Proving Justification
I ran across a blog post from Lisa Robinson on Reclaiming the Mind today, and thought it was worth sharing. This blog is “owned and operated” by Michael Patton of Credo House Ministries. Dan Wallace of Dallas Theological Seminary occasionally posts there as well, and Michael was his intern. All that to say, the Reclaiming the Mind blog tends to be fairly Reformed in its soteriology.
Go read the post and I think you will find some interesting and (mostly) agreeable thoughts from Lisa. The question she asks is, how can I know if someone is a Christian"? She had some significant time after her “conversion” (I use the italics meaningfully, as she is on the fence when it occurred) when she ignored Christ and lived the lifestyle of an unbeliever.
I think it is worth reading and interacting with because it represents not a hard-line Lordship position, but rather a moderate position that questions, perhaps doubts, but allows for the fact that she may well have been truly regenerate and yet living in significant sin without genuine repentance at the time. Now certainly we in the Free Grace camp believe that assurance is the birthright of every believer, and we would encourage Lisa to look to Christ for her assurance and not to her works after salvation, because they can be a false indicator.
That said, consider her words carefully and see if you can find some common ground. This, at least in my opinion, is a position that I would FAR rather someone hold than a heavy Lordship position. Would I like to see her come more to an understanding of the free offer of eternal life? Of course. However, this kind of argument and analysis is one that I think those of us in the FGA can really dialog with.
What do you think? Do you think that this is the kind of question that we should argue over, or the type of discussion that we should applaud and interact with?
Go read the post and I think you will find some interesting and (mostly) agreeable thoughts from Lisa. The question she asks is, how can I know if someone is a Christian"? She had some significant time after her “conversion” (I use the italics meaningfully, as she is on the fence when it occurred) when she ignored Christ and lived the lifestyle of an unbeliever.
I think it is worth reading and interacting with because it represents not a hard-line Lordship position, but rather a moderate position that questions, perhaps doubts, but allows for the fact that she may well have been truly regenerate and yet living in significant sin without genuine repentance at the time. Now certainly we in the Free Grace camp believe that assurance is the birthright of every believer, and we would encourage Lisa to look to Christ for her assurance and not to her works after salvation, because they can be a false indicator.
That said, consider her words carefully and see if you can find some common ground. This, at least in my opinion, is a position that I would FAR rather someone hold than a heavy Lordship position. Would I like to see her come more to an understanding of the free offer of eternal life? Of course. However, this kind of argument and analysis is one that I think those of us in the FGA can really dialog with.
What do you think? Do you think that this is the kind of question that we should argue over, or the type of discussion that we should applaud and interact with?
