Not By Works

Heb 10:
23Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. 25Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Love others as thyself.

Heb 4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. a3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

Notice that Paul said to "work out" your salvation and not "work for" your salvation. When we "work out" at the gym, we exercise to develop our body that we already have and not to get a body. Farmers "work" the land, not in order to get the land, but to develop the land they already have.

The Greek verb rendered "work out" means "to continually work to bring something to completion or fruition." We do this by actively pursuing the process of ongoing sanctification, which is the result of being set apart for God's work and involves the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. This conforming to Christ involves the work of the person, but it is still God working in the believer to produce more of a godly character and life in the person who has already been justified by faith.

The justified person is actively involved in the process of ongoing sanctification, which has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't reach entire sanctification/live a sinless, without fault or defect, flawless, absolute perfect life in our lifetime (which we won't) we are still justified by faith in Christ (Romans 5:1). Where justification is a legal declaration that is instantaneous upon having been saved through faith, ongoing sanctification is a process.

There are 3 tenses to salvation. 1. We have been saved from the PENALTY of sin (justification) 2. We are being saved from the POWER of sin (ongoing sanctification) 3. We will be saved from the PRESENCE of sin (glorification) These tenses often get mixed up by works-salvationists.

Those who are truly born of God have received a new nature (which is a divine nature) and have been transformed from dogs and pigs into sheep and also have new desires. The change is more than the cosmetic change for these dogs and pigs in 2 Peter 2:20. *These cleaned up on the outside dogs and pigs were never sheep.

Compare 2 Peter 1:4 - "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption - Strongs #5356 that is in the world through lust with 2 Peter 2:20 - with they escaped the pollutions - Strongs #3356 (different Greek word) of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet they are again entangled therein, and overcome. *Notice that 2 Peter 2:20 did not mention them being "partakers of the divine nature."

Corruption (Strongs #5356) (to shrivel or wither, spoil , ruin , deprave, corrupt , defile, to destroy by means of corrupting, to spoil as does milk). Corruption - describes decomposition or rotting of an organism and the accompanying stench. The utter depravity of the fallen flesh and the resultant moral decomposition of the world opposed to God is driven by it sinful lusts or evil desires. Internal corruption.

Pollutions/Defilements (Strongs #3393) ("pollutions", "filthy things", "contaminations", "world's filth") describes the state of being tainted or stained by evil and refers to impurity, impure, tainted, defilement, foulness or pollution. Pollutions/Defilement refers to what is on the outside (2 Peter 2:20). But genuine believers have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4).

*Corruption is deeper than pollutions/defilements on the outside: it is decay on the inside.*

Having the knowledge of Jesus Christ does not save a person if there is no heart submission to that knowledge. The latter end is worse than the beginning for these people because rejecting this knowledge will make them more accountable at the judgment. Judas Iscariot is a good example of someone who rejected the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was never saved.

That’s not a work; that the essence of Jesus Christ in you.

John tells us that perfect love has no fear. Since God is love and God is perfect, we should have no fear.

Then the essence of Christ is definitely a work that you must do. You don't think of love or believe or talk it, you do it.

That's right. You still have to work it.

In Hebrews 10:26, to "sin willfully" in the Greek carries the idea of deliberate intention that is habitual, which stems from rejecting Christ deliberately. This is CONTINUOUS ACTION - A MATTER OF PRACTICE. Now we don't walk along our daily life and "accidentally" fall into a pit called sin. We exercise our will but, the use of the participle clearly shows a CONTINUOUS ACTION. The unrighteous practice sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21); not the righteous, who are born of God (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 John 3:9).

*Notice how I properly harmonize scripture with scripture before reaching my conclusion on doctrine.*

The reference to "the blood of the covenant that sanctified him" in verse 29 "on the surface" appears to be referring to a Christian, but this overlooks the fact that the word translated "sanctified" is the verb form of the adjective "holy") which means "set apart," and doesn't necessarily refer to salvation. In 1 Corinthians 7:14, Paul uses it to specifically refer to non-Christians who are "sanctified" or "set apart" by their believing spouse. (And by this Paul does not mean that they are saved). A non-Christian can be "set apart" from other non-Christians without experiencing salvation, as Paul explained. So the word "sanctified" means to be "set apart." If the word "sanctified" simply meant "saved," then you would have to say that the Sabbath was saved (Genesis 2:3), the tabernacle was saved (Exodus 29:43), the Lord was saved (Leviticus 10:3), the Father saved the Son (John 10:36) which does not line up with scripture.

If the word 'sanctified' in Hebrews 10:29 is used to describe saved people who lost their salvation as you teach, then we have a contradiction in scripture because the writer of Hebrews in verse 10 said "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10) and in verse 14, we read, "perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14)

In verse 39, the writer of Hebrews sets up the CONTRAST that makes it clear to me that he was referring to "nominal" Christians/unbelievers and not saved people: But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Those who draw back to perdition do not believe to the saving of the soul and those who believe to the saving of the soul do not draw back to perdition.

So after considering the CONTEXT, it seems most likely that "he was sanctified" should be understood in the sense of someone who had been "set apart" or identified as an active participant in the Hebrew Christian community of believers, but later commits apostasy by renouncing his identification with these believers, by rejecting the "knowledge of the truth" that he had received, and trampling under foot the work and the person of Christ himself. This gives evidence that his identification with the Hebrew Christian community of believers was only superficial and that he was not a genuine believer.

You’re not being specific.

Like providing for the needy.

Semantics.

I love you.

Again, we have a part to play as individual, it is not all God, we either accept or reject but Peter is clearly dealing with rejecting after initially accepting it hence:

2 Pet 2:20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

This simply means faith in Christ can be lost and it is an individuals choice. You won't explain this away trust me.

Again, the idea is, we can receive the knowledge of truth (faith in Christ alone) and still loose it.

It is our own doing that we loose it meaning that it is not all God working to the end.

You told me of a biblical story of a man who was a believer and decided to sleep with their relative, was it God working in them or was it their decision to fall back?

In Hebrews 4:2-3, we read: For indeed the gospel was preached to US as well as to THEM, but the word which THEY heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For WE who have BELIEVED do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest," although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Notice that verses 2-3 makes a distinction between "US" who have BELIEVED and do enter that rest and "THEM" who heard the word but did not mix faith with what they heard and will not enter that rest because of UNBELIEF.

In regards to Hebrews 4:1 - "be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it" (entering His rest). We also find in Hebrews 12:15 - See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.. (NASB) The NIV reads - ..falls short of the grace of God. The ESV reads - ..fails to obtain the grace of God. *No loss of salvation here, only a failure to obtain it.

And if you did not do that today and you died you would not have salvation?

You definitely misunderstood the message, "The gospel was preached to us as well as them" refers to Israel in the OT. You just move one chapter before and find the context:

Heb 3:16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Heb 4 talks of today. We have received the good news just like they did and for it to benefit us, we must HOLD ON to faith, otherwise we can still loose it even after receiving the good news.

Again, if faith means salvation then it can be lost. It is our own decision to make.

Receiving the "knowledge" of the truth with no heart submission to that knowledge does not equate to faith in Christ alone. Show me the words "lose faith in Christ alone" or "lose salvation" in Hebrews 10:26.

You have too much faith in yourself and not enough faith in God's preservation. (Psalm 37:28; Jude 1:1)

It was his decision and he truly stumbled, but was falling back his permanent, final answer?