Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor's Page
Dear Friends in Christ,
One of my joys as a Pastor is teaching Adult Instruction Class. And the reason why may surprise you. Every time I teach it, I’m forced to explain our Lutheran beliefs in an understandable way.
Luther’s Small Catechism (which is our “textbook” for the classes) is certainly easy to comprehend. But part of my job as a Pastor is to explain it and then help apply it to our lives. That’s important because we do not live in a world that’s devoid of competing theologies. On the contrary, there are a myriad of voices attempting to sway our personal beliefs. And in order for you to firmly hold onto the truth of God’s Word, we need to be able to explain what we believe; both as a church and as individuals. Which takes us back to my initial statement. I thoroughly enjoy leading prospective and current members into a greater understanding of the theology that we take our stand upon.
One of the major subjects that is often misunderstood by people inside the LCMS, as well as those outside it, is what we call “eternal security.” Some protestant denominations hammer home the phrase “Once saved, always saved.” In their theology, once you profess your belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can never fall away or lose your faith. On the surface, that’s certainly something we all should want. But is it true that you can never lose your faith? Our protestant friends in the “once saved, always saved” camp would say yes. And yet, that’s not what the Bible teaches. I could give several verses to back that statement up, but instead, I’ll give you some homework and have you look them up for yourself in your Catechism.
What I will give you is two analogies from Scripture that are tied together. First, we need to know how we come to faith before we can know whether we can lose it. In John 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to get to heaven you have to be “born again of water and the Spirit.” He’s talking about Baptism. This is precisely why we believe and teach that Baptism is a spiritual “regeneration” which is the fancy way of saying “born again.” In many of the other protestant churches, they view this regeneration as something we must do by “deciding” to follow Jesus and professing our faith. In their theology, being Baptized is merely a visible sign of our commitment and not a means of grace. This is why they won’t Baptize children, because, in their thinking, the child cannot believe, decide, nor reliably confess their faith publicly.
Again, I ask you: Is this true to Scripture? Well, look at the illustration Jesus uses in John 3. He compares our spiritual birth to our physical birth. Now ask yourself these questions: Did you make a conscious decision as to when you’d be physically born? When you were born, what did you contribute to the birthing process? Since you cannot remember your actual physical birth, does that invalidate the fact that you were born and are alive now?
I know those questions sound a bit ridiculous, and yet, they prove a point. In the same way that you didn’t decide when to be physically born, you don’t decide when to be spiritually born. The Holy Spirit is the one doing all the choosing. He doesn’t need your permission, just as your Mom didn’t need your permission to give birth to you. Were you there and participating in the birthing process? Absolutely! But you were a passive participant. It happened to you. Likewise with your spiritual birth.
Imagine if someone said, “Well, I can’t recall my physical birth therefore I need to go through a ritual simulating the birthing process. That way I can decide when I’ll be born and then I’ll know I’m truly alive.” You laugh, but it’s no different than saying that since you were Baptized as a baby and can’t remember it, you need to be Baptized again in order for your spiritual life to be valid.
So, what does all this have to do with our eternal security? A lot! You had nothing to “do” in order to be born spiritually. God did all the labor when your spiritual life began. But, like your physical life, you can certainly do things to end your spiritual life if you so choose. It’s the awful ability you have due to your free will. Naturally, we are discouraged from doing things that will kill off our faith and therefore our spiritual life. And what might those things be? Well, consider your physical body. If you quit eating or you ingest something poisonous, that can end your life. Likewise, if you have an infection or even cancer and ignore it, that can end your life. Those are good illustrations of what can happen spiritually. If you quit feeding on God’s Word and Sacraments, you can starve your soul to death. This is why we stress regular worship habits all year long. Your soul needs it! Also, you must be careful with what you consume spiritually. There are poisonous doctrines out there that can destroy your faith if you take them in. And finally, we’re all infected with sin-cancer. If we ignore it by not coming to God, repenting of our sins, and receiving His absolution, then sin will eat you up and destroy your soul
Our “once saved, always saved” friends would say this kind of thinking will lead to despair and uncertainty about our salvation. And so, they teach that you can’t possibly kill off your faith nor can anyone else. The latter part of that is true. Jesus says in John 10:27–28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” So, no one can take away or destroy your faith. However, it is possible for you to commit spiritual suicide.
As Lutherans, though, we don’t despair at the knowledge of this truth. Rather, we take comfort and security in the fact that we didn’t create our faith. If we had, that would leave us wondering about the strength of our faith. Rather, our faith is all God’s doing. He creates and sustains it, beginning in our Baptisms. All we have to do is listen to His invitation to come to Him. Come to Him for spiritual nourishment. Come to Him for spiritual protection. Come to Him for reassurance of our eternal security that is solely dependent on His almighty power.
One last thing. It is possible to come back to the one, true faith if you’ve fallen away. I don’t deny that it’s difficult, especially if you have been gone a long time. Again, think of it like your human body. If your heart stops beating, you’re dead. However, you can be revived with CPR. The sooner the better because the longer you wait, the less chance there is of being brought back to life without major damage to your brain or body. The good news is that when it comes to your soul, God can perform resuscitation miracles. Like Lazarus in John 11, Christ can call you back to life even when all human hope has been lost. Obviously, the better option is to not risk it. Stay close to God by being in His Word daily. Stay close to God by coming to worship and being fed by that holy Word. Stay close to God by coming to worship and being fed with the “food of immortality” which we receive in Holy Communion. Then go about your life, knowing you’re eternally secure in the hands of God.
May God bless the rest of your summer!
In Christ, Pastor Don Meyer
