By Christopher P. Dyer

Recently I was challenged as to what I believe concerning eternal security with eight questions posed in a letter by a man living in a pseudo Mennonite/Amish community in New Brunswick. This man used to live here in Ontario, which is how I came to know him. The following is his letter followed by my response.

1. Do you believe that when someone comes to the knowledge of the truth and sees his lost condition and repents of his sins, surrenders his life and will in obedience to Christ and in faith calls upon God for mercy and salvation , and upon this faith & conversion receives water baptism, that God will receive him as His child and he becomes a true child of God?

You complicate this doctrine when you extend the water baptism to his conversion. We are baptised as an outward sign as to what has already occurred in the heart. We read in Romans that our salvation is based on confessing Jesus as Lord. One of the ways that we confess outwardly to those around us is by Baptism, but that is not the only way and it has lost much if its meaning in the world today as people are often baptised as a matter of tradition and not because it reflects upon a conversion in their heart. We are or should be baptised because we are Christians, not to become Christians. If your statement made it clear that a person is a believer because he has trusted Jesus to do for him what he could in no way do for himself, that is to redeem him from his sins, then I would have agreed. Therefore the best that I can give this statement is a conditional yes.

2. Do you believe that this salvation is available to all who meet the conditions? (this is for whosoever will.)

Again I must say that you have not been clear enough with your statement; what conditions? If your statement which is in parenthesis, whosoever wills, are the conditions then I would answer yes. If you are extending it to the extent that you did in item #1 to require baptism for salvation, then I would have to say no. I am not saved by anything that I have or could have done, but by the work of a loving Lord who desires the salvation of my soul. His desire was so great, that he was willing to send his only begotten Son into the world that if I would but believe and put my trust for redemption in Him, I would be saved. Iwas baptised, but that was because I was a believer who loved His Lord and because of that love for him wanted to be identified with Him, which is what one would expect from a believer, not how one goes about to become believer.

3. Do you believe that we will all appear before the judgement seat of God and there will be judged by God, according to our life and works, as to whether we are worthy or unworthy of eternal life? And that God will pronounce our eternal destination?

Definitely not the way in which you have written. All of my works are as a filthy rags and I can assure you that I already know the answer as to whether I am worthy or not worthy to receive eternal life; the answer is no! And neither are you or any man living today. James makes it clear that if a man sins against a single commandment of the Lord, then he is guilty of all of the law. Gods standard is perfection, which neither I nor you can possibly attain to. That is why Christ had to come, for if there was any other way that we could have been set right with God, then he would have done that instead. But because the only way to reconcile us to the Father was through a perfect sacrifice, He sent His own Son to be our propitiation.

The scripture gives apparent contradictions;, He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. _{John 3:18} He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. _{Romans 8:32-34} And yet we know that Christians are judged. How do we explain this? The first thing to understand is that all people are not judged alike. At the end of the millennial reign of Christ, all of the world will be judged at the Great White Throne but we who are Christians will be judged after the rapture, at the judgment seat of Christ. At this judgment, we will not be judged as to whether we have eternal life, for if we have believe, we are taught that we shall not come into condemnation. We are judged for how we lived our lives as Christians. Here, we will either receive or lose the rewards which were in our power to obtain in service of Him in how we build up the church. All of our works will be made manifest at that time as to what sort they are:

11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12, Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13, Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.^[i]

14, If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15, If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. _{1 Corinthians 3:11-15} This will occur at the Judgment seat of Christ, which I believe will occur at the marriage supper of the lamb, immediately following the rapture of the church. To go into further detail would require a more in depth study as we would have to look at the judgment of Israel, the judgment of the gentiles after the great tribulation, but preceding the millennial kingdom, the judgment of Satan and the fallen angles, and finally the last Great White Throne judgment which is to come at the end of the ages. To have our salvation based upon our works is not the gospel of salvation, and anyone who believes that their work is necessary for salvation doesn’t have a saving knowledge of God’s grace, but is still working their way to heaven. In Hebrews you are instructed to leave off dead works, which is what efforts on your part to merit eternal life amount to. A study of Hebrews reveals that they were not in danger of falling into sin, but were in danger of falling back into their old traditions of keeping the ordinances to obtain salvation. Enough said.