Re: Eternal Security: Very . . . Verily
Atwood,
I urge you to go to Jer 31 and see if there are conditions on men in the New Covenant. The Lord works in His redeemed to will and to do.
there are conditions in every covenant. That is a covenant.
The Lord sure does work in us to do His will. It speaks agains both issues running in this thread at the moment. It upholds man's free will and it shows that God does not force man in any way. Man is free to accept God's influence through the Holy Spirit, or reject it. God cannot and will not force man against his own will. He made us that way.
Remaining faithful? Peter denied the Lord, but Peter's essential trust in the Lord Jesus, did not fail -- for Christ sustained it with intercession. Falling away is a reality, apostasy; but 1 John 2 tells us that apostasy proves one was never saved to begin with. You theorizing about free moral agency and difficulty enduring, has no force whatsoever vs God's promise.
Peter repented. The fact that he did deny Christ, if not repented of, even with Jesus's prayer, he could still resist and not repent. There are many examples in scripture where repentance is not shown and scripture explicitly states that the person would be assigned with unbelievers.
but 1 John 2 tells us that apostasy proves one was never saved to begin with
of course when you change the meaning of the word, it fits. How quaint. But one cannot be in apostasy UNLESS one was part of the group to which He apostasized. YOu should look up those terms.
You theorizing about free moral agency and difficulty enduring, has no force whatsoever vs God's promise.
true if one holds to predestination. Man cannot be a moral agent. But that is in a different Bible than the Gospel according to Christ.
Yes, there is a condition to salvation & to eternal security: whoever believes. When the Lord Jesus spoke this initially, whoever standing there who was believing fulfilled that condition, just like, whoever is wearing brown sandals. Had he said, "Whoever is wearing brown sandals will go to Heaven," then all who were then wearing brown sandals would have fulfilled the condition.
Unless one dies at that moment it would not be true. Man must continue to believe, to the end. It is continuous, and active. But unfortunagely, man falls away from believing and becomes an unbeliever. Notwithstanding predestination, scripture teaches that we are in a covenantal relationship and both parties have obligations to meet. YOu consistanly present God's promises to man, but have yet to present any promises of man that he can guarantee his faith. We are being saved through our faith.
But it is obviously a general truth, not meant to be limited to the immediate audience. Whoever . . . believes . . . has eternal life. The present belief gains a life that never ends. And the assurance is added that he does not come into any future judgment. The passing from death (being estranged from God) to life (vital connection to God) has been accomplished. The guarantee is that in the future there is no condemning judgment. That is eternal security.
depends on how long a life you live after initial faith. That faith must continue to the end in order to inherit eternal life. It is not granted on the basis of a one-time, long ago affirmation but continuous to the end.
cannot fight something that does not exist. Never has existed and never will in scripture.
So where is the evidence of ES. You never come around with any evidence. All you present are God's promises and then assume a predestined status without ever showing that God has actually predestined anyone to eternal life.
