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FAQ # 93
QUESTION 93 : One has to endure to end to be saved as stated in James
1:12, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is
tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised
to them that love him." How then can we be assured salvation the
moment we are born again?
This same sentiment is used by other anti-justification teachers through
these verses:
Revelation 2:10, “Fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that
ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
Revelation 3:10, “Because thou hast kept the word of
my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which
shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Revelation
14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
The mere fact God is the one who ordains the "tryings" means
that he knows what he is doing as stated here, "For YE HAVE NEED
OF PATIENCE, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive
the promise" (Hebrews 10:36).
Not that he allowed the "tryings" to see if you can keep his
will and if not you will be thrown away from him forever, after trying
to. No! God knows already who will strive to follow after him (Psalms 138:6).
One put raw gold into fire to refine it, knowing that the fire will not
destroy it and cause one to lose it. One wouldn't put straw in the fire
to refine it. Similarly, God knows those who are his and the testing is
to make them better not to cast them away if they fail, our “strength
is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). Another verse said, "I
have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction" (Isa 48:10).
One person correctly noted, "The 'refiners fire' consumes the dross
only; the pure gold all remains, and is by the process, rendered
but the finer, and the brighter. Can it be proved that these men who have
fallen, although they previously maintained the character of great piety,
were ever really regenerated? Never. Such proof is impossible, as long
as men can appear to be what they are not. Then their fall is very far
from showing that the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints
is not true. Do not, however, the truly converted also, sometimes fall"
(R. H)?
"The believer is like a man on shipboard, may fall again and again
on the deck, but he will never fall overboard" (C. H. S).
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