Eternal Security - If saved, always saved! Part 1. - By David Stewart

eternally-gratefull · Sep 11, 2012

As for Judas.

1. He was called the son of perdition
2. He was called the devil
3. We are told he NEVER trusted Christ, in fact he always was a thief, even from day one.
4. he might have had belief, But he never had faith.

He represents many in the church who claim to be saved, Claim to be saved, Appear to do many things for God, but have never met God.

Judas did not lose salvation, he never had it.

ChosenbyHim · Sep 11, 2012

eternally-gratefull said:

Good point.

chasten · Sep 11, 2012

ChosenbyHim said:

Well see I find that funny, because from the angle Im looking at it from, once again, Ill take it into more detail for you. I cant make it to heaven on works. In fact nothing I could ever do would get me into heaven, because I dont know the way. Thats why Jesus died. Somehow I find hard to beleive that God would go through the trouble of writing the bible if all I had to do was say he was lord, and I was good. That sounds ridiculous. Maybe thats why its sooo funny.

Okay, and obviously you dont know what I beleive, because your works may not get you to heaven, but gods grace does. Okay, so from my understanding what that means, is that I have a sinful nature. YES. I do bad things. Think bad thoughts. Right. BUT gods grace forgives me, and when I follow him, he changes me. Because he doesnt want me to be bad. He wants me to precious, and spotless in his sight. So even though I may not be able to make it to heaven on works, I cant make it by myself either. So I HAVE to follow god so he can mold me into who he wants me to be. Otherwise, I just continue to live in my sin. Which is wrong. Know ye not, that only those whose righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees shall enter the kingdom of heaven? Thats in Matthew. :3 Therefore, saying you dont have to continuously follow Jesus to make it to heaven, is like saying you dont need him, you just know he lord, and bam! Your in the clear. Which is SATAN. Which btw, is your own works, and your own understanding. So again... try to make it to heaven on your own understanding by your own works, see how that works for ya.

Its not just your deeds that need to be clean hun. Its your personality, and your entire mindset.Otherwise, your just running around doing whatever it is you want. xP And it seems even funnier when you say you cant lose salvation, because the bible teaches:
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
That would be 1st Peter.

Of course we are against righteousness that is created by works, because we are all sinners, saved by the grace of god. So the righteous scarcely be saved, means only SOME of gods followers enter into heaven. And Righteousness comes...not from our own works, but through the loving grace of Jesus Christ. So we need...Jesus to be...righteous. 2+2=4

So therfore, if someone when they are in their twenties, say they are christian, and continue to drink and party, and then decide oh well I dont beleive in god anymore, they arent saved are they??? Therefore they lost their salvation. It works pretty much the same way. Hopefully you get the drift. And while yes, its true, that when we are true christians, and obey god, and seek after the righteousness of god, and not after the righteousness of men, and dont turn away from him, and fall to our own understanding...Nobody can take our salvation from us. Because Jesus paid the price for it. As long as we are on the path we need to be on, nobody can pluck us from his hand, he has set us up for success!! Hallelujah!! Praise god!!! And I have the King James version thanks for asking. So my personal suggestion is that you dig a little deeper into the bible, reminding yourlself that the bible never contradicts itself. And search through not only the doctrine, but the context of it, allowing the holy spirit to guide. Remember, he will never leave you, nor forsake you. And you can do all things through Jesus Christ your lord, who strengthens you.The works of the flesh, and the fleshly things of this world DONT MATTER. SO, giving your life to Jesus, would be a nice place to start. Thanks for playing.

Have a wonderful day.

Elizabeth619 · Sep 11, 2012

eternally-gratefull said:

Yet there are two recorded instances where the devil "entered" Judas. Was he possessed and did what he did against his own will(which would mean he would not be held accountable) or does it mean that the devil had strong influence?

Also, if Satan was always IN Judas then why did he need to enter him on 2 different occasions?
So was Judas not really a disciple? What about Peter? He denied Jesus 3 times. Was he not a true disciple either?

Also, keep in mind that Judas was remorseful for what he did. IF Judas was "the devil" then I doubt he would have regretted his actions, but he did.

Before this occurance Judas was destined for Heaven, but it seems clear to me he fell to temptation and in order to "fall" you need a place to fall from. If he was lost from the beginning then I don't think Jesus would have chosen the devil.

Also think about the fall over Adam and Eve. Even the fall of Lucifer. Were they created with sin or did they fall on their own accord?

eternally-gratefull · Sep 11, 2012

Elizabeth619 said:

A person who is saved can not be possessed by satan or any demon.
A person can not be made to do something they did not want to o in the first place.

I never claimed he was always in Judas. what makes you think that?

Peter repented. Judas never did. Judas felt bad because he did not know what they were going to do to Jesus, Peter felt bad because he did what Jesus said he was going to do. Remorse and repentance is not the same

Judas had an earthly remorse., and then commited another sin Peter felt bad, He needed Christ to prove he was forgive, Christ did this by not confronting him, But asking him 3 times to feed his sheep.

Judas stole from them from the moment he started walking with them. Jesus even called him the devil before anyone even knew what he was going to do. he was a fake, a fraud, God needed him to do what he was going to do. that is why he chose him, so he could do what God needed him to do. it does not mean he was saved.

Believe you me, if you hear truth, and walk in it even a little bit, but never have faith in it and walk away from it, You have fallen, because you had it in your hands and gave it up.

jesus paid for Adams and Eve's sin, He did not pay for lucifers sin, He even paid for Judas sin, But Judas never recieved Christ, or admitted he needed a savior. Thus he was lost forever. He chose self over Christ/. Did it from the time he started walking in their group.

if judas was saved, He is still saved, because Christ paid for his sin, However, again, The son of perdition could not have been saved, Or Satan could not enter and control him. Satan might have helped., But Judas was greedy, he did it for money, If he thought Jesus could save his eternal soul, he never would have did what he did.

Blain · Sep 11, 2012

Well this what i believe- If you have really accepted god then i don't think you will ever want to stop being a christian, If you do then you probably weren't ready to be saved. Loving god is the greatest thing that anyone can love. Even when we didn't accept Christ we were searching for god without even knowing it.

Elizabeth619 · Sep 11, 2012

In other words you can fall away...It is a choice we make.

Also, keep in mind that the devil is after a Christians soul more than anything. Because we do not belong to him. He will not target a non believer like he would a Christian because they are not of God. The devil will tempt a Christian more than anything. Even then it is our choice to walk with God or the devil. One can fall away. It is their decision.

ChosenbyHim · Sep 11, 2012

chasten said:

It seems like you still do not properly understand the doctrine of Eternal Security. That is very unfortunate buddy, because if you have no assurance of your salvation than you are just like the Muslims and Catholics. Both Muslims and Catholics do not have assurance of their salvation.

Now buddy, I see that you at least understand that it is by God's grace that we get to heaven which is correct. It is only by His grace and not by any of our works. Now from what you are saying, you basically believe that a Christian has to keep his salvation until he or she dies, otherwise that guy or girl will lose their salvation. Again, your perspective is just not biblical. If we couldn't obtain our salvation through our works, what even makes you think that you can keep your salvation by your works?

Now, any person that says their a Christian and goes and drinks and parties and says that they no longer believe in God. That person was never saved to begin with. Therefore he never lost his salvation because he never had it to begin with!!

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. - 1 John 2:19

We are not to be so gullible and naive to actually believe that just because somebody professes to be a Christian that he actually is one. Keep that in mind buddy.

Again buddy, you have a faulty logic and understanding of what a true Christian is. You need to learn how to rightly divide the Bible in its proper dispensations and divisions, or otherwise you'll just stay confused on this issue. Now, there are many professing Christians that say they are saved because they go to church and so forth. But you need to be a fruit inspector. Have they changed their way of living? Are they interested in God's word? Are they also interested in the things of God? Anybody can say they are a Christian, but does their life show evidence that they really are one? Again, a Christian cannot lose his salvation. A Christian can lose his health, his life, his rewards, his millennial inheritance, his testimony, his joy, and his fellowship with the brethren, but a true Christian can never lose his salvation. It cannot happen in this dispensation, the Church Age. You have to keep in mind buddy, this is not what your opinion is or my opinion is, this is about what does the Bible teach and tell us about our Eternal Security.

Evidence will always follow salvation. And whether we stay on the path or not is not even a factor. If a Christian ends up not staying on the path, he is still saved. Whether you want to believe that or not. Again, you need to understand that we can do nothing to keep our salvation. Once re receive the gift of salvation, that's it. We are now adopted into God's family. We are baptized by the Holy Ghost into the Christ's Body. Jesus prayed and asked the His Father to keep them, basically those that are His. And that is why we cannot lose salvation.

And that passage of Scripture you took from the First Epistle of Peter, how does that exactly prove one can lose his salvation in this dispensation?

It does not prove any such thing. Keep Scripture in context and allow the Scriptures to interpret the Scriptures.

chasten · Sep 11, 2012

Okay, first my name my name isnt Buddy, Buddy. All through the bible it talks about how only some of gods followers make it to heaven. Yes there is a scripture that says only he that endureth till the end shalt be saved. SO theres your logic to it. Second of all. The bible isnt meant to be interpretted by your natural born mind. Therefore, not everyone is going to study it the way you do, and theres no telling your way is even the right way. SO if your not letting god, the holy spirit lead you through your studies. Pretty safe to say your doing it wrong. You dont know. Second of all, letting fear of failure interfere with your logic, isnt the way to go. Whether you like it or not. I have shown you scriptures, and coded it down for you in the simplest way I knew how, I told you what EVERYONE else already knows. So if your going to hide, thats fine. The entire bible is based on faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. There is no evidence, either you beleive hes there or you dont. Basically. Good luck guy, Im dusting my feet.

AgapeSpiritEyes · Sep 11, 2012

Enough about arguing about someone else’s salvation. I will not be present with anyone standing beside me when I will be Judges or appraised at the Bema seat so continue to work on finishing each one of our own race to the finish line and win the prize of face to face meeting with Jesus. What does my arguing with someone about someone else’s salvation have to do with my race? Run your race with all your faith and love for Jesus. Once you get there then, if it is that important to you you can listen to what Jesus wants to say about it.

feedm3 · Sep 11, 2012

ChosenbyHim said:

Eternal Security

You CANNOT lose your salvation!

by David J. Stewart

Eternal Security is the Biblical doctrine that a believer CANNOT lose salvation in Christ Jesus. I recently spoke with a Church of Christ minister who believed that a Christian could LOSE their salvation by failing to maintain a "relationship" with God. Of course, that is a lie of the Devil. The Charismatic are also plagued with this false belief that a person can lose their salvation. The Bible teaches, If Saved, Always Saved.

Salvation is By Faith Alone in Jesus; and Not Works

If mankind has nothing to do with saving himself, then why would God require men to do something to maintain it? Salvation is of God; not men. Paul said to "work out your own salvation" in Philippians 2:12; the Bible doesn't say to work out GOD'S SALVATION. God saves a person, pulling them out of the fires of Hell; but now that person needs to be recycled. It is up to us whether we yield to the Holy Spirit or not in our daily life, to search and obey the Scriptures. However, salvation and discipleship are two separate things entirely. Whether or not a believer lives a holy life has nothing to do with the "free gift" (Romans 5:15) of salvation. Those who say otherwise are adding works to grace, which the Bible condemns (Romans 11:6). Salvation cannot be by God's grace AND man's self-righteous works. Revelation 22:17 states: "...And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

We are clearly taught from God's Word that works are NOT essential to our salvation. Titus 3:5 states... "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us..." And again in Ephesians 2:8,9 we are told, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." We are all Hell-deserving sinners! We do NOT have anything to do with salvation except to receive God's free gift by FAITH. Salvation is receiving; NOT giving. Romans 4:5 reads, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." This is how Abraham was saved in the Old Testament, i.e., his faith was COUNTED for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Acts 10:43 teaches that Old Testament sinners were saved exactly as they are today... "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

If I cannot do good works to get saved, then how can I do bad works to be unsaved?

Eternal life is a gift, paid for by Jesus precious, redeeming, literal, physical blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 1:5). Shame on those heretics, such as Dan Corner, who corrupt the simplicity that is in Christ.

There is a perverted theology today that mixes faith in Christ with surrendering one's life to God in obedience. This false doctrine is called "Lordship Salvation" and it is evil. The very idea that one's lifestyle is a part of saving faith is damnable heresy. Opponents of Eternal Security all follow Lordship Salvation, and they all use the corrupted New International Version.

Perhaps you ask, what if a believer loses faith? A believer certainly may become discouraged, or falter in their faith for a time. John the Baptist became discouraged and wavered in his faith, even questioning if Jesus were the Christ (Matthew 11:3); yet, Jesus called John the greatest born amongst women (Matthew 11:3,11). Peter denied that he knew Christ, curding the name of Jesus; but the Holy Spirit convicted him and Peter later repented. However, none of these believers LOST their salvation and there's not one shred of Biblical evidence to show otherwise.

If you are a parent, your child didn't make a commitment to become your child; but rather, they were born to become your child. Likewise, we are born-again to become God's child. Just as a child has absolutely NOTHING to do with his or her own birth, neither does the Christian have anything to do with their spiritual birth. It is completely of God. Our part is done the moment we believe, receiving Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

If you don't believe the Bible, you can either get right or die wrong.

False Christians Never Saved to Begin With

A born-again believer does NOT convert to the Mormon faith or become an atheist. When a man claims that he "used to be a Christian," but now has become a Jehovah's Witness, he's a liar. He never was a Christian to begin with. He may have once had the philosophy of Christianity, or the organization of Christianity; but he never had genuine Christianity, which is found by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

You don't trust Christ one day and then forsake him the next, it doesn't work that way. A child of God will always be a child of God. If you don't have Jesus Christ today, it is ONLY because you never really trusted Him at all. In contrast to the other Apostles, Judas was a known unrepentant thief (John 12:6). We have no Scriptural reason to believe that Judas was ever a believer. This is why the Bible warns us to make sure we are saved—"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith..." (2nd Corinthians 13:5). Most of America's churchgoers are still lost and on their way to Hell.

They have religion; but not Jesus Christ. They have been lied to by false prophets like Dan Corner, Ray Comfort and John MacArthur to think that they must live lives of obedience, holiness and faithfulness to be saved. They are self-righteous. Are you really a Christian? Churches today are filled with people who are not saved. Most people today have churchianity without Christianity. Please make certain you have been born-again. You need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! The road to Hell is paved with good intentions (Proverb 14:12; 2nd Corinthians 11:13,14). Please don't miss the gift of God.

Genuine Believers Cannot Lose God's Salvation

John 5:24 states: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

If you're a believer on Jesus Christ, then you can NEVER lose your salvation. Jesus said in John 10:28, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Did you read that? We shall NEVER perish, and NO MAN can affect our salvation. Someone may pray to God for you to "burn in Hell" (a popular saying in society today); but that simply cannot happen to a believer. You choose your own destiny based upon your acceptance (or denial) of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Did you know that God CANNOT lie? According to Titus 1:2 God cannot lie! Well, God promised in Romans 10:13 to save anyone who trusts on Jesus' name... "For whosoever shall call [rely] upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

We are wonderfully reassured in 1st John 5:13 that we can KNOW that we are eternally secure:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

—1st John 5:13

I love this verse!... that we may "KNOW," not think, but KNOW that we have eternal life. How could anyone be so foolish as to think that a person could lose "eternal life?" If you can lose it, then is it eternal? No! When God promises us eternal life, that is exactly what He means. Jesus didn't say, "I give unto them temporal life"; no rather, He said, "I give unto them eternal life (John 10:28)." I am eternally secure in Jesus' arms...

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." —Deuteronomy 33:27

Don't tell me I can lose my salvation! There is NO such teaching in the Bible!

What about "falling from grace?"

You cannot lose your salvation, period. You can lose fellowship with God and the joy of one's salvation, buy you cannot lose your salvation. Can a son no longer be a son? Of course not! You can disown Him (which I think is horrible and unscriptural), but he's still your son. No matter what your son does, he's still your son. The same is true with our Heavenly Father. Jesus never forsakes us...

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." —Hebrews 13:5

God cannot lie! (Titus 1:2). As a matter of fact, the Bible is speaking of Eternal Security when It tells us that God cannot lie... "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2). What a loving God! You can speak to people from many different religions and you'll discover a pervading sense of fear and uncertainty. They don't have the precious promises which the Bible offers to the Christian believer.

No wonder Jesus said:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." —Matthew 11:28

False religion enslaves people, placing souls into chains of bondage which are not easily broken. Oh don't be so foolish to believe their lies! You can KNOW that you are saved certain. You must realize that salvation is completely of God; NOT man in any way. Our faith is merely a key which unlocks God's saving grace. Salvation is a supernatural act of God in response to our faith. I did not save myself—Jesus saved me. If I did nothing to earn salvation, then how can I do something bad to lose it? Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Eternal life is the free gift of God, available ONLY through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:10-12; John 14:6).

The Bible clearly teaches that eternal life is a gift. As a matter of FACT, the Bible even calls our salvation a FREE GIFT.

David J. Stewart is one of the biggest false teachers on the internet. Ive refuted many of his articals, and even challenged him to a debate. He has yet to respond.

He also has been caught doing things he condemns, which makes him a hyprocrite. Sure anyone can fail, but when he is caught he does not repent, he lies about it.

But hey, since he teaches the false doctrine of OSAS I guess he can do these things, since they wont cost him is soul. Yeah right.

David J. Stewart Exposed! <-----David J. Stewart Exposed

megaman125 · Sep 11, 2012

I've seen so many of these "once saved always saved" articles that I just do a CTRL+F for "1 Timothy 4:1," "Hebrews 10:26-29," and a few other passages, and if the article doesn't mention or address them, the article isn't even worth reading to me.

feedm3 · Sep 11, 2012

megaman125 said:

Amen to that. That because you want their words to line up with scripture, proving their position while keeping in harmony with the rest of scripture.

This is something they cannot do, without taking a multitude of passages like the ones you posted and many more and twisting them so badly they cant even explain the implications they draw from their own conclusions.

They take passages that have a plain and easy to understand context and meaning, and redefine them, making them mean what the DO NOT SAY rather than what they do say, or giving you some explanation that stretches the imagination to it's limits.

I have long studies (debates) with 3 different OSAS proponents on here, and all three of them cant explain their position without a contradiction. Every one else can see the contradiction, except those three.

They say, "If one lives in sin and does not change, then he/she was never saved."

Then they say in another breath, that "if a Christian returns to a life of sin, then God will chastise them until they return to the faith."

The contradiction is plain: how can a person live in a way that shows he was never saved, and at the same time God will chastise him and bring him back to where he has never been (saved)?

None will or can answer this. Its sad, all three of them just end up getting angry and never dealing with it at all.

ChosenbyHim · Sep 11, 2012

chasten said:

If I offended you, then I apologize. Yes and the question is to whom is that specific Scripture being addressed to? Last time I checked, the Apostle Paul never said anything about enduring to the end in his Pauline epistles. After all, we as Christians should be getting the great bulk of our doctrine from the Pauline epistles since those were the letters specifically written to the church. You have to go back to Matthew to read that statement. That passage which you are quoting from Matthew 24:13 is not even being addressed to the church age, it is talking about the time of Jacobs trouble, also called the 7 year tribulation. Again, do not confuse the two.

And that is exactly what I told you, let Scripture interpret Scripture. You can't try to bring in your private interpretation. Let alone you are not even rightly diving the dispensations in the Bible, which shows why you still seem confused about this issue of eternal security. And I told you before, it is not about my opinion or yours, it is about what does the Bible say about the subject being discussed. You have shown me Scriptures but you have taken them out of context and you have also misapplied those same Scriptures to another dispensation in which they do not even apply.

No one is hiding lol. And I surely am not hiding.

But where you are lacking in your understanding is basically the different divisions and dispensations that are in the Bible. Understand this, all the Bible is written for us, but not all the Bible is written to us. Some passages of Scripture apply only to the Children and Nation of Israel, God's chosen people and nation. While other Scriptures apply mainly to the New Testament Christians that are living in the church age. You have to understand that, other wise you'll be like the majority out there who will believe more of what their pastor says about the Bible rather than actually believing what the Bible says about itself.

And yes I do know that Eternal Security is taught in the Bible. How? Because I rightly divide the word of truth and I see where it says that we (Christians) are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

You can dust your feet all you want. You need to study girl! Show yourself approved

We all do. I still have a long way to go myself. But no Christian who does not know any better is going to try get me to believe that I can lose my salvation when the Bible does not teach that for this dispensation known as the church age. Paul said it best in Romans 8:35-39

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.- Romans 8:35-39

You can rest assured that you are eternally secure and that you cannot lose your salvation. I can't lose my salvation because it is not mine to lose! Salvation is of God, not of us.

megaman125 · Sep 11, 2012

feedm3 said:

Yeah, and when someone tries to say "well, then he/she was never saved," they still can't explain what 1 Timothy 4:1 means when it says that some will depart from the faith. I'm sorry, but it doesn't get much more plain and clear than that. You can't depart from the faith if you didn't have it to begin with. And why would 1 Timothy 4:1 say that people would depart from the faith if it were not possible or not true?

starfield · Sep 11, 2012

feedm3 said:

That is why I have a problem with this OSAS doctrine.

DinoDillinger · Sep 12, 2012

feedm3 said:

Why don't they just mention saved people in the bible who fell into sin then repented and returned, David the man who was after God's heart and yet murdered a man to hide his sin, did God chasten him? You bet, did God reject him? Nope. If they never return then you have no reason to believe they were saved right? I would also like to note I disagree with the original poster about santification and salvation being separate. The bible often talks about salvation being ongoing or even in future tense, more so than in past tense and a study of the entire revelation seems to reveal salvation not only being from judgement to come but from sin having dominion in your life.

Good day and don't forget that just because your on the interweb the people you are interacting with are at best saints of God and at least lost and deceived souls in need of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Are you speaking to them with respect and the dignity they deserve or are you angry and dead set to prove a point no matter how sharp a word you need to use?

feedm3 · Sep 12, 2012

ChosenbyHim said:

Wow, so your saying the words of Jesus are mainly written to first century Jews, the much does not apply in doctrine? That is absurd. There are many things...never mind.

Second, if you are getting your belief from the "letters written to churches" then why are you not accepting every passage that was written to the church concerning eternal security?
Example:
II COr 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain

Please explain to me what it means for a Christian (sense his specifically writing the church we know he is warning Christians) to receive the grace of God in vain? What does "vain" mean?

Sure, lets let scripture interpret scripture to get the meaning of receiving grace in "vain".

So lets look at another letter written to the church:

Gal 3. The Gal were guilty of sinning. They were listening to false teachers trying to bind circumcision on the Christians. So it is a sin to keep the law of Moses.

Paul wrote the church so they would repent of this sin:
If they did not repent, lets see how their eternal security would be:

Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace

So the we see to receive the grace of God in "vain" means that "Christ becomes of no effect to a person" so that means his blood is not cleansing them, because "they have fallen from grace".

So scripture interpreted that for us. Now how do we know if "of no effect" means his sacrifice?

Well if we continue allowing scripture to interpret scripture then we find:

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins

By this passage we see the effect we lose from Christ, is "no more sacrifice for sins"

Now can we be saved and eternally secure if Christ sacrifice no longer applies to us?

You cant say these passages are ONLY speaking of those under the law, because they are written to the church, they are written to Christians, and as Heb shows us, it does not only apply to the law, but "if we sin willfully", sin in general, unrepentant.

So if you really do "rightly divide the word of truth" then you should throw out your private interpretation, and accept what the letters to the churches tell us.

Here is one more I will leave you with:
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent

What does Christ mean if they do not repent he will "remove their candlestick out of HIS place"?

"His place" would be HIS body -
I Cor 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body

"His body" is the church - Col 1:18
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead

If he removes us out of His body, then we are not saved, because he is ONLY the savior of the body -
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body

So Rev is warnig the Christian uless they repent they will be removed from the body, because the candlsticks (lamps) represent the church, and if removed, it is no longer his church, and therefore not heirs of salvation:
20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches

So this also is deathblow to your private interpretation of eternal security. Because Jesus warning to the churches are clear, Paul's warnings also and the Heb writer (you may or not believe it was Paul who wrote Hebrews)

feedm3 · Sep 12, 2012

DinoDillinger said:

Because it would still contradict the statement, "one who is living in sin was never saved". They cant "return" to where they have never been.

Did David repent? It's obvious he did, Psa 51. What if he would not have repented, and just continued living that way, and murdering to get what he wanted? He would have been rejected.

No, I have no reason to assume one who returns to sin was never saved. I cant know that.

Simon in Acts Chapter 8 sinned immediately after repenting and being baptized. He was told to "thy money perish with thee" which phrase showed after he sinned he was not saved, because no Christian will ever "perish". see Acts 8:13-24.

But what about before he sinned? I assume upon him believing and obeying he met the requirements to become a child of God.

A child of God is saved. Now after he sinned Peter did not tell him he was never saved, and he needed to do it all over again: He said to him "repent of thy wickedness and pray God perhaps will forgive the thought your heart".

So again, I have no reason to assume upon his belief and obedience to the gospel, he was not really saved. Yet I do know that if he would have ignored Peter's words, and never repented, he would have "perished" just as Peter told him.

The Key here is repentance, which means a change. If a Christian falls, and goes back into sin, and refuses to repent, his/her salvation is not secure. But like the prodigal son, while they are in this condition, they are "Dead" (Luke 15:24)

Thanks for your comments. Any questions or comments concerning what I posted here, feel free.

eternally-gratefull · Sep 12, 2012

Elizabeth619 said:

sis we are not talking about temptation here. And satan will go after a non believer, he will go after them to keep them from coming to Christ, especially if they are around Christians. He can;t touch a believer, we have the HS in us and are protected. Touching and tempting are two different things though.

And how can we fall away from salvation> God says even when we are faithless, he is faithfull, he can not deny himself.

God gave us eternal life based on HIS PROMISE, based on HIS SONS DEATH, based on HIS PLAN, How can he deny himself when he gave it to us despite anything we did, and then take it away because of somethign we did or did not do? He would be denying his own promise, his own grace and his own gift. which he gave us freely.

Eternal Security - If saved, always saved! Part 1. - By David Stewart

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