Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 416 ｜ Once Saved, Always Saved？｜ Q&A

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable, another maternity Q&A episode.

00:00:14.380 Today we'll be talking about once saved, always saved.

00:00:19.540 We'll also be talking about some doctrinal theological differences in Mormonism and Christianity.

00:00:26.580 And that is something that you guys have been asking me about a lot.

00:00:30.180 I know, very hot topic, controversial topic, but we're just going to dive into it just a

00:00:36.680 little bit and then I'll answer a couple more of your questions if we've got time.

00:00:42.060 All right.

00:00:43.100 Well, first question someone asked me, which I just thought was crazy because I've been

00:00:47.920 eating these a lot recently.

00:00:49.260 Someone asked me, fig newtons or strawberry newtons?

00:00:52.400 Do I think that that, do I think which one is better?

00:00:54.960 That is, I very rarely eat fig newtons, but recently I have.

00:01:00.420 So I'm like, how does this person on Instagram who asked me this question know that?

00:01:06.480 Honestly, probably the strawberry flavor.

00:01:09.180 I forget which brand it is that we got from Whole Foods, but it's really good.

00:01:13.000 And it's like a really good sweet to eat if you don't want to eat, you know, like full

00:01:18.080 on chocolate or candy or something like that.

00:01:20.580 Same with my Bilt Bars.

00:01:21.560 But also if I want something a little bit different, like a fig newton, then I really

00:01:27.440 like strawberry newtons.

00:01:28.620 So very random that you asked me that and very random that you seemingly know that I

00:01:33.560 eat newtons.

00:01:34.180 Did I do that on Instagram or something?

00:01:35.920 I don't know.

00:01:36.820 But yeah, strawberry flavor is really, really good.

00:01:39.100 You can probably, you know, search for it at Whole Foods if you're looking next time

00:01:42.960 and you're in the mood for a fig newton.

00:01:45.180 Okay, now a much more substantive question and answer.

00:01:49.500 Once saved, always saved.

00:01:51.600 Is this biblical?

00:01:52.760 So let me start by saying that there are sincere Bible-believing Christians who we will see each

00:02:01.740 other in heaven who do not believe in once saved, always saved.

00:02:06.940 I believe in once saved, always saved.

00:02:09.340 But there are many Christians that I respect, theologians that I respect who know a lot

00:02:14.060 about the Bible and love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength who do

00:02:18.220 not believe this.

00:02:18.840 So this is one of those theological differences that we don't see, most people don't see as

00:02:26.160 primary, but see rather as kind of secondary or tertiary.

00:02:31.680 And now that could be debated.

00:02:33.520 Some people might say, no, that is a misunderstanding of the gospel.

00:02:37.320 That's a misunderstanding of salvation in general.

00:02:40.680 And that's just kind of a deal breaker.

00:02:42.460 There could be some people who say that.

00:02:44.660 I don't think so.

00:02:45.820 I don't think that's a denial of the gospel in any way to say that you can, well, it's

00:02:53.560 debatable now that I'm thinking about it.

00:02:55.940 I understand people's perspective on that.

00:02:58.880 But I don't think it's a denial of the gospel to say that once saved, always saved is not

00:03:05.200 biblical because I know a lot of sincere Christians who do believe that and they have the scripture

00:03:09.440 to back it up.

00:03:10.340 I just disagree with their interpretation of that scripture.

00:03:14.000 But I could see how someone would say, well, actually, that's just a misunderstanding, not

00:03:17.540 just of salvation, but of Jesus Christ in general and how he saved us.

00:03:22.280 And so maybe some people argue that that actually is a fundamental denial of the gospel.

00:03:27.180 But I don't think so.

00:03:29.100 I think there are a lot of in good faith Christians and faithful Christians who disagree on this

00:03:33.500 subject.

00:03:33.980 However, I see the most support in scripture for the idea that, yes, once you are truly

00:03:39.520 saved, you are always saved.

00:03:42.440 Romans 8, I think, is probably the strongest case to make for this.

00:03:46.000 Just reading verse 30 alone.

00:03:48.500 And those he predestined, God predestined, he also called.

00:03:52.900 Those whom he called, he also justified.

00:03:55.760 Those he justified, he also glorified.

00:03:58.060 The chapter goes on to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

00:04:02.860 No charge can be brought against God's elect.

00:04:06.200 That word elect is used several times in the New Testament, referring to everyone who is

00:04:12.060 saved in Christ.

00:04:14.280 Ephesians 1, 4 through 5 and verse 11 speak to this concept as well.

00:04:18.740 Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless

00:04:23.760 before him.

00:04:24.880 In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the

00:04:30.920 purpose of his will.

00:04:32.020 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of

00:04:38.680 him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

00:04:45.080 So God chooses through his divine will and sovereignty whom will be saved.

00:04:53.620 I understand a lot of people are very, um, they don't like that.

00:04:59.720 They, they don't like that, uh, assertion that God actually does the choosing, but scripture

00:05:04.860 says that over and over again.

00:05:07.360 Now that doesn't mean that there is no human responsibility.

00:05:11.960 There's this idea, this theological idea called concurrence, where, uh, we believe that simultaneously

00:05:19.720 God holds men accountable for their real decisions, their real consequences to your actions.

00:05:27.260 And God is absolutely just in allowing those consequences, both temporal and eternal to play

00:05:33.000 out, even as he is solely and wholly in charge of absolutely everything.

00:05:38.680 As Job 42, two says, his will, there's, there's nothing that can thwart his will.

00:05:44.320 Uh, Matthew 10 says, not even a sparrow falls out of the sky apart from your father's will.

00:05:51.560 And so if not even a sparrow, which is sold for two or sold for a penny falls from the sky

00:05:56.980 apart from your father's will, then surely salvation is not outside of the father's will.

00:06:02.500 Now, if you're asking, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's unfair.

00:06:05.520 That's unjust.

00:06:06.580 A lot of people also thought that, um, in Rome, apparently when Paul wrote to the Romans,

00:06:12.960 for example, in Romans nine, he talks about this, that this is a very difficult concept

00:06:19.240 to believe that God is choosing who he is going to show mercy to.

00:06:24.640 And God is choosing who he is, who he is not going to show mercy to.

00:06:28.180 And yet in that chapter, I would say Romans nine through 11, basically the conclusion is,

00:06:33.440 is that God does what he wants to do.

00:06:35.820 And if God is omnipotent, if God is, which means all powerful, if he is omniscient, that

00:06:41.980 means he is all knowing and he is all just, and he is all good, uh, then that means that

00:06:49.440 he is in charge of everything.

00:06:51.760 And he is not unjust, um, to choose some and not others.

00:06:58.540 And, uh, there's really just no escaping that biblically.

00:07:02.800 I wish there were, because it's a very difficult concept for me to wrap my mind around.

00:07:07.840 I've got a, I know I've got a lot of friends who are not Calvinist.

00:07:12.760 I've got a lot of friends who, um, do not believe that, who are faithful, sincere, wonderful

00:07:18.480 Christians. 0.51

00:07:18.860 I've had them on this podcast before.

00:07:21.600 And so I know there are other doctrinal positions when it comes to that, but talking about that

00:07:26.820 is actually very important to answering this question of once saved, always saved, because

00:07:30.920 if God is in charge of our salvation, which I think also Ephesians two makes very clear

00:07:36.120 that it is not our own doing, that we are saved by grace through faith, that it is a

00:07:41.300 gift, that it has nothing to do, uh, with our own efforts.

00:07:46.560 Um, if that is true, if God is solely responsible for our salvation and even the repentance that

00:07:54.480 we do, even the turning to him that we do is inspired by his Holy spirit is pushed by him.

00:08:01.560 And then it's very hard to make the case that we can lose that salvation, that we had nothing

00:08:07.200 to do with obtaining in the first place.

00:08:09.200 If that makes sense, if God gets all of the glory and all of the credit for our salvation,

00:08:14.040 if all we're contributing to our salvation is, as the saying goes, the sin that makes it

00:08:20.000 necessary, then we are secure because we can't lose something that we, uh, that we did not

00:08:27.760 obtain through our own efforts in the first place.

00:08:30.460 If God secured it, he is, he doesn't make mistakes.

00:08:33.780 He doesn't say, whoops, that was an accident saved ya, but, um, sorry, you disappointed me.

00:08:39.120 I'm going to let you go.

00:08:40.180 If he knows everything and he's in charge of everything and he has chosen us in him, as

00:08:45.860 Ephesians one says before the foundation of the world, uh, that we can rest in the assurance

00:08:52.580 that that salvation is secure, that that salvation is sure.

00:08:56.200 Now I've done a whole episode, I'll link to it in the description called predestination.

00:09:01.860 Also, I've talked about tulip before.

00:09:04.800 Um, and so I've done full episodes on those people ask me about that a lot, but I've talked

00:09:10.600 about these subjects very thoroughly in the past.

00:09:12.920 And so I'll make sure to link to those past episodes in the description, uh, to this podcast.

00:09:18.580 And so you can listen more thoroughly.

00:09:21.100 But if, again, if God is in charge of our salvation, which I think, uh, the Bible is

00:09:27.140 very clear on that he chose us in him before we even did anything again, Romans nine also

00:09:33.400 reiterates that concept.

00:09:35.000 So I would read those passages before you come at me with your anger.

00:09:38.600 A lot of people get very angry when I talked about predestination, which I understand I

00:09:42.340 did too.

00:09:42.760 The first time I learned about it in sixth grade, I was very angry about it.

00:09:45.380 I also said that's unfair, um, but there are plenty of things that the human mind thinks

00:09:50.820 is unfair that are actually just according to God who created justice and who created

00:09:56.020 mercy.

00:09:56.420 Really the fair thing would be for all of us to be separated from God and under his wrath

00:10:00.440 forever.

00:10:01.060 The unfair thing, the gracious thing is that he saves any of us at all.

00:10:04.840 A lot of people ask me when they're hearing about this, okay, well, how do I know that

00:10:10.360 I'm saved?

00:10:10.760 It's, it stresses me out to think about the election and choosing and thinking all of,

00:10:15.560 and thinking about, you know, God calling us his chosen ones, which he absolutely does.

00:10:20.780 Um, how, how do I know?

00:10:22.320 Well, in the same way that you knew before you even thought about this concept of predestination

00:10:28.620 and choosing a Galatians five talks about the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience,

00:10:33.400 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

00:10:35.980 Um, we are bearing fruit of repentance in our lives.

00:10:41.840 The conviction that you feel, um, uh, about sin is evidence of the Holy spirit in your life.

00:10:49.040 Your love of God, your compelling that you feel to love other people.

00:10:54.040 All of this is evidence of God in your life.

00:10:57.380 Any desire that you have to follow him is not something that you can take credit for, but

00:11:02.300 it is actually a working of the Holy spirit in your life is the book of Philippians says

00:11:06.480 we are to work our salvation out with fear and trembling.

00:11:09.560 And that sounds like it's our, our responsibility, but the verse follows up and says, it is God

00:11:15.600 who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

00:11:19.960 So this working of justification and sanctification, God gets to take credit for all of it.

00:11:26.600 And I think our human propensity is to say, well, it's actually more comfortable for me.

00:11:31.620 If I feel like I have some control over this, I have some control over my salvation, but

00:11:36.900 actually that makes it a lot more vulnerable.

00:11:39.760 Like that makes me a lot more stressed out.

00:11:42.780 If I think that I have to work to maintain my salvation, I am somewhat in charge of it.

00:11:49.540 I have some authority over my eternal destination.

00:11:53.360 Well, I'm like, I'm a failure.

00:11:55.060 I'm a sinner.

00:11:56.360 I am going to constantly trip and fall.

00:11:58.300 But if I know that God has promised that he's going to catch me, that my salvation is

00:12:03.700 secure, not because of anything I bring to the table, but because of what he has done.

00:12:08.380 Like if I see the evidence, not perfectly, of course, but if I see the evidence of the

00:12:13.700 Holy Spirit in my life, hopefully increasingly over, over time, then I, I can trust that God

00:12:22.120 has saved me and that I don't get to take any credit for that.

00:12:25.020 And yes, and amen, I don't want to bear the responsibility for that, because if that's

00:12:30.920 the case, I'm going to mess it up over and over again.

00:12:33.680 But the God who doesn't mess up promises that he has me, that there's going to be nothing

00:12:38.240 that can separate me from him and vice versa.

00:12:42.720 Um, that there's, I, I can't, uh, I can't mess it up.

00:12:46.420 I can't make him change his mind.

00:12:50.100 I can't, uh, somehow step out of his good graces because his good graces are not applied

00:12:58.120 to me again, because of what I have done, but because of what Christ has done on my behalf

00:13:02.780 and because Christ is perfect and he has promised to stand in intercession for me.

00:13:08.500 Um, I can trust that salvation is sure.

00:13:12.220 First John two through 18 says, children, it is the last hour.

00:13:16.660 And as you have heard that the antichrist is coming.

00:13:19.640 So now many antichrists have come.

00:13:22.300 So that just means people who are against Christ, false teachers, people who are not believers.

00:13:28.400 Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

00:13:30.780 They went out from us, but they were not of us for if they had been of us, they would have

00:13:36.800 continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not

00:13:42.320 of us, but you have been anointed by the Holy one.

00:13:45.880 Again, you've been chosen anointed by the Holy one and you have all knowledge or you all have

00:13:53.280 knowledge actually.

00:13:55.240 Um, and so I think it's important for us to know that there will be people who claim to

00:14:01.340 be Christians that maybe even God used to glorify himself through who once claimed to believe the 0.85

00:14:08.280 gospel, who will then reject the faith.

00:14:11.360 And I think that the Bible is clear.

00:14:13.140 Now, again, there's disagreement on this, that that person was never really saved in the first

00:14:18.260 place.

00:14:18.720 They were never really Christians. 0.97

00:14:20.580 They talked the talk.

00:14:21.720 Maybe it looked like they were walking the walk.

00:14:23.860 They were having a spiritual experience and God decided to use them maybe in some way.

00:14:29.660 Like I think about, uh, particular authors who they wrote books that maybe you really benefited

00:14:36.640 from, or you learned something from, and then they come out several years later and become

00:14:40.120 what they call an exvangelical, or they deconstructed their faith to the point of basically being

00:14:45.020 an agnostic, which is always the end of that endeavor.

00:14:49.560 Um, and, uh, you wonder, okay, hang on, because they seemed really genuine and they seemed really

00:14:57.280 sincere.

00:14:58.800 Uh, how, how did this happen that they now were denouncing their faith?

00:15:02.620 Well, I think first John two speaks, speaks to that.

00:15:07.060 Um, I think that we can safely say that it's not that God chose them and saved them and then

00:15:13.540 they messed up too much and God let them go.

00:15:16.500 But rather that they had some sort of spiritual experience and they were able to kind of repeat

00:15:23.020 the talking points of biblical Christianity, but their hearts actually weren't regenerated

00:15:27.600 by the Holy Spirit.

00:15:28.820 I just don't think that human beings have enough power in and of ourselves to be able to do

00:15:36.120 that and to determine those things.

00:15:37.520 And actually, actually that's such a reason to rejoice that I don't have to take responsibility

00:15:43.400 for that.

00:15:44.180 I can't take credit for that.

00:15:45.360 I just get to completely and totally rejoice in the Lord.

00:15:50.920 Salvation is not one of those things, by the way, where you're constantly wondering for

00:15:54.820 the rest of your life.

00:15:55.740 If you made it into the elect, if you love God, if you are pursuing God, if you have those

00:16:02.840 convictions from the Holy Spirit, then you can rest assured.

00:16:05.460 You don't have to worry.

00:16:06.660 You don't have to worry about it.

00:16:07.920 And I think it's that assurance and it's that confidence that the reality of once saved,

00:16:13.860 always saved, of Romans 8, that those he predestined, he also called.

00:16:19.660 Those he called, he also justified. 0.86

00:16:21.600 Those he justified, he also glorified.

00:16:24.680 It's that assurance that gives us every reason to worship and to rejoice.

00:16:29.340 All right.

00:16:39.300 That's going to be controversial.

00:16:40.800 Let's talk about another controversial topic.

00:16:43.600 A lot of people have asked me, hey, can you draw the distinctions between Mormonism or the

00:16:48.580 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

00:16:51.080 I believe that's the whole church title and what you believe to be Christianity.

00:16:57.620 And even saying that there is a distinction or there is any way to distinguish between

00:17:02.520 the two is very controversial.

00:17:04.720 Listen, I've got a lot of people who are Mormons or who call themselves LDS who follow me.

00:17:10.220 You follow me on Instagram.

00:17:11.320 Maybe you're listening to this podcast right now.

00:17:13.280 And we have a lot in common.

00:17:14.680 And typically, people who are in the Mormon church are conservative.

00:17:18.820 We do have a lot of the same views.

00:17:21.520 And we have what sounds like a lot of the same theological views, a lot of the same doctrinal

00:17:26.900 views.

00:17:27.320 And you have probably noticed that there are quite a few influencers and maybe some people

00:17:32.980 that you know in your life who are very much striving to say that Mormonism is simply

00:17:37.820 a denomination of Christianity, that we need to kind of put aside our differences, that they're

00:17:43.400 kind of secondary or tertiary differences, and that they're not gospel differences, that

00:17:50.800 essentially people who are Mormons believe in the same gospel.

00:17:54.300 You might have also noticed that there is a hard push against the word Mormon.

00:17:59.320 This didn't always used to be the case.

00:18:00.980 This has been a change in the Mormon church that they want to be referred to as the Church

00:18:05.360 of Jesus Christ or a Latter-day Saint rather than a Mormon.

00:18:11.040 And again, this is a desire to kind of blur any distinctions between what is Orthodox Christianity

00:18:16.520 and Mormonism.

00:18:18.440 And we could talk about at length about the differences between Mormonism and between Orthodox

00:18:26.280 Christianity.

00:18:27.140 This could be an entire series of podcasts comparing the texts.

00:18:33.020 Um, but I think the two biggest things as I have been studying this, and as I have talked

00:18:39.240 to a lot of you who identify as Mormons, I think the biggest thing is the, are the contradictory

00:18:45.860 ideas of God.

00:18:47.360 And so according to Mormonism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according

00:18:52.360 to Mormon doctrine, page 321 and teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, page 345, God is an

00:18:59.700 exalted man who actually kind of earned his position through good works.

00:19:05.040 Um, and so he is not what Christians view God as, uh, the Bible, uh, the word of God, which

00:19:14.320 we don't believe is on par with any other kind of, uh, compilation of so-called scripture or

00:19:21.660 doctrines.

00:19:22.760 We believe that it is the only inerrant scripture, um, says that God has been from the beginning.

00:19:29.900 He has been God from the beginning.

00:19:32.280 He was never a man. 0.94

00:19:34.360 Um, we're not talking about Emmanuel or incarnation that God made flesh, but God, the father was

00:19:40.680 never a man.

00:19:41.700 He was there from the beginning.

00:19:43.440 The Trinity was there from the beginning.

00:19:45.880 Revelation 1.8.

00:19:47.040 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and was, and who is to come, the

00:19:55.260 Almighty.

00:19:56.560 This is reiterated throughout scripture.

00:19:58.880 So he is the beginning and the end.

00:20:01.200 Before him, there was no other.

00:20:03.720 He did not elevate himself to the place of God.

00:20:06.680 He has always been God.

00:20:09.120 He has been in his position of creator and sustainer and ruler of the universe from eternity

00:20:15.020 past, a concept that we as humans, as finite beings can't even, uh, comprehend because we

00:20:22.580 are limited by time and space, but God is not.

00:20:25.640 He pre-exists the universe.

00:20:27.620 He pre-exists time and space, and he has always been God.

00:20:32.060 He did not earn his position, uh, according to Christianity of being God.

00:20:36.760 He did not elevate himself to that position.

00:20:39.000 He always has been God according to Orthodox Christianity, and that is who he is.

00:20:44.440 God was never a man. 0.85

00:20:46.620 Numbers 23.19.

00:20:48.040 God is not man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind.

00:20:53.000 Has he said, and will he not do it?

00:20:54.960 Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

00:20:57.800 I also encourage you to read Job 38 through 42 and see who God is and where he has been

00:21:04.460 for all of time and even before that.

00:21:07.660 Mormonism believes, and I think this is probably, uh, one of the biggest, if not the biggest

00:21:13.200 distinction between Mormonism and Orthodox Christianity, they believe that Jesus was a

00:21:17.800 God, but not God himself.

00:21:20.980 And this is the conversation that I've had with a lot of you who identify, um, as Mormons.

00:21:26.380 It is absolutely essential to the Christian faith.

00:21:29.120 It's the crux of the Christian faith that Jesus is God and that he is also his only begotten

00:21:36.160 son who became flesh.

00:21:38.600 And so I know that Mormons believe that Jesus was a son of God, but Christians believe that 1.00

00:21:44.960 Jesus is God.

00:21:46.080 And this is necessary for believing in and understanding the sacrifice that Jesus made

00:21:52.400 on our behalf.

00:21:54.300 John 1 is very clear about this, that Jesus is God.

00:21:57.520 If you talk to a Mormon, they'll say that the King James version of the Bible and all of 1.00

00:22:03.460 the Mormon doctrines are completely in line with one another and that there is no contradiction.

00:22:09.740 But again, if you look at, for example, Mormon doctrine, page 547, articles of faith, page 35,

00:22:17.060 teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, page 372.

00:22:20.520 And then you compare that to John 1, whether you do King James version or whether you do the

00:22:25.900 ESV, you will see a contradiction there about who Jesus was.

00:22:30.000 And again, that is the crux of the Christian faith.

00:22:32.280 So John 1,

00:22:33.820 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

00:22:38.260 He was in the beginning with God.

00:22:40.260 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

00:22:44.980 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

00:22:48.020 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

00:22:52.140 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the

00:22:57.860 only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

00:23:00.820 For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

00:23:06.800 So cannot get any more specific.

00:23:09.580 You could read it as, in the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was

00:23:14.800 God.

00:23:15.280 He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Jesus.

00:23:19.460 And without Jesus was not anything made that was made.

00:23:22.800 And Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men.

00:23:25.740 And the light, Jesus, shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

00:23:30.800 And Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen Jesus' glory.

00:23:34.560 Gloria is the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

00:23:38.260 Grace and truth came through this Jesus Christ.

00:23:40.980 So Jesus is God.

00:23:43.040 Without the belief that Jesus is God, or the belief that God elevated himself to the place

00:23:47.720 of God, or that Jesus was just a God and not God himself, that denial of the belief in the

00:23:55.620 Trinity, that denial of the belief in Jesus' exclusive Godness as the second person, but

00:24:01.980 an equal person in the Trinity, is a denial of the fundamentals of the Christian faith. 0.62

00:24:08.600 And so we could get into all the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, but the fact

00:24:13.300 of the matter is, is that Mormonism has a different idea of who God is, a different idea of who

00:24:18.320 Jesus is, and therefore has a different understanding of what salvation is and what the gospel is.

00:24:24.460 And so it's not the same as, for example, Baptists saying that we believe in credo-baptism, which

00:24:31.160 is what I believe in, that's in believers' baptism, and Presbyterians, for example, believing

00:24:38.160 in pedo-baptism, infant baptism, these differences are small differences.

00:24:44.840 We believe in the same gospel.

00:24:46.340 We believe in the same God.

00:24:47.560 We believe in the same Jesus.

00:24:48.640 We believe that we're going to see each other in heaven one day.

00:24:50.980 It's not the same as the difference between an Arminian, like we were talking about in

00:24:54.860 the beginning, and a Calvinist, someone who believes in total depravity and limited atonement,

00:25:03.540 irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints, once saved, always saved, and things

00:25:07.860 like that.

00:25:08.800 Those are also different forms of doctrine, different forms of Christianity, but we're

00:25:15.660 all Orthodox Christians.

00:25:17.100 We all agree on who God is.

00:25:18.780 We all agree on what salvation is, essentially.

00:25:22.500 We all agree that Jesus is God.

00:25:24.920 Outside of that, you have faiths that look like Christianity in some ways, but don't share

00:25:31.920 the core tenets, and that is a core tenet of Christianity, the Godship of Jesus.

00:25:37.860 That is essential to understanding why the propitiation, why the sacrifice that he gave

00:25:45.960 us on the cross is eternal, and why it covers our sin, how he became our perfect sacrifice,

00:25:53.140 to understand that he is also the I am, that he has been here since the beginning, before

00:25:59.200 the beginning, that he is preeminent over all creation.

00:26:02.100 As the book of Colossians also says, that is essential to Christianity and the gospel.

00:26:07.040 And without that, you have something that sounds like Christianity in a lot of ways, and is 0.82

00:26:11.600 held by a lot of sincere, loving, wonderful, kind people, but is not Orthodox Christianity.

00:26:18.060 And so that's just one distinction of the many distinctions, and I would say the most important

00:26:24.440 distinction.

00:26:34.300 All right, one more question.

00:26:36.500 How important is it that you and your spouse agree politically?

00:26:40.780 So I think it depends on what you disagree on.

00:26:45.200 Like, does your husband believe that abortion is fine?

00:26:48.360 Does your husband believe in socialism?

00:26:51.160 Does your husband believe in, you know, some form of far leftism and you're like staunchly

00:26:59.100 conservative?

00:26:59.880 Or is it that you just can't agree completely on tax policy?

00:27:03.620 Is it just that you can't agree on the most effective policy for maintaining the security

00:27:09.040 of our borders?

00:27:10.580 I think it depends on how far apart you guys are when it comes to these issues.

00:27:15.320 Um, I think that as long as you share the same values and the same faith, I think most

00:27:21.760 importantly, in the same biblical worldview, but you just find yourself coming to different

00:27:26.500 conclusions on these particular policies, I think that can be okay.

00:27:31.280 I think it's when the underneath, like the roots of what you believe in your worldview are

00:27:37.360 disparate is when things can really start to unravel and when it makes things harder than

00:27:43.440 they are.

00:27:43.780 That's not to say that a Republican and a Democrat can never be together and never make it work.

00:27:50.060 But I do think it's so important for you to share core values, because even if you share

00:27:55.760 all the same values and you share the same faith and maybe you were raised the same way,

00:28:00.040 marriage is still going to be hard because you're living with, you're living with another 1.00

00:28:03.660 person who has flaws and habits and hangups and, and, uh, is going to disappoint you.

00:28:09.500 You're going to disappoint them.

00:28:10.840 I mean, you're just going through the hardship of life together.

00:28:13.060 Like that's already going to be difficult because life is difficult.

00:28:17.680 Now it's worth it and wonderful and beautiful, but it's already going to be difficult.

00:28:22.260 Even if you agree on all the essentials, but I think going through those very hard things

00:28:27.160 and going through inevitable disagreements and discussions that come with life and not

00:28:32.800 agreeing on your core values and not coming from the same essential worldview, that makes

00:28:38.120 it way harder.

00:28:40.320 One of you is going to end up just being quiet and just being like, I think that we're going

00:28:45.220 in a bad direction as a family, but I'm just not going to say anything or you're going to

00:28:49.320 constantly be butting heads.

00:28:50.660 So I think what's more important is not that you agree on all the policies.

00:28:54.140 My husband and I probably don't agree on every single political policy or every single

00:28:59.180 political candidate, but we have the same worldview.

00:29:02.940 So at the end of the day, we can, if we say, Hey, I think that, you know, this policy is

00:29:07.660 good.

00:29:07.880 And I say, I think this policy is bad.

00:29:09.800 We can always walk backwards and say, well, here's why.

00:29:13.220 If he says, well, I think socialism is good because there's no reason why the state shouldn't

00:29:17.720 become God.

00:29:18.500 And I'm like, well, hang on.

00:29:20.020 God is God.

00:29:20.780 The state isn't God.

00:29:23.260 That would be a huge problem because we'd be coming from two totally different positions.

00:29:27.500 But if our why is the same and we just end up coming to different conclusions at the top,

00:29:32.440 I think that's okay.

00:29:33.860 You just have to make sure, again, that that world of view and those core values that you

00:29:38.460 have are at least very similar.

00:29:41.160 It will just make things a lot smoother.

00:29:44.040 So I hope that answered your question.

00:29:46.120 All right.

00:29:46.460 That's all I got time for today.

00:29:48.000 I will see you guys back here soon.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 06, 2021

Ep 416 ｜ Once Saved, Always Saved？｜ Q&A

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 06, 2021

Ep 416 ｜ Once Saved, Always Saved？ ｜ Q&A

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript

Ep 416 ｜ Once Saved, Always Saved？｜ Q&A