Pat Donahue of Campbellite Fame

Pat Donahue is a leading apologist and debater with the "Church of Christ" (Campbellite) denomination. I have had three or four debates with him. I suppose he has had thousands of debates. I believe he is about my age. Pat and his mentor, Thomas Thrasher, had several debates also with father. When father died they expressed their deep sympathy. They said they loved him (even though they think he is in Hell). I debated both Donahue and Thrasher on eternal security, free will and predestination, and on whether baptism in water is essential for being saved or born again. I also debated Pat on original sin and total depravity. In all these debates I affirmed that a sinner was saved at the point of genuine faith in Christ Jesus. Pat has asked that I hold other debates with him but I have declined, mostly for reasons of age and health. You can go to Pat's web page (here). He has some of the audios of my debates with him from the early 1990s, 2006, etc. My first negative for the "once saved always saved" debate (2006) was very good (I don't mean to brag). Listen to it and let me know what you think. I might transcribe it and post it here.

In a recent e-mail from Pat, he was responding to someone who wrote to him and affirmed that faith in Christ was enough to guarantee salvation, or that a believer was saved at the point of faith union with Christ. Here is what Pat wrote:

Anton thinks passages like John 3:16 teach all we have to do to be saved/forgiven from our sin is believe in Jesus.  But I would like to ask Anton to answer the following questions from the scriptures supplied:

·      Does a believer in Christ have to repent to be saved (Luke 13:3)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to believe in the resurrection of Christ to be saved (Rom 10:9)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to confess Christ to be saved (Rom 10:9)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Rom 10:13-14)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to be willing to forgive others to be forgiven himself (Matt 6:14-15)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to believe in God the Father to be saved (John 5:24, Hebrews 11:6)?

·      Does a believer in Christ have to love God to be saved (I Cor 16:22, Gal 5:6, James 1:12b)?

What is my simple response? It is the same now as in those debates.

"But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. " (Heb. 6: 9)

Faith is never alone in the true believer. What accompanies his faith and his salvation is faith in the gospel which includes faith in his death, burial, and resurrection. When he believes, he confesses Christ, calls upon his name, and feels love for the Lord. He also turns and repents when he believes. Superficial faith will not be joined with repentance and confession. But not so with real faith. 

Of course a believer must endure to the end to be finally saved. But, we are talking about initial salvation. There are lots of things that are necessary after rebirth in order to be finally saved in heaven. There are three aspects of salvation. There is initial salvation, continuous salvation, and final salvation in body, or in every way. 

Baptism is a good work and follows faith and salvation. (See Eph. 2: 8-10)