You cannot Lose your salvation – beliefs before 15th Century

The View(my view) – A true born again believer predestined to salvation cannot lose their salvation as Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2 . This is not an arrogant position as it gives God ALL the glory for our salvation.

No one can lose their justification as God’s Word states having been justified we have peace with God Romans 5:1 through Christ. “
The challenge:

Please point me to any Christian who shared your view on this prior to the 15th century”
(This guy just made it into the 15th century before he was burned at the stake as a heretic. This is assuming his interpretation of scripture came before it). I’ll post more this week and will roll this into one web page at the end.

Jan Hus (1369-1415)


1.
There is only one holy universal church, which is the total number of those predestined to salvation. It therefore follows that the universal holy church is only one, inasmuch as there is only one number of all those who are predestined to salvation.
5. A person foreknown to damnation is never part of the holy church, even if he is in a state of grace according to present justice; a person predestined to salvation always remains a member of the church, even though he may fall away for a time from adventitious grace, for he keeps the grace of predestination.
11. It is not necessary to believe that any particular Roman pontiff is the head of any particular holy church, unless God has predestined him to salvation.
 

John Wycliffe (1328-1384)

Personal salvation does not depend upon the Church, or in the ministration of the pope or the priests in Wycliffe’s understanding, but it is solely upon the purpose and election of God (his thoughts on predestination will be discussed below).

His Biblical starting point for promoting predestination, like all reformed theologians, is Romans 8:28-30, In commenting on this passage of Scripture he writes, “This predestination is the principle gift of God, most freely given, since no one can merit his own predestination. Since it cannot be present without being present at the first moment of existence of the predestinate, it follows what is commonly said of grace that this is the principle grace. It can never be lost, since it is the basis of glory and bliss, which equally cannot be lost.” Therefore such predestination is a divine decree rather than the personal choice of any man

Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD) – Part 1

Notes: (Irresistible Grace/Unconditional election) Augustine is quoting John 6 where Jesus says that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws (resulting in 100% salvation). He also acknowledges there are those the Father does NOT draw. Read his words, then read John 6.

What means, Every one that has heard and learned of the Father comes unto me, but just that there is no one who hears and learns of the Father that does not come to me? For if every one who has heard and learned, comes; assuredly every one who does not come, has neither heard nor learned of the Father: for if he had heard and learned, he would come. Far removed from carnal sense is this school in which the Father is heard and teaches us to come to the Son,” (August. de Prædes. Sanct. c. 8) ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

John 6:43-47 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

Notes: (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election) Here we see St. Augustine quoting Ezekiel 36, Exodus 33:13, Romans 9. He credits grace only given to those who have the right heart which the Lord gives.

  • Christ makes us sons and vessels of mercy.
  • He acknowledges not all come to Christ and because of Christ.
  • He closes his argument (for those who might complain) that the Lord pities whom He wills and hardens whom He wills

The reformers did not invent salvation by Faith alone apart from works so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8). They did not invent the theology that our salvation is secure in Christ. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if “that’s just my interpretation”. We do see St. Augustine clearly is using scripture to make his case. I hope to demonstrate the false claim that these theologies were an invention of the reformers and unheard of before the 15th century.

St. Augustine – Part 2 “This grace, which is secretly imparted to the hearts of men, is not received by any hard heart; for the reason for which it is given is, that the hardness of the heart may first be taken away. Hence, when the Father is heard within, he takes away the stony heart, and gives a heart of flesh. Thus he makes them sons of promise and vessels of mercy, which he has prepared for glory. Why then does he not teach all to come to Christ, but just because all whom he teaches he teaches in mercy, while those whom he teaches not he teaches not in judgment? for he pities whom he will, and hardens whom he will.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

Ezekiel 36:25-27 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Romans 9 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

St. Ignatius of Antioch (Born ? – 108 / 140 ??)

(Predestination and Election) Ignatius letter is consistent with Ephesians 1. I will leave it up to you to decide if this is just my interpretation but the letter lines up with scripture. The idea that eternal security for those who are in Christ being an invention in the minds of the reformers just isn’t true.

“Heartiest greetings of pure joy in Jesus Christ from Ignatius, the “God-inspired,” to the church at Ephesus in Asia. Out of the fullness of God the Father you have been blessed with large numbers and are predestined from eternity to enjoy forever continual and unfading glory.The source of your unity and election is genuine suffering which you undergo by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ, our God. Hence you deserve to be considered happy. ~ St Ignatius”

Ephesians 1:3-12 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and [b]prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, [c]both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

https://www.orderofstignatius.org/files/Letters/Ignatius_to_Ephesians.pdf

Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.):

No longer by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer . . . are sins purged, but by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death, who died on this very account. [2]

 
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

St. Clement (80-140 A.D.)

(Predestination, Election, justified by faith alone). Clement like the apostles and writings we see in scripture gives all glory to God and declares that we are justified by Faith alone in Christ alone apart from works of the law from the very beginning.

So all of them received honor and greatness, not through themselves or their own deeds or the right things they did, but through his will. And we, therefore, who by his will have been called in Jesus Christ, are not justified of ourselves or by our wisdom or insight of religious devotion or the holy deeds we have done from the heart, but by that faith by which almighty God has justified all men from the very beginning. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Clement, Clement’s First Letter, 32.3-4) [1]