A Writer's Journey

Where to begin? Please bear with me, dear reader, as I walk through details regarding my life in an effort to share with you how Andurun came to be and my inspiration for this labor of love. For anyone reading, the Canticles of Andurun is a fantasy series I am writing; book one of which will be published soon. I wanted to share with everyone the circumstances that molded my writing, and what it took for me to use such a gift for God's glory and not my own.

A Question of Eternal Security

The endeavor of this particular Post is to address the erroneous teaching of “falling away” or “conditional salvation.” There is no possibility to make light of this doctrine. Either eternal security is correct and falling away is heresy, or falling away is correct and eternal security is heresy. This is a matter of the position of our salvation in Christ, and nothing short of a detailed, thorough examination of Scripture will suffice to find an answer. It is the Bible we seek our counsel from, and to that end we shall labor to avoid personal attacks. Having said this, let us press forward and see what we can learn concerning the doctrine of “falling away.” I hope to fully address the issue to the satisfaction of the reader.

The True God and Eternal Life, Part 9

Further contrasting law and grace Paul says that if a law could have imparted life to men, then righteousness would have been by the law, not grace; but if righteousness truly comes by the law, then Jesus died for nothing, Galatians 3:21; 2:21. Absorb the implications of this passage. If we can have any hand in salvation, then Jesus did not need to die at all. When Jesus was agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed the Father, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,” Matthew 26:39. The Lord requested that if the salvation of mankind could be another way (than by Christ becoming sin for us) then let it pass from Him. But He knew there was no other way; we were powerless, ungodly, and dead in sins and trespasses.

The True God and Eternal Life, Part 8

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ made us free, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage…every man who becomes circumcised…he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace,” Galatians 5:1, 3, 4. Here Paul contrasts salvation by works and grace. Are you justified by the works of the law? Or are you saved by faith in Christ alone? If you attempt the former then Christ is of no use to you. Your faith is in your efforts, not Jesus’ Person and finished work. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” Mark 2:17. These righteous were the self-righteous, who wanted to be justified by what they did for God, not by grace. The sick recognized their need of a Savior and clung to Jesus. Likewise Paul tells the church of Galatia that Christ died to make us free from thinking these perverse thoughts (that a man could contribute to his own salvation). Don’t be tangled in that yoke of bondage, was his inspired counsel.