Quote:
Originally Posted by bearbear
In the sermon by Del Martin on 1 John 3 he addresses the sinless perfection heresy which I also reject per 1 John 1:8 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
But I'd like to first bring the focus of this discussion back to the Church in Toronto's view on salvation and not my own. Does anyone know if Nigel Tomes and Del Martin's soteriology has changed in recent years? Do they officially believe that the 1000 year outer darkness concept for unfaithful Christians espoused by Lee, Nee and Govett as unbiblical and lean towards a view separating true and false Christians?
More specifically would they affirm that Jesus was talking to unsaved false Christians in passages like Matthew 7:21-23 and that the "kingdom of heaven" referenced refers to the eternal kingdom and is not limited to the millennial reign?
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We are here in a "prison of two extremes."
Prison #1: We are saved by faith in Jesus. All our sins are forgiven. All the rewards and blessings in the NT are ours regardless of our living. All the NT judgments (eg Mt 7.21-23) are on the unsaved, not the saved.
bearbear has rejected this as "easy believism."
Prison #2: Most of the Christians are not faithful, not obedient, etc. and will be judged at the Bema seat and sent to "1000 year outer darkness" as promoted by LSM.
I believe both of these "extremes" have some valid basis in scripture, and one key in understanding the truth is to know which judgment a verse applies to. For example, Eph 2.8 witnesses to the resurrection of the dead in Hebrews 9.27 and I Thess 4.16. But, on the other hand, Matt 7.21-23 witnesses at the judgment seat of Christ.
In like manner, solving the Calvinism-Armenianism debate, verses like Romans 4.2 and John 3.16 witness to our salvation from perishing by simply believing God, and subsequently entering Paradise (Luke 23.43), whereas verses like James 2.14-17 witnesses later on at the judgment seat of Christ.