The Bridge We All Must Cross

How can one explain the fascination of western culture with death?  In December of 2007, when the body of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, was transported from the Apollo Theater in New York to C.A. Reid Funeral Home in Augusta, Georgia, the director of the funeral home received a midnight call from the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, requesting permission to come by and pay his respects.  Michael Jackson spent the next five hours viewing the body and grilling the funeral director, demonstrating an unusual fascination with the death experience. 

I have been blogging now for several years.  I have written several blogs about death and what happens to people in the afterlife.  These articles are some of the most popular blogs I’ve ever written affirming that people are extremely curious.  What is it that causes us to have a nearly insatiable curiosity about death?  The typical answer to plug in here is that we are so curious because it is in the realm of the unknown.  But, there are a lot of things we have little knowledge about that don’t pique our curiosity at all.  I know nothing at all about ice fishing in Alaska, or how microbes reproduce and I have no curiosity to drive me to learn of those things.

Perhaps our cultural obsession with death is not so much because it is so distant from us, like an older uncle we never met who lives on the other side of the globe.   I believe we are curious about death because it is like the neighbor who lives next door.  We are reminded daily of its existence.  We see death on the obituary page, we see it on television and we are reminded of its perfect record of conquering all life when we see pictures hanging in our home of those who have already succumbed.  For some, a fascination with death can be morbid, it can lead to an macabre obsession that may cause one to lose his sense of the world he presently inhabits.  On the other hand, a balanced consciousness of death can be healthy if it reminds us of how we are to live in this present world and serves to caution us that there is a hereafter to prepare for.

Death is not an ending for the Christian.  Rather, it is a transition into a life more abundant than the one we are now experiencing. Peter ignited this flame of hope in his followers:  “…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  (1 Peter 1:13)  We are but wayfaring strangers passing through an alien world.  We are wanderers unsatisfied until we find the new city whose maker and founder is God.  We revel in this hope within us that is capable of smothering our fear of death.  Those who have not this hope “are of all men most miserable.”  (1 Cor. 15:19)

No onlooker can understand this hope in the breast of every Christian if he cannot understand the work of grace in the Christian life.  Grace is the mysterious favor of God.  A GRACE acronym that summarizes this supernatural work of God is: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  It is freely bestowed upon us but it was purchased with the precious blood of a willing Savior.  This grace is the cornerstone of a Christian’s forgiveness of sins in that it satisfies the penalty for our sin.  But grace continues for the true convert in its sanctifying capacity by which a Christian experiences freedom from the power of sin.  A Christian who is entertaining the hope Peter speaks of understands that there is a future demonstration of God’s grace, the glorification of the soul.  Physical death is a necessity before we can experience the grace of glorification, God’s deliverance from the presence of sin. 

The Philippians were encouraged to “work out their own salvation”. (2:12) Our salvation is not just a one moment-in-life experience, it is a lifelong adventure.  We cast off on the seas of salvation when we humble ourselves and confess our sins to Christ.  We then begin a long journey in which we learn to conquer sin through grace which results in the sanctification of our souls.  We must not put limits on how far the grace of God can take us down the stream toward purity.  Paul wrote to the Romans:  “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”  (6:14)  As we drift downstream, there is a shining hope in the distance that grows brighter and brighter, it is the hope that we will one day be glorified.  We will land on the shore of perfection and enter a kingdom where purity reigns and where sin lies defeated at the outer gate.

 In order to enter one gate we must exit another.  The “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and “it is appointed unto men once to die.”  (Hebrews 9:27)  All men, with the exception of only a couple (Enoch and Elijah), have had to die a physical death in order to receive the mantle of eternal life.  Christ’s resurrection stripped the fear of death away and replaced it with the hope of everlasting life.

So what happens when you die?  The body is corruptible and it stays here and decays.  The soul is incorruptible, it cannot be destroyed and it passes on to eternity.  Every man has a soul and every man’s soul, whether it be righteous or unrighteous, sinful or pure, will live on forever.  What we are when we die is what we are for all of eternity.  “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” (Rev. 22:11)

Death for the unrepentant is a horrific and terrifying thing. The wicked will experience a second death.  “The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars –their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)  It is a death that lasts for all eternity and this is why the wise man wrote in Proverbs:  “When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes…” (11:7)

“…They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”  (2 Thess. 1:9)  Death to a Christian is the bright and eternal hope of living pure, glorified, and sinless forever in the presence of a holy God.  It is the liberation of the soul from the bondage of a sinful earth to the liberty of a sinless heaven.  Death to the righteous will be a refuge. (Prov. 14:32)  With this hope living within us, we can say with the Apostle Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.”  (Philippians 1:21)

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Those Who Never Die

Ernest Becker was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 1974 for his book, The Denial of Death.  In his book Becker theorizes that man has a dual nature that alternates between his physical life and his symbolic life.  A man defends himself against the innate fear of death by dedicating himself to a cause bigger than himself.  The deeper recesses of his mind tells him that one day he will die so he attempts to give his life purpose and meaning and he stretches for immortality by attempting noble things and this becomes the shield he uses to fend off the Grim Reaper.  Becker was saying that men’s accomplishments become the blocks used to construct great walls around their lives like a castle, to defend themselves against the certainty of death.

Is it possible for life to be prolonged if it is more purpose-driven and full of meaning?  I’ve lived in a military community for over thirty years and I’ve observed a lot of early death among those who retire young.  Is it because a man’s work is much of his motivation to live?  It makes him feel valuable and offers a temporary illusion that he can escape his own mortality.  Isn’t activity the major characteristic of life and inactivity, total inactivity the major trait of death? 

I saw a picture that was making the rounds on Facebook recently.  It was the picture of a very old African-American couple.  He was wearing a grey suit and she a pink suit.  They were holding hands and looked to be going to or coming from church.  They looked very happy, very content.  I read the caption attached to the picture and learned that the gentleman was 104 years old and his young bride was only 101.  They had been married for 86 years.  I stared at the picture in disbelief for a good while.  It was as if they had conquered death. 

Then I remembered the words of Jesus in John 8:51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  Perhaps the elderly couple had conquered death.  Jesus said that if we keep his commands, if we love him and obey the precepts of his word, we will never see death.

John Piper tells of one of the more harrowing experiences of his life.  James Morgan was Piper’s theology professor at Fuller Seminary.  Morgan’s love for Christ was a great inspiration to John.  Morgan’s students were saddened by his premature death.  He died of stomach cancer at the age of 36.  John  Piper describes, as only he can, the profound experience he witnessed at his professor’s funeral.  Louis Smeeds spoke at the funeral attended by former students, colleagues and Morgan’s wife and four small children.  Louis lifted his voice in one unforgettable, shocking moment and bellowed, “James Morgan is NOT dead!”  John Piper sat stunned in the reality of the moment.

“Truly, truly, I say unto you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  (Jn. 8:51)

The soul, the immortal essence of a man, lives on forever.  That soul that has submitted itself to Christ takes on immortality at the point of physical death.  There is no hesitation, no prolonged period of sleep or unconsciousness that characterizes the separation of the soul from the body.  A Christian’s soul flees into the bosom of God.  When Jesus hung on the cross he turned to the thief at his side and said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with in Paradise,” (Luke 23:43) 

Ernest Becker’s idea that men dedicate themselves to a greater cause to avoid their own mortality holds merit.  But when they squeeze the last drop from the fruit of their earthly labor they realize they have lived an illusion.  They arrive at the same conclusion King Solomon did, “So I hated my life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.  All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”  (Ecc. 2:17)  The secret to immortality is not foolishly dedicating oneself to an earthly cause that will one day be eaten away by moths or by rust.  The secret to immorality is to live by the spirit, not the flesh.  “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit are the Sons of God.” (Romans 8:13-14)

Those who are followers of Christ have already died.  Jesus explained this in John 5:24  “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  When we dedicate ourselves to Christ and we experience salvation he bestows upon us eternal life.  His promise of salvation is only fully realized when we enter into the final stage of the process, the glorification of our souls.  We who are Christians have already begun to live our eternal lives.  When we lay down our physical bodies, our souls will pass from death to life.  There is no pause button.  We are immediately in the bosom of Christ, in the paradise or the presence of God himself. 

In the words of John Piper, “We do not experience one millisecond of break with fellowship with Christ.”  This is only made possible to us because Jesus, the Son of God, took on humanity and died on the cross, thereby paying the penalty we all deserve for our sin.

These facts effectively remove the fear of death from those who are Christ-followers.  He paid our penalty, he died on the cross.  He rose from the grave to take away the sting (fear) of death.  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  (Hebrews 2:14-15)

We conquer the fear of death by dedicating ourselves to a cause larger than ourselves.  We commit ourselves to the Eternal One.  When he says,  “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,”  (Jeremiah 29:11) those plans encompass an eternity that extends beyond what we are able to comprehend.  His plans for his own require their immortality.

Imagine the level of courage one might live by and what might be ultimately accomplished if he lives his life with no fear of death?  A lifelong fear of death is the prison that prohibits a man from being genuinely free.  It is faith in Christ Jesus that breaks our fetters in twain.  This faith will bring us to the same conclusion Solomon arrived at.  If you want to live a meaningful life or if you want to live life without fear of death:  “Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man.”  (Ecc. 12:13)

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Once Saved Always Saved–Can We ‘Lose’ Our Salvation?

One of the most difficult questions to answer in apologetics and Christian theology is, “Can a person lose his salvation?” For some it’s an issue of semantics. The word ‘lose’ indicates having misplaced something. It is not unusual for me to misplace my keys or the remote control but it is utterly ridiculous to entertain the idea that one might lose (misplace) their salvation. Can you imagine going into work one day and hearing a colleague say, “I’ve misplace my salvation, will you help me find it.” In that sense, of course, salvation cannot be ‘lost’.

We tend to emphasize salvation, or being born again, as a one time, crisis event. There is a sort of “cheap grace” idea that all that is necessary to assure eternity with God is to mentally assent to the idea that Christ is the Messiah and he did die on the cross and was resurrected for the salvation of mankind. If you ‘believe’ this you are in. Those who promote this shallow idea seem to be ignorant of the fact that how one behaves is determined by what one believes. Cheap grace is mental assent without any radical change in behavior. Genuine belief would change behavior. Those who follow this deception love to say, “Christ saved me for all the sins I committed, am committing and will commit. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what I do, I’m saved.” The Apostle Paul condemned such heresy with strong words, “Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” (Romans 6:1-2)

Most Christians would agree that God has given man a gift of free will. Our salvation is determined by what God wills (sovereignty) and what man chooses (free will). God’s plan is simple to understand: He wants to save sinners, make them into saints and then populate a new world. It is a sort of reverse creation. The first time he made the world and populated it with people. This time he is making the people to populate a new world. God doesn’t make a saint instantaneously, it is a process. A person can step on the road to salvation in an instant but then he is granted many opportunities to progress along the way.

Many look at salvation as an arbitrary experience God forces upon certain pre-destined souls. Others believe men cooperate with God for salvation by choosing to answer his call. If we are free to enter into salvation why are we not free to leave? This isn’t like Hotel California:

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!

It seems contrary to the nature of God to slam and lock the door once we enter. It may be possible for man to retain the ability to leave but it doesn’t seem probable. Why would anyone choose to leave heaven to live in hell? Why would anyone choose death rather than life, misery rather than serenity?

There are three stages of salvation: Justification is when the soul is set free from the penalty of sin. Sanctification is when the soul is set free from the power of sin and glorification is when the soul is set free from the possibility of sin. Justification is available to any who will confess their sins and abandon a sinful lifestyle. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) We enter the door of sanctification the moment we willingly consecrate our lives to Christ and we submit ourselves to a long, and sometimes tedious, process of becoming more and more like Jesus. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” (John 17:17) Justification and sanctification are pre-requisites for the final stage of salvation called glorification when our salvation is finally complete. This stage comes after the death of the body when the soul is transported beyond the reach of temptation and sin for all of eternity. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him…” (1 John 1:3)

Salvation is not complete until we have been glorified. When one boldly declares he cannot lose his salvation must we not ask, “How can you declare you cannot lose something you have not yet attained?” I am not yet ready to declare “Once saved, always saved” but when I cross the bar or when Christ appears to whisk away his own, in that day I will shout it to from the mountain at the top of my lungs, “I am once saved, always saved.”

I believe that “he who has started a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6) But God, through an act of love, seems to have tempered his own sovereignty by gifting man with free will. Christians are certainly eternally secure but this security is conditional. It could be disrupted by the sovereignty of God or the free will God has given man. Can a man lose his salvation? I don’t think so “for I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.” (Romans 8:38) Paul goes on to list all the things that are incapable of separating us from God’s love. But, Paul does not include ourselves in that list. Can a man choose to become an apostate? The Bible seems to indicate that a man can choose to walk away from God. There are at least 80 passages of scripture in the New Testament that teach that the process of salvation can be interrupted, delayed or stopped altogether.

Jude 21 says, “Keep yourselves in God’s love” and verse 24 says, “He is able to keep you”. Doesn’t this indicate a conditional relationship? He will keep us if we will determine to be kept.

Jesus declared himself to be the true vine. The dead (unfruitful) branches are cut away and destroyed. The fruitful branches are pruned so they will produce even more fruit. “Remain in me and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4)

Christ warns against the prevalent teaching of ‘cheap grace’. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. But a fearful expectation of judgment.” (Hebrews 10:26-17) There is a terrifying judgment for those who received knowledge of the way but broke away and chose to live in continuous, deliberate sin.

Peter says, “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them” (1 Peter 2:20) He is saying that they are worse off who have entered the way and then departed from it. This is contradictory for those who argue that we might continue to live a sinful lifestyle and still be rewarded eternal life. If they received eternal life how are they worse off?

In conclusion, I would question the idea that we cannot walk away from God because it seems to make God inconsistent. Either he has gifted us with free will or he has not. But I would argue strongly that it is very unlikely that a man would choose to walk away from God if he were truly, genuinely saved. Maybe a more accurate statement would be not so much, “Once Saved Always Saved” but “If Saved Always Saved.”

  Kevin Probst