Genuine Christian Apostasy - Affirmative Constructive Essay

Debate With Turretin Fan, Opening Statement
By J.C. Thibodaux

I wrote a challenge to Calvinist doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints some time back to show that the concept of eternal security was incompatible with several key warning passages in scripture. An important principle of scriptural interpretation is that passages that are clearer should guide our understanding of those which are not as clear. Though many places in the Bible warn against falling away, I chose these particular three for two main reasons:

1.) Clarity of address, and 2.) clarity of consequence.

Matthew 5:27-30 - Escaping the snares of wickedness is not advice that would benefit one who was unregenerate, much less allow him to enter into life (see the parallel passages in Matthew 18:9 and Mark 9:47). Christ's words were plainly directed at those who follow Him. The consequence of being overcome by sin is hell fire, it doesn't get much clearer.

Hebrews 4:9-11 - The context of the whole discourse pertains to those who believe, notably where the author states that "we who have believed do enter into that rest," and when he concludes his call to perseverance by stating of himself and those he addresses, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess." The rest being spoken of can only be eternal rest given the context. Note that it is not something achieved when one believes, for we who have believed are entering it (verse 3), further indicated by verse 10, "for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."

Revelation 22:18-19 - The consequence of having one's part in the holy city taken being only applicable to those who possess a share of the heavenly inheritance, who is being addressed specifically isn't hard to determine. Having one's part in the holy city taken can realistically amount to nothing else than eternal separation from Christ.

Unlike many of the warnings in scripture which Calvinists write off as applying only to the unsaved or speaking of loss of tertiary rewards, these warnings with eternal and damning consequences are addressed to the regenerate specifically, eliminating any possibility of chalking them up to the "almost saved" or "false professors. Such clarity also renders the eternal securist arguments of violators getting their 'potential' eternal reward taken from them rather weak, such arguments made even more ridiculous by the Calvinist position, which effectively has God threatening to revoke an inheritance that He never planned on giving them.

The clarity with which these warnings are delivered has driven many Calvinists to view the passages as entirely hypothetical. Key to understanding where the error lies in such a position is how they employ the terms 'hypothetical' and 'possible.' This is not the same as being unsure whether the consequences are actual possibilities or not: in the Calvinist view, such a result must be strictly speculative. Some will say it's 'possible,' but not possible in a sense that it could ever come to pass, thus not a genuine possibility (since in their view, it will definitely never occur).

With that in mind, it would be much easier for Reformed theologians to reconcile their views with just a command to persevere, but the consequences given with these divine warnings (especially Revelation 22:19, which pertains directly to the possession of the believer) pose a major problem in that the Reformed view of Perseverance turns them into absurd impossibilities contingent upon more absurd impossibilities. If a genuine believer falling into damnation would imply a change in the very nature of God (as was stated at Dordt), and hence God Himself ensures that such warnings can never be violated by believers, then Calvinism essentially makes these divine warnings say, "Don't do something God won't allow, or He'll do something He would never do," putting scripture through mind-boggling contortions to accommodate 16th century doctrinal silliness.

It's true that impossible and completely speculative statements are occasionally made in scripture, Jeremiah 31:35-37 comes immediately to mind, where one is used to express that God being unfaithful is as feasible as a man being able to measure heaven and earth. In contrast, these warnings are not at all framed as anything speculative or hypothetical, nor does anything in the text suggest as much. Hence reinterpreting, "If you take away from this book, God will take away your part in His kingdom" as merely, "If God were to allow such a thing (which He won't), then you would lose your part in His kingdom" is naught but wholly unjustified filtering of scripture through a dogmatic lens. The absolute negative of those consequences being, in the Calvinist view, due to and absolutely necessitated by the very faithfulness of God, one can only wonder as to why God would cast doubt upon His own faithfulness by proclaiming such consequences upon the redeemed who violate His command, without even a hint of the "but that could never happen" qualification that Calvinists are so quick to add.

The eternal securist defenses against the clear implications in these passages then fall far short of being either sound or convincing. Many instead like to point to assurances of salvation given in scripture as evidence against its conditionality, but a promise does not negate its own conditions -- assurance with accompanying conditions is still conditional assurance. Bottom line, the Calvinist view of perseverance cannot be soundly reconciled with the scriptural warnings against believers falling into damnation:

Scripture says, "Be diligent lest you come up short!"

Calvinism adds, "But you can't possibly come up short!"

Scripture says, "Take heed lest you fall!"

Calvinism counters, "You never can and never will fully fall away."

Scripture says, "Do not be high-minded, but fear."

Calvinism, despite any doubletalk about God filling us with fear and trembling, effectively states that there's no reason to fear such warnings because God will never allow such consequences to occur, making the word of God of no effect.