Respectfully your pastor is right. God saves a person's heart regardless of what their minds may think. One does not need to be an expert in Pauline theology to be saved. Every Christian -- without exception -- has errant views. If doctrinal perfection was the standard for salvation none would be saved -- (compare the 7 churches in Revelation. Look at their doctrine and yet they are called the church -- saved and unsaved alike among them). Don't forget that Paul's letters were written to "correct errant " views in the church -- thus these people were Christians (at least some of them) before reading the letters. Christan's may embrace heresy and still be saved. [b]My post was mainly written out of frustration that no one (including my elder) seems to want to explain believing in the heart but not with the mind. I know perfect theology is not a standard we have to meet. What I mean is…how wrong can someone be ‘in the head’ without their head affecting their heart?[/b] Adopted said: IMO, it's not all that fruitful to speculate about the salvation of others. The fact is that many Arminians don't even understand the Scripture enough as yet, to know that they are heretics. [b]I’m not talking about the ones who don’t know what they are talking about. And I don’t want to go around ‘sending people to hell’ or speculating about the salvation of others.[/b] What we do know is that the thief on the cross was saved by simply exercising his (mustard seed) grain of faith with his words and belief that Jesus was innocent and that he was guilty. By grace, the Spirit (Sola Fide) and the Word of God removed the mountains of his sin. Still, it should be noted that in no way did the thief claim, as the Arminians do, that God was acting and was indebted to him because of his own exercise of "free will". Thus, "arminianism" is a very dangerous denial of Scripture truth and Christian soteriology and should be reproved by all believing Christians whenever so confronted. So,- the problem and focus is not whether God may save certain errant or heretical individuals or not, but our being knowlegeably obedient to the truth of Scripture. [b]Agree.[/b] Pilgrim said: Anna, Here are a few of my thoughts on this subject: 1) At face value, what your Pastor said is correct. However, without judging him since I don't know him nor anything about him, usually when people make a statement like that, the extent to which they apply it is incorrect. "Believing on Jesus" is a very pregnant phrase and it excludes the simple recitation of the words, which is what 90% of so-called churches today are teaching/preaching. This is historically known as "Sandemanianism", aka: "Easy Believism", which is applicable to ALL theological systems, whether Arminian, semi-Pelagian, or Calvinist. [b]I sometimes think that he leans that way. But not more than leaning.[/b] 2) Yes, it is possible and definitely exists this bifurcation of the head and heart. In fact, I would say we are ALL guilty of possessing this phenomena. Even the Apostle Paul confessed that his life exemplified this strangeness, cf. Romans 7. What is important is in regard to what the inconsistency pertains to..... justification or sanctification. If the former, then the issue of salvation is at stake. If the latter, then salvation is not at stake. 3) Picking up on #2, and this is my firm belief: IF <------ an Arminian/semi-Pelagian (it makes no matter if this is consciously known or not) truly believes in their heart what they profess with their mouth (theologically), then there is little reason to believe that they are regenerate. However, it is possible that a person does not truly believe what they profess. And this sword cuts both ways, e.g., a person can have all their theological ducks in a row and yet be unregenerate and contrariwise, a person to some extent can profess bad theology but be regenerate and possess saving faith. The difficulty comes when someone tries to discern the truth of where another person is spiritually; dead or alive. There is no fool-proof, infallible method of doing this, yet the Church is called to make that judgment. Individual believers may not officially pronounce a judgment, but they are to be discerning and they are called to be "fruit inspectors". [b]That *sort of* explains what I want to know.[/b] Tom said: Anna I agree wholeheartedly agree with what the other posters have said about this. I want to tell you however, that when I had similar questions years ago, I came across people that not only disagreed with that view, but said anyone who actually believes it, are actually still dead in their sins. I mention this not to confuse you, but to warn you that there are wolves in sheeps clothing out there. What these people actually believe when it comes right down to it, is salvation by doctrine. Not salvation by grace alone through Christ alone. [b]I don’t know that they believe in salvation by doctrine (though I’m sure some do), they just don’t acknowledge the difference between head and heart. The very reason I posted this was to have some more explanation about head vs. heart.[/b] Robin said: I actually blogged about the very thing Tom is writing about - salvation by dogma. Read my entry here. -Robin [b]Thanks I shall.[/b] Pilgrim said: So as I stated in one of my previous replies, I do believe that the overwhelming majority of those who profess to be "born again Christians" are actually unregenerate and are thus still dead in sins and under the wrath and judgment of God. Those of us who have been privileged by grace to know the truth of the Gospel both in our own experience and intellectually should be motivated to bring that message to ALL, especially those who "hold to a form of godliness but lack/deny the power thereof". [b]That is what I was like about 3 years ago. The temptation is now to ‘swing to an extreme’ and think that no-one holding to Arminianism can be saved. Because I myself didn’t believe in either head or heart, I wanted someone to tell me more about head vs. heart. I find it difficult to believe but I suppose all things are possible with our God. My acquaintance with various Arminians tends to back this up.[/b] [b]Anna[/b]