*shrugs* Haven't you sinned since God called you? I know I have.
Not sure you addressed me. But you should know that there is a difference between sinning and to live in sin.
*shrugs* Haven't you sinned since God called you? I know I have.
I know there is, the main reason why I have a problem with this is:
I was raised in a christian home, and I guess i was doing fairly well until I was in my early twenties. I then had a couple of "wild years" before I got my senses back, so where does that leave my salvation? Am I saved no matter what I do? (or potentially the other way around, doomed no matter what I do?).
Thats where I'm coming from. I grew up in a Christian home and without a doubt I was a true believer but in my teens and early 20's I completely turned on God. I would give you an eat crap look if you even tried to talk about God to me. Deep down inside I still believed but I did not have a living faith. I believed the same way that the devil and his demons believe. However, in my early-mid twenties I finally came back to my senses and just like the prodigal son, I came back home.....but also like the prodigal son, I was indeed a SON before I left. Thats why I believe true believers can and do depart from the faith.I know there is, the main reason why I have a problem with this is:
I was raised in a christian home, and I guess i was doing fairly well until I was in my early twenties. I then had a couple of "wild years" before I got my senses back, so where does that leave my salvation? Am I saved no matter what I do? (or potentially the other way around, doomed no matter what I do?).
Here is a Copy/Paste that I think sums it all up very well......
Question: "Is eternal security biblical?"
Answer: When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their eternal security. Jude 1:24 declares, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" God's power is able to keep the believer from falling. It is up to Him, not us, to present us before His glorious presence. Our eternal security is a result of God keeping us, not us maintaining our own salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29). Both Jesus and the Father have us firmly grasped in their hand. Who could possibly separate us from the grip of both the Father and the Son?
Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are "sealed for the day of redemption." If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will "have eternal life." If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never "eternal" to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.
The most powerful argument for eternal security is Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Our eternal security is based on God's love for those whom He has redeemed. Our eternal security is purchased by Christ, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Jude 1:24 declares, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy"
To say that these scriptures prove "Once Saved Always Saved" is very far fetched because if you were to read the chapters that each one of those verses appear, you will find that the vast majority of modern Christians, especially those who embrace OSAS, do not meet the scriptural standard that is presented in those chapters which insure such a salvation, especially Romans 8 & Ephesians 4.
You know nothing as to the nature of God's mercy and the salvation of God that has been provided through the blood and through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The only standard that any sinner has to meet to receive God's provision for sin and to be reconciled to God is to believe by faith upon the Son (Jn 10:9-11). The work of God is to believe on Him whom God has sent (Jn 6:29, Jn 3:16) and he that believeth on the Son has life and he that believes not has not life (Jn 3:36, 5:24). Anything other than this is evil.
You know nothing as to the nature of God's mercy and the salvation of God that has been provided through the blood and through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The only standard that any sinner has to meet to receive God's provision for sin and to be reconciled to God is to believe by faith upon the Son (Jn 10:9-11). The work of God is to believe on Him whom God has sent (Jn 6:29, Jn 3:16) and he that believeth on the Son has life and he that believes not has not life (Jn 3:36, 5:24). Anything other than this is evil.
If they lived in these sins then were they really saved you think?
I didn't say it was all about age.The last will be first, and the first last, isn't eever about age. The passage is about those people who humble themselves being called greater in heaven as they have sacrificed their reward on Earth. It says 'let him who wishes to be first, be a slave among you'.
It means that when you sacrifice yourself for others, you are last on Earth, but will be called first in Heaven.
Here's the other problem with the idea that you can lose your salvation. What is the threshhold? How much sin moves you from a "Christian who makes mistakes" (in other words a sinner) to a "Christian who ha now lost their salvation"? 10 sins? 200? 4,000? It just ends becoming arbitrary and random.
Thats where I'm coming from. I grew up in a Christian home and without a doubt I was a true believer but in my teens and early 20's I completely turned on God. I would give you an eat crap look if you even tried to talk about God to me. Deep down inside I still believed but I did not have a living faith. I believed the same way that the devil and his demons believe. However, in my early-mid twenties I finally came back to my senses and just like the prodigal son, I came back home.....but also like the prodigal son, I was indeed a SON before I left. Thats why I believe true believers can and do depart from the faith.[/quote
Exactly! I was the same way. Only thing is that i feel like people are not understanding that people don't get a chance to repent of their sins. They get out there in the world and its like their heart is harden and they get caught in a lifestyle of sin. And eventually they died in their sins. But I truly believe that God does knows our heart and if a person dies in their sins its because God knew they was never going to come back to him.
...I beleive you must walk with god, and know god, and that he will change you. ...Verily I say unto you if your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no likewise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now the point is, you HAVE to WALK with your savior to acheive righteousness. As long as you hold to him, he WILL hold to you...
So, do your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees? Do you even keep the sabbath? Do you eat only clean meats? Do you as a woman follow the rules that God gave through Moses particularly pertaining to women? If not, your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees.Matt.23
[1] Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
[2] Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
[3] All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
This does not give evidence that the person leaving was actually saved to begin with. I prefer to trust the bible's definition when it says we will know a person by their fruits.
Once you are born again you cannot undo it and be un-born again, the HS does not leave a person. Some people backslide which means they miss out on blessings in this life and rewards when they get to heaven - but most are drawn back from their backsliden state at some point. It is not possible for a person that has been brought out of darkness with their eyes now open to unbelieve in God and say he denys the gospel. Impossible. If a person turns away from God/leaves their 'faith' then were they ever saved to begin with? Because... those saved are covered by the blood of Jesus, brought out of darkness and are changed. A person who has the truth does not swap their truth for a falsehood.
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" - this happened in the days of the disciples and still happens today.