by Sandy » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:03 am
I don't see a problem with the Hebrews passage for eternal security. If you read it in the original language, understanding the context of the passage as being written to people who were Jewish, the reference to having "fallen from grace" is not equated with salvation. Translated into English, terms like "tasted", "enlightened," and "experienced" are indicators of people who were exposed to Christian faith, and moved along by the Holy Spirit to the point of conviction of sin and perhaps even repentance, but who did not take the final step to actually receive grace through faith in Christ, rather reverting back to reliance on Jewish law and ritual. There are similarities here with Mark 3:29, which refers to blaspheming the Holy Spirit as a sin which cannot be forgiven. The Holy Spirit brings regeneration, a process that is well beyond the "tasting" or the convicting of sin that is described in Hebrews. Blaspheming the Spirit is turning away from God's truth after having seen it, and having it revealed. It is unforgivable because the Spirit does not return to those who have come so far as to "taste" and therefore cannot experience conviction of sin leading to repentance again. In the original language, the term's concept is not "falling out of grace", which, because of the very nature of grace, is impossible, but "falling away from grace," as if you had walked up to it and then, upon seeing it, turned back.
The only real difference I see between those who accept "OSAS," and those who do not, comes in the way they do church. Works become more of a security blanket for those who believe they can lose their salvation. There are those who have a hard time imagining a God so graceful that whatever you do after receiving his grace is still covered by grace, and others who see that as a license to sin and not be governed by conscience, both positions of which are based on false assumptions. God doesn't want you to live in fear of him jerking your salvation away from you, nor does he want you to live as you please and ignore his plan for your life just because you have guaranteed eternity.