Good Question: You Are or You Aren't
Are some people lost just a little bit in the same way that others are saved only as through fire?
Answered by Erik Thoennes | posted 4/01/2004 12:00AM
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Although we may recognize degrees of understanding as the gospel takes root in a person's life—even saying things like "this person is really close to being saved"—until God has brought about this transformation through repentance and faith in Christ, people remain as lost as they can be. Yes, a person may experience more or less of the full reality of salvation in degrees of sanctification. Yes, a person may experience more or less of the consequences of sin in being lost. But the objective states of being saved or lost are definite and absolute, as eternity will show.
Erik Thoennes is associate professor of theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, California.
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