Tilling and Planting

Tag: Bible

  • Purim: The Queen’s Holiday

    Purim: The Queen’s Holiday

    Intro

    I hope you’re not getting tired of me talking about the Jewish Holidays. Honestly, it’s been kind of fun and fascinating to learn how the different holidays point to Jesus. And I really hope you’ve enjoyed it and learned from it as well. Today, though, I’m pivoting to one that God did not establish. A Jewish queen established it. This holiday is called Purim. And it was established by Queen Esther as described in the Biblical book of Esther. Despite the fact that God didn’t ordain it (and despite His name not being mentioned in the book), God’s sovereignty can be clearly seen throughout Esther and the terrifying circumstances that led to the creation of Purim.

    The Celebration

    When it comes to observing Purim, the Jewish people have four things they do. First, they attend a public reading of Megillah – the Book of Esther – twice. Once the night before Purim and once on the day of Purim. One fun tradition with this is that every time Haman’s name (the villain, I’ll get to the story later) is mentioned, the hearers stamp their feet, use noisemakers, etc. to drown out his name.

    The second thing observed is to give to the needy. More than one Jewish holiday includes this and God commands and encourages this practice all through the Old Testament, so this comes as no surprise. For this specific holiday, a core theme is Jewish unity, so giving to the needy recognizes that.

    A third practice is to give gifts of food to friends. In case you missed it, every Jewish holiday involves a lot of food. Sure, many also contain fasting (Purim is no exception), but they always end with an abundance of food. To me that’s a reminder that even though there’s a time and place for fasting, we should always come back to celebrate and thank God for the food He has provided us with.

    Fourth and finally, is the feast itself. Invite as many friends and family as you can and feast! Enjoying the company of others and having fun is the primary message and theme of Purim.

    A few additional things include masquerades, special prayers, and a fast that occurs before the official day of Purim.

    Now in case you aren’t so familiar with the story of Esther, I’ll jump into that now.

    The Story

    So where did Purim come from? What part of Jewish history does it remember? This one goes back in time to the time of the Persian Empire. Some quick history: during the reign of Solomon’s son, the nation of Israel divided into two, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Many years later, Assyria destroyed Israel and carted them off into exile. Babylon came along and took over Assyria and then turned and destroyed Judah – taking them into captivity. Babylon in turn was conquered by the Persian empire.

    That first Persian king over the territory of Babylon was named Cyrus. And Cyrus allowed the Jewish people (really all exiled peoples under Babylon) to return to their homeland and rebuild. The book of Ezra records one of the earliest returns of exiles and the rebuilding of the temple (Nehemiah records another return and rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, but this occurred after the events of Esther).

    Queen Swap

    Enter the Book of Esther. Here we find ourselves a couple of generations after Cyrus when King Xerxes (Ahasuerus is the Hebrew name for Xerxes and preserved as such in some English translations) is on the throne. The king throws a lavish party and displays his wealth and power to all sorts of Persian nobles. In his intoxicated state, he orders Queen Vashti to appear before them all to display her beauty (Esther 1:10-11). And she refused (verse 12). Why she did isn’t clear. Many believe the order was to appear naked and wearing only her crown…If that’s true, I don’t blame her for refusing.

    In any event, Xerxes became angry and asked his advisors what to do. They advised him to get rid of Vashti as an example of what happens when one disobeys the king’s command – and to supposedly prevent women everywhere from rebelling against their husbands, probably not a realistic fear, but they used it as a weapon to reinforce the low status of women, nonetheless. The king agrees and throws out Vashti, declaring her to no longer be his queen (verses 13-21).

    After calming down, Xerxes takes the advice of his nobles again to find a new queen (2:1-4). And through a beauty pageant/one night stand (really it was rape, this isn’t a PG book when you think about it), Esther was chosen over all the other young woman to be Xerxes’s new queen (verses 8-18).

    Esther Who?

    Now, who exactly was Esther?

    Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. 7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

    Esther 2:5-7 (NIV)

    So, Esther was a cousin of a Benjaminite named Mordecai. In verse 15 it gives the name of Esther’s father as Abihail – identified also as Mordecai’s uncle. Also, her real name according to the text was Hadassah. Verse 7 also identifies her as being quite lovely. This is an important note since the king’s edict targeted the most beautiful young women in the empire.

    We don’t know a whole lot else about her, but when brought into the harem, she pleased the eunuch – Hegai – in charge and he gave her special treatment and moved her to the best place in the harem (see verses 8-9). However she pleased Hegai likely contributed to what we read later (verses 17-18) where it says the king was pleased with her more than any of the other women and chose to make her queen (and I’m sure the special treatment helped out as well).

    Haman’s Plot

    Now we get to the meat of the story. The events that directly lead to the establishment of Purim. Enter Haman. A noble of Xerxes with a position of honor greater than all the other nobles. He’s identified as an Agagite, which history + tradition tells us was a group of people descended from Agag, the king of the Amalekites. The Amalekites were a long time enemy of the Israelites whom God commanded King Saul to destroy – but he failed. So already Haman’s views on the Jewish people aren’t favorable. Add to that Haman’s massive ego and a small slight and suddenly there’s a decree to eradicate all Jewish people.

    Okay, back up, what slight? Mordecai – Esther’s cousin – refused to bow to Haman (chapter 3:2-4). This enraged Haman (verse 5). And he decided that he didn’t just want to destroy Mordecai, he wanted to destroy all of the Jews (verse 6). So he concocted this story about the Jews and presented it to the king to get his blessing to destroy them all.

    Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

    Esther 3:8-9 (NIV)

    The king agreed and an edict was sent out to all the empire that on a specific date, the Jews were to be eradicated.

    Mordecai’s Plea

    When Mordecai learned of this, he – along with all the Jews – mourned. This mourning reached the ears of Esther and she inquired of him why he mourned. Mordecai explained the situation and then pleaded with her to go to the king and beg for mercy for the Jews. Esther reported that, according to law, no one could go into the king’s presence without being summoned – herself included. The consequence was execution. Mordecai challenged her saying that she likely will not be spared either – despite her position. And even suggested that the reason she got into her position was to bring salvation to her people. Esther agreed and asked that all the Jews in Susa fast for her for three days and then she would go before the king (see chapter 4).

    Esther’s Bravery

    After the three days of fasting, Esther put on her royal attire and entered the king’s court. When the king saw her, he held out his royal scepter – which pardoned her disobedience to the law. He asked her what she wanted and Esther invited him and Haman to a banquet, and there make her real request (chapter 5:1-8).

    Fast forward to the banquet recorded in chapter 7 and Esther reveals her nationality to the king for the first time and Haman’s true nature.

    So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

    3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

    5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

    6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

    Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

    8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

    The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

    As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

    The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

    Esther 7 (NIV)

    Brutal way to die. A quick note, verse 9 indicates Mordecai spoke up to help the king. I didn’t cover that, but chapter 6 describes how the king honored Mordecai for foiling an assassination plot against him in chapter 2. Ironically, the king ordered Haman to perform the parade for Mordecai.

    Salvation for the Jews

    After Haman’s demise, the king gives Haman’s position to Mordecai. And at Esther’s pleading, orders a new edict written that allowed the Jews to defend themselves against all their enemies that took advantage of Haman’s edict. And when the fateful day came, the Jews overpowered their enemies – and all the nobles, governors, and other government officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai, now the most powerful noble in the empire. This carried on for two days rather than the original one, as requested by Esther.

    Purim Established

    After this victory, Mordecai issued an edict for the Jews to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar (the days they fought and overcame their enemies) as holidays for generations to come. And the name Purim comes from the Persian word pur meaning “lot” and refers to the lots that Haman cast to determine which day to eradicate the Jews.

    God’s Silent Hand

    Whew! I went through a lot there. Basically the entire Book of Esther summarized. Did you notice I never mentioned God? Did you notice that Esther never mentioned God? It’s true. God’s name is not in the entire book. But His hand of providence permeates the book.

    The king chooses Esther among all the young women to be his next queen. Mordecai happens to uncover an assassination plot against the king. Later Haman’s own ego causes Mordecai to become honored by the king.

    Mordecai suggests to Esther that Haman’s plot is the reason she’s in her royal position. Even though Mordecai doesn’t say explicitly, he’s clearly suggesting divine providence. And when Esther initially replies in fear, he suggests that salvation will come from somewhere else – again suggesting divine providence. Mordecai clearly believes in God’s faithfulness to the Jews. Esther agrees to Mordecai’s plan to go before the king and by some miracle remains alive.

    It’s worth noting here, that Esther pleases everyone who encounters her. First, Hegai (the eunuch in charge of the harem), then everyone she encountered leading up to her one night with the king, and finally the king himself. Something about her made everyone like her – which enabled her to go before the king and not die. This too suggests divine working in her life. This extends to when she makes her plea to save the Jews and Xerxes chooses her over Haman. Then he allows the Jews two days to defend themselves and elevates Mordecai to the highest noble position.

    It’s pretty clear to me that God worked all through the Book of Esther.

    Wrapping Up

    And there you go. One of the biggest Jewish holidays of the year. Not established by God, but blessed by Him no doubt. Still in the Old Testament though, in case you’re keeping track. God’s providence and sovereignty shines so clearly through this story that I might take some time each year to re-read Esther and remind myself of that. Having a Jewish co-worker helps since he makes known when each of the holidays comes around (and brings donuts for Purim!).

    I’ve got one more holiday to cover, Hanukkah. Another one not established by God, but divine providence surrounds the events – and makes an appearance in the New Testament. Of note, I might take a break for the fourth Saturday of this month (August). The week immediately following the publishing of this one I’m volunteering at a camp and the weekend after will be recovery. So I might not get around to writing anything. I’ll send out an email when the day gets closer.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Jewish Holidays Revisited

    Jewish Holidays Revisited

    Intro

    In this last post about the seven Jewish Holidays (or feasts or festivals) found in the Bible that God instituted, I’m giving a brief summary of how the feasts point to Jesus – either His first coming, second coming, or both. These aren’t in the same order that I did the individual posts on, but they are in the order of when they occur on the calendar. So let’s dive in.

    Passover

    Passover reminded the Jews about the night the angel of death killed the firstborn of Egypt, but passed over all Israelite homes as long as they put the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts. This marked the end of slavery and the beginning of freedom for them.

    Jesus fulfilled this by becoming the unblemished, spotless Passover Lamb and shedding His blood for the forgiveness of our sins. By receiving this forgiveness, we are freed from our sins and are no longer slaves to them.

    Unleavened Bread

    The Feast of Unleavened Bread – which happened right after Passover – reminded the Jews of their flight from Egypt. Further, throughout Scripture, leaven is used as a picture of sin. This is important.

    Jesus fulfilled this one because of His sinless life. And since leaven is a picture of sin, you could say Jesus lived an “unleavened life”. This goes hand in hand with Jesus being the unblemished, spotless Passover Lamb. Because only a perfect lamb could be sacrificed for the Passover.

    Day of Firstfruits

    The Day of Firstfruits served as a celebration of the barley harvest. And the Jews took this time to give thanks to God for His provision – appropriate. In addition, it reminded the Jews that the first fruits of everything belonged to God. Food and firstborn among animals and people.

    Jesus fulfilled this by becoming the wave offering (the priest presented a wave offering for this festival) that He presented to God and then His atonement was released to be received by us (just as the wave offering was released to be used). This one occurred on Resurrection Day.

    The first three holidays point to Jesus’ sacrifice, death, and resurrection. And it gets better from here.

    Pentecost

    Also called the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost celebrated the wheat harvest and the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai. It came 50 days after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

    The fulfillment of this one came on the day of Pentecost itself when the disciples were all gathered in the upper room. Holy Spirit poured out upon them and they preached the gospel to untold thousands. And the result was a harvest of 3000 people. The connection isn’t quite as obvious here (other than the usage of the word “harvest”), but the New Testament refers to the Holy Spirit as a type of first fruit that God gives believers. And like the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks is a feast of giving of the first fruits – of wheat rather than barley. Furthermore, the Jews remembered the giving of the law during this time. The law symbolized and instituted the Old Covenant; the outpouring of Holy Spirit symbolized and fully established the New Covenant.

    With this one, we’ve reached the end of the Spring festivals and the end of the ones completely fulfilled by Jesus’ first coming.

    Feast of Trumpets

    Moving on to the Jewish holidays found in the fall, the Feast of Trumpets kicks off a ten day period of introspection and repentance. From the first trumpet blast sounded, the people began to look at their lives and confess their sins to God and others. They seek reconciliation and forgiveness.

    In terms of fulfillment, this one hasn’t been fulfilled yet. The Feast of Trumpets is the first holiday on the Jewish calendar that points to the Second Coming of Christ. How so? Well, so much around the Second Coming is associated with trumpet blasts. A trumpet blast precedes the rapture of the church, a trumpet will herald the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, angels will sound seven trumpets each for a different judgment on the inhabitants of the earth, etc. The festival urges people to seek forgiveness from God before it’s too late.

    Day of Atonement

    The confessing of sins from the Feast of Trumpets and the ten days following, culminates in the Day of Atonement – the most sacred and solemn day on the Jewish calendar. On this day, the high priest sacrificed a goat for a sin offering for the people and then on a second goat – the scapegoat – pronounced all the sins of the nation and laid them upon the goat. Someone then took the goat out to the wilderness and released it. It’s a little different now without the temple and the priesthood established. That’s why there’s a ten day period of confession. But the idea is the same. Sin must be atoned for and forgiven.

    One thing interesting about this feast comes from the fact that I see elements of both Jesus’ first and second comings. It’s pretty obvious from a reading of Hebrews that Jesus serves as our High Priest, but also served as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. However, it also points to a future redemption of the entire nation of Israel when Jesus returns. Similarly, the Day of Atonement reminds us of the seriousness of sin and the need for judgment of it. And the Second Coming includes judgment of the wicked and of sin itself.

    Feast of Tabernacles

    This final of the holidays on the Jewish calendar (as instituted by God) is the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot. The Jews take this time to live in tabernacles (think tents) and remember their ancestors’ journey through the wilderness after escaping Egypt. It’s a time to reflect on the provision and presence of God. After all, the official Tabernacle that the Lord directed Moses to make was the place of God’s presence among the Israelites.

    Like the Day of Atonement, this festival points to both the first and second comings. And to me, it looks fairly obvious how. For Jesus’ first coming, John in particular used the Greek word for tabernacle to describe Jesus dwelling with mankind – much how God dwelt with the Israelites in the wilderness. And like those tabernacles that Jews live in to commemorate this festival, His first coming was temporary. However, all these festivals see a greater fulfillment than what is on the surface. And for this one, it also points to Jesus’ second coming, but as a permanent dwelling with mankind. The Bible also mentions that all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. All nations will celebrate God dwelling with mankind for all eternity. That’s powerful.

    And that’s the last of the Jewish holidays in this list. To sum up: the first four festivals in the Spring all point to the establishment of the New Covenant through Jesus’ death, resurrection, and sending of Holy Spirit. The last three in the fall primarily point to the second coming of Christ and His reign and rule over all and the destruction of sin once and for all (with some additional elements pointing back to His sacrifice and first coming).

    Wrapping Up

    And there you have it. All seven Jewish Holidays that God Almighty established. It’s incredible seeing how much they point to Jesus and all the foreshadowing that exists.

    Even though this has come to a close, I’m not quite done with Jewish Holidays. There are two more that are very well known that I think a lot of people forget were not established by God. Despite that, you see God’s fingerprints all over the circumstances surrounding the establishment of these holidays. Join me next time as I explore the first of these two: Purim.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Unleavened Bread?

    Unleavened Bread?

    Intro

    Here’s post number four discussing a Jewish holiday. In case you missed it, I’ve covered 3 of the 7 holidays (or feasts) instituted by God in the Old Testament (catch up here for Passover, here for Pentecost, and here for Firstfruits). I’ll confess that I didn’t plan this out so I’m doing them in a weird order. But oh well. Now onto the topic of this week’s post, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. What is unleavened bread, you ask? That’s a great question since, unless you’re familiar with the process of bread-making, you don’t have much reason to know what leaven is. And yet, Jesus uses it as a negative illustration multiple times. Given that, I think it important to know what leaven is and the reason behind the feast.

    The Basics on Leaven

    Okay, first question to answer: what is leaven? In a word: fungus. But not just any kind of fungus. Leaven is a fungus that ferments sugars and is used to cause dough to rise. You may have also heard it by its arguably more common name, yeast. For those of you familiar with bread making, you know how important yeast is to the process. But you also know that you don’t need a lot! Put too much in and you’ll probably end up with a loaf that collapses shortly after baking and is gummy or spongy, etc. Not good. A little goes a long way here.

    Now before you get all excited about the possible sermon illustrations that compare leaven to how Christians ought to live out there lives (i.e., don’t shove it down people’s throats), that’s more what Jesus’ illustration with salt is about. Jesus called us the salt of the earth (see Matthew 5:13). And similar to leaven, a little salt goes a long way. However, Jesus does not call us the leaven of the world. In fact, He warns against the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod. Plus Paul warns against the leaven of immorality (1 Corinthians 5:7) and legalism (Galatians 5:2-11). So what was Jesus and Paul comparing leaven to that makes it a negative? Before I answer that question, I’m going to take as step back and first talk about the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

    The Feast

    “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

    “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

    Exodus 12:14-20 (NIV)

    Here in Exodus 12 we see a detailed outline of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This feast begins the day after Passover – as seen in Leviticus 23:5-8. The Jews observed it for 7 days in accordance to God’s command. It was part of the commemoration of the Jews’ departure from Egypt. And as the name implies, the big deal of the festival was leaven – specifically the removal of leaven from their food and homes. No leaven could be found in their homes for the duration of the 7 day feast. And all their bread had to be made without it.

    In fact, some days before Passover, the search for leaven in the house began. By the time the Passover came, the Jews had cleared the house of even the smallest speck of leaven. And I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but here’s an interesting thought about that practice. What did Jesus do at the temple a few days before Passover? Cleared the temple. Jesus accused them of turning His Father’s house into a “den of thieves”. Given what leaven represents in the Bible, Jesus literally fulfilled one aspect of this feast by doing that. More on that in the next section.

    No Leaven in Jesus

    Going back to the question of what leaven represents, the answer is sin. Because, like sin, it only takes a little leaven to work its way through an entire batch. And when we’re talking about sin, that batch may be an individual, or an entire church community. Because of that representation, Jesus does not compare His followers to leaven. Rather He uses leaven in conjunction with the religious and political leaders.

    With this in mind, it becomes easy to see Christ in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus was sinless. No sin, no leaven. And He called Himself the “bread of life”. So this feast could be named the Feast of Jesus Christ, because being without sin and being the bread of life makes Him Unleavened Bread. Simple deductive reasoning there. This festival and Passover are very easy to find Jesus in. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God and He died during Passover when the sacrificial lambs were being slaughtered. And with this one – done around the same time as Passover – we can recognize that just as the bread used in the feast had no leaven in it, Jesus also was without sin and therefore made the perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sin and redemption.

    Back to the clearing of the temple, can you see how Jesus fulfilled the practice of cleaning a house of leaven? If leaven is sin, and the temple market made it a “den of thieves” – i.e., sinners – then Jesus cleared His Fathers house of leaven (sin). Pretty incredible when you think about it.

    Wrapping Up

    Jesus our Passover Lamb – perfect and spotless. Jesus our Unleavened Bread of Life – sinless. The Firstfruits of the Resurrection. The one who sends Holy Spirit to Reap a Harvest. Praise God. And that’s just 4 of the 7 festivals instituted by God Almighty that all point to Jesus and His plan of redemption for mankind. Incredible. Let us all remember this and be grateful for all He has done. For His great love, grace, and mercy shown to us. Amen.

    Join me next time as I find Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • The Pentecost Harvest

    The Pentecost Harvest

    Intro

    Easter is now over. And with that the next major Christian holiday is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday occurs 7 weeks after Easter. And while I probably don’t have to tell you what occurred on that day in Christian history (though if you are new to the faith I will be sure to explain it for you), I’m willing to bet you aren’t fully aware of the Old Testament origins of Pentecost as a Jewish harvest festival. And if you want to be technical, part of what we as Christians recognize as happening on Pentecost is a harvest of sorts. Just not in the agricultural sense.

    Shavuot

    You might be thinking, “What did I just read?”, “What is Shavuot?”. Shavuot is the Hebrew word for the festival that occurs on the day we call “Pentecost”. It is Biblically called the Feast of Weeks. In terms of timing, the Israelites celebrated Passover, counted 49 days – or 7 weeks, hence the name – and then on the 50th day, celebrated this feast (see Leviticus 23:15-16 and Deuteronomy 16:9-10). Because it occurs on the 50th day after Passover, it also got the Greek name, Pentecost (which means “fiftieth”) – as we see in Acts 2:1.

    Shavuot is an agricultural festival related to the first fruits of the wheat harvest happening at this time of year. Consequently, part of the offerings brought to God included two loaves of bread baked with the first fruits of the harvest. In addition, they offered a bull, rams, lambs, a goat for a sin offering and more lambs for a peace offering (Leviticus 23:17-19). It was also one of the festivals that required mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So the city would be packed year after year on this day.

    As tends to happen, Shavuot also became associated with something else important from Jewish history. The giving of the law. Some Jewish traditions hold that 50 days after the first Passover in Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai. And in fact, the Bible does say “in the third month” after leaving Egypt they arrived at Mt. Sinai. And 50 days after Passover – middle of the first month – would have been “in the third month” (third month of the Jewish year, not third month after leaving Egypt, just to be clear). Whether that’s true or not, Pentecost became a holiday not only for the wheat harvest, but also to remember the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai.

    Bonus: The Jubilee Year Connection

    One quick note, is that Pentecost and the Jewish year of Jubilee both had the number 50 attached to them. Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after Passover and every 50th year was the year of Jubilee. During this year, debts were cancelled, enslaved Israelites were set free, and the land was not worked. No sowing, plowing, reaping, etc. Consequently, the number 50 itself had connotations with freedom and rest.

    And as you’ll see later, all these things I mention here become reflected on the day God poured out Holy Spirit on the disciples.

    Pentecost of Fire

    Jumping ahead to the New Testament, 50 days after the Passover at which Jesus was crucified, all the disciples (120 in all) were in an upper room praying. And they were expectant. How do I know they were expectant? Take a look at what Jesus said before He ascended.

    On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

    Acts 1:4-5 (NIV – italics added)

    At this time, it was probably around 9 days since Jesus said these words to them. Perhaps less. So they were all eagerly awaiting this promised gift of Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them. They were probably planning on taking advantage of all the pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for Pentecost and witnessing – seems logical. Then God did something amazing. Take a look at what Luke writes in Acts 2.

    When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

    Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

    The very thing they’d been waiting for that Jesus told them would come finally came! Filled with Holy Spirit they preached (in all the languages represented by all the pilgrims) to all who would listen and 3,000 people got saved that day.

    This is the Pentecost that Christians remember and celebrate. But what’s interesting are all the little connections between Pentecost the harvest festival and Pentecost the day Holy Spirit was poured out.

    From Wheat to Fire

    Why did God choose Pentecost to pour out Holy Spirit? Well, here’s a few ideas that show how the Christian Pentecost fulfills the Old Testament Shavuot.

    The Waiting Period

    In the Feast of Weeks, there’s this period of anticipation, a waiting between Passover and this feast. This symbolized the period from the Exodus from Egypt to the entering of Canaan when they could offer God the first fruits of their land. Similarly, in the NT the disciples had to wait for the promise of Holy Spirit to come upon them before they went out to fulfill the Great Commission.

    The First Fruits

    The Jews offered God the first fruits of their wheat harvest on the day of Pentecost. They witnessed to the fact that all of it belongs to God. And in a twist, the NT Pentecost is about God giving the church the first fruits of Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:23; Ephesians 1:13-14) rather than us bringing anything to Him. In His love, God bears witness to us that we belong to Him.

    Fire and Speech

    At Sinai, God spoke to the Israelites “out of the fire” (Deuteronomy 4:12) that His presence created on the mountain. The Bible describes thunder, lightning, a thick cloud of smoke, and blazing fire. What a sight! And then to hear the voice of God come out of that…no wonder the Israelites trembled.

    In the NT, Holy Spirit descended and separated as “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3) and rested upon each on of them. And at that time they became empowered to speak in tongues. Do you see the similarities? The presence of God made manifest as fire and supernatural, divine, speech coming forth as a result. The biggest difference is that at Sinai God spoke directly from the fire whereas in the upper room, God spoke through the disciples. That’s next level!

    Covenants

    This one is pretty quick and simple. The Jewish people associated Pentecost with the giving of the law, the covenant, at Mt. Sinai. Similarly the outpouring of Holy Spirit marked the beginning of the New Covenant.

    The Jubilee Connection

    I’m back to the Year of Jubilee. I told you that everything I referenced would come back. Jubilee represented freedom from bondage, rest from labor, and the gift of the Holy Land. When Jesus poured out Holy Spirit, that brought with it freedom from Spiritual bondage, rest in Jesus, and the gift of the Kingdom of God. Pretty remarkable, don’t you think?

    The Harvest

    The last, but not least, connection I want to point out is the Harvest. I’ve said it multiple times that the Feast of Weeks is a feast of harvest. And on this day of Pentecost when God poured out Holy Spirit, a harvest of souls happened. 3,000 to be exact. And you know what? That number 3,000 has an Old Testament connection also. When Moses came down from the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments the first time, he found a lot of the people worshipping a golden calf. Look at what happened as a result of that.

    Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

    Exodus 32:27-28 (NIV)

    Did you catch the number? 3,000 Israelites died because they worshipped the golden calf. How many Jewish people received Jesus on the day of Pentecost? 3,000. Talk about redemption. These numbers aren’t by accident. 3,000 rejected God and perished at Mt. Sinai but God made sure there was 3,000 who were ready to receive Him on the day Holy Spirit was poured out. What a God we serve!

    Wrapping Up

    I said this in my post about Passover and I’ll say it again. God knew what He was doing when He instituted the Feast of Weeks. He knew the Israelites would connect it with the giving of the law and He deliberately set it up with 50 days to create the connection to the Year of Jubilee. God doesn’t do these things by accident. He plans them out.

    I think our takeaway from this is that any seed that God sows in you and through you will bear a harvest. Maybe not right away, but it will come. Just keep waiting and being patient.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Saved – or not?

    Saved – or not?

    Intro

    I’m hitting on a long debated question with no end in sight. That question being “Can a person lose their salvation?” It’s also known as the “Once saved always saved” question. And I’m going to be up front with you. I don’t think anyone can actually know for sure the answer to this question. In the end, I believe only God knows the whole truth. But that’s okay. So long as we trust in Him and seek Him, we can become sure of our own personal salvation. And God doesn’t call us to ensure the salvation of others, He calls us to bring the gospel to others and let Him work the salvation in them. We are not the judges of another’s salvation, God is.

    With all that, the structure for this post will be to put forth the question in greater detail and then present both sides of the debate. I will be as objective as possible and will wait until the end to present my personal opinion. But I will again be up front and say that I could be wrong. I am not so prideful that I believe I have all the right answers – though that has been a struggle of mine, see my post about that very topic. Now that I’ve got all the fun disclaimers out of the way, let’s get started.

    The Question

    First I’m going to elaborate on the question “Can a person lose their salvation?”. It often starts out something like this. A person has an encounter with God and answers a call to salvation. They pray and are now thought to be saved. However, in time they abandon their faith and walk a road diametrically opposed to God and His Word. By the fruit they are producing people who never knew their story would not assume they are a Christian at all. And as far as the Christians who do know them, they wonder if this person will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. This is a tricky situation to navigate – especially when talking to any loved ones of such a person.

    Now the question becomes, was this person truly saved at that moment they prayed? And if so, are they still saved and going to Heaven despite their lifestyle and wanting nothing to do with God? Or did they lose their salvation and are now on their way to Hell for eternity?

    Now that I’ve set the stage, I’m going to present the arguments of both sides with their strengths and their weaknesses. The opposing doctrines are called Eternal Security (once saved always saved) and Conditional Security (can lose salvation). When referring to people who hold to these viewpoints, I’m going to use the terms Eternalists and Conditionalists – just for simplicity’s sake. Okay, here we go.

    Eternal Security

    To expand a bit on the doctrine of Eternal Security, it claims that once a person receives salvation through faith in Jesus, they are eternally secure and destined for Heaven. I’m going to go over the key points and related Scripture passages in an objective manner. Everything I write here that’s not Scripture will be paraphrases and summaries of the arguments I found in my research.

    All Scripture is from the NIV.

    Biblical Foundation

    My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

    John 10:27-29

    To the Eternalist, once a person has been saved, they cannot lose that salvation because no one can overcome the Father to remove them from His hand.

    For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither 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

    Bolstering the argument made for previous verse, Paul emphasizes that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

    And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

    Ephesians 1:13-14

    A couple arguments I found about this passage. Only an authorized person can break a seal. So if God places Holy Spirit as a seal, then God alone is the one who can break it, not us. In addition, a deposit in this passage is like the earnest money when buying a house. It’s a guarantee that I will purchase the house at full price. For the believer the guarantee is for the rewards they will receive.

    Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

    Philippians 1:6

    God is the one who initiates and finishes our salvation. This gives believers confidence that He will do what He said He will do.

    To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy

    Jude 24

    It is up to Jesus, not us, to present us before God. Believers are eternally secure because of His ability to keep us, not in our ability to maintain our own salvation.

    Arguments and Explanations

    In this section, I’ll lay out some arguments and explanations from Eternalists as to what they believe.

    “”

    This position points to the promises found in Scripture and testifies that those who are genuinely in Christ have a secure standing before God. This view rests on passages declaring the irrevocable nature of God’s gift of salvation, the sealing work of the Holy Spirit, and the believer’s eternal position in Christ.

    …

    Salvation stands on God’s sovereign initiative, rooted in grace. By grace, believers are forgiven and granted life in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). This gift is not earned; it is received through faith. Because God is the origin of that work, the outcome ultimately rests in His hands rather than on shifting human merit or performance.

    However, humans must respond in faith. True faith produces transformation over time, yet the anchor of one’s security remains in the finished work of Christ on the cross (Romans 5:1-2). Through ongoing trust that aligns with obedience, believers experience assurance-not because they never stumble, but because Christ’s atoning sacrifice is sufficient to cover sin’s penalty.

    “”

    “Does the Bible support eternal security?” BibleHub.com
    https://biblehub.com/q/does_the_bible_support_eternal_security.htm Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are “sealed for the day of redemption.” If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never “eternal” to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.

    “”

    “Eternal security – is it biblical?” GotQuestions.org
    https://www.gotquestions.org/eternal-security.html Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Salvation depends upon God to bring it to pass, not us. Nothing, not even our sin, can frustrate the eternal and sovereign purpose of God who determined to save us by grace through faith in His Son. Since God’s holiness has been satisfied by the death of Christ, He can be just and the justifier of those who receive His Son by faith.

    …

    Sin does not change our relationship to God as His children though it does affect our fellowship, the intimacy of our walk with God, our ability to serve Him, and the rewards we will receive in the future kingdom.

    …

    Regeneration refers to the impartation of spiritual and eternal life which makes us new creatures in Christ. This can never change. First, it is based on the work of the Son, not our works. And second, as physical birth makes one a child of his parents forever, so spiritual birth does the same.

    …

    This argument is simply this. The New Testament plainly states we are saved by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ, and that salvation is not of human works or works of righteousness which we have done. If, however, having put our trust in the person and work of Christ, we can lose our salvation by what we do or do not do, then in the final analysis, we are saved by works.

    “”

    “Assurance of Eternal Security” Bible.org
    https://bible.org/seriespage/14-assurance-eternal-security Accessed March 22, 2026

    Conditional Security

    To expand a bit on the doctrine of Conditional Security, it claims that a person who receives salvation through faith in Jesus, can lose it through unbelief and rebellion against God. I’m going to go over the key points and related Scripture passages in an objective manner. Everything I write here that’s not Scripture will be paraphrases and summaries of the arguments I found in my research.

    All Scripture is from the NIV.

    Biblical Foundation

    There are several passages warning against falling away from the faith.

    See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

    Hebrews 3:12-13

     My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

    James 5:19-20

    Extra argument I found about the James 5 passage, bringing a person back into the fold saves them from death. This is not a physical death, but a death of the spirit/soul implying that a soul made alive by salvation can experience death.

    There are other passages that indicate that salvation remains only by continuing to persevere in faith and obedience (take note of the conditional “if” statements in these passages).

    Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

    Colossians 1:21-23

    But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

    Hebrews 3:6

    We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

    Hebrews 3:14

    Other passages contain exhortations to examine oneself to ensure your own salvation.

    Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

    2 Corinthians 13:5

    Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble

    2 Peter 1:10

    Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

    1 Timothy 4:16

    The Conditionalist points out that such warnings, conditional statements, and exhortations make no sense if it were not possible to fall away and lose salvation.

    Arguments and Explanations

    In this section, I’ll lay out some arguments and explanations from Conditionalists as to what they believe.

    “”

    Perhaps more mis-understood and mis-represented than Calvinism is the theological belief and the Biblical teaching that a Believer is Secure in Christ based on a condition.  What is the condition?  Is it get saved, sin, then lose your salvation everyday?  Certainly not!  This truly would be a miserable condition wouldn’t it?  Some claim that the focus turns from Christ to yourself in examining every last detail of your performance thus making you fall into the trap of some sort of works salvation.  Does this sound like the ‘good news’ to you?  Not me!  I should go ahead and tell you that I too am a Conditional Security Believer and I affirm that I am saved by grace through faith alone.  I have become a recipient of God’s grace through my faith in the work of Christ alone and I remain in God’s grace through this same faith alone.  It is Christ plus nothing.

    …

    Arminians believe that “It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure.” Furthermore, believers have assurance in knowing there is no external power or circumstance that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ. Nevertheless, Arminians see numerous warnings in Scripture directed to genuine believers about the possibility of falling away in unbelief and thereby becoming severed from their saving union with God through Christ. Arminians hold that if a believer becomes an unbeliever (commits apostasy), they necessarily cease to partake of the promises of salvation and eternal life made to believers who continue in faith and remain united to Christ. Therefore, Arminians recognize the importance of warning believers about the danger of apostasy and exhorting them to persevere in faith as a means of building them up in their faith and encouraging them to mature spiritually, which is a sure and biblical way to avoid apostasy.

    …

    Marshall concludes: “The New Testament contains too many warnings about the danger of sin and apostasy for us to be complacent about these possibilities…. These dangers are real and not ‘hypothetical.’” Methodist scholar Ben Witherington would add: “The New Testament suggests that one is not eternally secure until one is securely in eternity. Short of that, there is the possibility of apostasy or rebellion against God by one who has believed in Christ. Apostasy, however, is not to be confused with the notion of accidentally or unconsciously “falling away.” Apostasy is a conscious, wilful rebellion against God . . . . Unless one commits such an act of apostasy or rebellion, one need not worry about one’s salvation, for God has a firm grip on the believer.”

    “”

    “Conditional Security of the Believer” Drews2CentsForYou
    https://drews2centsforyou.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/conditional-security-of-the-believer/ Accessed March 22, 2026

    “”

    Additionally, believers can “fall away from the faith:”

    But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Tim 4:1)

    One cannot fall away from something without first having it, just as one cannot leave a place to which they have never been. Only Christians can fall away from faith. This departure from faith (that Hebrews 6 and other passages warn us against) must be man’s choice since God has promised not to change His mind. God will never stop believing. Only we can do so.

    …

    Faith is like a bucket placed under a faucet that freely pours out the living water of grace. The bucket does not conjure up the water; it simply receives. Still, if the bucket departs from its position that benefits from the water’s flow, it will no longer receive. Those who depart from the faith forfeit the salvation that is only received by faith.

    …

    The conclusion of this is that if one in good standing rebels, stubbornly persisting in a disobedient lifestyle, they are no longer part of the faith and no longer Christians. They have “fallen away from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1). They have departed from Christianity. Please note that this involves much more than occasional falling. Falling away is a much more grievous thing than occasional falling. It is a stubborn, hardened, rebellion against God.

    “”

    “Is Eternal Security Conditional or Unconditional?” Apologetics Index
    https://www.apologeticsindex.org/3046-conditional-security Accessed March 22, 2026

    Criticisms

    Now in this section I bring up a couple popular criticisms of both positions and responses to those criticisms.

    Eternal Security

    1. Some people feel that Eternal Security gives people a license to sin.
      • Response from aforementioned reference to BibleHub article.
      • “Scripture counters that those who truly love Christ demonstrate obedience (John 14:15). Moreover, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:8). A believer who deliberately and unrepentantly pursues sin calls into question whether they experienced genuine conversion (1 John 2:19).”
    2. Why else would there be warnings against apostasy if it were not possible to lose salvation?
      • Response from GotQuestions.org https://www.gotquestions.org/apostasy-salvation.html
      • “The passages warning against apostasy serve two primary purposes. First, they exhort everyone to be sure of their salvation. One’s eternal destiny is not a trifling matter…The second purpose for the Bible’s warnings against apostasy is to equip the church to identify apostates. They can be known by their rejection of Christ, acceptance of heresy, and carnal nature (2 Peter 2:1–3).”

    Conditional Security

    1. Risk of works-based salvation
      • In my research, Conditionalists time and again acknowledge that we cannot perform works to achieve salvation and the only reason we can lose salvation is by abandoning faith – they surmise that one needs faith to receive salvation, so by abandoning faith it logically follows that you can lose that salvation.
    2. Undermines assurance
      • I referenced this one earlier.
      • “Arminians believe that “It is abundantly evident from the Scriptures that the believer is secure.” Furthermore, believers have assurance in knowing there is no external power or circumstance that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ.” Drews2Cents

    Additional Information

    There is so much out there I can’t squeeze into this. I’m going to summarize some more stuff I found.

    1. Both believe God orchestrated salvation and that the believer receives it by faith through grace alone.
    2. Conditionalists define those who commit apostasy as those who received in faith and then turned their backs on God and rejected their faith – thus losing their salvation.
    3. Eternalists define those who commit apostasy as those who merely pretended to be believers. They talked the talk, but never received salvation by faith. So when they fall away from the faith, they are merely showing their true colors.
    4. Both acknowledge backsliding as different than apostasy in that it’s occasional sinning and not permanent rejection.
    5. Conditionalists do not believe that occasional backsliding causes one to lose salvation, only rebellion and rejecting their faith (this answers another common criticism of Conditional Security – Which sin will end salvation?).
    6. The people who cry “Lord, Lord, did we not…” are people who never had relationship or faith as indicated by Jesus’ response “I never knew you.” So this cannot be used to support Conditional Security.
    7. Conditionalists say that people receive salvation by faith and through faith they continue to walk with God. So when a person rejects that faith and rejects that relationship with God, how can they still be saved?
    8. Eternalists believe God holds our salvation and perseverance of faith no matter our choices. Conditionalists believe that God holds our salvation no matter our choices, unless our choice is to stop letting God into our lives and reject Him and His salvation.
    9. Both sides claim to have eternal assurance of salvation. For the Conditionalist, willful rejection negates that assurance.
    10. Eternalists focus on God’s ability to hold us. Conditionalists focus on that and our ability to choose/reject God.

    My Opinion

    I promised at the beginning I would give my opinion – with the caveat that I could be wrong. In the end, I lean a bit more towards Conditional Security.

    On the one hand, the idea of Eternal Security sounds really nice. Not having to fear losing salvation or your place in Heaven – no matter what. And the arguments that those who fall away never received salvation through faith to begin with makes sense (see 1 John 1:19 for a passage that supports this position).

    However, the arguments that this can lead to people being morally lax is valid. By the same token, though, the arguments that Conditional Security can lead to a works-based salvation is also valid.

    And Conditional Security answers the question of why so many passages exist regarding the perseverance of faith and warnings against falling away.

    And God shows us time and again that He will not override our free will. He gave us choice and He gave us the ability to choose to have faith. So if we choose to have faith (“without faith it is impossible to please God” Hebrews 11:6) and receive salvation, He comes right into that relationship. But what should happen if we choose to abandon that faith? Will God say, “Sorry you’re stuck with me for eternity”? That doesn’t mesh with my understanding of Scripture.

    My Conclusion

    In conclusion, I lean toward Conditional Security. But regardless of which is true, I know I received my salvation by faith through the grace of God by the work of Jesus on the cross and did nothing to earn it. I am personally secure in Christ and choose to follow Him every day, seeking to draw closer in my relationship with Him. And no external power has the ability to separate me from God.

    I also acknowledge that the church houses people who have a profession of faith and yet no heart change. And many of these people probably believe they are saved when they are not.

    Final Statements

    Both sides agree with the statements I just made in my conclusion. In fact, these two viewpoints agree on more than they disagree. The ultimate question surrounds apostasy and whether that exclusively belongs to people who profess faith without true heart change, or if truly saved people can reject their faith and lose their salvation. And in either case, only God knows their hearts. It’s not my place to say if a person lost their salvation or were never saved to begin with. In either case, God calls me to bring that person back into the fold if possible.

    The other major difference surrounds responsibility. Both sides acknowledge that God holds us securely in His hand when we come to salvation. For the Eternalist, that’s it. Now God holds us for all of eternity and nothing changes that – because if we commit apostasy than that shows we never received salvation in the first place. However, the Conditionalist claims we have a responsibility to continue to have faith and allow God to hold us. By rejecting His hold, we reject the eternal security He offers us. To be sure, if this happens God will pursue us relentlessly – perhaps more than He did before we received salvation. And praise God He pursues us – even those of us still in the faith. He never stops that pursuit.

    Wrapping Up

    Hoo boy. This has been quite the ride. Admittedly I hadn’t known a whole lot beyond the surface-level arguments of either side until I started working on this blog. And I highly encourage you to read the articles I posted. Be forewarned, some are a bit dense. And please remember, do not try and judge another person’s salvation. Only God can do that. Pray for other’s whose salvation you may be uncertain of. If given the opportunity, lovingly correct and point people to Jesus. Even those who commit apostasy can be brought back into the faith – James 5:19-20 makes that clear.

    As I said at the beginning, ultimately only God knows the whole truth about this topic. I don’t think it’s black and white enough to come down hard on one side or the other. And the most godly position any of us can take on anything that isn’t clearly laid out in Scripture is being humble enough to admit we might be wrong on whichever side we agree with. Though if you genuinely don’t know which to believe, that’s okay too. Admit that. Honesty is the best policy. Until next time, God Bless.

    Outro

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