Salvation

BibleFacts

Salvation

On the early church

Here is what the early church fathers said about salvation:

God does not compel to salvation.
Men are not born Christians.
Men and angels have free will.
We're all born with a sin nature.
Salvation is a free gift that is given by God and accepted by free will.

The Holy Spirit opens the minds of believers.
No one is predestined for hell or predestined for heaven.
All sin is forgiven when you repent.
No one pays for their own sin [no such thing as penitence].
True faith produces repentance.

Clement of Rome 30-100 AD
Corinthians 32 - And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Mathetes 130 AD
Epistle to Diognetus 7 - Jesus came to persuade, not compel, us to salvation, because violence has no part in the character of God.
Epistle to Diognetus 11 - He (Mathetes) was taught directly by the apostles. Jesus is uncreated (from everlasting).
Justin Martyr 110-165 AD
Dialogue 88 - Men and angels have free will. The human race from Adam had fallen under the power of death and the guile of the serpent, so that each one of us has committed personal transgression.
Dialogue 141 - God created men and angels free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the Word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably wicked, but not because God had created them so.
Titian 166 AD
Greeks 11 - Our free will enslaved us to sin. (Rom 7) but we can choose to follow righteousness now.
Irenaeus 178 AD
Against Heresies 4.6 - Those who are lost, are lost because they have chosen it for themselves. Those who truly believe do the will of the father.
Against Heresies 4.14 - If you do not observe the Decalogue (natural law) you have no salvation.
Against Heresies 4.37 - God made man a free agent from the beginning. This is the ancient law of human liberty, for there is no coercion with God. In man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice. The Gnostic teaching that some men are born good others are born bad is wrong. Everyone has the power to reject the gospel. God has free will and we do too because we are made in His image. God preserved the will of man free and under his own control. We will be brought to perfection in the resurrection.
Against Heresies 4.39 - Man has the ability to distinguish good from evil. He has the power by his own free will to perform God's commandments. This is taught in Romans 2. God does not compel people to salvation, so those who have apostatized have done so through their own fault. God allows them to blind themselves.
Against Heresies 5.11 - In Galatians 5 not "inheriting the kingdom of God" means he did not receive the Spirit of God and shall not have power to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Clement of Alexandria 192-202 AD
Stromata 2.3 - Christians teach saving faith is a gift that is given by God and is accepted by free choice.
Stromata 2.4 - The ability to freely choose salvation is a gift (given by) God. True faith produces repentance.
Stromata 4.24 - Christians teach all is forgiven when you repent. God would only chastise to teach you to repent. You do not have to pay for your sin [no such thing as penitence].
Stromata 5.3 - Faith is the rational assent of the soul exercising free will.
Stromata 5.12 - The Holy Spirit opens the minds of believers.
Stromata 7.2 - Jesus persuades but never compels us to salvation.
Tertullian 190-210 AD
Apology 18 - Men are made, not born, Christians.
Marcion 2.23 - It is not the mark of a good God to condemn beforehand persons who have not yet deserved condemnation. Who is so faultless among men, that God could always have him in His choice, and never be able to reject him? Or who, on the other hand, is so void of any good work, that God could reject him for ever, and never be able to choose him?
Valentinians 1.29 - The Valentinians taught, contrary to Scripture, that some people are dammed, others have a chance for salvation, and still others are predestined for salvation.
Valentinians 1.30 - The Valentinians taught, contrary to Scripture, those who are predestined don't have to practice good works, but the middle class does.
On Repentance 5 - Sin is to never to be returned to after repentance.
Origen 230 AD
OFP - 1:4 - One can loose salvation gradually but not by accident.
Against Celsus 7.50 - Jesus sacrifice was for newborn infants also, since no one is born free from sin. See Psalm 57:3