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Writer's pictureBible Brian

Once saved, always safe from plucking out your own eye


Suffice to say, anything's better than Hell. If you had to pluck out your own eyes, chop off your own arms, destroy literally any part of your body, all of these things are better than going to Hell. Christ Himself says as much: "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."


With the possible exception of Origen, it doesn't seem there are any Christians who have historically taken this literally. We don't see any person or group among the faithful who literally started removing body parts for fear of being condemned to a fiery lake of everlasting torment. But if you believe in Conditional Security, perhaps you should.


If, as Scripture says, we are saved by grace, through faith, and not of works, lest anyone should boast, then the only way to "lose" salvation would be to lose faith. Our works, no matter how heinous, cannot condemn us, any more than they can save us. But if you believe they can, then you have the simple fact that Jesus does say it's better to dismember yourself than to let that happen. In other words, if you believe in Conditional Security, you should take Matthew 5:29-30 a lot more literally than anyone in history ever has.


Of course, in reality, Jesus is engaging in hyperbole here. It's the use of obviously extreme language, designed to make it memorable, and highlight the severity of sin. Sin, while it is ultimately paid for on the cross, is a very serious matter, requiring a serious solution. We do not literally need to remove our limbs, but what else can we do? Perhaps we're involved in a gang of bad influences. Leave the gang. Perhaps our families expect us to tone down this whole Jesus thing. If they go as far as disowning us for it, so be it. Maybe we need to quit a job, leave a town, whatever it takes, we need to cut sin out of our lives. Both sides of the Eternal Security debate will acknowledge this, but only Eternal Security justifies stopping short of taking Jesus literally.

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