basis is the best we can have, and to do so brings out the best in fulfillment in our lives. And God wants us to have it, not only for ourselves, but also as bearing a testimony for outsiders to see our holiness and to want it for themselves.

And it was from this letter that I received this quote:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice of sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who had trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:26-29.

Now I do not believe that the Bible is inconsistent, neither does it contradict itself. If this applies to a believer who carried on willfully sinning, and somewhere along the line he had lost his salvation, and had become a recipient of raging fire, then this would contradict every Scripture I have quoted above. Since I don't believe that the Bible is inconsistent, neither are there bits of Small Print to be found in God's plan of salvation for helpless sinners, those verses must call for a different interpretation.

First is the title of the letter, Pros Ebraious - To Hebrews. It looks to me as if the title could have read, To all Jews everywhere. It has always been us Christians who have added in the word believers, or Christians into the title. Then the letter opens anonymously, without the normal greetings to a particular church or individual, as was the case of all Paul's letters. Could the writer have been addressing a universal letter to all Jews everywhere? However, its the theme of the letter which really holds the key to its meaning and intent. It is about how the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ had superseded all the Temple ordinances and animal sacrifices imposed by Moses. The Covenant of the death of Jesus is a better one than the old, making the old one obsolete. Therefore the Old Covenant no longer has the power to cover sins, as it did before.

However, there were many Jews who had heard and understood the Gospel, but had rejected it in favour of the now-defunct Temple ordinances. These rejections did not come from honest or unsure doubting, but from a hostile reaction to what they knew to be true. Such classic examples of this hostile rejection of the Gospel of Christ can be found in Acts chapter five, and particularly the reaction of the Jews towards Stephen in Acts chapter seven. By their rejection, they have trampled the blood of Jesus Christ under their feet. That does not describe a wayward believer who has drifted into sin. But what about their sanctifying, found in verse 29? Does this prove that they were at first believers?

No, it does not. In the Gospel of John 1:4, Jesus shines a light to all men. So everyone who was ever born is aware of the existence of God. Then in John 16:8, Jesus assures his listeners that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement. So the Holy Spirit will be at work among men, and what more than those already called by the Father, that is, the Jews. This is especially when a Jew in particular, enters a church of true believers, and tastes the goodness of the Word of God. Despite the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, he rejects the Gospel altogether, and returns to the Temple. His heart will harden against any knowledge of Jesus Christ being their Messiah, making him impossible to come to repentance.

There are many other Scripture quotes which at first appear to contradict Once Saved Always Saved, but to quote them all would make this blog far too long. But a quick word about Matthew 7:21, were a group stand outside the door of heaven and cry out, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out devils, and in your name done many wonderful works?"

These guys were not believers, but had trusted in their own works to earn their way into heaven, and had nothing to do with the saving power of Christ. The very words the Lord uses to answer speak for themselves, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. That does not describe a fallen believer, or else Jesus wouldn't have been honest here. If any of them had been believers, then they would have been known by the Lord at that time of believing.

There is a good Scriptural backing for believing in Eternal Security. And no advocate of this concept would think that it would result in a license to sin. My own testimony bear this out. All I wanted to do was to praise and give thanksgiving to God who loved me so much as to take the trouble to save me.


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*Addendum:

I have spoken to various people who, although accepting of Eternal Security, tend to feel queasy with the phrase, "Once saved always saved." This kind of differentiation looks to me that the latter phrase opens up a license to sin, not giving any consideration for the consequences. But I believe that the two phrases mean exactly the same thing, to be eternally adopted into God's family through faith in Jesus Christ, and as such, experience a rebirth of the spirit, and actually become a new creation which is fit for heavenly residence.