mailmandanm,
Yes, believing unto salvation is continuous and is not some shallow temporary belief that has no root and does not continue. From beginning (have been saved through faith - Ephesians 2:8) to end (receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls - 1 Peter 1:9) salvation is through faith and is not by works. We are not merely lost unbelievers on probation at the beginning of our faith. We really HAVE BEEN saved through faith at the beginning and continue to remain saved in the present through faith and are still saved at the end through faith.
A true statement except that there are no guarantees that every believer at the beginning remains. That is the point of 2/3 of the NT. There have been more beginning believers than those that ended as believers. Eternal life is all about what happens from the beginning to the end.
Romans 8:30 - Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. How many who are justified will not be glorified? What kind of faith withers away? Faith that is firmly rooted and established in Christ or shallow temporary faith that has no root?
Paul is not addressing kinds of faith, nor even that one can fall away. This is a context of encourangement because they felt that God had forsaken them due to the severe persecution at that time. This is a promise from God to them, and not the other way around.
As to what kind of faith fails, lots of different kinds, scripture gives examples of them.
I'm not confused. Prior to my conversion years ago I was confused because I trusted in my works to save me.
Well you are on the right road, it is faith that saves, but faith cannot exist without works. No works, no faith, thus no eternal life.
The Gospel is the good news of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that BELIEVES (Romans 1:16). If that is NOT in your understanding of scripture, you have missed the Gospel completely. Don't confuse ongoing Sanctification with the Gospel.
but there is that conditional word again, "believes". It never says believed, nor does it even hint at future guarantee. You have eternal life ONLY in the present, NOW, time. That could change tomorrow, it could change 5 years from now, but you have eternal life ONLY if one believes.
2 Corinthians 1:10 - who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.
but it also depends on "believing" "believes" not believed.
It's called ongoing Sanctification.
Whatever you call it, it is the journey to eternal life. Sanctification stops, eternal life is precluded.
I never claimed to be saved because I once believed but don't anymore. What kind of superficial belief is that? Saving belief is firmly rooted and established in Christ, produces fruit and continues, and is not some shallow, temporary belief that has no root, produces no fruit, and does not continue.
True, but most believers,as scripture clearly points out, do not continue, do not grow, do not endure to the end. Therein lies the fallacy of OSAS. It is a myth. And it also refutes the notion of instanteous salvation upon the one moment of affirmation.
I have accepted His offer. You don't work for and earn a free gift. You accept it.
this part of the gift has obligations, is conditional. If the conditions are not met, then the covenant is broken and the inheritance forfeited.
When James says faith only, he is talking about an empty profession of faith that demonstrates by the lack of works that it's a dead faith (James 2:14-24). Not to be confused with salvation that is through faith in Christ alone and is not by works (Ephesians 2:8,9). A living faith is substantiated and confirmed by good works. 1 Corinthians 1:8 - He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Works salvationists are usually obsessed with the doctrine of losing salvation and refer to remaining faithful as maintaining your salvation by works.
Which is why again, OSAS is a myth. One is saved through faith. If that faith lacks works, it no longer IS a living faith. God does not maintain your faith. He gives grace for YOU to do it. It is YOUR faith, and YOU have no gurantees that YOU can remain faithful. There is nothing in scripture that says God continues to grant grace to one who has lost faith, rejected him. If that was so, then faith becomes meaningless and God could just as well bypass it and declare every human being eligible for heaven, since that is what He desires.
I saw the word BELIEVE. What other conditions are you trying to add to BELIEVE in 1 John 5:13; Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4? So you don't believe that we have been saved through faith in the past with ongoing present results? Believers remain lost and on probation until they are finally saved in the future? Absolutely not.
Believes is present tense, active, continuing. If faith does not continue then obviously eternal life in the present has also discontinued. How can one say they have been saved through faith, when you still have time ahead. That through must continue to the end. Believers become lost, they become unbelievers, as the 5 foolish Virgins, the Prodigal son, only he repented before death. The parable on the talents, the Sower, unfaithful servant. The text even tells you the became "unfaithful", and was cast out with the unbelievers.
How one can read scripture and not recognize that an unbeliever cannot be cast OUT of being an unbeliever. But when using OSAS glasses, the obvious becomes clouded.
Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. If it were not for the Lord, I never would have believed in the first place and would not continue to believe either. I don't dismiss warnings and I don't dismiss the power of God either.
OSAS along with its attending tenets, Instant absolute eternal life, and faith only is a categorical denial of the warnings believers have from scripture.
How do you define faith in the first place? You need to worry more about what it means to be saved through faith in the first place than can we lose faith in the future.
defining faith or the definition of faith is not the discussion. It is the "through" part. The continuous part, ongoing, enduring, being faithful, NOT LOSING THAT FAITH.