Question:
"Often in Protestant circles and
Bible studies one will reference 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life." This is a verse that they claim as a basis for having
complete assurance of their salvation. What is the Orthodox teaching on this
passage?"
The question here
is what does it mean to know that you have eternal life? Do we have to know
that there is nothing we could possibly do to lose our salvation in order to
know that we have eternal life?
This sort of
thinking is something that has emerged from a strange Protestant mix of
Arminianism and Calvinism. Calvinism teaches that God has decreed before all
eternity who will be saved and who will be damned, and so obviously, if you are
among the elect, there is nothing you could possibly do to become unelected.
But a Calvinist would say that those who are elect will show the fruits of
their election at some point before they die, and begin to live like Christians.
Arminians, on the other hand deny that God determines who will be saved, and
that the offer of salvation is open to everyone, and that furthermore, one can
fall away from God and lose their salvation. Most Baptists are partially
Calvinistic and partially Arminian -- they believe that salvation is open to
all, but that once who are saved, you cannot lose your salvation. You could
"steal a horse and ride it into heaven." And for those who have
bought into this perspective, the idea of eternal security is something they
believe in very strongly. And in fact, they seem to have a hard time
understanding how anyone could have any confidence in their salvation if they
did not have the absolute assurance that they could not possibly lose their
salvation.
I have known my
wife since I was 17, and we have been married for more than 27 years. I feel
very secure in our relationship, but I am quite certain that there are things I
could do to destroy that relationship. I am not in fear of that happening,
however, because I have no intention of doing any of those things. So I know
that my wife loves me, but I also respect her, and make sure that I treat her
with love and respect so as to maintain that relationship. Our relationship
with God is similar. We know God loves us, but we also know that if we turn our
back on Him, we will not remain in a right relationship with Him. All we need
to do, however, is to not do that.
St. Nicholas
Cabasilas explains how we are saved in our cooperation with God this way:
"There is an
element which derives from God, and another which derives from our own zeal.
The one is entirely His work, the other involves striving on our part. However,
the latter is our contribution only to the extent that we submit to His grace
and do not surrender the treasure nor extinguish the torch when it has been
lighted. By this I mean that we contribute nothing which is either hostile to
the life or produces death. It is to this that all human good and every virtue
leads, that no one should draw the sword against himself, nor flee from
happiness, nor toss the crowns of victory from off his head" (The Life in
Christ, trans. by Carmino J. DeCatanzaro, (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s
Seminary Press, 1974), pp. 48-49).
Countless passages
of Scripture could be cited to demonstrate that it is possible for us to lose
our salvation, but the following words of the Prophet Ezekiel are a fairly
clear example:
"The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,
neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and
keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely
live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they
shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he
shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the
Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the
righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and
doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he
live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his
trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them
shall he die" (Ezekiel 18:20-24).
By Fr. John Whiteford
Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2015/12/stump-priest-assurance-of-salvation.html
CONVERSATION