Blessed Hope - 2 letters

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
Post Reply
MaxPC
Posts: 9044
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 9:09 pm
Location: Former full time RVers
Affiliation: PlainRomanCatholic
Contact:

Blessed Hope - 2 letters

Post by MaxPC »

In both letters from Rocky Cape, Peter Hoover mentions MNs LesterB re Hope:
Hope or Assurance
Hoover-Krahn Family
Jun 12

*Lester Bauman,* a Mennonite writer living in Alberta, Canada, but whom
I have known for many years since we both came from southern Ontario,
sent me a small writing that I found instructive and on track. This is
how it goes:

*In my Old Order Mennonite* background the idea of Assurance was a
foreign one. In fact if a person stood up and said that he was a
Christian and he knew he was going to heaven, he would have been
called proud by some. The more knowledgeable ones would have
considered him a Calvinist. When I was a boy, if someone believed he
was born again, people thought he believed in eternal security.

People read the Bible and noticed the work "hope". They didn't
interpret this word like we tend to, like an 8 year old "hoping"
he'll get a new bicycle for his birthday. Rather, they viewed it as
something that was very likely, but not necessarily settled in
stone. But some didn't understand this, and lived in constant fear
that their salvation wasn't secure, and that it was just as likely
that they would be lost as it was that they would be saved, and they
felt helpless because their fate was in the hands of a God that they
didn't really know.

John R Mummau wrote a book addressing this fear, and Christian Light
Publishers has republished it in the last several decades. I haven't
read it recently, but as I recall it was a fine book. But what I've
seen also in the last decades is a sort of evolution of the idea of
assurance to the point that it has almost become a formula that
guarantees our salvation. It has almost made us the master of our
own destiny, as the humanist love to say. I feel that in too many
cases this also is a counterfeit, and is often driven by fear. So we
are afraid that we aren't good enough, and we look for a formula
that will force God to accept us. That formula takes various forms
but has become very important to Fundamentalist Christians. Take it
away, they revert to their fear.

I'm suggesting that the old belief in hope was actually more solid
and more biblical. Why did they hope? They believed in a merciful
God who understood them and their humanity. They believed in a God
who loved them enough that he would lead them in the right path.
Sure, they could turn their back on him, and he would not be forced
to accept them, but they had a hope that led them to believe that he
would not just easily give up on them and toss them in the trash
heap when they failed. So they would crawl to their feet after a
failure and continue, with their hope undiminished. This kind of
assurance is based on relationship and love, rather than fear. I
believe that it is actually more solid than the hysterical promotion
of Assurance we sometimes hear.

*Thank you, Lester!* Curiously, I have also learned from those who
promote the "once saved, always saved" doctrine, that it is not uncommon
amongst their members to be dealing with deep anguish and fear before
they die. Had they really been saved? Were they certainly sure of what
they believed?

In the end, I am very thankful that all us believers have the
possibility to "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He
may exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon Him, for He cares
for us" (1 Peter 5:4-7).

Peter Hoover

Rocky Cape, Tasmania
0 x
Max (Plain Catholic)
Mt 24:35
Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God
MaxPC
Posts: 9044
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 9:09 pm
Location: Former full time RVers
Affiliation: PlainRomanCatholic
Contact:

Re: Blessed Hope - 2 letters

Post by MaxPC »

2nd letter: please pray for Peter Hoovers' diagnosis.
Blessed Hope
Hoover-Krahn Family Jun 16

*This week* has been, for me, a beautiful and somewhat unusual one.
Beautiful, because it is closely linked to my relationship with the Lord
and my future with him in this life and the next. Unusual because my
friendly Burmese doctor shared with me that it appears I may have a
terminal decease -- Multiple Myeloma (a bone cancer). More testing will
clarify the issue. And, while this was happening, I received many
letters from people writing about hope and assurance, all of them very
encouraging and inspiring.

Here are a few of the responses:

*We Hope for What We Know***

I was inspired to write a few thoughts on hope after I read what you got
from Lester Bauman. I have often thought about hope in this way. We do
not hope for something we don’t have evidence for. Here is an example or
an allegory. I hope to see my sister later this year. Why? Because I
bought a ticket. A lot of things can happen that are not all in our
control to prevent me from coming. We can only hope and trust the Lord
will work it out. But there is more hope than ever before! I have told
my Sunday School class already you don’t go out to the road and wait for
the school bus any time of the day. You stand and wait for it when you
know it will come. However because we do not know the future like God,
we can never be sure of anything. But we hope for what we know. In that
sense we hope for a blessed end if we have met the conditions. We have
our tickets!

*Biblical HOPE*

Yes, Peter, Lester's comments are valuable, helpful, and I believe
strike a good balance. Better, I would say that they fit with authentic
apostolic Christianity, and what we have today is quite often distorted,
either one way or the other.

Let's teach and preach Biblical HOPE, not hopelessness, not a cocky
assurance. Thank you for sharing this.

*Am I Following the Lord Today?*

I appreciated your and Lester’s thoughts on a biblical assurance. It
seems to me that a good bit of the angst over assurance is very possibly
rooted in a distorted understanding of what it means to become a
Christian. So many of us have bought into the Protestant idea that
Christianity is about getting the paperwork signed correctly so that we
can go to heaven when we die. This places a tremendous significance on
making sure the paperwork is actually signed correctly, since we only
have one shot to make it into the Kingdom of God (heaven, after I die).

It seems to me that a proper emphasis on and understanding of the
Kingdom of God on earth goes a long way towards neutralizing assurance
struggles. Instead of double and triple checking “the paperwork”, we
ought simply to ask, “Am I, in spite of failures, following Christ,
right now, with an honest heart, soul and mind?”.

We do not need to ask, “am I sure I will go to heaven when I die”, but
rather, “am I doing my best to live like Christ, and follow him” . We do
not need to wait until death to look around and see if we “made it”. We
can look around right now, and find out if we are living in the Kingdom
or not.

We should stop asking “will I be saved when I die?” and start asking “am
I following the Saviour today?”.

Jesus told his disciple, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

He also told us in 1 John 12:26, "If anyone serves Me, he must follow
Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me,
the Father will honour him.

John tells in 1 John 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought
himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Yes, we do fail; however, as long as we repent and continue to follow
Christ, he is our advocate and we do not need to fear eternity; 1 Jn
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you
may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.

True assurance comes from true discipleship. (1 John 1:7) The idea that
the Kingdom of God is something to be entered after death undermines
both of these. By trying to guarantee that future entrance with some
kind of officially stamped divine passport or travel visa (sinner’s
prayer, etc) we tend to neutralize discipleship to Christ, which
naturally causes us to lose our assurance and we get caught in a a
vicious cycle of pin balling between doubt and some kind of forced “faith”.

I believe we would spare our people a tremendous amount of spiritual
angst if we taught a proper concept of the Kingdom of God on earth,
right now, something that we are either participating in or not, right
now, and if we would teach our people not to ask if we will be saved
when we die, but to ask if we are following the Saviour, right now.

*How to Pray with Hope*

I want to comment on Lester's article. I was recently convicted of the
same truth. Then I heard David Bercot's comment on the subject at the
2017 Anabaptist Identity Conference on it, spelling it out very
clearly. Very similar to what Lester writes.

The Biblical hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ is a
sure anchor, IF WE REMAIN FAITHFUL. BUT, only God knows whether or not
we will be true unto the end. There is no fear in love but perfect love
casts out fear. Unless you are a Calvinist, this is the only other
position. I have heard of the same dismay that people face that feel
that some are predestined to heaven and some to hell. At the end of
their lives, or in any part of their life for that matter, they can be
plagued with doubts and fears, wondering which they really are? They
are human and sin at times. Now they can start to question whether or
not they are of God.
Further, I was touched with the study of the disciples life, when they
came to Jesus after he had been praying and said to Him, "Lord, teach us
to pray." Then the phrase, "...with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known unto God." What I was blessed with is that the pure heart,
no fear in perfect love, longs to worship his redeemer and Father. In
fact, he already is worshipping Him in his heart and spirit. So what is
the issue? Do you agree, that the human heart in tune with God, still
longs to verbalize his worship and so, in worship he longs for God,
"with groaning which cannot to be uttered", to teach him to pray? He
finds no words in himself that seem right. He knows that he can be
selfish in prayer. And so the great Teacher speaks to his disciples and
teaches them to pray:

"Our Father which art in heaven". I recognize your authority.

"Hallowed be thy Name". I recognize your holiness and and how you need
me to be holy in you to go any further in this prayer.

"Thy kingdom come". I want your kingdom to rule in my heart. Come and
reign without a rival there. It's your Kingdom so you have the right to
rule my spirit.

"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven". Submission to
authority. Your will, Father, not mine be done. In heaven no one
questions you so neither can I when when it's about your name, your
kingdom and your will

"...thy name....thy kingdom...thy will".

"Give us this day our daily bread" Sustenance. Since we just
established that it's all yours, I want YOU to feed me my daily bread.
Let selfish appetites die. Let me not seek bread elsewhere.

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" All forgiveness
comes through you. In the way you have forgiven me I extend my
forgiveness to others. Unreserved. By willing choice.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". You will
lead me nearer you and never into temptation. Rather you have made a
way of deliverance for me. That is the nature of Your NAME, Your
KINGDOM and Your WILL. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his
own lust. And I know that I cannot deliver myself. I feel with in me
the tendency to lust. In my humanity, I seek not only victory, but
deliverance from the temptation as well.

Amen, Father, you can do this. Wow!

"For (Grande finale triple) THINE is the KINGDOM, and the GLORY, and the
POWER...". In feeble yet joyful voice, I now want to worship you through
out my day. Not just by word, but even more by simply letting you build
your kingdom in my life. I seek no honour. I want no glory. I rest
all power to You and give up all personal ambitions.

"For EVER." Why not? What will I gain if i do anything else but let
you be everything For EVER?

Worship! Ah, Father God, Teach us to pray through Jesus our Lord.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet
been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has
this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

* * * * * *

Thank you very much, brothers and sisters, for your encouraging and
instructive words!

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed
what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has *this hope* in
Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).

Peter Hoover

Rocky Cape, Tasmania
0 x
Max (Plain Catholic)
Mt 24:35
Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God
MattY
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 5:36 pm
Location: Ohio
Affiliation: Beachy
Contact:

Re: Blessed Hope - 2 letters

Post by MattY »

In my opinion, the language of "hope" shouldn't be pitted against the language of assurance - they are the same thing, or at least compatible things. The idea of "knowing" that you *are* saved (in Christ, born again) is biblical (1 John 5:12-13, for instance), and is the same thing as assurance. We shouldn't equate assurance of salvation with unconditional eternal security - that would be giving in to the Calvinist argument. But we can know that we are saved now, and as for the future, we will be saved as long as we continue in Christ as we are now. Sometimes statements about the future reflect the assumption - or perhaps better, our desire and faith - that we will continue in our salvation. This also is biblical - see 1 John 3:2-3, which is quoted in one of the letters above, and says that "we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him", and 2 Tim. 2:12 - "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day." Paul was not teaching unconditional eternal security, but he was able to say that he knew that he was kept by Christ until that Day, because of his commitment to abide in Christ.

I don't doubt the struggles described in the letters, with people doubting that they are truly chosen, or that they believed in the right way at one time. We shouldn't be Calvinist (i.e. believing in TULIP, and that if someone falls away, they were never saved in the first place), or "Free Grace", believing in "once saved always saved" meaning that one can live in sin after the initial salvation and still be saved. But neither should we go back to the position described in the paragraph about the Old Order Mennonite view, where assurance is a foreign idea. That is imbalanced and equally unwise.

The Calvinist view logically can lead to doubting salvation, and not only because of wondering whether or not one is actually chosen. But also, because if those who fall away were never saved in the first place, how can I know if I am even saved right now - because what if I fall away?

May we simply be biblical, and not add positives or negatives based on whether certain viewpoints are traditional, untraditional, evangelical, fundamentalist, etc..
0 x
Almighty, most holy God
Faithful through the ages
Almighty, most holy Lord
Glorious, almighty God
User avatar
Wayne in Maine
Posts: 1195
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:52 am
Location: Slightly above sea level, in the dear old State of Maine
Affiliation: Yielded

Re: Blessed Hope - 2 letters

Post by Wayne in Maine »

I have assurance that I am saved from my sins when I no longer desire those sins. That gives me hope of eternal life. It is like being put into a lifeboat, we hope to reach land and we keep rowing to get there.
0 x
Post Reply