What about faith that doesn’t persevere? John Calvin described this as “spurious” or “phony/temporary” faith. Just as Frodo needed to persevere in order to survive his journey, Christians must persevere in their faith if they are to be saved. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” – John 8:31 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain. The severity here cannot be overstated it is do or die.īut the one who endures to the end will be saved. There are only two possible outcomes: 1) Frodo destroys the Ring and, along with it, it’s forces and powers, or 2) The Ring and it’s legionaries will destroy Frodo. It is a task appointed to him and nobody else Frodo’s fate ultimately depends on this happening. One thing is clear in the Lord of the Rings: the Ring must be destroyed and Frodo must be the one to do it.
The imagery of the Lord of the Rings confirms what Reformed Tradition has long affirmed: true Christians cannot totally or finally fall away from grace, but will certainly persevere in their journey of faith until the end. One of the questions I regularly hear is this: “Do you believe you can lose your salvation?” Folks in church history have discussed this question under the headline of Perseverance does faith always endure, remain, or abide? And, what happens if it doesn’t? Sam, his longtime friend, goes with him, even though Frodo encourages him to stay at home in the Shire. The first one is on Netflix!įor those of you who haven’t read the books or seen the movies, here is a very brief plot synopsis: Frodo has to take The Ring, which houses the powers of Evil, to Mt. In the words of Frodo, “ I will take The Ring to Mordor, though I don’t know the way.” I recently re-watched the movies, and encourage you to do so as well. After all, a dominant theme used in the New Testament to describe a life of following Jesus is that it is a journey which we must walk. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is a beautiful parable of the Christian life.
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