Loss of salvation???

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Think of it this way. The house is fully built before the storm. His parable says nothing about:
  • a man who abandons the project
  • a man who partially builds
  • a man who builds well and then tears it down
  • a man who switches foundations halfway
He gives only two completed houses. He doesn't give a half-built house scenario. Instead, He uses
  • two completed houses
  • two hidden foundations
  • one final test
The entire force of the parable is: You cannot tell the difference between the saved and the unsaved by looking at the house. Only the foundation matters, and the storm reveals it.

So what does this say about loss of salvation? It implies the opposite.

The parable assumes:
  • A true foundation endures the storm
  • A false foundation collapses
  • No switching foundations mid‑construction
  • No losing what was truly built on rock
The wise man’s house never collapses. The foolish man’s house was never secure.

This aligns with the broader biblical pattern:
  • True faith endures
  • False faith is exposed
  • The final judgment reveals what was always true
The parable is about final vindication, not mid‑life apostasy.

In the context of Matthew, the storm is divine judgment—the ultimate testing of a life. Jesus is closing His sermon with an eschatological warning.

The rock is obedience to the way of life Jesus just laid out in the Sermon on the Mount—a life shaped from the inside out by the kingdom.
The parable is about hearing Jesus' words and doing them vs. hearing Jesus' words and not doing them.

It's a teaching about obedience to Jesus Christ vs. disobedience to Jesus Christ.

If obeying Jesus is our foundation we build upon, then He compares us to wise men and the storms can't cause us to fall.

If we build upon disobeying Jesus, then He compares us to moros men - foolish men, stupid men - and we will fall a great fall.

Hear and obey Jesus = the foundation of the wise who won't fall.

Unless we want to remove faith from the teaching, then this is another Faith-Obedience lesson.

Since men have volition, we can change our obedience to disobedience - our wisdom to stupidity - our foundation from rock - Jesus Christ - to sand.

This is all relational loyalty in concept and reality.

Anybody stripping obedience to Jesus Christ from this or other lessons is moros.

The end was in the beginning:

NKJ Matt7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me (leave Me, go away from Me), you who practice are working lawlessness!'
 
I shudder to think of that given that someone had actually granted her authority over their child's guidance in concern to their salvation.

I remember when she stated, many years back, that Christ had wasted His blood on some people......... or something to that effect. :(
 
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I said:
You aren't mining for the hearts of men and are just mining for the sediment if your focus is 'creating' gold, silver, and precious stone.



Anyone trying to "make" people good is just really looking for the sediment and then working it to try and 'convert' it to gold, silver, and precious stones. But if you're mining for gold, you have to wash away the sediment to find it. Approaching the hearts of men similarly, the former group only ends up hardens the sediment around the heart the more they keep 'working' with it while the latter reveals the gems encased within it.

That was my point. Hopefully, I was able to sharpen it up for you.
Wow, what a metaphor. Lol
 
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The parable is about hearing Jesus' words and doing them vs. hearing Jesus' words and not doing them.

It's a teaching about obedience to Jesus Christ vs. disobedience to Jesus Christ.
The parable illustrates acting on what Jesus taught, not doing what he commanded. The distinction is critical.
If obeying Jesus is our foundation we build upon, then He compares us to wise men and the storms can't cause us to fall.
There is only one storm illustrated in the parable and it comes after the house is built.
If we build upon disobeying Jesus, then He compares us to moros men - foolish men, stupid men - and we will fall a great fall.
We must be careful to avoid giving the wrong impression. There is more to Jesus' teaching than rules to obey. The parables, for instance, don't compel us to obey a command, but they compel us to think rationally about truth, goodness, and righteousness.

The antithesis of acting on what Jesus taught is not acting on it. Defining "acting" as "obeying a command" flattens down the meaning of the parable too much.
Hear and obey Jesus = the foundation of the wise who won't fall.

Unless we want to remove faith from the teaching, then this is another Faith-Obedience lesson.

Since men have volition, we can change our obedience to disobedience - our wisdom to stupidity - our foundation from rock - Jesus Christ - to sand.
Sure, but that is beside the point. The parable posits a situation in which a believer who builds his life on the foundation of Jesus' teaching will not fail to be saved.
 
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More Faith-Obedience – Obedience emphasized

NKJ Luke17:3-10 "Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 "And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
  • Jesus COMMANDS to be in a state of alert/pay close attention/be occupied with what He will say.
  • IF your brother sins against you, then [COMMAND] rebuke him
  • And IF [your brother] repents, then [COMMAND] release/pardon him
  • IF [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times turns back towards you saying, I repent,’ then you shall (Hebrew divine imperative language) release/pardon him.
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase/add to our faith."
  • This is an imperative mood command made to higher authority – it’s an entreaty to Jesus – asking Him for help
  • The apostles’ version of faith-alone!!!
  • We’re going to see that Jesus does not grant their request, nor does He accept their premise. They are in fact misrepresenting biblical faith in God.
6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
  • Jesus applies some rhetorical instruction with an assumption of a truth for the sake of argument.
  • Jesus uses comparative language where He’s not speaking of the amount of faith, but the kind of faith – looking at the small mustard seed that lives and produces and does what it’s supposed to
  • If you have this kind of faith, then you would be saying to this mulberry tree…
  • This is not a single saying, but a habitual way of speaking
  • So, Jesus is not only challenging them about what they said, but also about the way they’re speaking – their mindset and attitude.
  • He’s challenging them about the way they’re thinking and speaking to Him (“add to our faith” after He commanded them what to do).
  • “Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.”
  • Jesus is saying with the proper kind of faith and content and way of speaking,
  • You’d be commanding this tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea.
  • These are passive commands
  • If the tree were to obey them, then they’d be active commands.
  • What Jesus is saying is that God would respond and act and the tree would obey.
  • This is a lesson about biblical faith and how God responds to it
7 "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat '?
  • The lesson about having biblical faith continues
  • The answer to this rhetorical question is that this is not the usual way masters treat slaves, even ones tired from working all day.
8 "But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink '?
  • The master will COMMAND the tired slaves to prepare his meal, and serve him, and then they will eat and drink afterward.
9 "Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
  • More rhetoric - the master does not thank the slave because he did the things he was ordered to do.
    • We're under obligation to obey Jesus Christ
  • I like the way Jesus ends this “I think not” – “I don’t think so”
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"
  • So, just like what Jesus just told them:
  • When you have done all the things ordered to you – you say ‘we are worthless slaves – we have done/are doing what we are indebted/obligated to do.
We’ve just been instructed in no uncertain terms what biblical faith is:
  • It’s Faith-Obedience
  • It’s not faith-alone
  • Apart from obedience it’s not the biblical kind of faith
  • God responds to Faith-Obedience
  • In one sense our mindset must be that we are worthless slaves doing what we are obligated to do no matter how tired, how weak, etc...
  • We are to habitually speak from a proper mindset based in faith-obedience
  • Jesus Christ commands and orders – we obey in faith
  • God responds in ways we likely cannot imagine.
This is no different than Jesus instructing re: building on the rock foundation of doing what Jesus says – obeying Him/believing in Him – Jesus the Christ to whom all knees bow.
 
NKJ Matt7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me (leave Me, go away from Me), you who practice are working lawlessness!'
I posed this question in the 10 commandments thread #6296.

Re: Gal 2:18's stipulation in proving himself to be a transgressor if he tears down what he has built. This 'working lawlessness' seems to be conveying a similar message. That is, the law is fully fulfilled in Christ, so that if anyone should 'tear down' any part of that foundation, which is Christ crucified, and rebuild on it prophesies, and casting out demons, and many wonders 'in His name,' as if "His Name" was less than sufficient, I can see why He'd be offended in any claims of knowing Him.
 
Do I need to know why I'm doing it?

Yes, we need to know why we do what we do. Having pure motives is a common theme in the New Testament.

Do I need to know why you are giving me food? No. I don't really care. But I should. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000? He was critical of the crowd because they sought him for his ability to feed them rather than for what he was teaching.
What was jesus teaching?

You do sound very legalistic, I must say.
 
ToKnot slithered this in there. Smooth move.
Jesus said this:


Matthew 12:30
30“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Are you gathering or scattering?
Matthew 12:33-35
33“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

35“The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
 
Loving God
Loving our neighbor
requires a long list of rules.


You quoted Romans 2:6-8, and this passage illustrates my point. Paul asserts that we will be judged according to our deeds, and then he establishes the qualification for eternal life based on what a person seeks.

A. Eternal life
  1. What he seeks
    1. glory
    2. honor
    3. immortality
B. Wrath and indignation
  1. what he seeks
    1. selfishly ambitious
    2. what is false
Here we see the importance of knowing why we do what we do. What are we seeking?
Let's look at the verses again.....

Paul makes very clear what the judgment will be:


Romans 2:4-11
4Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

5But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

6who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:

As Jesus has also stated in John 5:28-29, and is repeated in Revelation 22:12

we will be judged by our behavior...by what we have done while here.

7to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

8but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

Those who do not obey the truth but are unrighteous, they will receive wrath and indignation from the One who will judge.


9There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,

To the one who does evil....

no reason stated....
no reason necessary....

evil is following satan and disobeying God.


10but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.


Glory and honor to those that do GOOD...

no reason stated...
no reason necessary....
doing good is following the teachings of Jesus...

it is obeying the truth.


11For there is no partiality with God.


No partiality.
He who does good will get their inheritance.
Doing good is obeying God.

He who does evil will get their inheritance.
Doing evil is disobeying God.

No reasons are giving...
no reasons are necessary.
 
The parable illustrates acting on what Jesus taught, not doing what he commanded. The distinction is critical.
Jesus issues approximately 50 commands in Matt5-7.

"Torah" at root means instruction. Everything He commands and teaches is to be obeyed and done.

John14:21-24 Jesus freely changes from keeping His commandments, to keeping His word, to keeping His words.

Doing and obeying are also used interchangeably at times.

Your critical distinction is a proverbial distinction without a difference.
There is only one storm illustrated in the parable and it comes after the house is built.
NKJ Matt7:21-25 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
  • Context is the future
24 "Therefore whoever hears (present tense) these sayings of Mine, and does (present tense) them, I will liken him (future tense) to a wise man who built (aorist tense) his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended (aorist tense), the floods came (aorist tense), and the winds blew (aorist tense) and beat (aorist tense) on that house; and it did not fall (aorist tense), for it was founded (pluperfect tense) on the rock.
  • Therefore/So then (since this is what that future will be - He'll explain it)
  • In that future when we stand before Him
    • He will look to see if the house we built lasted
    • If it lasted, then it had been founded based upon rock
    • That rock foundation was hearing and doing what He said
  • This is when all is said and done
    • It represents an entire life
    • That foundation of hearing and doing what He says is a life lived this way until the end
    • Many things happen in a life - many decisions are made.
We must be careful to avoid giving the wrong impression. There is more to Jesus' teaching than rules to obey. The parables, for instance, don't compel us to obey a command, but they compel us to think rationally about truth, goodness, and righteousness.

The antithesis of acting on what Jesus taught is not acting on it. Defining "acting" as "obeying a command" flattens down the meaning of the parable too much.
Asked and answered. Do what He says - obey what He commands - keep his commandments - keep His word - keep His words - they're all basically the same thing.

Do what you think you must. I think you're over-concerned about rules and obeying Him in Faith which is Obedience. I don't care for they way some of us are reluctant to speak of obeying God. IMO it's a real problem that says we're still in the old Adam more than we realize.

NKJ 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.​

NKJ Heb5:8-9 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,​

What is it you're not getting? What Bible are you reading?
  • Our first-born Brother and Lord (Rom8) - Jesus YHWH's Christ/King (Psalm2):
    • Learned obedience
    • Became perfected
    • Became responsible for eternal salvation for His siblings who obey Him
    • Love for God is keeping His commandments and His commandments not being a burden.
      • Some of us sound obedience to God is a 4-letter word and the epitome of a burden
Sure, but that is beside the point. The parable posits a situation in which a believer who builds his life on the foundation of Jesus' teaching will not fail to be saved.
Why do you delete things and soften them?

The foundation is a life built upon hearing and doing - obeying Him and what He says - until the end.

Hopefully you've read what I just posted re: Luke17. I think some of us should dwell there for awhile until He makes it sink in and become part of us.

Did I mention that Jesus issues about 50 commands in Matt5-7? Thought so.
 
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I posed this question in the 10 commandments thread #6296.

Re: Gal 2:18's stipulation in proving himself to be a transgressor if he tears down what he has built. This 'working lawlessness' seems to be conveying a similar message. That is, the law is fully fulfilled in Christ, so that if anyone should 'tear down' any part of that foundation, which is Christ crucified, and rebuild on it prophesies, and casting out demons, and many wonders 'in His name,' as if "His Name" was less than sufficient, I can see why He'd be offended in any claims of knowing Him.
Matthew 7:23 describes people who use Jesus’ name but refuse to hear and do His words — a life of disobedience (thus unbelief) that Jesus calls lawlessness, which is sin.

Galatians 2:18 describes reverting back to Law‑righteousness after coming to Christ — a return to sin, which is lawlessness, which is disobedience, which is unbelief, that makes the person the transgressor/violator, not Christ.

In both passages the issue is relational loyalty: remaining in Him as our righteousness and living in the hearing‑and‑doing obedience His Word calls faith. It also says this is doing righteousness. That is the only house that will be standing in the end which He speaks of in Matt27.
 
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Mainly I'd begin seeing it through the lens of Paul in Acts13:39 which is part of his real evangelistic teaching to Jews and Gentiles (Acts13:16-41) (and side note see in Acts13:42 who it was who was mainly interested).

YLT Acts 13:38 'Let it therefore be known to you, men, brethren, that through this one to you is the forgiveness of sins declared, 39 and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;​
I'm using YLT because it is the most literal.​
There are nearly always translation issues to be discussed, but this is saying IN this man (Jesus Christ) every [man] (probably music to the ears of the interested Gentiles/God-fearers Acts13:16) who is believing (present tense taken as continuous or currently continuous) is (present tense) deemed righteous/release from institutional claims.​
The word order in Greek is important. The phrase "in this [man]" is just like the YLT translates it. So it's pushing forward a concept of being in union with - IN Christ, every man who is believing, is free from legal claims.​
There are several ways to look at these present tenses.​
Bottom line is there is legitimate discussion here that makes our justification relational - believing in Jesus Christ / being in union - in relationship with Jesus Christ / we are free from legal claims (He became our righteousness 1Cor1:30).​
So, yes, there is discussion to be had about withdrawing from being in relationship with Him and not having what the relationship provides.​

The result is relational but the decree is legal.
One is pronounced legally righteous.
Sorry there is no argument against this, it is firm.
 
What is John 15:5-6 teaching?

It is NOT teaching about justification.
So what is it teaching about?


John 15:2, 5, 6
Berean Standard Bible Par ▾



Jesus the True Vine
(Isaiah 27:1–13)

1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.
2He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.



5I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.


6If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.


If you do not see/accept the big picture, no point in trying to understand scripture really, it becomes one big contradictory mess.

Justified is justified.
 
If you do not see/accept the big picture, no point in trying to understand scripture really, it becomes one big contradictory mess.

Justified is justified.
Jesus does not say what you say: justified is justified.

Unless you are able to find where in the NT Jesus said this.

Perhaps seeing the big picture is keeping you from seeing what Jesus taught?

The writer of Hebrews taught:

Hebrews 12;14
14Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.



Without sanctification no one will see the Lord.

No sanctification.
No justification.
No justification.
No salvation.

It's all one picture....
be it macro
or be it micro.