Salvation Summaries

In this blog I’ll address the last two questions on salvation from 2 Peter.

What does repentance have to do with salvation? 

2 Peter contains only one verse on repentance, but from this verse we can see that repentance is related to salvation.

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

Based upon my understanding of this verse, if a person does not repent, that person will perish (be sent to hell).  Take a second to read that again. No repentance, no salvation.  Now, I don’t want to sound the alarm bells too loudly, for we can’t fully understand the meaning of this term from just one verse. However, this one verse should cause us to want to understand repentance more.  Here are questions I think we should ask: What is repentance (definition)?  How does one repent?  Is repentance something that anyone can do, or is it something God causes a person to do?  Does a person repent just once, or do it over and over?  What does repentance have to do with faith, and forgiveness of sins?  These are questions I hope we’ll be able to answer soon from studying other verses on repentance.

Peter warned the Christians not to be carried away by the wrong teaching of false teachers, else they would “lose their secure position.” Does this mean they would lose their salvation?

Before I attempt to answer this question, let’s look at the relevant verses on this, 2 Peter 3: 17-18, in a variety of translations to get a better understanding of what “secure position” (in the NIV) means.

2 Peter 3:17-18 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (NIV)

2 Peter 3:17-18 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (NAS)

2 Peter 3:17-18 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (ESV)

2 Peter 3:17-18 17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people. I don’t want you to lose your own secure footing. 18 But grow in the special favor and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and honor, both now and forevermore. Amen. (NLT)

OK, here are my observations.  The verse does not say that a person will lose their salvation, or their faith.  I’m stating the obvious, but I don’t want anyone to miss the obvious either.  Also, losing one’s stability or secure footing appears to be related to “grow” in verse 18.  Growing is either the opposite of losing one’s footing, or it is the remedy for it. And growing in what? Knowledge, or what is true about Christ, and not what is false or erroneous about him.  Overall, this verse seems to be saying that if you listen to and believe in the false teachings about Christ, you will become less stable, or unstable in your understanding of him, and in turn your assurance of your salvation.  It does not mean that you will lose your salvation, but you may lack confidence in it.  The antidote to this problem is to grow in your knowledge of what is true about Jesus.

CONCLUSION

The book of 2 Peter has a lot to say about salvation.  Here is a summary of what we learned.

Faith, which is required for salvation, appears to be a gift from God, rather than something a person earns, though a person must hear the gospel in order to receive faith, so there appears to be blend of two factors that leads to the faith that saves.  To lose one’s faith, God would have to un-save a person, and there is no example of this taking place in the New Testament.

Once a person becomes a Christian, that person is responsible, and I’ll even go so far as saying obligated, to grow.  Peter warns Christians who don’t grow that they will be useless, unfruitful and can stumble (spiritually).  Christians are to continually prove to themselves that they truly are called and chosen by God.  In short, becoming a Christian, it is like stepping on a slow moving treadmill – you have to keep moving (growing spiritually), or problems will arise.

The false teachers who wandered off the straight path after having escaped the defilements of this world either lost their salvation, or never had it to begin with.  While one can make an argument for either view, a stronger case can be made for the latter one.  They were fake Thomas Kinkaid paintings.

Repentance appears to be closely related to salvation, and in fact, a very important and necessary component of it.  However, we need to study more verses on salvation to fully understand its meaning and how it relates to other issues, such as faith, forgiveness of sins, etc.

Christians who listen to and believe false teaching can become unstable in their understanding of Jesus and begin to lack assurance of their salvation, though it appears they won’t lose their salvation.  The remedy for this is to grow in their knowledge of Jesus (or walk faster on the treadmill).

Per a request from one of my children, the next book I will review is James.