Once saved always saved (OSAS) debunked
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Well, (if I understand you correctly), I think that they are actual laws, but which exist in the spiritual realm, whose effects are manifested into the physical realm. Sorry, Cameron143, this is my fault as I am not doing a good job of explaining it. So, let's let it go for now until I can think of a better way to say it, and we can reinitiate the discussion then if you still want to.
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Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,…
Psalm 14:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 51:5
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Psalm 52:3
You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah
Psalm 53:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Isaiah 48:8
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not
been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Job 14:4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
Job 15:14
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Proverbs 22:15
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.
Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh
and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
1 John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,…
Psalm 14:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 51:5
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Psalm 52:3
You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah
Psalm 53:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Isaiah 48:8
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not
been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Job 14:4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
Job 15:14
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Proverbs 22:15
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.
Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh
and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
1 John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
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I mean what the scripture I quoted from Luke 15 means:
Lost according to Jesus Christ means no longer saved, unjust, in need of repentance in order to be reconciled back to God.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:4-7
- having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them.
The shepherd had 100 sheep and one became lost.
- Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
Plainly the shepherd loved the sheep that was his and became lost.
- I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
A lost person is no longer justified but has become unjust.
A person must own something first, before it can become lost.
The woman with 10 coins actually possessed all 10 coins, and one became lost.
The prodigal son was legitimately his fathers son, and became lost; dead in sins, but repented and returned to his father.
Make no mistake the lost need salvation.
JLB
Do you only use biblical words when you post to describe what you mean - never using words for explanation purposes? Temporal sin is a descriptive word I used for simplicity's sake to quickly clarify what I meant. Temporal means violation of the laws of this world. A non-temporal sin, on the other hand, is sin unto spiritual death. Temporal sin means sin that is not against Christ because only sins against Christ will bring spiritual death. In the Bible it is described thusly:
[1Jo 5:16-17 KJV]
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin [which is] not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
[1Jo 5:16-17 KJV]
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin [which is] not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
No, it does not plainly mean that they are saved but no longer are. This is an incorrect inference on your part.
First, God makes only His chosen/elect His sheep. Those not of His chosen cannot become His sheep.
Those verses are saying that God Himself will go after and guide them and return them unto the fold (but only for His elect/chosen). Their salvation did not come by what they did nor of what they do, nor is it kept by them, instead, it was/is only by Christ alone - that is why He is the Saviour and man is not.
God has made of Himself the sole guarantor of the salvation of His chosen, apart from, and irrespective of, any of their actions.
[1Pe 1:2-5 KJV]
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
[Phl 1:6 KJV]
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
First, God makes only His chosen/elect His sheep. Those not of His chosen cannot become His sheep.
Those verses are saying that God Himself will go after and guide them and return them unto the fold (but only for His elect/chosen). Their salvation did not come by what they did nor of what they do, nor is it kept by them, instead, it was/is only by Christ alone - that is why He is the Saviour and man is not.
God has made of Himself the sole guarantor of the salvation of His chosen, apart from, and irrespective of, any of their actions.
[1Pe 1:2-5 KJV]
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
[Phl 1:6 KJV]
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
Individual Apostasy
Heb 3:12 "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
Apostasy (Gk apostasia) appears twice in the NT as a noun (Ac 21:21; 2Th 2:3). But here in Heb 3:12 it is used as a verb (Gk aphistemi, meaning to "turn away"). The Greek term literally means "standing away" from God, and it relates to spiritual rebellion, abandonment, withdrawal or turning from what one has previously believed and experienced in a relationship with Christ. It typically involves denying once sincere faith, disowning Jesus and abandoning the body of Christ (i.e., the church community), although some who have turned their backs on a relationship with Christ may still pretend to be part of the church. Apostasy is the consequence of a willing and deliberate choice in "departing from the living God" (3:12).
(1) To apostatize means to break off from one's saving relationship with Christ or to withdraw from union with and faith in him (see article on FAITH AND GRACE, p. 2127). For this reason, individual apostasy (as differentiated from a group, church, people or nation rejecting God) is possible only fort those who have first experienced God's forgiveness and been spiritually "born again" (Jn 3:3-7) and renewed through a personal relationship with Christ (cf. Lk 8:13; 6:4-5; 10:29). Apostasy is not simply a
denial of NT belief and teaching by those in the church who do not truly have a personal relationship with Christ. In fact, apostasy may involve two separate but related stages of rejection:
(a) theological apostasy, which is a rejection of all or some of the original teachings of Christ and those used by God to write his Word (1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 4:3) and
(b) moral apostasy, which involves a former believer willingly breaking away from a personal relationship with Christ and becoming spiritually enslaved again to sin and its lifestyle (Isa 29:13; Mt 23:25-28; Ro 6:15-23; 8:6-13)
(2) The Christian faith is primarily about relationship to and companionship with God. The Bible speaks of God as the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son and those who accept Christ by faith as God's family and children (Ro 8:14-17). This means that spiritual salvation through faith in Christ is personal,relational and requires our individual response. God's grace (i.e., his unearned and undeserved favor, love and spiritual enablement)- made available through the personal sacrifice of Christ-is enough to forgive and save us spiritually and to sustain our relationship with God. In Jesus' illustration about the vine and the branches (Jn 15:1-8), the believer (BRANCH) who remains united in relationship with Christ (VINE) is spiritually secure and has life. However, if that believer becomes spiritually rebellious or faithless toward God and chooses to break from his or her grace-union with Christ, then he or she becomes cut off from the source of life. A person who remains in this condition will, in the end, lose the privilege of living eternally in the presence of God, just as one who never accepted Christ (cf. Jn 15:6).
(3) The Bible gives urgent warnings about this serious and sobering possibility. These warnings are designed both to alert us to the deadly danger of abandoning our union with Christ and to motivate us to remain faithful and obedient to him. We must not ignore or treat lightly God's purpose for these warnings and develop the attitude that says, "the warnings are real, but the possibility of actual apostasy is not." Rather, we must take these warnings seriously, realizing that they apply in a very real sense to how we use our time on earth until we receive our full, complete and final salvation in eternity with God. A few of the many NT passages that warn us are: Mt 24:4-5, 11-13; Lk 12:46; Jn 15:1-6; 14:21-22; Ro 11:17-21; 1Co 15:1-2; Col 1:23; 1Ti 4:1, 16; 6:10-12; 2Ti 4:2-5; Heb 2:1-3; 3:7-19; 4:1, 6-7; 6:4-9; 10:26-31; 12:25; Jas 5:19-20; 2Pe 1:10; 2:20-22; 1Jn 2:23-25.
(4) Examples of actual apostasy can be found in Ex 32; 2Ki 17:7-23; Ps 106; Isa 1:2-4; Jer 2:1-9; Ac 1:25; Gal 5:4; 1Ti 1:18-20; 2Pe 2:1, 15, 20-22; Jude 1:4, 11-13; see article on THE AGE OF THE ANTICHRIST, P.2351, for comments on apostasy predicted to occur within the church in the last days before Christ returns to take the faithful in his churches from the world.
(5) The steps that lead to apostasy are as follows:
a) Believers-those who have accepted God's forgiveness and entered a personal relationship with him through faith in Christ-become spiritually unconcerned, resistant or outright rebellious. These individuals show their unbelief by failing to take seriously all of the truths, challenges, warnings, promises and teachings of God's Word (Mk 1:15; Lk 8:13; Jn 5:44, 47; 8:46).
(b) If the realities and desires of the world become a higher priority than the realities and desires of God's kingdom and purposes, then believers gradually cease to recognize and experience Companionship with God through Christ (Heb 4:16; 7:19, 25; 11:6).
(c) Because of the deceitfulness of sin (i.e., anything that offends or defies God or falls short of His standard), believers become increasingly tolerant of sin in their own lives (1Co 6:9-10; Eph 5:5; Heb 3:13). They no longer love what is right and hate what is wrong (see Heb 1:9, note).
(d) Their hearts become spiritually hardened (Heb 3:8, 13), resistant and unresponsive to God.
Eventually, they openly reject his way (3:10), ignoring the repeated inner voice and rebuke of the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30; 1Th 5:19-22)
(e) The Holy Spirit becomes grieved (Eph 4:30; cf. Heb 3:7-8), his fire is put out (1Th 5:19) and his
temple (i.e., the person's body and life) is violated (1Co 3:16). As a result, the Holy Spirit eventually departs from the believer's life (Jdg 16:20; Ps 51:11; Ro 8:13; 1Co 3:16-17; Heb 3:14).
(6) If spiritual "backsliding" (i.e., neglecting or abandoning one's faith and personal relationship with Christ) continues on its course without change, individuals may eventually reach the point where no new beginning is possible. That is to say, they will not be able to start over and renew their faith in God because no one is able to do this on their own apart from God's grace and the power of his Holy Spirit.
(a) Those who once had a saving experience with Christ but deliberately and continually harden their hearts to the Spirit's voice (Heb 3:7-19), continue to sin willfully (Heb 10:26) and refuse to turn from their own way back to God may reach a point of no return where repentance and salvation are no longer possible (Heb 6:4-6; see Dt 29:18-21, note; 1Sa 2:25, note; Pr 29:1, note). There is a limit to God's patience (see 1Sa 3:11-14; Mt 12:31-32; 2Th 2:9-11; Heb 10:26-29, 31; 1Jn 5:16).
(b) This point of no return cannot be defined in advance. The only safeguard against the danger of ultimate (i.e., full and final) apostasy is to take this warning seriously: "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb 3:7-8, 15; 4:7).
(7) It must be emphasized that while spiritual backsliding is a danger for all who drift from faith in Christ (Heb 2:1-3) and turn away from God (6:6), ultimate apostasy resulting in the hopeless condition described in the previous point does not occur without constant and deliberate resistance against the Holy Spirit (see Mt 12:31, note on sin against the Holy Spirit). Just as we are not saved by our own works and efforts, but by God's grace (see Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:5), neither are we fully condemned to separation from God by our actions alone (although we will be judged by them; 2Co 5:10). People are saved spiritually by accepting God's grace and putting their faith in Christ; and people are condemned spiritually by rejecting (or simply not accepting) God's grace and refusing to put their faith in Christ (cf. 12:15, 25; Ac 19:19; 2Th 2:10; Rev 16:9). Refusing to have faith in God can be expressed in several ways, including refusing to believe in God, refusing to rely on God, refusing to take God at his Word, refusing to admit the wrongness of our own way, refusing to accept God's way of spiritual salvation through Christ alone and refusing to accept God's help and involvement in our lives. A person who allows his or her heart to become hardened or rebellious toward God by refusing him in any of these ways is in serious danger of rejecting God permanently (3:12).
(8) Some who reject their faith and abandon a true relationship with God (Heb 3:12) may still think they are Christians. However, their spiritual neglect and unconcern toward the demands of Christ, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit and the warnings of Scripture prove that they are in rebellion against God. Because of this possibility of self-deception, Paul urges all those claiming to be spiritually saved to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2Co 13:5, note).
(9) Those who genuinely become concerned about their spiritual condition and have a desire to return to God in true repentance (i.e., changing one's attitude toward God, admitting sin, turning from one's own way and submitting to God) can be sure that they have not committed the unforgivable sin (cf. Mk 3:29), or ultimate apostasy. God's Word clearly affirms that he does not want anyone to perish or be spiritually lost and separated from him for eternity (2Pe 3:9; cf. Isa 1:18-19; 55:6-7). In fact,
the heavenly Father will joyfully receive any wayward, rebellious or lost child who truly repents and returns to him (compare Gal 5:4 with 4:19; 1Co 5:1-5 with 2Co 2:5-11; see also Lk 15:11-24; Ro 11:20-23; Jas 5:19-20; Rev 3:14-20; note the example of Peter, Mt 16:16; 26:74-75; Jn 21:15-22).
Heb 3:12 "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."
Apostasy (Gk apostasia) appears twice in the NT as a noun (Ac 21:21; 2Th 2:3). But here in Heb 3:12 it is used as a verb (Gk aphistemi, meaning to "turn away"). The Greek term literally means "standing away" from God, and it relates to spiritual rebellion, abandonment, withdrawal or turning from what one has previously believed and experienced in a relationship with Christ. It typically involves denying once sincere faith, disowning Jesus and abandoning the body of Christ (i.e., the church community), although some who have turned their backs on a relationship with Christ may still pretend to be part of the church. Apostasy is the consequence of a willing and deliberate choice in "departing from the living God" (3:12).
(1) To apostatize means to break off from one's saving relationship with Christ or to withdraw from union with and faith in him (see article on FAITH AND GRACE, p. 2127). For this reason, individual apostasy (as differentiated from a group, church, people or nation rejecting God) is possible only fort those who have first experienced God's forgiveness and been spiritually "born again" (Jn 3:3-7) and renewed through a personal relationship with Christ (cf. Lk 8:13; 6:4-5; 10:29). Apostasy is not simply a
denial of NT belief and teaching by those in the church who do not truly have a personal relationship with Christ. In fact, apostasy may involve two separate but related stages of rejection:
(a) theological apostasy, which is a rejection of all or some of the original teachings of Christ and those used by God to write his Word (1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 4:3) and
(b) moral apostasy, which involves a former believer willingly breaking away from a personal relationship with Christ and becoming spiritually enslaved again to sin and its lifestyle (Isa 29:13; Mt 23:25-28; Ro 6:15-23; 8:6-13)
(2) The Christian faith is primarily about relationship to and companionship with God. The Bible speaks of God as the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son and those who accept Christ by faith as God's family and children (Ro 8:14-17). This means that spiritual salvation through faith in Christ is personal,relational and requires our individual response. God's grace (i.e., his unearned and undeserved favor, love and spiritual enablement)- made available through the personal sacrifice of Christ-is enough to forgive and save us spiritually and to sustain our relationship with God. In Jesus' illustration about the vine and the branches (Jn 15:1-8), the believer (BRANCH) who remains united in relationship with Christ (VINE) is spiritually secure and has life. However, if that believer becomes spiritually rebellious or faithless toward God and chooses to break from his or her grace-union with Christ, then he or she becomes cut off from the source of life. A person who remains in this condition will, in the end, lose the privilege of living eternally in the presence of God, just as one who never accepted Christ (cf. Jn 15:6).
(3) The Bible gives urgent warnings about this serious and sobering possibility. These warnings are designed both to alert us to the deadly danger of abandoning our union with Christ and to motivate us to remain faithful and obedient to him. We must not ignore or treat lightly God's purpose for these warnings and develop the attitude that says, "the warnings are real, but the possibility of actual apostasy is not." Rather, we must take these warnings seriously, realizing that they apply in a very real sense to how we use our time on earth until we receive our full, complete and final salvation in eternity with God. A few of the many NT passages that warn us are: Mt 24:4-5, 11-13; Lk 12:46; Jn 15:1-6; 14:21-22; Ro 11:17-21; 1Co 15:1-2; Col 1:23; 1Ti 4:1, 16; 6:10-12; 2Ti 4:2-5; Heb 2:1-3; 3:7-19; 4:1, 6-7; 6:4-9; 10:26-31; 12:25; Jas 5:19-20; 2Pe 1:10; 2:20-22; 1Jn 2:23-25.
(4) Examples of actual apostasy can be found in Ex 32; 2Ki 17:7-23; Ps 106; Isa 1:2-4; Jer 2:1-9; Ac 1:25; Gal 5:4; 1Ti 1:18-20; 2Pe 2:1, 15, 20-22; Jude 1:4, 11-13; see article on THE AGE OF THE ANTICHRIST, P.2351, for comments on apostasy predicted to occur within the church in the last days before Christ returns to take the faithful in his churches from the world.
(5) The steps that lead to apostasy are as follows:
a) Believers-those who have accepted God's forgiveness and entered a personal relationship with him through faith in Christ-become spiritually unconcerned, resistant or outright rebellious. These individuals show their unbelief by failing to take seriously all of the truths, challenges, warnings, promises and teachings of God's Word (Mk 1:15; Lk 8:13; Jn 5:44, 47; 8:46).
(b) If the realities and desires of the world become a higher priority than the realities and desires of God's kingdom and purposes, then believers gradually cease to recognize and experience Companionship with God through Christ (Heb 4:16; 7:19, 25; 11:6).
(c) Because of the deceitfulness of sin (i.e., anything that offends or defies God or falls short of His standard), believers become increasingly tolerant of sin in their own lives (1Co 6:9-10; Eph 5:5; Heb 3:13). They no longer love what is right and hate what is wrong (see Heb 1:9, note).
(d) Their hearts become spiritually hardened (Heb 3:8, 13), resistant and unresponsive to God.
Eventually, they openly reject his way (3:10), ignoring the repeated inner voice and rebuke of the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30; 1Th 5:19-22)
(e) The Holy Spirit becomes grieved (Eph 4:30; cf. Heb 3:7-8), his fire is put out (1Th 5:19) and his
temple (i.e., the person's body and life) is violated (1Co 3:16). As a result, the Holy Spirit eventually departs from the believer's life (Jdg 16:20; Ps 51:11; Ro 8:13; 1Co 3:16-17; Heb 3:14).
(6) If spiritual "backsliding" (i.e., neglecting or abandoning one's faith and personal relationship with Christ) continues on its course without change, individuals may eventually reach the point where no new beginning is possible. That is to say, they will not be able to start over and renew their faith in God because no one is able to do this on their own apart from God's grace and the power of his Holy Spirit.
(a) Those who once had a saving experience with Christ but deliberately and continually harden their hearts to the Spirit's voice (Heb 3:7-19), continue to sin willfully (Heb 10:26) and refuse to turn from their own way back to God may reach a point of no return where repentance and salvation are no longer possible (Heb 6:4-6; see Dt 29:18-21, note; 1Sa 2:25, note; Pr 29:1, note). There is a limit to God's patience (see 1Sa 3:11-14; Mt 12:31-32; 2Th 2:9-11; Heb 10:26-29, 31; 1Jn 5:16).
(b) This point of no return cannot be defined in advance. The only safeguard against the danger of ultimate (i.e., full and final) apostasy is to take this warning seriously: "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb 3:7-8, 15; 4:7).
(7) It must be emphasized that while spiritual backsliding is a danger for all who drift from faith in Christ (Heb 2:1-3) and turn away from God (6:6), ultimate apostasy resulting in the hopeless condition described in the previous point does not occur without constant and deliberate resistance against the Holy Spirit (see Mt 12:31, note on sin against the Holy Spirit). Just as we are not saved by our own works and efforts, but by God's grace (see Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:5), neither are we fully condemned to separation from God by our actions alone (although we will be judged by them; 2Co 5:10). People are saved spiritually by accepting God's grace and putting their faith in Christ; and people are condemned spiritually by rejecting (or simply not accepting) God's grace and refusing to put their faith in Christ (cf. 12:15, 25; Ac 19:19; 2Th 2:10; Rev 16:9). Refusing to have faith in God can be expressed in several ways, including refusing to believe in God, refusing to rely on God, refusing to take God at his Word, refusing to admit the wrongness of our own way, refusing to accept God's way of spiritual salvation through Christ alone and refusing to accept God's help and involvement in our lives. A person who allows his or her heart to become hardened or rebellious toward God by refusing him in any of these ways is in serious danger of rejecting God permanently (3:12).
(8) Some who reject their faith and abandon a true relationship with God (Heb 3:12) may still think they are Christians. However, their spiritual neglect and unconcern toward the demands of Christ, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit and the warnings of Scripture prove that they are in rebellion against God. Because of this possibility of self-deception, Paul urges all those claiming to be spiritually saved to "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2Co 13:5, note).
(9) Those who genuinely become concerned about their spiritual condition and have a desire to return to God in true repentance (i.e., changing one's attitude toward God, admitting sin, turning from one's own way and submitting to God) can be sure that they have not committed the unforgivable sin (cf. Mk 3:29), or ultimate apostasy. God's Word clearly affirms that he does not want anyone to perish or be spiritually lost and separated from him for eternity (2Pe 3:9; cf. Isa 1:18-19; 55:6-7). In fact,
the heavenly Father will joyfully receive any wayward, rebellious or lost child who truly repents and returns to him (compare Gal 5:4 with 4:19; 1Co 5:1-5 with 2Co 2:5-11; see also Lk 15:11-24; Ro 11:20-23; Jas 5:19-20; Rev 3:14-20; note the example of Peter, Mt 16:16; 26:74-75; Jn 21:15-22).
It's not any failure on God's part although the devil (and calvinists) try to frame it that way.
God gave man free will which man got because God created man in His Own Image.
Man is the one that failed because man quit listening to the Lord and disobeyed the Lord... the fail is on man's part, not God's
God gave man free will which man got because God created man in His Own Image.
Man is the one that failed because man quit listening to the Lord and disobeyed the Lord... the fail is on man's part, not God's
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I have noticed that most Calvinist’s tend to use use their own man made words, to prop up their man made doctrine while ignoring that actual words of scripture.
The sin that that we have know need to pray about is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
No one will be forgiven that sin. Other sins can be forgiven if they are confessed and repented of.
The blasphemy of the Spirit was quite common among unbelieving Jews in the first century. Calling the Holy Spirit the devil was the norm of those who were of the teachings of Judaism.
Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Matthew 12:31
JPT
The sin that that we have know need to pray about is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
No one will be forgiven that sin. Other sins can be forgiven if they are confessed and repented of.
The blasphemy of the Spirit was quite common among unbelieving Jews in the first century. Calling the Holy Spirit the devil was the norm of those who were of the teachings of Judaism.
Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Matthew 12:31
- but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
JPT
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You only think you've noticed that because you are unable to recognize/comprehend the true gospel. You just can't get beyond trusting in man's works for salvation unto trusting/resting fully and completely in Christ's finished works. Until you do, your understanding of the gospel will be wrong, and your faith will remain incorrectly placed in man rather than in God. This is because you have been spiritually blinded. Christ is the Saviour, man is not.
It's because we were born to spiritually dead parents. When Adam and Eve sinned that day they died spiritually, they were disconnected from the Holy God as He cannot abide sin at all. So from that point on we that are born of Adam are born broken, we are born cut off from God spiritually as our spirits are dead. Just dead. This is where the virgin birth becomes VERY important. Jesus was not born of Adam, He was born of the Spirit. Jesus was not born disconnected from God, He had NO need to be "born-again", that's why every teacher that says Jesus was the first man "born-again" is wrong and false. Now because of Him paying the just punishment for our brokenness, and His righteousness justly applied to us, we are spiritually resurrected and "reconnected" to our God as we were created to be.
I found myself unable to stop the good news in the middle of it, but that is how we are "born in sin", just so you know.
I found myself unable to stop the good news in the middle of it, but that is how we are "born in sin", just so you know.
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