tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post5851790088590138137..comments2023-10-30T08:00:43.585-05:00Comments on Shameless Popery: Assurance of Salvation?Joe Heschmeyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06998682878420098470noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post-56759549503790885592010-06-25T19:20:14.047-05:002010-06-25T19:20:14.047-05:00Hi Joe,
I've been following your blog, great...Hi Joe, <br /><br />I've been following your blog, great stuff, but not had time to always post. <br /><br />This issue of Assurance is a pretty damning factor in Protestant Theology, because it's at the heart of Sola Fide. Luther was so terrified of the God-Of-Wrath he invented in his mind, he had to invent a "solution" to "comfort" himself: Sola Fide, the belief that Jesus took care of everything for you, so you wouldn't have to "worry" about your future fate. <br /><br />But the ironic (or maybe Providential) thing is that Protestants get trapped by their own logic (which is especially antagonizing for the Reformed camp, who thrives on "logic," so called). <br /><br />As you (and I and Catholics for a long time) have pointed out, there is no objective way to measure the Saved from the Deluded-Saved since both 'respond' with the good works and struggles with sin that "true Christians" are to respond to. <br /><br />But the situation is actually *worse* than that: John Calvin clearly taught something called *evanescent grace* in which God gives a 'fake grace' to the Reprobate to make them *think* and act as if they were Saved, and this only so that He could damn them with greater punishment for such deceptive behavior (other Reformed teachers will reluctantly admit God does this too). <br /><br />When speaking to other Reformed on this, they either wont see it, or pretend they don't see the problem. <br /><br /><br />But the most astonishing factor is that some Reformed will admit the individual cannot know if they are saved, which doesn't actually get them out of anything but rather concedes defeat of their entire system. Since Protestantism teaches God only loves certain people, you must ENTER that religion *assuming* you're one of the lucky few. If you don't know, you can't say God loves you. If God doesn't love you, or you don't know, then any worship or Christian living is in vain. <br /><br /><br />A final problem with the Reformed view of "Assurance" that I realized not too long ago was that of Christian leadership. The Bible clearly lists offices of the Church, yet if someone is not Saved, they cannot ontologically carry that office. In the Reformed scheme, if you can't know if you're saved, nor can anyone else, then logically it's functionally impossible for there to be Christian Church officers in Calvinism since they very well could be Deluded-Saved. Make sense?Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453168437883536663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post-39410225766172725172010-06-24T19:48:44.814-05:002010-06-24T19:48:44.814-05:00such good friends he had warning him against the d...such good friends he had warning him against the dangers of presumption and despair as sins against hope without even knowing the nature of them!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com