I poise the same question to you. Romans 11:22, how do you reconcile that verse with OSAS? I am not against eternal security or eternal assurance. There is no dichotomy between eternal salvation and the idea that a person can give it up. Notice I didn't say lose, but more so, surrender it. As silly as that sounds, you might agree that God is not a hostage taker, right? If a person desires to not partake in all that Christ offers, chooses to forsake God, denounce Christ, and live in the pleasures of their flesh (no desire to repent before their Judge, God), would not God permit them?
Then again, I know the apostle Paul let a person be handed over to satan for the destruction of the flesh and that their soul would be saved. A case for eternal security. I am basically just asking how you reconcile that verse with your belief? Is there no foundation in scripture for the free will of man to turn from God, once believing? Again, I'd like you to address Romans 11:22.
Appreciate you taking the time to discuss this.
Romans 11:22-23 (HCSB)
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22 [/SUP] Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have
fallen but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in His kindness. Otherwise you too
will be cut off.
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23 [/SUP] And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief
{Prodigals will return}, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again.
The only way I know that person who claims to be a genuine Christian can fall into permanent UNBELIEF, is IF they deceived themselves that they were Born Again, when they truly were NOT.
John 16:1 (ESV)
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1 [/SUP]
“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
1 Peter 5:10 (NCV)
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10 [/SUP] And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives
all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and
keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ,
a glory that will continue forever.
Jude 1:24-25 (NRSV)
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24 [/SUP] Now to
Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,
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25 [/SUP] to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Oh, I see how if that was the only verse in Scripture dealing with Saved Eternally, it would appear that it is possible to Lose or Forfeit Salvation. HOWEVER, there are NUMEROUS VERSES SHOWING THAT SALVATION IS ETERNAL, AND HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
2 Timothy 2:10 (ASV)
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10 [/SUP] Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that
they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Notice: It says ALSO , which clearly implies the Salvation the Disciples already had is the one with ETERNAL glory.
Hebrews 5:8-10 (HCSB)
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8 [/SUP] Though He was ⌊God’s⌋ Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.
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9 [/SUP] After He was perfected, He became
the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him,
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10 [/SUP] and He was declared by God a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
John 3:36 (HCSB)
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36 [/SUP] The one who believes in the Son
has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
John 6:40 (NASB)
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40 [/SUP]
"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
Okay, that should be enough to validate that SALVATION IS ETERNAL THE MOMENT YOU BELIEVE and ARE TRULY BORN AGAIN. So what is HE saying in
Rom. 11:22, and how do we back it up with Scripture.
Everybody knows what Rom. 10:9 says, by many cannot tell you what Rom 10:10 says, and I believe it is CRITICAL to KNOW what both are saying, or you miss a Truth the tells us why those who appear to be saved and fall away, really were not BORN AGAIN. I am sure you were taught just like I was to READ THE CONTEXT.
Romans 10:8-11 (NASB)
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8 [/SUP] But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND
IN YOUR HEART"—
that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
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9 [/SUP] that if you confess with your mouth Jesus
as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
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10 [/SUP]
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
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11 [/SUP] For the Scripture says, "
WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
Intellectual belief in your BRAIN, is NOT Salvation or Born Again. Believing in your HEART and Knowing Him in your HEART Is SALVATION and IS genuinely being BORN AGAIN. Therefore those who only have Head Knowledge are NOT SAVED, who are also those who were only tasting Believing, the Salvation, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Where WE have CONSUMED BELIEVING, THE ETERNAL SALVATION, AND HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS.
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NASB)
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4 [/SUP] For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have
tasted {NOT CONSUMED} of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
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5 [/SUP] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
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6 [/SUP] and
then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
HEAD KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT SAVE, HOWEVER HEART KNOWLEDGE SAVES ETERNALLY.
Here is a parallel verse to Rom. 11:22 that makes it even MORE understandable.
1 John 2:19 (HCSB)
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19 [/SUP] They went out from us, but
they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us.
However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
Believe it or not, I have even heard of Seminary Students who were not Born Again until their Final Year. Therefore the distance between your head and your heart, can be the difference between Eternity in Heaven or Eternity in the Lake of Fire.