nikolai_42
Well-known member
Is this a fair picture of conditional security (as it works itself out)?
Picture a man walking down a long, dark, rocky road beset with thieves, murderers and wild beasts. He has a weight on his back that he has to carry around with him everywhere he goes. He has to keep moving. To settle down or wander off the path is to invite total destruction. Along the way there are many fellow travellers who warn of the dangers all over the place. But they can't alleviate the burden any - only offer advice that comes from the pain of experience. There are even those who are dying on the side of the road - those who tried to make it but just couldn't do it. They kept returning to the path after straying, but that last time, they just didn't have the strength to do it. Will this man make it to the end of the journey without ending up like so much debris along the way?
For contrast, the one who has unconditional security :
Picture the same man walking down the same road with the same dangers all over. There are even the same people who couldn't quite make it because they failed to stay away from things that destroyed them and couldn't get back on the path. But this time, the man is not walking alone - he is being led by a guide who far exceeds him in strength and ability and knows the path intimately. Not only that, but in this picture the burden is not being carried by the aforementioned man, but by the guide. And this being the case, all those who spend their time warning the traveller about all the pitfalls to watch out for and avoid may be well meaning and accurately assessing the dangers, but when this traveller spends more time listening to these warnings than keeping his eye on the guide, it actually ends up instilling fear since the traveller knows he can't stay on the path. He starts listening more to the voices of warning than to the guide. Those warnings can be (not that they always are), in fact, more of a snare than a help. But whenever this traveller does go off the path, get sidetracked by voices of fear etc... the guide brings him back in line.
Please note that this is only meant to illustrate conditionalism vs. security and the contrasts they present. It doesn't imply anything of how a man comes to the Savior initially or the differences in individual experiences etc...
Picture a man walking down a long, dark, rocky road beset with thieves, murderers and wild beasts. He has a weight on his back that he has to carry around with him everywhere he goes. He has to keep moving. To settle down or wander off the path is to invite total destruction. Along the way there are many fellow travellers who warn of the dangers all over the place. But they can't alleviate the burden any - only offer advice that comes from the pain of experience. There are even those who are dying on the side of the road - those who tried to make it but just couldn't do it. They kept returning to the path after straying, but that last time, they just didn't have the strength to do it. Will this man make it to the end of the journey without ending up like so much debris along the way?
For contrast, the one who has unconditional security :
Picture the same man walking down the same road with the same dangers all over. There are even the same people who couldn't quite make it because they failed to stay away from things that destroyed them and couldn't get back on the path. But this time, the man is not walking alone - he is being led by a guide who far exceeds him in strength and ability and knows the path intimately. Not only that, but in this picture the burden is not being carried by the aforementioned man, but by the guide. And this being the case, all those who spend their time warning the traveller about all the pitfalls to watch out for and avoid may be well meaning and accurately assessing the dangers, but when this traveller spends more time listening to these warnings than keeping his eye on the guide, it actually ends up instilling fear since the traveller knows he can't stay on the path. He starts listening more to the voices of warning than to the guide. Those warnings can be (not that they always are), in fact, more of a snare than a help. But whenever this traveller does go off the path, get sidetracked by voices of fear etc... the guide brings him back in line.
Please note that this is only meant to illustrate conditionalism vs. security and the contrasts they present. It doesn't imply anything of how a man comes to the Savior initially or the differences in individual experiences etc...