[Disclaimer: I'm posting this here because it is not intended to be another theological debate about who is right and who is wrong. I'm simply relating a life experience of mine without passing judgment on right or wrong concerning theological ideologies........... 
, just saying]
When I was a young Christian, (just beginning my walk with Christ) I happened to take part in a discussion of Scripture with other believers. There were four of us there. There was an older man who never said what church/denomination he belonged to, and two men (middle aged) who stated they were Southern Baptist, and myself, and I attended a Church of God, Reformation Movement, Anderson, In..........
The two men began to question the older man, and asked him if he believed in once saved, always saved. He stated he did not, for he believed in free will. From that point, as often happens, the two men began to speak to him about the assurance of salvation, and quoted Scriptures from their Bibles, and wanted to know if he didn't want to have assurance of his salvation instead of always being concerned with loosing it? They talked for some time, and through it all, the older man smiled, and would sometimes chuckle quietly. The more they talked and quoted Scripture, the more the older man would smile, and I could see it was beginning to annoy the two men quite a lot. Finally, one of them almost shouted at the older man......What's wrong with you? Do you think this is funny? Don't you know this is serious?
The older man smiled and said, Why yes, I know it is quite serious, it's just that you misunderstood me. You see, it's not my salvation I'm fretting over, it's yours.................
Ok, right then, I tuned out to the rest of the discussion (and it ended shortly after this), because all I could think of is what the older man said. Now, I am not saying which was right, and which was wrong. That is not why I am sharing this with you. What I want to share is this:
As I grew in Christ, and became a more mature Christian, I had many opportunities to interact with believers from many different churches/denominations and theological ideologies, and participated in more than a few discussions. The one thing that always struck me was the truth in that older man's words that day.
See, what I have come to believe is that more times than not, when people of differing opinions on theology begin to debate, they all (regardless of the side they are on) approach the debate in the same way........it's not their salvation they are fretting over, it's the other guys.......Meaning, people enter into a discussion already convinced that their belief is the true belief, and all who disagree are wrong.
This, in my opinion, renders the majority of theological discussions/debates "fruitless," and of no avail. With the possible exception that there may be one (such as I was) listening to that discussion/debate who gleans some new insight into Scripture. This is the only "fruitful" thing that can come from such discussions/debates in my opinion only I suppose.
God bless...............
, just saying]When I was a young Christian, (just beginning my walk with Christ) I happened to take part in a discussion of Scripture with other believers. There were four of us there. There was an older man who never said what church/denomination he belonged to, and two men (middle aged) who stated they were Southern Baptist, and myself, and I attended a Church of God, Reformation Movement, Anderson, In..........
The two men began to question the older man, and asked him if he believed in once saved, always saved. He stated he did not, for he believed in free will. From that point, as often happens, the two men began to speak to him about the assurance of salvation, and quoted Scriptures from their Bibles, and wanted to know if he didn't want to have assurance of his salvation instead of always being concerned with loosing it? They talked for some time, and through it all, the older man smiled, and would sometimes chuckle quietly. The more they talked and quoted Scripture, the more the older man would smile, and I could see it was beginning to annoy the two men quite a lot. Finally, one of them almost shouted at the older man......What's wrong with you? Do you think this is funny? Don't you know this is serious?
The older man smiled and said, Why yes, I know it is quite serious, it's just that you misunderstood me. You see, it's not my salvation I'm fretting over, it's yours.................
Ok, right then, I tuned out to the rest of the discussion (and it ended shortly after this), because all I could think of is what the older man said. Now, I am not saying which was right, and which was wrong. That is not why I am sharing this with you. What I want to share is this:
As I grew in Christ, and became a more mature Christian, I had many opportunities to interact with believers from many different churches/denominations and theological ideologies, and participated in more than a few discussions. The one thing that always struck me was the truth in that older man's words that day.
See, what I have come to believe is that more times than not, when people of differing opinions on theology begin to debate, they all (regardless of the side they are on) approach the debate in the same way........it's not their salvation they are fretting over, it's the other guys.......Meaning, people enter into a discussion already convinced that their belief is the true belief, and all who disagree are wrong.
This, in my opinion, renders the majority of theological discussions/debates "fruitless," and of no avail. With the possible exception that there may be one (such as I was) listening to that discussion/debate who gleans some new insight into Scripture. This is the only "fruitful" thing that can come from such discussions/debates in my opinion only I suppose.
God bless...............
