A Sincere Apology From a
Former Eternal Security Proponent
Brother Gary
I must ask you to please forgive me now after all this time, for both the ungodly tone and attitude of my letter in which I discussed my concern about modern bible versions.
I'm especially ashamed that I dared to deny you as my brother in Christ, which, I must confess, that I truly believed this at the time.
One thing that dawned on me....finally, was that I once sincerely believed what I now see as heresy; that is, the doctrine of unconditional security; and that God, in His mercy, led me to forsake this heresy and cleave unto the truth of Scripture. In view of this —and here is what "finally dawned" on me — I wondered why I was not willing to still think that God could also lead you to a right understanding of the "Bible" issue.
I'm sorry....for my unbrotherly demeanor toward you. God has been merciful to me after I ran away from Him. I truly marveled at His persistent pursuing of me and the utter breaking of my rebellious will. He had to bring so many tragedies into my life because I would not listen to Him. The death of my mom and dad brought the severest of anguish to my soul that a man can possibly know — it would seem — outside the sorrows of hell itself.
In all things the Lord Jesus spoke powerfully and even tenderly to my heart. He knew —and only He —the depth of my grief. I used my grief as an excuse to sin. I was becoming a danger to myself and others. Finally, the death of a friend with whom I'd been angry—and, by that point, .... my heart was consumed with hatred and anger against everyone—broke my heart.
And when I went to the Lord holding nothing back, He washed me so clean of anger, bitterness, or even grief. Praise God! And as the Scripture says in 1 John 3:14, that "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren" even so it is in the self-same spirit of Christ's love for all of His sheep that I now write to you.
Please forgive me for His sake.
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