I was wondering.

[IgnatiusOfAntioch]

There has been a lot of discussion in other areas in CF and I realized that I don't know the Methodist perspective on this.

Do you believe that once you are saved that can never be condemned for your sins or fall away?

I think the doctrine is called Once Saved, Always Saved. Is this a doctrine that most Methodist or Church of the Nazarene folks believe.

[JoshuaC77]

i have been a methodist all of my life, and I have never heard that one before.....maybe i haven't been paying attention very well....but seriously, I've never heard that in my church. To me personally, that doesn't make sense...cause you could get saved when you're 10 and then spend the rest of your life not loving, trusting, praising, or talking to God....if that's true you wouldn't even have to believe anymore....i don't like the sound of that one......

[Moodshadow]

I agree. He is a God of order, and Christ told us to "be ye therefore perfect." It doesn't make sense to me that you could accept Christ at one point in your life, fall away, commit murder and/willfully continue to break commandments for the rest of your life and then expect to be taken to heaven in the end. I know we are saved by faith and by grace and not by works, but to behave in a blatantly evil manner is to slap the face of Christ - to reject Him. And if a person like that will achieve automatic salvation, what's the point of doing good in this life at all, other than its intrinsic value? The old "eat, drink and be merry" philosophy would then be generally applicable, wouldn't it?

If I'm wrong about this, somebody please teach me.

[cristianna]

Hi Igniatus, Joshua and Moonshadow!

If you are asking do I think being saved is a free ticket to do what you will without fear of repercussions... I'd have to tell you I think that is not an accurate portrayal of what the bible says.

Overall, I do not know precisely where, officially, the UMC stands on this concept.

[IgnatiusOfAntioch]

There has been a lot of discussion in other areas in CF and I realized that I don't know the Methodist perspective on this.

Do you believe that once you are saved that can never be condemned for your sins or fall away?

I think the doctrine is called Once Saved, Always Saved. Is this a doctrine that most Methodist or Church of the Nazarene folks believe.


Here is one of those discussions over in Soteriology. It has an interesting Poll associated with it. http://christianforums.com/t6796382-poll-perseverance-of-the-saints.html

[cristianna]

What a great thread! Thank you for posting it. I will be delighted to follow along, but I will be on the sidelines because debating around here can easily get out of hand and disrepectful.

[cristianna]

double post...

[Redheadedstepchild]

I think technically we do believe that it is possible to fall away and lose our salvation. I think "once saved always saved" is more of a Calvinistic doctorine.

[footprints1973]

From what I understand, the traditional Weslyan/Methodist/Nazarene belief is NOT once, saved, always saved...(Grace Seeker or perhaps someone else may know the "theological terms" for thesse ideas.

From my understanding, our school of thought is that we can all "back slide" or "fall from grace" through sin. But as we grow in our Christian journey, we are to grow in Christ and this is supposed to be less likely to happen.

Of course, we are all human and no one is perfect. When we do sin, we can receive forgiveness and redemption if we humbly admit our sins to the Lord and repent.

Quite frankly, I never understood the rationale behind once saved always saved. But that's just me.

Laura

[zoziw]

Do you believe that once you are saved that can never be condemned for your sins or fall away?

My church isn't pure Methodist but our Statement of Faith says the following:

Through the declaration of Scripture and the testimony of the Holy Spirit the obedient believer can be certain of forgiveness, salvation, a continuing walk with Christ, and the promise of resurrection life. The Scriptures do, however, warn against failing to abide in Christ, being hardened by sin, or being overcome by the world. To allow the Devil such a foothold is to open oneself to the temptation to consciously reject Christ, abandon one's faith, and ultimately be lost.

That sums up my feelings better than I can in my own words. I do not believe OSAS.

[Speculative]

I agree with my fellow Methodists, here. I'm not an expert, but I think we traditionally would tend against OSAS. We love flowers, but TULIPs are not amongst our favorites ;)

[GraceSeeker]

I think the title of sermon #86 by John Wesley, http://archives.umc.org/frames.asp?url=http%3A//gbgm-umc.org/UMhistory/Wesley/sermons/index.html, "A Call To Backsliders" pretty much answers the question.

[cristianna]

Great link GraceSeeker! I'm bookmarking that!