Billy and Jimmy were pals. On one of their daily escapades, the two young boys found a couple of polished stones. Their imagination ran wild. They were sure that these stones must be extremely valuable, and that they had magical powers.

A pact was made between them, whereby they promised to each keep one stone and to keep it with them at all times. If either lost the stone in his possession, they were sure that the magical powers would disappear. Daily they checked with each other to make sure that the other had his stone safely in his possession.    A heated argument ensued one day concerning the safe-keeping of their possessions. You may not think it was a big issue, but the boys considered these stones to be supernaturally powerful and invested with infinite value.    Jimmy was concerned that Billy was not being very responsible about protecting the stone in his possession. Billy considered Jimmy to be almost paranoid about keeping his prized possession safe.

   Billy argued that his pockets were particularly deep. The special stone was secure in his pocket and he could not lose it. In fact, he confidently boasted that the object of adoration was so permanently placed in his pocket that "even God couldn't get it out." Without worry he went about his playing without any thought of losing the object, sure that it was safely kept.

Jimmy was not so sure, either about the safety of the stone in Billy's pocket or in his own. "What if the magical stone did fall out and get lost out of your pocket?" Jimmy asked Billy. It is always interesting how little boys think, but Billy's reply employed some interesting reasoning. "If it ever does get out," he responded, "then that just shows that it was not in my pocket and never had been there." Try to figure that one out! Jimmy couldn't.

   Jimmy was quite convinced that it was possible for the special stones to be separated from either of their pockets. "If it was placed into their pocket, it could surely also be removed from their pocket," was his reasoning. If neglected it might fall out. It might be removed by the one who put it in, by a thief, or "even by God." So Jimmy was constantly checking on the security of the stone entrusted to him. He felt a keen sense of responsibility to make sure it did not get lost. Anxiously he engaged in repetitive actions to push the object deeper into his pocket, even going so far as to stitch up his pocket opening so it could not fall out.

Billy and Jimmy ceased to enjoy what they had found. The mutual enjoyment of their prized possessions was marred by the incessant bickering about the safety of the stones. The contention over this issue of the security of their sacred stones was dividing them. These pals almost severed their friendship arguing over the permanency of the possessions in their pockets.

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   If this seems like the silliest of childish arguments, may I suggest that it represents a theological argument that has spanned the centuries. Instead of "stones in their pockets" the theologians must have "rocks in their heads" to have spent so much time and energy arguing over the "eternal security" of one's soul and whether a Christian is "once saved, always saved."

   Salvation is not an object or an entity that can be enclosed in one's spiritual pocket, or even possessed in one's heart. Rather, salvation is the dynamic life and activity of the Savior, Jesus Christ, functioning within the Christian as he/she is receptive to such in faith. Security is "in Christ," not in theological arguments of permanency.