I can attend church with those who have an opposite theology of mine as long as their attitude is one of humility! Since we all have pride in the God which we assemble in our minds, we tend to cling tightly to the picture we have painted. When another tampers with the painting with his own brush strokes, our pride as an artist of the divine, is intimidated. Differences in doctrine create stress. When one of us is stressed because the other is so awfully wrong, hard feelings result!
Keep in mind that the God most people worship may be JHVH, but in addition to him, there is another god who we bow down to whether it is intentional or not. That's our own ego which, as you may know from earlier commentary is the "god of self" (Herrin Daily Thought: God of Self). What we do in effect is to tailor our doctrine which props our own understanding above others. I have that same attitude in doctrine as I understand it, and if you differ, even if you're the same as me, then you do too!
"Pride" is that strong feeling of emotion which satisfies the self. It's god-worship where the self is god. Pride is most often deceptive. People are inclined to have an elevated view of themselves compared to reality. Of course there is the argument on low self esteem which I have addressed elsewhere (Herrin Daily Thoughts; Christ Esteem). The construct of thinking of oneself is what Sigmund Freud termed the "ego". It's the receptacle for our self-importance and individualism. "Ego" is a great name for your god "the self".
Much of my doctrine (understanding of God) comes from my family, the various churches I attended as I was growing up, the Bible I studied, from influential individuals, from the media and from educational institutions. I have attended about 50% each Arminian and Calvinistic doctrinal churches. On the other hand my father influenced me most, creating a bias toward one. These influences are the "id".
As an adult, I ventured out and took the position "I don't care what my father taught nor my church. I want to know the truth!" Therefore, as I read the entire Bible I made a list of verses supporting "conditional" and "eternal" securities. As I interpreted scripture I sought discernment from God. After all, it was truth which I was seeking, not support of a fallacy. My list was rather lop-sided and I put many verses on both lists. My own doctrine is not the concern for this immediate commentary, but I do want to point out the number of times I have written "I" in this commentary. That's my "superego" at work. It's the part of me which protects what I believe in support of my parents and standards learned in my early life (the id).
In religious terms, if Ego is the name of my God, then the Superego would be his halo; maybe even the protective angel so to speak. He's the power which protects my god. He's my pride! Pride is important in scripture. It's what hinders us:
Proverbs 29:23 "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit."
1 John 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.""Pride" is what exalts and protects the Ego. He's the Superego and is of the devil. The Superego cares little for eternity. He gives protection for the here and now as he protects the past! He cares little for truth, but the dogma in which the person has been indoctrinated throughout life. As such, a Christian must put aside the mold which made him what he is, and open himself to God's will and inspiration. That's hard to do because the Superego, as his name suggests, has great power stored over time! However, before life quits being all about "ME", the Superego must be disposed:
Matthew 18:3 "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."What Jesus is saying here. is "destroy your superego", at least the destructive teachings of those who have made you what you are! Never ever be a mere copy of what your parents were, but in everything seek God's direction. To put the Superego in his place we must return to a childlike state and accept truth without our early impressions interfering. We are to return in a spiritual sense to the innocence and readiness which a child has to believe! It's giving God a clean stone on which to engrave his precepts.
Let me use a secular example. Many people in Kentucky call themselves "Democrats". They may even vote that way. However, being a Democrat, especially in southern Kentucky, is a remnant of the past. Because of the Civil War and abuse from Republicans during Reconstruction, people who live in southern Kentucky have a heritage. They vote against things that are contrary to their sacred ideas from the past. Hence, they don't necessarily vote for Democrats, but against Republicans. They do that because their parents and grandparents did and their great-grandparents before that! These people vote Democrat because of their superego in spite of the Democrat Party of today is at odds with their own ego.
People hang on to contrary beliefs to protect their parents and early teachings! It's that way with doctrine as well. Whatever you believe about security is often what you have been molded to believe. As you study scripture, you sub-consciously, try to support your belief system with Bible verses. That's what Satan wants you to do, and is part of your being human. The self-protection instinct is your "id". It's where I believe original sin lies. It will do anything to meet it's needs and to be protected by the other constructs!
Let me digress for a moment. The Holy Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The antithesis of this is the Id, the Ego and the Superego. This unholy trinity is what Satan uses to deceive and to destroy.
Now back to "security". What I'm proposing is that your belief about "security" may be prideful. Its the psychological constructs which are making your doctrine. Satan wants us to differ on doctrine because that destroys unity! We can't even go to the same churches together because of pride! Security causes disunity and for the Holy Spirit to accompany our worship we must be of one accord (Acts 2:1). We're not! We criticize each other about doctrine. Everybody has to believe as we do or our "self" is threatened. The Superego fights back. We choose to believe a lie rather than change.
This conflict between us and God is there in all things. However, it's doctrine which is at hand today, especially on the matter of security.
"Security" is the safety of the eternal soul. It's the belief that an individual is sure to go to heaven and avoid eternal punishment. It's the assurance that a person is saved and that there is one road and it's a sure road to heaven. We all want to believe that we are secure! That's our Superego protecting our Ego. If there is a threat to that belief, are Id takes charge by instinct and we fight for dear life. Our god wants to be secure and never be destroyed whether we are Arminian or Calvinsistic!
The differences in security depend upon the viewpoint of works. "Eternal Security" is based on sola gratia (by grace alone). Christians who are elected by Jesus are secured by Jesus. We can't change God's plans for us. His grace is irresistible and lasting. As such he preserves us until death. That grace is called "Preservation of the Saints", "eternal security" or "once saved, always saved". If one has faith at the time he or she first believed, they are 100% sure that heaven will be their eternal home. We all want to believe that! This doctrine is biblically based and is point five of Calvinism.
On the other hand "conditional security" is based on "free will". Essentially, that sin is a matter of personal choice and also accepting Jesus is as well. Conditional security requires a person to do a "work" in order to maintain their safety until death. In other words, free will continues after the "born again" experience. We choose to accept Jesus and we choose to abide in Jesus.
"Faith" is the cornerstone of "conditional security". It's our job to keep the faith. This is at odds with eternal security that teaches that faith is a gift of God and not a work. Keeping the faith is Arminian doctrine also based on holy scripture. Calvinism is focused on gifts from God only, whereas Arminianism is based on the gifts supplemented by works. Faith is seen as a "race" to be finished in Arminianism and an everlasting "gift" in Calvinism.
Let me point out something: neither doctrine purports that salvation is an equalization between sin and good works. Even conditional security adherents don't claim that it's sin which causes apostasy: the abandonment of God. It's when Jesus quits being a part of a person's existence and guilt for wrongdoing is gone. Even those who are living the worst sin, if they still have faith and hope in Jesus, are still Christians!
Both doctrines are based on scripture. Since God does not contradict himself nor lie, that leaves two choices: 1) One or both of the readers misunderstand scripture or 2) God works in different ways. My Superego leans on the former while my discernment from God leans toward the latter. Satan is the author of confusion (the former) and God is all powerful (the latter).
The conversion of Saul to Paul tends to support eternal security, but in truth, few of us were struck blind by God when we were saved. We cannot use this case to support our doctrine.
The born-again experience and the apostasy of Simon the Magician supports the doctrine of "conditional security", but again, this man was a "god" himself at odds with Jesus. It may be that he too was a special case to be used by God for a purpose.
These two cases, and there are many others, support my contention that God can be put in a box. Being all powerful he works in different ways with different people to suit his purpose!
To be in one accord we must be humble. That's letting lose of the Superego and let our Ego be more loving. To quit being protected by our pride! Others don't have to believe as we do to be Christians! We can have doctrinal differences and be of one accord. The bridge between us is love and supported by meekness.
We must allow that either view has adherents who are heaven bound. We won't be in different buildings there. God only has one mansion! But we compartmentalize and separate ourselves here. God must be disappointed. If you believe that security doctrine is essential for salvation, then read that part again about "being as little children". They don't have doctrinal influences ingrained yet and are more open for love and truth!
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