InterVarsity Press

Conversations: Security

Edgar:

What can you say about eternal security?

Ruth:

Much of what I say about eternal security is summed up in my book, Walking Away From Faith. The very title is controversial since the book is written by a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, and I affirm Reformed doctrine and belief—which essentially says that someone cannot walk away from the faith.

It's a tough issue, and I cannot explain how we are eternally secure with God, especially when, from all human appearances, people are walking away from faith. And, I'm not talking just about kids who are brought up in the faith and walk away when they go off to the university. My book focuses primarily on those who have professed faith for many years—in some cases ministers who walked away after 2 decades of ministry. Figure that one out. I can't. But, whether we believe people can lose their salvation or whether we deny that, we all should reach out with care and concern for those who once professed faith and no longer do.

It bothers me a lot that we so often let people walk out the door of faith—as though it's an unfortunate turn of events that we can do nothing about. When I ran into Ken, an older gentleman whom I knew several years ago, and he told me that he no longer was going to church and no longer believed in God, I responded with stunned disbelief.

"You can't do that I said; you can't just walk away from faith."

"But I no longer believe in God," he protested.

"What do you mean," I countered. "What about all the hymns we used to sing and all the Bible stories and the holidays celebrating the birth and resurrection of Jesus? What do you mean you no longer believe?"

Then I quoted an old hymn and said I could never give up the old hymns of the faith.

He responded that his favorite hymn was . . . (I forget which one he said) and started quoting the words, but before he even finished the first lines, he choked up and could not go on. I just stood waiting for him to respond. Finally he said, "I need to go back to church; it's where I belong."

I saw his daughter a few week later and she told me he'd been back to church.

I hope this helps answer your question.