"Sanctification once begun is never wholly lost. It fluctuates with the fidelity of the believer, but he never falls back into the stupor and death of the unregenerate state..." - W.G.T. Shedd

There is a struggle with sin in the life of the believer. But though he struggles yet he has hope.

I am finding that the older Reformers were not like the neo-reformers such as John Macarthur, R.C. Sproul. The Lordshipers put all their eggs in one basket of works. They become existentialist.

It is about what we believe not what we do

"Christianity is neither action nor introspection: It is truth. Christianity is doctrine, teaching, theory, truth; it is not practice, action, or agitation. To be sure, a certain sort of behaviour is the result of Christianity, but the behaviour is not the Christianity. To confuse the two is to make an error as serious as that of confusing justification and sanctification, faith and works. Anyone confused on those points is in danger of hell. Yet it is very popular today in some allegedly Christian circles to emphasize action and ignore doctrine, as though the action were the important thing." - John W. Robbins, Introduction to The Trinity.

Lutheran's Theology

I once had a very delightful conversation with a Lutheran. He told me that the Calvinist cannot have assurance. I told him the Bible seems to say so. He said no. Christ died for all men universally, he said. My response was - does that give you assurance? Maybe those who end up in hell did not have assurance? Regardless, assurance is not based on my belief but based upon the infallible promises of God. Perhaps maybe I cannot have assurance. The Gospel is not that Christ died for you. The Gospel is that Christ actually atoned for sins. The sins he atoned for are the Elect people of God. Without election, no one is atoned for.