A little over two years ago, my wife and I sat across from my son, Josiah.  “I’ve decided to pray for you as someone who isn’t a follower of Jesus,” I explained. “After several years, we just don’t see any fruit.”

I was, of course, referring to the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) that the Bible indicates we’ll see in our lives when His Spirit is truly indwelling and transforming us. His Spirit recognizes His Spirit in others. In spite of Josiah having made a profession of faith several years earlier (and believe me, it wasn’t because he wasn’t tested on making that life-altering decision - I resisted and was careful during the entire process), years later we just didn’t see a life that was being transformed.

“Are you relieved or do you want to challenge that?” I asked.

Josiah looked at me and said, “I’m actually pretty relieved.”

And so we changed the way we prayed for him and talked with him.  A year later (last spring) Josiah gave his life to the Lord and the change since then has been remarkable.  His life is transformed.  He’s not perfect, but his core is simply different.

Spirit recognizes Spirit.

Having said that, we come to the last of T-U-L-I-P.

P under Calvinism stands for “Perseverance of the Saints”.

Calvin:  Once saved, always saved.  Why?  Because salvation was not yours to grant and is therefore, not yours to take away.  Jesus said that once we are in His hand, not even we can screw it up. (Which is a huge relief).

Arminianism:  You can lose your salvation.  It’s possible to either screw up so bad or simply to turn your back on your Christian faith and lose your salvation.  I’ve several high school friends who were once leaders of our youth group - no one doubted their salvation - and they had the stories to boot.  Today, one is a Buddhist (for a girl) and another an avowed atheist.  So are they saved or aren’t they?

Admittedly, I grew up laughing at the notion of losing one’s salvation.  There used to be a song we’d sing: “Behold, the Lord is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid.” ...which as soon as we passed a large Assembly of God church in Sacramento we’d spontaneously start singing: “Behold, you can lose your salvation.  You can trust and still can be afraid.”  As good Baptists it was literally impossible for us to think that anyone would buy into that.

It can have real damaging impact, though, and truly wasn’t/isn’t a laughing matter.  Years ago I went to Vineyard for a worship conference that was being led by Terry Butler.  The band was rocking and as one of the few conservatives in the place, I stood and sang but wasn’t crying or writhing on the floor like many in the room.  Next to me a woman was sitting and was genuinely weeping.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“God must have left me,” she stated. “Last night I was here and was on the floor, slain in the Spirit, but tonight I just don’t feel Him.”

Wow.

Over the years, I still believe that the preservation of my salvation only belongs to God, but I’ve come to appreciate the basic criticism from the opposite end.

How many people do we know that went to church as kids, walked an aisle or made a profession of faith at VBS, or even attend church today - but truthfully aren’t followers of Jesus?  He doesn’t lead their lives.  Instead their own pursuit of pretty families, big houses, and paying jobs does.  But challenge any one of those folks on their salvation and their answer will be the same:  “But I walked the aisle.  Once saved, always saved.”

Now I know that every follower of Christ out there wants to scream, “WELL MAYBE YOU WEREN’T ACTUALLY SAVED!!!  MAYBE YOU JUST WALKED AN AISLE. MAYBE YOU JUST ATTENDED A CATECHISM/RELIGION CLASS/ETC.”  And you would be right to want to scream that.  But now you're also negating what that person was experiencing at that moment.  Kind of dumb since we weren't actually there and don't know what was going on in the heart at the time. And then there's something about getting into heaven even with the stench of smoke on them.

Sigh.

We start to get into who knows more about theology and then the person we're talking with is left wondering if a shepherd truly can be a Christ-follower or if everyone needs a seminary degree.

But, in the missional perspective, P = Produce Fruit.

No fruit?  Then I’m going to pray and talk with you like a lost person.

I know what you’re thinking...but what if that person is just wandering off the reservation for a bit?  Thankfully, the Bible is incredibly clear.  A wandering Christian has three things that distinguish them from a lost person:

If you’re producing fruit based on a true profession of faith, then you can trust that “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”  Your salvation can’t be lost because it’s based on His work.

If you’re not producing fruit and you’ve said a prayer or walked an aisle at one point in your past, then you’re probably not saved.  Walking into McDonald’s doesn’t make you a hamburger (thank you, Keith Green) and quoting Robert Frost doesn’t make you a poet (that’s mine:).

So the missional theology bypasses the narrative of whomever one encounters and gets right to fruit.  This makes thing fairly simple:  all Catholics aren’t saved, but some are.  All Baptists aren’t saved, but some are.  All Pentecostals aren’t saved, but some are.

How can we know?  Look for the life that is being transformed from the inside out.  Look for a difference not in ritual or practice or tradition - but in direction, in character, and in characteristic.

Kind of simplifies things, doesn't it?