All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Losing Salvation?
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If you could not give up your salvation voluntarily, then once you become saved you could then go ahead and do whatever you wish. You could steal, murder, cheat, lie, never pray, reject the scriptures, lead others astray, blaspheme God from morning to night - do anything that is sinful, rebellious, and against the laws of God. And you could do all this never confessing and never repenting. To believe that "once saved, always saved" is believing that one has a "license to sin" after the person is born again."
LOSING YOUR SALVATION -http://robertwells.tripod.com/losingsalvation.html
YOU CAN'T LOSE YOUR SALVATION OR HAVE IT TAKEN AWAY BUT.......
When you were saved you turned to God. Turning to God means the you have committed your life to trusting and obeying God. In John 1:6-7 it says, "If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, purifies us from all sin."
According to this text, "If we walk in the darkness, then we do not live by the truth." If our heart is not repentant when we sin, if our attitude is one of disobedience to the Laws and Commandments of God, if we turn away from God, if we live a life of sin, if we decide the effort to lead a Godly life is not worth it, if the actions of our lives indicate that we no longer desire to be one of God's children, then we don't lose our salvation, and salvation isn't taken from us, but we through our own free will, take our salvation and give it back to God. We tell God we don't want it. We give it up!!!
Ezekiel 3:20 "If the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die".
If you could not give up your salvation voluntarily, then once you become saved you could then go ahead and do whatever you wish. You could steal, murder, cheat, lie, never pray, reject the scriptures, lead others astray, blaspheme God from morning to night - do anything that is sinful, rebellious, and against the laws of God. To believe that "once saved, always saved" is believing that one has a "license to sin" after the person is born again."
So ask yourself this question. What is the only way to gain eternal salvation? There are a great many verses that tell us the answer. Below are just two of them:
Ephesians 2:8-9 "By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith, and this not owing to you, it is God's gift."
1Peter 1:5 "Those who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed on the last day.
God makes salvation completely available through Jesus Christ - and not only to specific individuals, but to all who will receive and believe in Jesus Christ as savior. Jesus made this very clear when he said, "Whoever believes in me would not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) The word "whoever" includes everybody. No person is excluded from the opportunity to believe and receive everlasting life.
Your relationship with God, as well as your eternal salvation are based upon faith. Faith that Jesus Christ is who, and what He says he is. And thus if you are committing those sins mentioned in the above paragraph, then you simply don't believe who Jesus is. A person practicing the above sinful actions, certainly indicates that the person no longer has any faith or belief in Jesus Christ.
In other words you can not walk in the darkness unrepentant and still hold onto your salvation. Keep in mind that repentance is much more than stopping the very act of committing those sins that you are asking forgiveness for. Repentance is actually the act of turning away from doing those sins, of not committing them anymore, of changing your life in such a way as you no longer want or desire to commit those sins. You are the one who decides whether to walk in the light or the darkness. God gave you the free will to make your own choices. If you decide to walk in the darkness then your salvation will not be taken away from you, nor will you lose your salvation. No, what you will do is give up your salvation. You will be telling God that your salvation "is not worth the effort it takes to walk in the light". That you do not wish to have his gift of eternal salvation. That you want to make it through this life on your own without any help from God. That you will follow the ways of the world rather than the ways of our Lord. So your own free will determines whether you are going to keep your salvation or give it up. God allows your eternal future to be in your own hands.
Since your own free will is what determines your eternal destiny, then it is very important to note that God will not force anyone to come to him. He is not going to get down on his knees and beg you to believe him, trust him, or accept him. Nor will he force you to love him or demand your obedience. The choice is up to each one of us whether to surrender our lives and our hearts to God or to refuse his love and his blessings. If you don't want any part of Jesus Christ then he is willing to accept that decision since it was made by you through your own free will.
Our Lord did tell us that once we are saved, once we are looking to him for everything, once we have surrendered completely to him, then no one could snatch us away from him.
John 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
So you can't be snatched way, but you sure can walk away.
There are a great many examples of this in the Bible but my favorite is in the book of Mark. It has to do with the story about the time Jesus arrived by boat to a town where he met a demon possessed man who was living in a graveyard. (You can read the entire story in Mark 5:1-21, and it is a great example of people exercising their free will and possibly putting their eternal salvation in jeopardy).
The Bible mentions that this demon possessed man was unusually fierce and dangerous, so much so that the townspeople could not even use the roads in fear that they would be harmed or even killed by this demon possessed man. The demons who resided in this man recognized Jesus and even talked with Jesus, and they knew that Jesus had the power to expel them from the man. So the demons seeing a herd of pigs in the distance, told Jesus that if he was going to expel them from this man, then would Jesus allow the demons to enter into the herd of pigs. So Jesus expelled the demons and the demons left the man and entered into the pigs. Suddenly the pigs realized something was terribly wrong and every single pig rushed over the cliff to their death. The pigs evidently realized that they would rather be dead than to have those demons living within them.
Now the pig herders saw all this happening and they went to the town and told everyone all the details. Verse 17 tells of the townspeople response. "Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area." So the response of the townspeople was to tell Jesus to get out of there because they were holding Jesus responsible for the destruction of a whole herd of pigs. They were furious at Jesus because of this economic loss. All that these people could do was to scream at him because they no longer had this herd of pigs. So you can see that the people's only concern was the economic loss of the pigs.
What is really interesting is Jesus's response.
Jesus didn't try to explain to the townspeople that they no longer had to worry about this very dangerous demon possessed man. That he was no longer a threat to their safety. Nor did Jesus ask them if they wanted to know why this formerly demon possessed man was now able to sit there quietly, fully dressed, and in his right state of mind. Nor did he try to tell them that if he could expel demons from this man, then just think of the demons that he could expel from the rest of the townspeople. Neither did Jesus ask the people if they wanted to find out more about this man who could expel demons or why he even did what he did, or why he even came there in the first place. And Jesus certainly didn't argue with the people that the price of the pigs was rather small compared to their peace of mind and their eternal future. Jesus didn't even ask these people if they wanted to learn about the one who sent him. Jesus didn't do any of these things because he could see that the only thing any of these people really cared about was the economic loss of the pigs. They had their minds all made up and money was the number one thing in their lives. They exerted their free will and told Jesus to leave town and leave town now. They had exercised their free will.
Using their own free will, those people wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Their only interest was in worldly things and because of that, they told Jesus to hit the road and go some place else and kill pigs. Jesus knew exactly what was in their hearts, and that their minds were closed to anything that Jesus had to say. So what did Jesus do? Jesus simply turned around, boarded the boat and proceeded across the water and went into his own city. Without a word, he simply turned and left, and very possibly took with him their eternal salvation.
John 15:1-2 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit".
John 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned".
1 Corinthians 10:12 "Therefore let him who thinks he is standing, beware, that he does not fall".
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Permalink Reply by RoyW on
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LT,
I am struggling with this time change. 3:00 is really 4:00 last week at this time. 4:00 is my normal time to rise. If I sleep in to 5:00 I consider that late. Early morning I am studying for school and having my time with the Lord. Have a great day.
Roy -
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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Rod,
Regarding the idea of two lines:
JN 5:28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
MT 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
MT 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
MT 25:37 "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
MT 25:40 "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
MT 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
MT 25:44 "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
MT 25:45 "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
MT 25:46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Regarding the surety of eternal life:
1JN 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Regardign the Books:
Note that there are books and there is the Book of Life. Different books.
Lord Bless,
LT
TheNET Coordinator -
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Family,
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
The verse above has nothing to do with God's people. This verse speaks of the judgment of the wicked.
The church will not be in the great white throne judgment. The books are needed because God is perfectly righteous and His judgment are Holy and perfect. EVERY EVIL THOUGHT WHIICH IS CONTEMPLATED AND ENJOYED AND EVERY EVIL ACTION MADE BY THE CREATURE WILL BE BROUGHT AGAINST THEM.
Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company; Proverbs 24:1
Family whatever injustice has been committed against your person do not even trip on it. Yes, they hurt, but they help us exercise Godliness and that is a good thing, but the wicket will NOt get away with anything. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.Matthew 12:36
I am attaching a link here for one of the most beautiful sermons I have heard, a classic you can also listen to the sermon on You Tube, by the man who has been called the greatest American mind by those who themselves are extremely gifted. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian,"and one of America's greatest intellectuals. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God -Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) Enfield, Connecticut July 8, 1741 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html
One of my "favorites" on my Internet Explorer page is that web page. I created a folder named books on line and I add places I have found where I can read books online to that folder, under my "Favorites". This site is one of them. Very beautiful stuff there. Enjoy.
Hebrews 10:30-31 (New International Version)
30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Blessings -
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David,
This is very good news for the believer but very bad news for the unbeliever. It is so good to know that the believer will not have to stand in judgment on that day. -
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Greetings all,
When pondering the question of one being able to lose their salvation I think we need to define something. If salvation can be lost because we do not _______ (fill in the blank), then is this not proclaiming that salvation is by works or at least retained by works? If it requires something of us to retain it then salvation is dependant upon works and we would be in no better situation than the Jews were when they were given the Mosaic Law. Ephesians 2:8-10 clearly teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, both of which come from God, and is not by works.
How does one reconcile the need to perform in order to retain salvation with Ephesians 2:8-10? Is the gift of eternal life by grace or works?
Food for thought.
Lord Bless,
LT
TheNET Coordinator -
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LT,
I would agree that salvation is not acquired by works nor is it retained by works. Otherwise, it is not free but comes with a price tag attached. I do, however, believe that our faith will be tested to prove that it is genuine. I wonder if people are thinking that those who fail the test are in fact losing their salvation. Just a thought, but I completely agree that salvation is an absolute free gift of grace. I guess the free gift of God's grace is pretty much saying the same thing. I am very grateful to my Lord that He paid the price for my salvation.
Roy -
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Roy,
I most certainly agree that our faith will come under fire and we will experience many trials and tribulations in this life. We also will experience divine discipline (Heb. 12) when we begin to drift away from following God. I praise Him for that discipline that is always corrective in nature guiding us back to Him and the path. Some may wander a while longer than others, but God does not give up on them.
Amen, I am glad He paid the price and extended the offer to us by grace.
Lord Bless,
LT
TheNET Coordinator -
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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Hi Everyone,
This message of Grace is so important.... Why? because of the frequency in which I fail and fall. and...the frequency in which the people I love around me fail. Knowing of God's Grace.. I love being able to truthfully reassure others who are weak and weary...and I love to be reassured myself....this attribute of our Lord brings me to love Him more. I am also brought to a place of thankfulness and assurance. I will never be good enough. We all need to hear this message that we don't have to be, and we cannot be good enough. This is not a license to sin... It simply speaks of our God who is Grace. He knows how weak we are...HE knows we have the best of intentions, but more often than not we will fall short of the things we ought to do. He knows of our desperate need for Him..HE wants us to know that fully. When we know fully of our desperate need for Him we will not turn away...He holds us and keeps us. Salvation is of the Lord.
The song Amazing Grace was written by a child of God who truly experienced this Grace. I'm so glad he wrote that song, because I believe that we all relate to it intimately...on a very deep level we understand this song...and we likely could have written it ourselves...many of us anyway..
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound...that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but not I'm found, was blind but now I see.. When we get to the point that we can see... there is no un doing this new sight.
Blessings and Love in Christ, Carla -
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