Process Salvation

By Bp Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

The ancient understand salvation to be a relationship with the Incarnate Christ, and for this relationship to manifest as an eternal process. We understand all the biblical references to salvation to be definitive, and as such, salvation to be a process in which we are saved in confession of faith (Rom 10:9), in reception of water baptism in the name of the Trinity (Matt 28:19, Acts 2:38), taking up our cross and following Christ (Luke 9:23), and upon our faithful death (Matt 24:13). 

Therefore, the proper understanding on Calvinist doctrine is that John Calvin mistook the covenant and predestination of the "Elect" (which we understand to be the Church as a body, just as Israel was the "Elect" in the OT) for an "individual election" (Eph 1:3-5, Rom 8:28-30, I Cor. 2:7, etc). Since there was no Clavinist system historically, its complete absence in the writings of the Fathers leads us to believe that it is a innovative speculation, rather than an Apostolic Teaching. The Early Church Fathers also talked about the difference between the calling to become a Christian, which is a universal calling, and the election of the Bride, which is particular calling within the Church. Understood in this way, there is no contradiction between our view of individual salvation as process and the election and predestination of the Bride for Christ. When individuals mistake themselves for the Church, as John Calvin seems to have done in his theory of double predestination, not only does the responsibility for interpreting Scripture become an individual burden, in which there is no historical standard of truth, but the reason for Christ's establishment of the Church itself dissolves... Leading to the current situation in both Calvinism and Evangelicalism in which "Jesus Followers" are "Christian Despite the Church." 

The reason why people historically do not agree on the definition of salvation within the Protestant Paradigm is that it is hard for human pride to accept that Christ makes the judgment about our eternal salvation (which is His embrace) and not some kind of "law" higher than God, which makes it possible to predict what God must do. It is also far easier to forget that Christ said "judge not" (Matt 7:1) and use our judgment about someone's eternal state to justify our own lack of love as somehow "spiritual". We see this often in history in disputes between different Christian groups, who use their own definition of salvation to exclude another group from grace (i.e. Catholics against Protestants, vice versa, and different Protestant sects against one another). We believe that Christ does not will any to perish (2 Peter 3:9), and as such, He grants mercy to all that ask Him... This is why the orthodox are not afraid of Christ rejecting them or "losing their salvation", but are also conscious that it IS possible through hardness of heart, unconfessed sins, and a rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit to not want Christ's mercy any more... And we believe Christ loves us so much that He will not force Himself on us. We are aware of our sin in contrast to Christ's mercy, which is in no way a negative "judgment" on Christ's willingness to save us - it shows us what 1 John says so often about God, that He is Light, Love, and Salvation if we will just keep turning ourselves away from self and back to Him! And in this life-long process remembering, "he that endures to the end shall be saved." (Matt 24:13)