Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mike@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Michael I. Bushnell) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Once Saved Always Saved Message-ID: Date: 11 Dec 89 08:32:08 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of No Money, Albuquerque, New Mexico Lines: 21 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jhpb@lancia.garage.att.com writes: >The whole point was, if someone is supposed to be "saved", and do >something spectacularly evil, how am I to square it? If a "saved" >person is not distinguishable from an "unsaved" by their works, what >*are* they distinguished by? Perhaps God doesn't *want* us to distinguish absolutely. A key idea in the Scots Confession and the Westminster Confession is that, ultimately, while we can guess, we don't know who the elect are. (If you are uncomfortable with the term elect, substitute saved.) Only God knows who he has met. We don't, ultimately, know about even ourselves. You are really asking "How am I to judge a persons actions so as to decide whether they are saved?" And to that, Jesus replies "Judge not, lest ye be judged." -- Michael I. Bushnell \ This above all; to thine own self be true LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE \ And it must follow, as the night the day, mike@unmvax.cs.unm.edu /\ Thou canst not be false to any man. Telephone: +1 505 292 0001 / \ Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!