SALVATION: LOST AND FOUND?
By Richard Burkard
In some church cultures, the word hardly ever comes up. In others, it is the central focus – not only for your life, but for many others. And many Sabbath-keeping Church of God attempt to strike a middle ground.
The issue involves salvation – what some might consider a New Testament concept, yet really is mentioned as early as Exodus 15:2: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation....” While that song was created as a tribute to God rescuing the Israelites at the Red Sea, some believers today see a spiritual parallel in those words.
Many conservative Christian denominations put a big emphasis on “getting saved.” In the area where I grew up, Youth for Christ groups filed reports on their high school meetings with three statistics: salvations, assurances and rededications. Mockers almost could compare it to farm reports, and the number of cattle, hogs and sheep heading to livestock markets.
Yet of course, we're talking human lives here – and potentially eternal life. It's a serious matter. And having the right mindset about it matters in how we approach this life, not to mention a potential reward in the life to come.
The Traditional Armstriong View
The old Worldwide Church of God (now Grace Communion International) published a booklet, What Do You Mean – Salvation? In the 1973 edition I have on my shelf, Herbert Armstrong wrote about the subject for more than 20 pages. But stunningly, he never mentioned a simple and central Bible passage concerning it.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV unless noted).
You won't find those verses in Mystery of the Ages, either. COG's historically have had a hard time with the word “grace,” with some referring to it like sappy Protestantism. Yet Mr. Armstrong did use the word in the salvation booklet: “...What you receive by God's grace – as His gift, is eternal life.... salvation actually is 'eternal life' – a gift!” (pg. 8, original emphasis)
One of his main goals was to debunk the “immortal soul” concept. He properly cited Ezekiel 18, which declares twice that a soul that sins can die. But many COG's stop there. Have they overlooked some good news about souls – even in that chapter?
“Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive” (Ezekiel 18:27, KJV). The same Hebrew word nephesh! I searched for that verse in an exhaustive database of Herbert Armstrong writings, and never found it!
Consider further: “And I saw the souls of those of them who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.... They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).
The late “judgment day” false prophet Harold Camping talked on Family Radio about “resurrected souls.” That teaching was correct, based on this verse. You'll have to ask COG leaders why they don't mention a resurrected soul, along with a body.
Now or Then?
Mr. Armstrong also wrote that we need to be “justified” from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Then he cited one of his main salvation verses: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him.... shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:9-10)
“It says 'we shall be' – yes, in the future – saved. That is still future!.... Don't believe preachers who say you are already, now, saved!” Mr. Armstrong warned (pg. 18).
But hold on here. What did that overlooked verse in Ephesians 2 say again? “For it is by grace you have been saved....” That's past tense in the NIV! Verse 8 admittedly is written in present tense in several translations, including the KJV (“For by grace are ye saved through faith....”). But Moffatt, NASB, NLT and even the New King James make it past tense. Either way, it's not something in the future.
This explains why one of the first major doctrinal changes made in WCG by Joseph Tkach Sr. involved salvation. It was explained as taking place in phases, including the past tense mentioned in the 1992 booklet What Is Salvation? But there's also a present and future tense:
“Those whom God has justified, while still subject to physical death, are as good as alive forever.... We are saved now from the horrible consequences of sin.... Because we are saved by God's grace, from his point of view, salvation is an accomplished fact” (What Is Salvation?, pgs. 8, 12; emphasis added).
The booklet also mentions I Peter 1:5, which says salvation is “ready to be revealed in the last time” (pg. 15). That's where Herbert Armstrong and many COG spinoff groups contend future salvation is not assured. He cited in the older booklet verses from Jesus, such as Matthew 24:13: “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Some spinoff ministers turn there to specialize in “overcoming” messages.
Today's Spinoff Explanation
So which is it? Are believers saved now? Is the “once saved, always saved” concept true or false?
This is one of those topics where church groups line up their verses on both sides of the issue, then stack them as high as they can hoping to outdo the other. The United Church of God tried to take on the opposition's stack in the September-October 2017 Beyond Today. The “Questions & Answers” page (pg. 37) was part of a focus on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Let's see how well it did:
“John 10:27-29 is a pivotal passage used for this teaching.... The focus here was not 'eternal security' but the recognition of His identity as Messiah.”
The verses twice have Jesus saying because His sheep have eternal life, “no one can snatch them out....” - neither from His hand nor the Father's. The Jews indeed asked whether Jesus was the Christ (v. 24) – but does that mean Jesus could not respond by going “above and beyond” the question?
The Lord actually brought up items beyond the scope of comments or questions several times. He talked about being “born again” after Nicodemus called Him a teacher sent by God (John 3:2-3). The often-cited line for COG members about “12 hours in a day” was in response to a question about going to Judea (John 11:7-9). He even called Himself “the resurrection” leading to eternal life when Martha talked about something physical (John 11:24-26).
(Many COG's use the same reasoning in interpreting Romans 14 as being about vegan eating – but that's another topic.)
“We are assured that God will never leave us or forsake us as Christians (Hebrews 13:5). But the Bible never says it is impossible for us to leave or forsake God and lose out on his gift of salvation!”
Are humans more powerful than God? This statement implies it. But the truth of the matter may boil down to which Bible passage you cite.
Elijah ran for a day, then for 40 days – yet God and an angel found him (I Kings 19:3-5, 8-9). Jonah fled practically across the length of the Mediterranean Sea to avoid serving God, yet in vain (Jonah 1). BUT the “prodigal son” was allowed to go far away without pursuit, in one of Jesus's parables (Luke 15:11-13).
A verse that may strike a balance here is Psalm 37:28. “For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off....”
The apostle Peter denied his Lord three times, yet was brought back into the fold by Jesus. Judas Iscariot sold the Lord to be crucified, but killed himself before having a moment to be brought back (Matthew 27:5). As long as you have life, you have opportunity for restoration – and perhaps even after that, if you're part of the second resurrection described in Revelation 20.
“'By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain' (I Corinthians 15:2).”
This is one of UCG's stack of verses, cited to show it's possible to “lose out” on salvation. Yet there's no mention of a counter-balancing statement of Paul: “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew” (Romans 11:2). In spite of all the sinning that national Israel has done, God has not rejected them forever!
The Other Side
My own study of this topic led to several verses often stacked up by the other side. Some may be in the cross-reference column of your Bible. I used the UCG website search engine to see what it says about them....
Genesis 28:15 - “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” UCG considers this a reference to the “promised land,” but there's a long-range promise involved that extended far beyond Jacob's life.
Psalm 94:14 - “For the Lord.... will never forsake his inheritance.” UCG has no mention of this.
Isaiah 41:17b - “I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” Considered millennial by UCG, as opposed to current.
Jeremiah 23:4 - “'I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,' declares the Lord.” Also considered to be a resurrection reference.
John 6:39-40 – Jesus declares, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life....” UCG puts the emphasis on the resurrection aspect, but doesn't Jesus make a salvation guarantee here (except for Judas; see 17:12)?
Bigger Than God?
Romans 8:38-39 strikes me as a key Scripture in the question of what some call “eternal security.” The apostle Paul declares, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
….But, of course, you can. At least, that's how some COG spinoff groups make it sound. They indicate we can abort the process if we don't work to overcome until we die. We can become prodigals, or even stronger than God - loosening ourselves from His great grip and wandering away.
UCG actually seems to draw a line at these verses. “We cannot be separated from the love of Christ if we continue to have the love of God toward one another and a desire to extend that love more and more to all mankind,” then-Pastor Burk McNair wrote in United News, May 2000. (McNair died as I prepared this article.)
A church elder in the San Francisco Bay Area preached in 2016 that God is “always sovereign, and His will must and will be done.” Yet a different preacher in the same church area said during the spring Holy Day season of 2017, “We have a role to play in our conversion.... to be overcomers.... to be loyal to Him [Christ] to the very end!”
As I prepared this article, well-known preacher David Jeremiah put it this way in a radio message based on I John 2: “Our relationship is demonstrated by our obedience.... We demonstrate that we already know God by how we live.”
Closing Thoughts
The book of Titus is in some ways a book of hope. The apostle Paul writes believers have “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time....” (Titus 1:2) He adds that “having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (3:7).
But hope can cause conflict in our minds. To go back to Ephesians 2:8, we have that hope of salvation NOW. It is “a gift of God.” But Paul also wrote, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) This actually reinforces the understanding that salvation comes in stages – with the ultimate stage still ahead.
“God’s promise of eternal life is certain; we can safely trust in it as long as we are faithful to Him.” So UCG says in its booklet What Happens After Death? (pg. 25, 1997 ed.) If you have not embraced that promise of salvation, my prayer is that you will. If you already have, walk in faith with the hope of that promise – that you would “make your calling and election sure” and “receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:10-11).
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