This charge I
commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on
thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good
conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck (II
Tim. 1:18-19).
ARMINIAN
ARGUMENT:
Appeal is made
to this text by Arminians to support the idea that the saints can lose their
salvation.
(I)
Rev. George C. Lubbers
[Source:
“Exposition of I Timothy,” in The
Standard Bearer, vol. 37, no. 18 (July 1, 1961), p. 419]
[It] had not gone well with this Hymeneus and
Alexander, with “some” others in the church. They had not heeded the work of
Paul to walk as children of light, and to reprove the unfruitful works of
darkness (Eph. 5:11). Not heeding the warnings of putting off the old man and
putting on the new man, they had not walked as children of the light. Instead
they cast away a good conscience! The wrath of God, which comes upon the
children of disobedience, came upon them. They suffered shipwreck in the faith …
Now the idea of “suffering shipwreck” is certainly that of irreparable loss—not
arriving at the destination, the harbor to which sail was originally set. The
anchor, safe and sure within the holy place, does not hold. They are drift-wood
under the wrath of God. The assurance of the forgiveness of sins is gone. Faith
is interrupted. There is nothing left. The thing that they lost in the “shipwreck”
is faith. They lost it in the objective sense of the truth of the
gospel. That Christ was delivered for our offenses and raised for our
justification, they no longer hold and believe. And the result is that when
they try to find some stability they are simply cast from one error and
demoniacal lie to the other. Never finding rest for their souls, they go from
bad to worse.
------------------------------------------------
(II)
More to come! (DV)
More to come! (DV)
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