it is possible to think I am saved when I am not, because Jesus Himself warns that “many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’” and yet He will declare He never knew them; but I confess that this does not mean a true believer—one who has genuinely come to Christ in faith—will ever discover at judgment that he was never saved.
Again Mat 7 shows people who genuinely believe, they have come to Christ, but are informed they have not. So, if one can believe he is a true believer, and not be, then the decision of salvation does not lie with in the individual's ability/earnestness to become saved. But rather rests in Christ's will.
So again I believe in OSAS, but I like to point out salvation is not a work we can do/task to accomplish, but a decision God/Jesus Makes.
This decision is not made in a vacuum, but rather on our ability to love God and love our neighbor.
But, if you think you are saved, no greater faith can be generated than that.The warning applies to false faith, not to real faith.
Again, faith here is not the intellectual acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Faith is following Jesus as Lord/Do what He says do. Love God/Love your neighbor...
By Christ yes.. with Faith in God/to the extent they know and understand God and his will. They can not have the faith of a christian without knowing of Christ. Think parable of the talents. We are only responsible for what we know and are given to work with.At the same time, I affirm that it is possible for someone who never heard the name of Jesus to be saved, but only in the same way Abraham, Noah, David, and the rest were saved: by Christ,
yes.through faith in the revelation God gave them, not by a separate plan.
Christ is our final judge, so whether we are saved or condemned it is by Christ. How ever I am saying not all who are saved are to respond to Christ as you or I as a christian would be.I reject the idea that they were saved “without Christ”;
So if it is possible to enter into God's kingdom with out responding to the gospel as someone who has been exposed to the gospel is expected to respond, then that means they Gospel message is not the key element of salvation. If responding to the gospel is not the key you believe it to be, then it can be demonstrated that we in our response to the Gospel do not initiate the salvation process. Meaning you are not saved when ever you first make the effort to be saved. Salvation happens when ever Jesus decides it happens. Which means it could be the moment you respond to the Gospel.. It's not the when salvation happens that i am arguing. it is the who decides when you are and are not saved.Scripture teaches that Christ’s blood is retroactive, that He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” and that all who trusted God before the cross were saved by Christ’s future work, not by ignorance of Him. So I hold both truths together: it is possible to be self‑deceived and discover one’s lostness at judgment, but it is not possible for a true believer to be rejected; and it is possible for someone who never heard the gospel to be saved, but only because Christ’s atonement covers all who trusted God in the light they had. In this way I uphold one salvation, one Savior, and one judgment, without erasing the warnings Jesus gives or the mercy God showed to the faithful before Christ came.
If salvation is a gift from God lest anyone should boast... Then nothing you do saves you. When you respond to the gospel, you pledge yourself a disciple/student/follower of Christ. (just like Judas, you have potential to go either way.) I believe if and when you make it to the end, you find out that salvation happened somewhere along the journey. or you find out when God lost you, if He ever even knew you.
It is from this point that you have been told of your salvation, you can never be taken away from God.