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Chapter: 14.23
(Section 14: Selective Salvation)
Copyright © Michael Bronson 1998 - 2005
BibleHelp.org

I have found people are often careless in their business dealings. Either they are too trusting or too lazy to check out all of the relevant facts in a situation. They don’t try to verify that everything adds up. They blindly assume everything being presented to them is correct. Although I have mentioned this several times before, I’m going to mention it again: Never assume what I’m saying in this book is correct. Take the time to check it out for yourself.

There is an old adage, "Let the buyer beware." Everyone has an agenda; some are honorable and others are not. When someone is trying to sell you something, be careful not to blindly accept what they are telling you. Do your homework. You need to ask questions and verify what you have been told. Don’t automatically assume what the salesman is showing you is actually what you have been looking for. Seldom will a salesman voluntarily tell you about the problems and deficits of the item you are looking at.

Anyone who has shopped for a cell phone knows how difficult a task this can be. There are dozens of companies, and each company has a wide variety of plans. Some companies literally have hundreds of plans to choose from.

On top of this confusion, most companies have obscure rules that can cost you hundreds of dollars. It is easy to get hit with large phone bills simply because you incorrectly assumed certain things were covered.

Most companies have brochures explaining each of their plans. If you carefully read the fine print you would find most of the things you need to know. One of the national companies I was looking at had a notable absence of specifics. It was very difficult to determine what was and wasn’t covered with each plan. The only way you could find out anything was by asking a salesman. Unfortunately, I kept getting conflicting information from the different salesmen.

Finally, I was able to talk to the manager of the region. When I asked him about the absence of documentation, he was surprised I even cared. He was rather put out that I wanted to know exactly what the plans covered. When I pressed him on the absence of documentation he said, "They run so many different promotions, it would be difficult to try to keep them all in print." He wasn’t impressed when I told him all of the other national companies have been able to do it.

The thing I found most disturbing in my search for a cell phone was the phrase, "I don’t know. I’ve never been asked that before." Many of my questions that prompted this response were basic questions everyone should have been asking. These were issues that could easily cost people hundreds of dollars. I find it scary so many people are blindly opening up cell phone accounts without knowing the important facts.

As Christians, we should carefully evaluate all of our doctrinal positions. We should make sure everything adds up and fits in with the rest of the Bible. I have found many Christians take the same approach to their doctrinal stance as people do with their cell phone plans. Christians really need to be more careful. They need to verify that everything adds up.

A humorous story

Following is a humorous story that shows the importance of making sure everything adds up. A man was injured at work and put the following narrative on his medical insurance claim:

I was hired to repair a chimney at a five story building. When I was finished with the repairs, I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Since I did not want to carry those bricks down by hand, I decided to hoist them down in a bucket.

I attached the bucket to one end of the rope and ran the rope through a pulley. The other end of the rope was attached to a pole near the sidewalk. After I loaded the 500 pounds of bricks into the bucket, I went downstairs to hoist them down. To ensure I had a good grip on the rope, I wrapped it around my hand a couple of times.

In box 4 of this application, you will note that I listed my weight as being 150 pounds. Since the 500 pounds of bricks weighed more than my 150 pounds, I was pulled upwards. As the bucket came down and I flew up, we met at the halfway point. This accounts for my broken arm listed in box 10a. As I reached the top, my hand jammed into the pulley. This accounts for my broken fingers listed in box 10b.

At the same time, the bucket of bricks hit the ground and shattered. Now the bucket weighed only 50 pounds. As noted in box 4, I weighed 150 pounds. As a result, I started to fall. As we got to the halfway point, I met the bucket rising up. This accounts for my broken knee listed in box 10c.

When I reached the bottom, I landed on the pile of bricks. This accounts for my broken leg and sprained back (listed in box 10d and 10e). At this point, I let go of the rope and the 50 pound bucket fell down and landed on my head. This accounts for my concussion listed in box 10f.

Other Chapters in this Section

Home
Up
PART 1: What is Selective Salvation?
PART 2: What Does the Bible say about Selective Salvation?

What does the Bible Say?
Why, then, do some still Believe in Selective Salvation?
Interpreting the Bible
Does All mean All?
How Could God make it any Clearer?
Does it all Add Up?
Are People Perishing Despite God's Desire for their Salvation?
Why did Jesus Cry out for Their Forgiveness?
What is "Election" and "Predestination?"
Does a Sovereign God do Whatever He Wants?
The Sovereignty of God
Failures of Great Leaders in the Bible
God's Foreknowledge

PART 3: Problems with Selective Salvation
PART 4: “Choice” –The Achilles’ Heel of Selective Salvation
PART 5: Difficult Questions Answered
Appendix: Foundational Documents used by Selective Salvationists

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