The prayer of salvation in the bible. What the Bible Says About Salvation from the Bible

19.03.2022

Asks Michael
Answered by Alexandra Lantz, 06/28/2011

Peace be with you, Michael!

The Bible answers this question quite definitely.

God speaks through His prophet John the Baptist:

"repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ... brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from future wrath? bear fruit worthy of repentance and do not think to say in yourselves: "Our father is Abraham"(*we are true Christians) for I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham(*disciples of Christ) . Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you in water for repentance, but He who follows me is stronger than me; I am not worthy to bear His shoes; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire; His shovel is in His hand, and He will clean His threshing floor and he will gather his wheat into a barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire."

God says in Christ:

From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

and saying that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the gospel.

and preached to be in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins in all nations, starting from Jerusalem.

Apostle Peter says:

"repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..."

As we can see, in order to be saved, people need to repent of their sins and accept the crucified and resurrected Jesus, i.e. the gospel as your personal Savior from sin and death.

Note that the New Testament Scriptures are clear and unequivocal that repentance is the complete abandonment of sin that a person once committed. If a person has committed adultery, then after repentance and conversion, he will stop doing it forever. If a person spoke foul language, lied, worshiped idols, was a drunkard, etc., then after repentance at the foot of the Cross, the person will stop doing all this once and for all, and it will be disgusting for him to even remember his past life.

I want to draw your special attention to a point that many people who call themselves believers overlook. The fact is that a person cannot repent on his own, out of himself. God leads man to true repentance: "the goodness of God leads you to repentance" (). And only thanks to the convicting Voice of God, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, which illuminates the heart of a person and all his deeds, a person has the opportunity to grieve over his sins so that he would rather die than continue to live in them.

Thus, in order to be saved, a person must begin to listen to the convicting voice of God and allow God to lead him (her) to repentance of their sinfulness, of their utter inability to meet Heaven's standards of righteousness and holiness ... only by passing through true repentance man is able to see his need for a Savior and accept Him with all his heart.

"I have come to call... sinners to repentance" ( ; ; ).

"Let him know that he who turns a sinner from his false path will save his soul from death and cover many sins" ().

Sincerely,

Read more on the topic "Salvation":

Word the rescue has become a very popular Christian term.

We think of the Salvation Army, or the street preacher wearing a doomsday poster.

But when we think about salvation in Christian terms, the first question we need to ask ourselves is:

Salvation from what?

When we talk about being saved from something, we mean the need to be saved from some kind of danger. Therefore, when it comes to salvation, we must first of all have in our heads a clear understanding of what we, or someone else, needs to be saved from.

Scripture gives a clear answer to this question.

What does the Bible say about salvation?

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist says of Jesus:

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)

But wait! I thought that God is a God of love, and here it is talking about the wrath of God on those who do not believe.

Why shouldn't God be more tolerant?

Because God's number one goal for all of creation, even for mankind, is His glorification.

This is the main purpose of our birth. But our opposition to Him, our unbelief in Him, and not allowing Him to dictate to us through the Bible how to live, is a slap in the face to Him.

Throughout history, after Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind continues to slap God with their opposition and refusal to accept His power over them.

Even the Israelis.

And in Romans we see the reason it's so destructive:

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23)

Death of our soul.
The final death of our body.
Eternal death of our spirit.

God created heaven as an eternal place of residence for all who die, but on one condition:

You must be perfect - you must be holy.

Hmm, that doesn't seem fair. Is not it?

From the very first day, everything is stacked against us!

This alludes quite clearly to the doom for each person, because, as we can see, the Bible says: “There is none righteous”(Rom. 3:10) and “Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, and “Therefore, just as by one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”(Rom. 5:12).

But man is an eternal being. Our body dies, but our spirit is eternal. So, if our spirit cannot, according to God's very strict rules, live forever in heaven, there is only one alternative left for humanity: “May the wicked turn to hell”(Ps. 9:17).

This seems to speak in favor of those who portray Christians as vicious radicals screaming that everyone is going to hell, except for one thing.

God there is love.

He really is, and that's how He showed it.

God knows that from the day we are born, we have a tendency to do things we shouldn't do. The Bible essentially says this: “For He knows our composition, remembers that we are dust”(Ps. 103:14).

This means that God understands human nature. He does not forget the fact that we are not perfect and never will be.

So He came up with another rule for heaven.

This rule is that there are bad things we do, bad things we did but didn't mean to, bad things we do because we're stubborn and want to do things our way, bad things that we do in spite of... any reason, and there is a way to fix it all.

Have you ever looked back and regretted something you did? A stupid thing to do at school, like cheating on an exam.

Or about something more, like an abortion - and pain and guilt that just won't go away?

There is a way to make it go away.

This is the part where we see that God really is love.

The Bible says:

“And almost everything according to the law is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22)

But here's the point.

We cannot be the ones whose blood can be spilled, because the sacrifice must be completely perfect. And that brings us to just one person.

This is exactly the reason why Jesus came to earth.

“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

He was not born by accident.
He didn't come to say nice things to people.
He did not come to say that we should love and forgive each other.
He didn't even come to heal people and give them a better life.

In Jesus Christ, before the creation of the visible world, the Church of Christ was chosen. From the beginning, there was no list of those chosen by name in advance to salvation, but those who now have in their hearts the pledge of the Holy Spirit have been chosen. God knows in advance the outcome of each life path. But His knowledge does not affect the freedom of human choice.

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" ( Eph 1:4)

"The Christian Church differs in the understanding of this dogma, especially with regard to Divine sovereignty and human responsibility"- writes the famous theologian G.K. Thyssen. He also believed that in no other area is there a greater divergence of opinion, and in no other study do the conclusions go as far as in this one.

Many Christian thinkers and theologians have drawn attention to the difficulty of understanding the dogma of salvation. Indeed, at first glance, the Bible contains two opposing points of view. Thus, the famous Swiss religious figure Calvin (1509-1564) was of the opinion that God's predestination is decisive in the matter of salvation. He formulated 7 doctrines:

1. Absolute authority of God (Ps 134:6; Dan 4:34; Heb 1:11) .
2. Purpose of election (Rome 8:29; Acts 13:48) .
3. Complete sinfulness (corruption) human (Eph 2:1-2) .
4. Unconditional Election: Those Who Do Not Respond Will Perish (Eph 1:4; 1 Tim 1:2-4) .
5. Calvin's limited atonement is justified by logic: if not all are saved, then Christ has failed.
6. Unlimited Grace: God does not save people against their will, but influences them in a way that creates an effective desire to come unto Christ.
7. Guaranteed Salvation (John 10:28-29) .

Other Bible texts can also be used in favor of Calvin's doctrines, for example: Jer 1:5; Jer 15:2; Mark 10:27; John 6:65; John 15:16; John 17:2; Acts 16:14; Jas 1:18; Rom 9:13; Eph 1:5; Eph 1:11; Eph 2:8; Phil 2:13; Col 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Tim 1:5; Rev 13:8 .

Calvin's views are held by many theologians, but they also have many opponents. For example, John Wesley (1703-1791) took the opposite view. "The doctrine of absolute predestination leads to the habitations of death" he claimed. In his sermon A Quiet Consideration of Predestination, he convincingly argues for the decisive importance of the will of man in determining his participation in eternity and satisfactorily interprets the texts of Scripture on which Calvin and his supporters rely.

Many scriptures can also be used to support Wesley's point of view, for example: Ex 32:33; Ex 45:22; Tue 11:26; Tue 30:15; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 8:7; 2 Chronicles 15:2; 2 Chronicles 24:20; Ps 72:27; Jer 26:3; John 1:12; John 3:36; John 6:37; 1 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 2:21; 2 Peter 3:17; Col 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 1 Tim 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; Heb 3:14; Heb 3:36; Heb 5:9 .

Approximately the same method, when defending their views on salvation, is followed by many theologians and preachers: they take one of the positions and try to satisfactorily, in defense of their views, interpret the arguments of the opposite side.

Apparently, this is why G.K. Lectures on Systematic Theology (1979 ed.) presents both points of view with criticism of each of them. Text is provided as a summary. “Oh, the abyss of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable are His ways!” ( Rome 11:33) . G. K. Thiessen does not dare to defend any of the positions here (although he himself adhered to some Arminian views). Here he takes an example from St. Paul: "Who are you, man, that you argue with God?" ( Rome 9:20) .

But if you carefully get acquainted with both groups of texts of the Bible, it is striking how close the texts are sometimes located in it, interpreted in favor of opposing views. Even earlier, the question arises, how could the Author of the Bible have two points of view on such an important issue?

In our opinion, this difficulty lies in the lack of understanding of the Divine mystery about salvation by our insufficiently enlightened mind, a superficial judgment of how God thinks and acts in that part of the salvation process that relates to Divine Providence. For it is known from the Scriptures that salvation depends both on a merciful God and on a sinner crying for mercy (not only Protestant but also Orthodox theologians will agree with this).

We will return to the question of how human fate is decided later, and now we will continue to consider how two extreme views on salvation are combined within the framework of one Bible, because "One Lord, One Faith" Eph 4:5) . It would look very strange if all these numerous, as it seems, contradictory statements were communicated to us only with the aim of once again emphasizing how inscrutable are the ways of the Lord, and how great is His power. But which Christian doubts this?

The second thing that raises questions in defending both doctrines is the complex interpretations of the opponents' texts that are heard from both sides. And although one cannot but agree with them (at least in part), there is no evangelical simplicity in these interpretations. This was not the language the Savior spoke to the common people who surrounded Him. And it is unlikely that any of the readers of theological treatises on this topic is able to easily understand and repeat their arguments. We believe that in such an important matter there should be a simple explanation of how salvation occurs. The unifying link must exist. Let's try to find it.

In our opinion, this is the text from Eph 1:4 , taken as an epigraph: . It was interesting to find that in part "Soterology" "Lectures ..." G.K.Thiessen, in the chapter "Purposes of God" This text is the first quotation from the Bible. It is a pity that G.K. Thiessen did not study it deeply enough within the framework of the topic of pre-election. A year before meeting him "Lectures..." it is this text that has been revealed to us as a key link in understanding pre-election and human choice, resolving the seeming contradiction in theological views.

This text contains great depth. What does it mean to choose us in Christ? Write in the book of life by name all those chosen for salvation? A Christian reading about this is inclined to agree with such good news, he mentally inserts his name there, and ... relaxes a little. And then he is ready to follow the reasoning of Calvin, especially about the impossibility of falling away from election, and at the same time intuitively feels the need, and even agrees with fear and trembling to work out his own salvation. (Phil 2:12) . As a result, most Protestant Christians are between two opinions about salvation, and are not able to clearly express and defend their views on this important issue.

How to avoid this trap? How should we properly understand "we in Him"? To resolve this issue, let us try to mentally penetrate into the original Divine Providence, pre-existence history and logically (fully aware of the incompleteness of logical constructions) explain to ourselves the origins of pre-election. A particular difficulty, almost impossibility of this task lies in the fact that the pre-existence (before the beginning of creation according to the book of Genesis) period is described in the Bible in just a few texts. And yet, on these separate fragments, we will try to build a consistent picture so that the plan for the salvation of mankind does not cause us the duality described above. The task is also complicated by the fact that in the pre-existence period there might not have been time as such (eternity), which means that it is difficult to talk about the sequence of events.

Prerequisites

1. From the book of Job it becomes clear to us that angels existed before the creation of the visible world, for "when he laid the foundations of the earth"(Job 38:4) "All the Sons of God shouted for joy" ( Job 38:7).

2. The Bible does not tell us the time of the creation of angels, and the question of who created them is not unambiguous.

3. It is written about Jesus Christ, the Son of God: "All things came into being through Him" John 1:3) . “By him was created everything that is in heaven and that is on earth, visible and invisible: whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or authorities” ( Col 1:16) . The traditional interpretation also includes angels with their hierarchy. However, there is no explicit text about this in the Bible. Therefore, we tend to believe that angels were created by God even when the Son of God "was in the bowels of the Father". Those. we exclude them from among those created by Christ, or Christ created them, being in the same hypostasis with the Father.

4. “For this reason the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil” ( 1 John 3:8) . “In order to reconcile everything to Himself through Him, to pacify through Him, by the blood of His cross, both earthly and heavenly” ( Col 1:20) . These two texts explain to us the purpose of the appearance of the Son of God into the pre-existent world. But what needed to be destroyed, and what to reconcile, if there were no fallen angels at His birth? This suggests that the fall of the angels happened before "Apparitions of the Son of God".

Possible sequence of events

The above premises, as well as other texts from the Bible, allow us to assume the following course of pre-existing events.

1. At the very beginning, the heavenly host was created: angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim (1 Tim 6:16) . They had free will.
2. An anointed (light-bearing) cherub stood out in their midst, who decided to take the place of God (Ezekiel 28:11-17) . But he was cast down, and his tail carried away a third of the angels from heaven. (Rev 12:4) .
3. A lake of fire was prepared for him and his angels (Rev 19:20) . Some of the angels were bound by the bonds of hellish darkness (2 Pet 2:4) perhaps to plunge into this lake. The remaining angels, perhaps, demanded a fair trial for themselves, motivating their fall by the impossibility of resisting, and appealing to the justice of God, just as we meet in Job 1:6-12 when Satan reproached the Creator for injustice.
4. God's answer probably included a fair trial. It was not the Almighty Creator who was supposed to act as a judge, but one who was able to sympathize, who himself endured temptations (like Heb 4:15 ), creation, free being. Man had to become such a judge, and in order to be able to resist him in the upcoming temptation from the devil, God in His Son gave victory over sin. Through Him, even those who believe can become perfect so that they have the right to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3) .
5. After this, probably, the event takes place, about which it is written: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you" ( Heb 1:5) . The Son of God creates the visible world and the invisible laws of nature, the whole universe and man (John 1:3) .
6. After fulfillment of the fullness of time (Gal 4:4) , He incarnates in Jesus Christ, on Golgotha takes upon himself the sins of the world, having satisfied the just judgment of God, and carrying out the planned plan of victory over evil (Gen 3:15) .
7. Those who have accepted Christ by faith and are justified in Him will judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3) . Before that, they themselves will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:10) and those who love unrighteousness will stand before the judgment of the great white throne (Rev 20:12) . The devil and his angels will be cast into the lake of fire, and with them also those who love unrighteousness. (Rev 22:15) . And thus in the universe everything will be subject to God (1 Corinthians 15:28) .

The essence of pre-election

The above sequence, in our opinion, satisfactorily explains the essence of pre-election. Before the creation of the visible world, with the description of which the book of Genesis begins, the Creator had a plan to save the Universe from the untruth that arose among the angels and the opportunity for the new creation, man, to stand in sin. This plan was to be realized in the only begotten Son of God, "slain from the foundation of the world" ( Rev 13:8) , and in due time incarnated in Jesus Christ. In His sacrifice for the sins of the world and the victory, which the Father knew in advance. In Jesus Christ, Who exists from the beginning of Being, the judges for the angels were also chosen - those who will accept Him. A very important thought: from the beginning there was no list of names of the elect in advance to salvation. But in Him there was an opportunity to be saved from sin, and with Him to reach eternity for a group of those who choose His path, voluntarily make their choice in favor of the love of truth, accepting it. (2 Thessalonians 2:10) . In the New Testament this group is called the Church. God knew in advance that there would be such. Election in Jesus Christ means that only those who abide in Him and have the pledge of the Spirit in their hearts are elected. (2 Corinthians 1:22) . Which can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) , insult (Eph 4:30) , blaspheme (Mt 12:31) . And, in the end, even having known the truth, it is possible to return to the world again (Heb 10:26) . The omniscient God knows the names of those who will stand, but His knowledge does not affect their ability to fall from grace of their own choosing, and under certain conditions He can even blot them out of the book of life. (Rev 3:5) . Thus, those who now have in their hearts the pledge of the Holy Spirit are chosen.

Interpretation of the texts of the Bible about pre-election.

So, the election of the Son of God before the creation of the world and in Him those who will respond to His call and remain faithful to Him to the end - the Church of Christ - is the essence of pre-election. It is from this position, with God's help, that we will test the arguments of the supporters of unconditional election.

Joshua 17:2“Yes to everything ... He will give eternal life”. God wants everyone in the world to be saved - the same thought. Further, Joshua 17:9 : "I'm not praying for the whole world". It's not about choosing in advance, but: "Keep them."

Ps 135:4 (Dan 4:34) “Which alone works great wonders, for His mercy endures forever”“Here we are talking about God's power, but not about pre-election.

Jer 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you: I appointed you a prophet to the nations”- In the Jewish environment of that time there was no question of choice - they knew the God of their fathers and worshiped Him. God gave Jeremiah a special gift to speak on His behalf. Further in the text, there is no mention of compulsory appointment, rather Jeremiah's complaint is heard that he does not have enough skill to carry out the assignment.

John 6:65"Unless it is given to him from the Father"- Followed by Peter's words, John 6:68 : "To whom shall we go?" It was their choice.

John 10:28"He will not snatch out of my hand"“Only those who cling to her. "The Lord is with you when you are with Him" 2 Chronicles 15:2) . About the possibility of falling away, voluntary abandonment, we read, for example, in Rev 2:4 .

John 15:16"I chose you"- it was said to the 12 apostles.

Acts 16:14“The woman… who worshiped God listened, and the Lord opened her heart”- The Lord opened the heart of the one who honored and listened, i.e. was looking for him.

Acts 13:48 "who were ordained to eternal life"— To be understood in the context of

Jas 1:18- "Desiring, He begot us with the word of truth, so that we might be some firstfruits of His creatures". But His desire is not only for us, but for all people to be saved and reach the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:4) . "Born Us"- rebirth from the Holy Spirit "through faith in the truth" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:13) . The context of the chapter is spiritual growth, not pre-election.

Rome 8:29"Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son" This thought begins in Rom 8:28: "loving God". But where did they come from? These are those who "received the love of the truth for his salvation" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10) . 2 Thes 2:30: "Whom He Called, Those He Justified"- this is not the only place about the call, see for example, Mt 11:28 , where it is clear that the call is addressed to all. Nor is it written that he justified without personal repentance. What is here? Assimilation Plan "loving" in the image of the Son, for glorification. But not in advance appointed to salvation.

Rom 9:13"As it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated"- Not about choosing in advance to salvation, but choosing a line for the blessing of the Abraham family. Esau was not cursed or condemned, although his descendants were corrupted and destroyed.

Eph 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:9"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world". “Determined us…through…Christ”. In Him (in Christ) the Church was chosen — those who will remain faithful to Him to the end, the group who have received salvation.

Eph 1:11“According to the decree of Him who does all according to the will of His will”- these words cannot be understood as doing absolutely everything, otherwise the whole human choice, which is spoken of by numerous imperative verbs addressed to the sinner, comes down to a game of choice. Having given man true freedom, the Creator cannot make a choice for him. Desire to refer to the plan of salvation as a whole.

Eph 2:1"Dead in Crimes"- considered together with 1 Corinthians 6:11: “So were some of you; but washed, but sanctified, but justified by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”. We are talking about the inseparable Adamic nature.

Eph 2:8"Saved by Faith... God's Gift". Salvation is not through works, but through faith - not unconditional. God's gift is not election, but salvation for those who will respond to the call. He called those who were saved to good works.

Phil 2:13“God works in you both willing and acting according to His good pleasure”- God produces desire in those who believe, but not in sinners. He rebukes them.

Col 1:12"who called us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light"“There is no mention of a special calling for us, but we are talking about our gratitude for the fact that He called us. This in no way cancels the universal vocation.

1 Thessalonians 1:3-4"Labour of love... and patience of hope... knowing your choice". Election is in Christ before the foundation of the world, those who will come to Him in response to His call.

2 Thessalonians 2:13"Through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, He chose us to salvation"— In Jesus Christ. This is not about unconditional election, but through the faith of those who remain in Him, chosen from the beginning of the world.

2 Tim 1:9"He who saved us...according to his own purpose and grace"- we are talking about the salvation we did not deserve "before the age of ages." But “us” is by no means individual, but those who accept salvation and the love of God – the church.

Titus 1:2"In the hope of eternal life, which God, unchanging in word, promised before the ages"— He promised eternal life to those who receive Him and who remain "in Him."

Rev 13:8“And all who dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This is God's plan of salvation realized in Jesus Christ. There is no hint here of specific names of people destined for salvation or condemnation from the beginning of the world.

Election and salvation

The explanations of the above texts seem to us satisfactory, and we can recognize the following conclusion about the final fate of man as fair.

Pre-election refers to the church of Christ, which was chosen in Him before the creation of the visible world. This is a group of those people who will believe, will receive grace in the future - for the judgment of the fallen angels. There is no personal election by God to salvation or condemnation, although He knows in advance the outcome of each life path. But His knowledge does not affect the freedom of human choice.

God is love (1 John 4:4) . Man was created in the image and likeness of God, created to communicate with his Creator, and is also capable of loving according to the choice of his heart. If a person opens it to God's love, he is filled with it, and through Christ is saved from sins and attains communion with Him in eternity. On the contrary, having loved the works of darkness and lawlessness (despite the repeated admonitions of God's messengers and the action of the Holy Spirit), he is subjected to judgment and eternal punishment with the devil, alienation from God in eternity.

"As it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated"

The word salvation has become a very popular Christian term.

We think of the Salvation Army, or the street preacher wearing a doomsday poster.

But when we think about salvation in Christian terms, the first question we need to ask ourselves is:

Salvation from what?

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)

Even the Israelis.

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23)

Death of our soul.
Eternal death of our spirit.

God there is love.

The Bible says:

“And almost everything according to the law is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22)

But here's the point.

“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

He was not born by accident.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

Scripture gives a clear answer to this question.
What does the Bible say about salvation?

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist says of Jesus:

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)

But wait! I thought that God is a God of love, and here it is talking about the wrath of God on those who do not believe.

Why shouldn't God be more tolerant?

Because God's number one goal for all of creation, even for mankind, is His glorification.

This is the main purpose of our birth. But our opposition to Him, our unbelief in Him, and not allowing Him to dictate to us through the Bible how to live, is a slap in the face to Him.

Throughout history, after Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, mankind continues to slap God with their opposition and refusal to accept His power over them.

Even the Israelis.

And in Romans we see the reason it's so destructive:

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23)

Death of our soul.
The final death of our body.
Eternal death of our spirit.

God created heaven as an eternal place of residence for all who die, but on one condition:

You must be perfect - you must be holy.

Hmm, that doesn't seem fair. Is not it?

From the very first day, everything is stacked against us!

This alludes quite clearly to destruction for every person, because, as we can see, the Bible says: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10) and “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

But man is an eternal being. Our body dies, but our spirit is eternal. So, if our spirit cannot, according to God's very strict rules, live forever in heaven, there is only one alternative left for mankind: “Let the wicked turn to hell” (Ps. 9:17).

This seems to speak in favor of those who portray Christians as vicious radicals screaming that everyone is going to hell, except for one thing.

God is love.

He really is, and that's how He showed it.

God knows that from the day we are born, we have a tendency to do things we shouldn't do. The Bible essentially says the following: “For He knows our constitution, He remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 102:14).

This means that God understands human nature. He does not forget the fact that we are not perfect and never will be.

So He came up with another rule for heaven.

Have you ever looked back and regretted something you did? A stupid thing to do at school, like cheating on an exam.

Or about something more, like an abortion - and pain and guilt that just won't go away?

There is a way to make it go away.

This is the part where we see that God really is love.

The Bible says:

“And almost everything according to the law is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22)

But here's the point.

We cannot be the ones whose blood can be spilled, because the sacrifice must be completely perfect. And that brings us to just one person.

This is exactly the reason why Jesus came to earth.

“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus came for the sole purpose of dying.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

That was the one and only reason for His birth, because according to God's plan, He must be the one to shed His blood so that our sins would be forgiven.

God literally allowed His Son to be killed like a criminal so that the spirit of each of us would not spend eternity in hell.

But there are conditions for this. The blood of Jesus does not give a free pass to heaven for all mankind, who has lived, is living, and will live.

All references to sources are listed at the end of the article.
Copyright by Daniel D. Corner. However, for the sake of truth and eternal souls, you have our permission to copy this brochure for free distribution, but NOT for sale.

Distrustful of the doctrine of conditional security, the author of one pamphlet wrote: Show me just one person in the Bible who was saved and then lost his salvation. one

The following article will show eighteen such biblical examples - two from the Old Testament and sixteen from the New Testament.

Saul

Out of all Israel, God himself chose Saul ruler of his inheritance.(1 Sam. 10:1 compare with 9:16,17). When we later learn that God rejected David's older brother (Eliab) to become king because of his bad heart (1 Sam. 16:6,7 cf. 17:28), can we say with certainty that God must have chosen Saul be king based on his right heart? It is also incredible that God would show his prophet to anoint an unsaved person as king over His people.

The Bible states that Saul in the beginning had the Spirit of God come upon him. (1 Sam. 10:10). Later, however, God said of the same man:

I regret that I made Saul king, for he turned away from me and did not fulfill my word. (1 Samuel 15:11).

Saul turned away from God. Doesn't this mean that Saul was with God up to this point? Shortly after Saul stopped to follow for the Lord, we read:

BUT The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. (1 Samuel 16:14).

After this we read about the spiritual fall of Saul. His envy of David (1 Sam. 18:7-9) led to other sins, including repeated attempts to kill David (and even kill Jonathan, Saul's own son). Look at 1 Sam. 18:11; 19:10; 20:33.

Saul also unjustly ordered the murder of 85 people who wore a linen ephod and Nobah, the city of priests, struck with a sword; and men and women, and boys and babies. (1 Sam. 22:18,19). The Bible states that no murderer has eternal life dwelling in him.(1 John 3:15).

Despite all this, some still think that Saul was saved at the end of his life, because Samuel, who died saved, said to him:

And the Lord will deliver Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines: tomorrow you and your sons you will with me…. . . (1 Samuel 28:19). 2

Two things need to be mentioned along with this verse.

First, to quote 1 Sam. 28:19 means to take the passage out of context. We should start the quote from verse 16:

And Samuel said, Why do you ask me when The Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy? The Lord will do what He spoke through me; The Lord will take the kingdom from your hands and give it to your neighbor David. Since you did not listen to the voice of the Lord and did not fulfill the fury of His anger against Amalek, the Lord is doing this against you now. And the Lord will deliver Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines: tomorrow you and your sons you will with me, and the Lord will deliver the camp of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

At this point in time, Saul became enemy God. According to Heb. 10:27 am the fury of the fire will destroy the enemies of God. Saul had only one day left to live, yet he never repented. In fact, he took his own life (1 Sam. 31:4). Thus, from the time of 1 Sam. 15:11 until the very end of his life, Saul never turned to God again. Therefore, it is impossible that he could escape the fiery torment in the afterlife. he died adversary of God.

Second, many people don't realize that in the days of the prophet Samuel, the righteous and the wicked went to Hades! This is clearly shown in Lk. 16:19-31. There we see the righteous Abraham and Lazarus were in a place of contentment and separated by a great chasm from the rich Jew who died in sin, in need of repentance. This most unrepentant man was in fiery torment. In light of this, the righteous Samuel could say that the sinful Saul will be with him meaning that he would be dead in Hades too. But according to another Biblical statement, he will be on fire on the opposite side of the chasm from Samuel.

Saul is a perfect example of a man who once followed God (1 Sam. 15:11), but later turned away, became an enemy of God (1 Sam. 28:16) and committed suicide (1 Sam. 31:4,5).

In other words, the Bible states that Saul completely and completely fell away from the faith, despite how it conflicts with Westminster Creed 3 and certain teachers of SAOS (Saved Once, Saved Forever)!

Solomon

Solomon is an example of a man who walked with God for decades. However, at the end of his life, he turned away from God and never came back.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon because he turned his heart away from the Lord God of Israel, who appeared to him twice and commanded him not to follow other gods; but he did not fulfill what the Lord commanded him. (1 Kings 11:9,10).

This very man had the most unusual beginning with the Lord. God gave him incredible wisdom in ruling over Israel, and beyond that, wealth and glory. He also had the unique privilege of building the Temple. When he finished the prayer dedicated to the Temple, fire came down from heaven:

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. (2 Chr. 7:1,2).

In fact, Solomon saw God twice (1 Kings 11:3) and was used to write part of the Bible. However, after this man walked faithfully with God for decades, during his old age, “his wives incline his heart to other gods” (1 Kings 11:4) Imagine it! Proper worship and sacrifices were offered to God in the Temple that Solomon built; however, this same man worshiped pagan gods unfavorably because of his pagan wives. (Unmarried people remember Solomon and be careful! Marry only in the Lord. See also Neh. 13:26.)

Solomon's heart turned away from the Lord God to idolatry! There is no minimum Biblical evidence to say that he ever returned to God in the book of Ecclesiastes or anywhere else in the Bible. No one! If the teachers of HOCH think it exists, then let them add a special chapter or verse that certainly says so. A load of evidence upon them to show that Solomon returned to God, but this cannot be proven.

Before Solomon's heart turned away from God, we read:

He will build a house for my name, and he will be my son and I will be his father, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever (1 Chronicles 22:10).

These words were spoken by the prophet of God to David about Solomon. Therefore, at one time, God was the spiritual father of Solomon, and Solomon son God. However, despite this, he was warned that if he left God, God would leave him forever:

If you seek Him, you will find Him, and if 4 leave Him, He will leave you forever.(1 Chr. 28:9).

Unfortunately, the Bible record shows that this warning of treason did not prevent it from happening.

Because Solomon set God aside, God was true to his warning and also left him for good! Solomon's past loyalty and service to the Lord, as son Gentlemen, had nothing to do with what God would do to him if he left God. The fact that he was loved by God (2 Sam. 12:24,25; Nehemiah 13:26) did not prevent this. In other words, there is no seniority before the LORD or safety for any saint who leaves God for idolatry.

Defenders of SOSN write about Solomon:

In the death of Solomon there are stains and lack of information, which many people conclude that he has lost salvation: on the other hand, there are those who do not believe that he has fallen so that he has lost the favor of God and is forever lost. 5

But the final facts of Solomon's life are much clearer than some would like to think. Unfortunately, Solomon never repented, he tried to interfere with the will of God by trying to kill Jeroboam, God's choice to rule the ten tribes, which he was about to wrest from his hand. (1 Kings 11:31). Therefore, Jeroboam fled from Jerusalem to Egypt and lived there until the death of Solomon.

Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt to Shushakim king of Egypt, and lived in Egypt until the death of Solomon.(1 Kings 11:40).

If Solomon had repented after this attempt, Jeroboam would have returned unscathed, but he was not safe while Solomon was alive, and Jeroboam knew it! Because Solomon died in such a spiritual state and the Apostle Paul wrote that no murderer has eternal life(1 John 3:15), then we can conclude that Solomon died in lost spiritual state. In Rev. 21:8 God also declares where the unrepentant idolaters and murderers will go - to the lake burning with fire and brimstone.

Therefore, there is no spots and missing information of the fate of Solomon, as some say, except for those who reject the obvious facts of the Bible in favor of some man-made creed or doctrine.

Besides saying that Solomon didn't fall so as to lose the favor of God and perish forever is to say that one can be an unrepentant idolater (and murderer) and not fall into a lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is clearly the exact opposite of what God said. (Rev. 21:8).

This account of Solomon, who completely and completely fell away from the faith, also shows that certain verses from the Old Testament that show that the believer [unconditionally] keep by the Lord were misinterpreted. Usually quoted Ps. 37:24,28. 6 Robert Maury is another OHSS proponent who commits the same kind of misinterpretation of the Old Testament. 7 If these Bible verses actually taught that we unreservedly kept by the Lord, why didn't it work for Solomon then? Man's good will and man's duties after his salvation must have a role in him. kept by the Lord as the example of Solomon shows; if man's good will didn't then Solomon would have remained faithful, since God doesn't want anyone to perish and he never fails!

The life of Solomon (as well as that of Saul) refutes the concept held by teachers of the SOCH (moderate form) such as Kennedy:

This person may fall into sin from time to time, but he will not live in this sin. eight

After he deviated from the Lord, Solomon, as well as Saul, continued live in sin for the rest of your life. Therefore, contrary dogmatic statements must be rejected:

No one can point to someone who was undeniably a true believer and constantly backslidden. 9

Those Who Believe in Time

Jesus told the saved the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven in parables (Matt. 13:11-15; Luke 8:9, 10). Some of these parables have a destructive power for the SOS, especially one called the Parable of the Sower, which can be found in all three synoptic gospels (Mt. 13:3-9 cf. 13:18-23; Mk. 4:3-8 cf. 4:14-20 and Luke 8:5-8 cf. 8:11-15).

This parable is one of two that the Lord explains. (Another parable that the Lord explained is the Parable of the Weeds)

In the parable of the Sower, the Lord spoke of four classes of people who hear the Word of God. Four classes:

Class A will never be saved - the grain did not bear fruit.

Class B is the class on which we will focus in detail, who are on the stone.

Class B is a person who hears the Word of God, but his God fruit is silenced. thorns- worldly cares and wealth.

Only a Grade G person has a grain that has fallen into good land brought forth fruit - a hundred, sixty, or thirty times more than was sown.

Regarding the Class B man in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said in Lk. 8:13:

And those that fall on the stone are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but which have no root, and believe for a time, but fall away in time of temptation.

Why did Jesus say that they don't have a root? What did Jesus mean by saying that they fall away? What is this temptation time? What does believe in time?

Let's answer these questions in reverse order. Firstly, believe in timeword about the Kingdom Matt. 13:19) was definitely saving faith. We must draw such a conclusion. life was given to this class of man from the Word of God through their faith, unlike the Class A who never believed and therefore were never saved. Regarding Class A, Jesus said: must mean that a person who has heard the Word of God (also called

And what fell along the way is the essence of those who hear, to whom the devil then comes and takes the word out of their hearts, lest they believe and be saved(Luke 8:12).

The Word of God (seed) has never given life in the form of Class A fruit because man has never believed. If this man had believed, he would have been saved. But that's not the case for the Class B man.

The Class B person hears the word and gladly accepts it (Matt. 13:20). Also, there can be no reasonable doubt whether a person from this class believed or not, because Jesus clearly states that a person from this class believed as opposed to Class A. He said that they believe in time. 10 believe, which he used in verse 12, which lacked salvation into a Grade A man! Please note that the Lord used the same Greek word (pisteuo) in Lk. 8:13 for

Besides, as far as the Class B man is concerned, it lasts for a short time(Matthew 13:21). So again, there is real spiritual life in this class, but it doesn't continue according to what Jesus said. This is the interpretation of the parable given by Jesus. Therefore, it is not open to other possible interpretations! Thus, a person had a personal faith that gives spiritual life for a period of time. If such a person had died physically while he still believed and before he fell away, he would have entered the Kingdom of Heaven.

What temptation time? The answer can be found in Matt. 13:21:

When it comes sorrow or persecution for a word, he is immediately tempted.

In other words, sorrow and persecution caused the Class B person to stop believing, which ended his spiritual life as a result. This is shown by the fact that the fruit dried up and died. This is not a person who never believed from the beginning, but tribulation and persecution of the Word adversely affected this person and he stopped believing. Thus, tribulation and persecution due to true faith will happen to those who believe. Paul agrees:

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim. 3:12).

Dear reader, if you are a real Christian, persecution will happen to you as temptation. According to Lk. 8:13, persecution for a godly life is yours time of temptation. This can happen in a mild form of ridicule or you will be excommunicated (Luke 6:22,23). But when that happens, regardless of the form, don't let it destroy you spiritually, as it has destroyed many.

What does fall away? If we compare Lk. 8:6 and 8:13, we will notice that Jesus said that the seedlings withered when they fell off. In other words, it happened when the seedlings withered(or died), people fell away. We can't die if we didn't have life! Therefore, a person must first be saved before he can retreat, according to the teachings of Jesus.

Also, the same Greek word translated withered in Lk. 8:6 is also used in Jn. 15:6, what happens to the branches that come off the Vine. Jesus gave us both of these passages and used the same word in the same sense, meaning spiritual death, which he called fall away in the Gospel of Luke . Again, this happens when a person stops believing. Thus, it is absolutely clear that it is possible to lose faith, but CSN denies this:

The loss of faith is only a theory. We don't think this is possible. eleven

Finally, in Mk. 4:17 and Jn. 16:1, Jesus used the word scandalizo, which means be tempted. The last link was definitely addressed to those who had already been saved:

This I have said to you so that you do not seduced.(John 16:1).

What we read about the Class B man in the Parable of the Sower in Mk. 4:17, this is what may later happen to true Christians, i.e. his students!

There is a clear and glaring contradiction between the Lord Jesus and what John Calvin wrote, who denied that a Christian could fall away:

Moreover, there can be no doubt that Christ prays for all elected, he asks for the same thing for them that he asked for Peter - namely, that their faith would not fail (Luke 22:32). From this we can conclude that there is no danger for them to fall away.... . . . 12

What did Jesus mean by saying that they have no root? To understand what the Lord meant by this, we must notice that the sapling appeared. But after some time, this seedling died. In other words, the seedling has not stood the test of time. It is like a class of believer who does not continue to walk with the Lord after their spiritual rebirth. This is what the Lord meant when he said they don't have a root.

POS proponents usually refer to Mt. 13:20 to the complete exclusion of Lk. 8:13 and an attempt to squeeze out an interpretation compatible with their teaching for those on the rock that is, they say that this type of person only had a fake or temporary faith that was never genuine.

Critical to know that temporary faith POS to supporters means that it never generated a refresh. As already proved, spiritual life existed for some time in such people. Hence, such a one skipped from death to life, then again back to death as shown by the seed producing life, which later died in being pointed out of disbelief.

There is no way to know how many people we personally observed in our generation who became truly saved, then fell away right before our own eyes, according to the teachings of Jesus. Of course, in order to protect SONS, this is flatly dismissed with a simple, “They really were never saved to begin with. ” While it is true that some are never saved, like Tip in the parable, or those mentioned in Mt. 7:21-23 Class B face gets saved but does not continue to believe (stay alive spiritually). Therefore, this kind of COCH response cannot be applied here.

It seems that Paul had a righteous concern about what happened to a class B man when he wrote:

And they sent Timothy, our brother and servant of God and our fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to confirm you and comfort you in your faith so that no one may be shaken in these tribulations: for you yourselves know that this is how we are destined. For even then, as we were with you, we predicted to you that we would suffer,sent to inquire about your faith, lest the tempter tempt you, and our labor be in vain. (1 Thessalonians 3:2-5). as it happened, and you know. Therefore, I, not enduring more,

By the way, to be a Class D person (a person with a good heart who bears fruit by hearing the Word of God), you will need to:

(1) endure tribulation and persecution for a godly life

(2) (1) not let the cares of this world, riches, and other desires deprive you of your fruit. (Mark 4:19; Luke 8:14).

OK. 8:15 gives a clearer definition of a Class D person:

And those who have fallen on good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in a good and pure heart and bear fruit in patience.

Word in patience hints at difficulties. Paul was an example of a man of this class. He faced many hardships (2 Cor. 6:4-10; 11:23-27; etc.) but still remained faithful to God.

Dimas

Demas was a companion of the Apostle Paul (Col. 4:14; Phm. 1:24). Together they worked, enduring various sorrows and persecutions, in order to draw the Kingdom of Heaven. This speaks highly of Demas, because Paul carefully and carefully selected those with whom he worked for the Lord. This is obvious, because he rejected John (called Mark) for his past unfaithfulness. (Acts 15:37-41).

However, in Paul's last letter before his torment, he informed Timothy of the following change in Demas:

For Demas left me loving this age and went to Thessalonica. (2 Tim. 4:10).

During Demas' departure from Paul:

(1) He loved the present age, which made him leave Paul. [Greek shows what Demas loved is God-Satan (1 Cor. 4:4)!]

(2) He didn't love the world as he used to in his Christian life. In other words, the state of his heart was others during Paul's last letter. Obviously Demas. didn't keep my heart(Prov. 4:23). Somehow he was deceived, which influenced his behavior.

With all this in mind about Demas, let the Bible talk more about him with you:

Do not love the world, nor what is in the world: Whoever loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him.(1 John 2:15).

The seriousness of the lack of love for God the Father is evident from Jas. 1:12, 2:5 and Jn. 5:42. In other words, a person is not saved when he does not love God the Father. Demas fell to such a state.

Eph. 2:1,2 says:

And you, who are dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once lived, the custom of the world this spirit, according to the will of the prince of the power of the air, which is now working in the sons of disobedience.

The word translated as customs(aion) is the same word used in 2 Tim. 4:10 and also meaning that which Demas loved. The word translated as world (kosmos), is the same word used in 1 Jn. 2:15!

Jacob. 4:4 adds to all this:

Adulterers and adulterers! don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? So whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy to God.

James also partially wrote to a group of spiritual adulterers. (Compare with Jer. 3:20 and Ezek. 6:9.) Notice how James states that human can become an enemy to God .

Man can be saved or not saved; with Jesus or without him; child of God or enemy of God. It is assumed that before become an enemy of God this man was a child of God. There is no other spiritual state. Therefore, Jas 4:4 means the enemy of God becomes a child of God and then becomes an enemy of God again. Heb. 10:27 adds the following:

…the fury of fire, ready to devour opponents.

So if become enemy of God from his former spiritual state to be saved, then he cannot be saved anymore and raging fire, awaits him if he does not repent.

James quotes in a condensed form what happened to Demas, i.e. The Christian may come to love the world and show himself more saved. Also, this is the answer for those who say, based on the Old Testament, that "Christ is married to an apostate," but fail to say:

I let her go and gave her a bill of divorce, her treacherous sister Judea was not afraid, but went and committed fornication herself. (Jer. 3:8).

Prodigal son

The parable of the Prodigal Son also refutes the SBSN. From Lk. 15:11-32 we learn that the younger of the two sons wanted to leave his Father and live a life of debauchery. After spending all his money and living in poverty, he came to his senses(verse 17). Then he turned away from his sins (repented), willingly admitted that he had sinned, and returned back to the Father to work (serve) for him. It ended with a feast of fun. Father said:

And bring a fattened calf and kill it; Let's eat and be merry! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.(verses 23,24).

From the teachings of Jesus we learn:

(1) Real son The father can become spiritually dead and lost because of sin.

(2) Nobody snatched out the Prodigal Son out of the hand of the Father, but the Father gave him the opportunity to inflict spiritual harm on himself, even when he became lost.

(3) The Father did not hit the Prodigal Dead physically before he became spiritually lost.

(4) The Prodigal Son was captured day of atonement, like other children of God, but still he died and became spiritually dead because of immoral life and sexual debauchery.

(5) A father's love did not prevent his son from spiritually perishing and being lost through sin.

(6) The Father was always faithful, yet sin killed the Son of God.

(7) Father is not left him, but he left the Father. The father allowed him to go.

(8) After he repented, he came to life from which it follows that his spiritual state went through the following stages: spiritually alive, then spiritually dead or lost-then came to life again.

An important point, the Father emphasized in verses 24 and 32 was a complete reversal of the spiritual state of the Prodigal Son, now that he repented. He went from dead to alive again, which equates in the same sentence as a movement from lost before found. Hence, there is great reason to rejoice over such a sinner who repents, as already mentioned on two separate occasions in this same chapter.

It also shows that he was escaping again through repentance after he became lost. Likewise Rome. 11:23 says:

But even those, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is mighty graft them again.

Contrary to this scripture, HOSN teaches unbiblically:

Nowhere does Scripture speak of a person being saved twice 13

The prodigal son was spiritually alive when he was in the presence of the Father, both before and after him. wild living(verse 13). When in the wild living, he was spiritually dead and lost in his sins.

Perhaps the words alive again open the most. Greek word anazao, from which alive again comes is found five times in the New Testament - in these two verses only quoted, Rom. 7:9; 14:9 and Rev. 20:5. It means alive again, or revive. 14

This is easily seen in Rom. 14:9, “... Christ died and came back to life...” It is stated here that the physical condition of the Lord went from life to death [on the cross] to life again[when it arose from the grave].

Similarly, the spiritual condition of the Prodigal Son went from life to death [when with prostitutes] to life again[when he returned to the presence of the Father].

Many in our hour teach and sincerely believe that the most one could ever lose through sin after initial salvation is their joy of salvation, fellowship with the Father, spiritual reward, position in the kingdom, etc. Jesus, however, taught differently! The Lord taught that the living spiritual state of the Prodigal Son degenerated to dead, the same as for everyone before the initial salvation (Eph. 2:1).

What happened to the Prodigal Son is a change of what happens in what is pointed out from the initial salvation (John 5:24). Jesus taught there that we go from death to life, but the Lord also taught that we can go from life to death (Luke 15:24,32)!

Paul similarly explained to Christians after their initial salvation:

For if you live according to the flesh, then die but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Rom. 8:13).

This is what happened to the Prodigal Son. He died spiritually because he chose, through his own free will, live according to sinful nature.

Luke 15:13 states that wild living characterized his behavior when spiritually dead and lost his unacknowledged and unrepentant sins. Word for wild living(asotos) comes from a Greek word meaning excess as found in Eph. 5:18:

And do not get drunk with wine, which makes debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit.

So the behavior of the Prodigal Son, as implied by Lk. 15:13, included drunkenness and other excesses that come with that kind of sinful lifestyle. It would have been a safe dormition anyway, especially since he was spending his money with prostitutes (Luke 15:30). Therefore, among other grave sins, the sins of the Prodigal Son were sexual immorality and probably intoxication also two rampant spiritual killers these days too! Paul wrote about these and other similar sins in Gal. 5:19-21 and 1 Cor. 6:9,10. This former passage, written to Christians in a warning form, reads:

The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, magic, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations), heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrageousness and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Note, contrary to what some of the OCWS instructors say, based on a flawed interpretation of Colonel 2:13, Prodigal's future sins were not automatically forgiven because if they were, it would be impossible for them to invoke him. dead and lost spiritual state!

Others say of Prodigal, “He was still a son when with prostitutes. ” But such as to seem to forget the spiritual son of God spiritually cannot be dead and lost for Prodigal was at that point. If Prodigal had died at that point in time, he would have gone into eternal fire!

Anyway, when Hal Lindsay commented on the Prodigal, he misquoted Lk. 15:24,32 into something different than what God taught, which also happens to be compatible with ASN:

And the fact that the father says of his son that he was “dead and now alive, was lost and now found” shows that a very radical change has taken place in the relationship of the two.

The change that has taken place is called "reconciliation". fifteen

Lindsay dropped a word again from Lk. 15:24 and inserted word now! At the beginning of his book, he states “Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible. ” When one check Lk. 15:24, this is what he reads:

For this son of mine was dead and again came to life, disappeared and was found. And they started having fun.

Please note the difference between Lindsay's quote and what the NASB actually says. Deleting a word again and inserting the word now the fact is hidden that the Prodigal Son was spiritually alive before he became spiritually dead and lost through sin.

There is no seniority with God. It is your final spiritual state that counts! You must endure the rest of your life to enter the kingdom of God. You must continue believing on Jesus Christ or be lost.

In the review, The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) convincingly shows the full extent of the destructive power of sin in the life of a son of God, the key roles that good will and the human responsibility play, the limited protective power offered seal believer, etc. Christ taught them all directly.

Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot was at the same time apostle(Matthew 10:2) and student Christ(Mt. 10:1). (Matthew 10:1). However, Jesus concluded that he would end up in the torment of eternal fire:

Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed: It would be better for that person not to be born(Mark 14:21).

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Some attempt to avoid the force of these combined verses by saying one cannot be a disciple of Christ like Judas, yet never be a true follower of Christ:

Judas was a disciple, but he was never a real believer. 16

However, the following verses show the opposite about the meaning student:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple; and whoever does not bear his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.(Luke 14:26,27).

. . . So any of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be My disciple.(Luke 14:33).

And pointing out with His hand on his disciples, said: here are my mother and my brothers; for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.(Matthew 12:49,50).

Judas Iscariot met all these requirements of commitment to Christ, as did the rest of the Twelve. he was the same student like them.

Others will say that Judas was named devil 17 (John 6:70), thief(John 12:6), and Satan got into him(John 13:27), how then could he be saved? These people fail to see the truth that a person's spiritual state can change from righteous to sinful, as we clearly saw in the example of Saul, Solomon, and the Prodigal Son. Yes, Judas was once saved, but he was not clean before betrayal. (John 13:10,11). But that doesn't mean he was never saved! Remember that in the beginning Judas was a disciple of the Lord.

Some have also confused the truth stated in Jn. 6:64 to mean Judas never believed, even from the beginning. However, it doesn't say it at all. The verse reads:

who are unbelievers and who betray him.

There are two groups mentioned here. This is evident in Greek. One is plural in time, which did not believe from the beginning, and the other is singular in time as for Judas, who would betray him! Wuest the translation is given by Ying. 6:64 as follows:

But there are some of you who are unbelievers. For Jesus knew from the beginning who are the unbelievers and who will betray him.

Another argument suggested saying that Judas was never saved, he was called son of perdition(John 17:12). If this is true, then we must say the Apostle, Peter was not saved by anyone on Jesus, called by him, Satan(Mt. 16:23)!

Matthias was the apostolic replacement for Judas, as we read:

To take a place in this ministry and receive the position of an apostle from which, Jude fell away and went astray to go (where he belonged), to his own (proper) place (Acts 1:25, Amplified Bible).

Note, Apostle, Judas gone astray from its former condition.

In Matthew 10, we were given many directives by the Lord to the full Twelve, including Judas. Verse 25 implies that Jesus was head Judas, and Judas was a member household Jesus! Verse 29 also declares that God to be spiritual father Jude, this points out in time. To receive Judas before he went astray - when he was still student, was the same as receiving Jesus, verse 40. When Judas would be arrested for preaching the word of God, he didn't have to worry about what to say or how he had to answer for the Spirit of the Father would speak through him, verse 20. Also, Judas was God's servant, and Jesus was his Master, verse 24.

If Judas was never saved, then Jesus sent the unsaved man along with the rest of the Twelve to preach his gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse leprosy and cast out demons (Mt 10:7,8)! Mark 3:14,15 states that the Twelve, including Judas, were given spiritual authority by Jesus to cast out demons. Would Jesus give an unsaved man the same type of spiritual authority along with the undeniably saved apostles, likewise be his holy representative? Never! For a person to say that Judas was never saved is to say, involuntarily, that Jesus chose the child of the devil to be his holy representative, which is borderline blasphemy.

Also, please note the high spiritual qualifications listed in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Tit 1:7-9 which spiritual leader, like Judas, was to meet! In fact, Judas performed the highest rite in the New Testament church as apostle(1 Corinthians 12:28). For Jesus to raise him to such a high rite, since an apostle would have been a violation of Scripture if he had never been saved.

POS teachers almost never use his high church rite apostle with Judas. Can you remember the last time you heard that a POS teacher referred to a betrayer of the Lord as “Apostle Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” or even “Apostle Jude”?

Judas was once a saved man who preached the gospel, healed the sick, then went astray and ended up in eternal fire after he betrayed Jesus and committed suicide.

In In. 17:12 we read:

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe in the name you gave me. None were lost except one doomed to destruction so that Scripture may be fulfilled.

Also, In. 17:12 is like someone saying the following: “Here are these twelve marbles that you gave me. None were lost except one green marble. ” Would that statement imply that he never had twelve marbles to begin with? Or, could this mean that the green marble (likened to Judas) was never in his possession, even at the beginning? Of course not! Why do some Scripture read that way? If Judas was never saved, he might not be an exception to the other eleven, who were kept safe and would not become lost like he did.

Finally, please note the obvious conclusion to which we must obtain a comparison of Jn. 17:2 to Jn. 17:12. Jesus gave eternal life to all the Father, gave him, verse 2. Clearly, Judas is included in this group of recipients as verse 12 shows. Therefore, Judas once had eternal life like the rest of the Twelve! Despite this, he was doomed to destruction after his death. There was no SOS for the Apostle Jude.

Logically, it only takes one example of a person in Scripture to be proven false, who ever received spiritual life through salvation, then later lost it or the Biblical teaching that would declare the possibility of such an appearance. Consequently, POS believers are left with no alternative, but flatly insist that Judas was never truly saved to begin with or penalize their belief in POS - SOMETHING few of them seem willing to do.

Sometimes, apparently unbiblical things will be said about this apostle:

Judas is a prime example of a believing expression who fell into absolute apostasy. Within three years he followed the Lord with other students. He seemed to be one of them. Perhaps he thought of himself as a believer, at least in the beginning. It is doubtful that he joined the band of Christ with the intention of turning against Him. Somewhere along the line he got greedy, but that could hardly be his motive at the start; Jesus and the disciples never had anything of material value (Matthew 8:20). Apparently Judas initially shared the hope of Christ's kingdom, and he probably believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Finally, he also left everything to follow the Lord. In modern terminology, he "received" Jesus. eighteen

Educational bible or bible for indoctrination?

So called educational Bibles that are sold in the so-called Christian bookstores, are not real study bibles, as they contain much more than just maps, weights, units, charts, and so on. Many of notes(interpretations), for example, the quotes from John MacArthur that you just read are actually dangerous, false teachings taught by teachers of the "saved once, saved forever" theory. They should be called more precisely: Bibles for indoctrination because that's what they often do. Worse, when the "saved once, saved forever" lie is taught in these training Bibles, it actually infects the absolutely beautiful, in its purest form, the Bible with this lie, which is contained next to the Divine truth.

Thus, if one takes the position of a publisher and believes in the doctrine of "saved once, saved forever" like John MacArthur, this deadly theological lie will slip into their so-called educational Bible, bringing eternal danger to all who mistakenly believe that notes and comments are useful for understanding the text. (Others containing dangerous deceit so-called educational Bibles other than the John MacArthur Bible: Ryre Study Bible, Schofield Reference Bible, New Geneva Study Bible, and Holman Christian Standard Bible, just to name a few!)

sin like Lifestyle

Another term that John MacArthur uses when he teaches about sin is sin as a way of life . (Some people who claim to reject the “saved once, saved forever” doctrine are also teaching this erroneous John MacArthur doctrine of sin as a way of life to the detriment of their followers, and they, like John MacArthur, are condemned by Jude 3,4.) You may have heard John MacArthur and others use this term.

Salvation can be lost due to one sin!

For the years that I obeyed the command fight for faith against the "saved once-saved forever" doctrine (Jude 3:4), I have met some people who claim to reject the "saved once-saved forever" doctrine, but then teach that a Christian can participate in random acts adultery, drunkenness, theft, etc. and stay saved. They usually deny that David lost his salvation when he committed adultery and murder and did not repent of it. Others said that your salvation can be lost, but gained very hard. One person even stated that before you lose your salvation, You must tell God that you reject Him. Is there any biblical evidence for these claims? Is there any basis for them? Or does Scripture say that salvation can be lost after a single act of a certain sin? (Please remember that All sins have different degrees of severity: some lead to [spiritual] death while others do not, 1 John 5:16,17.)

How many times must a righteous person fall into sexual immorality, drunkenness, theft, etc. to lose your salvation? Should it be Lifestyle or continuous sin? Is it necessary, as some argue, to practice sin to become unsaved or to demonstrate complete lack of original salvation? Let's look at the word of God.

hard facts

Returning to an important passage of Scripture already mentioned, one of the original teachers grace proclaimed:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be fooled: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor Malachi, nor homosexuals, nor the thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor blasphemous, nor predators – The kingdom of God will not be inherited (1 Cor. 6:9,10).

According to the passage of Scripture quoted above, any person who falls under this description will not inherit the Kingdom of God. So how difficult is it, by the Biblical definition, to become adulterer Or anyone from this list? Should a person to practice adultery before, by the Biblical definition, he becomes adulterer? Should it be Lifestyle? Here are the facts:

If anyone commits adultery with a married wife, if anyone commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, let them be put to death and adulterer and an adulteress. (Lev. 20:10)

As just shown, the definition of the word adulterer agrees with the word of God, is the one who commits adultery. Therefore, any person who one or several acts of adultery is adulterer . The same can be said by analogy for the other bold words in 1 Cor. 6:9,10. Their definition is one who performs a certain act whether it is theft, drunkenness, idolatry, or the like. To become a fornicator, an idolater, an adulterer, a malakier, a sodomy, a thief, a covetous man, a drunkard, a blasphemer, or a predator from Cor. 6:9,10 you do not need to do these deeds 5, 16 or 113 times or lead a dissolute Lifestyle. Based on the example above with the word " adulterer it becomes crystal clear.

For this it is not necessary continuously commit sin
or lead sinful Lifestyle

Other passages of Scripture reveal the same devastating truth, refuting the notion that continuous sin or sin as a way of life is the only way to lose salvation (or demonstrate that a person is really never been saved). For example:

If someone strikes someone with an iron weapon so that he dies, he killer: killer must put to death; (Num. 35:16)

Moreover, the only act killings makes a person killer. (Including suicides, who are self-murderers.) Such the only one an act of sin will exclude any person from the Kingdom of God unless they repent:

Fearful and unfaithful, and nasty and killers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars fate in the lake burning with fire and brimstone. This is the second death. (Rev. 21:8)

Denying Jesus

The Lord Jesus said the following to the already saved:

but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:33)

20 Later we learn that all the first apostles, except for Judas, who betrayed Jesus, recanted from the Lord:

Then Jesus said to them: All of you be tempted about Me this night, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and they will be scattered sheep herds; after my resurrection I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered him, saying, If all be tempted about You, I will never be offended. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, this night, before the rooster crows, deny me three times. Peter says to him, Even though it behooves me to die with you, I will not deny you. All the students said the same. (Matthew 26:31-35)

So how difficult it was for Peter and others sheep, recant from Jesus and be tempted?It turned out not to be very difficult, soon happened as written:

Peter was sitting outside in the yard. And a maid approached him and said, You were also with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied before everyone, saying: I do not know what you are talking about. When he went out of the gate, another saw him, and said to those who were there: and this one was with Jesus of Nazareth. And he again denied with an oath that he did not know This Man. After a while, those who were standing there came up and said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for your speech also reproves you.” Then he began to swear and swear that he did not know This Man. And suddenly a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows, thrice renounce from me. And when he went out, he wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:69-75)

Just like Peter, a true Christian can recant from Jesus (or be tempted). This is what the apostle Peter did, denying that he was with or knew Jesus. He didn't have to tell God I do not want you(and he did not need to conduct such Lifestyle). Peter's words were reason enough for Jesus to deny Peter! If Jesus renounces from you, you can no longer be His sheep, just like other unsaved people. Christians are described as God's possessions: His sheep (John 10:26,27; 21:16,16), his bride (Rev. 19:7), his body (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:24); etc.

Adam and Eve

The first act of human disobedience in the Bible occurred in Gen. 3. God warned Adam son of God(Luke 3:38) that on the day he eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he will die(Gen. 2:17). That's exactly what happened by one single act of sin. It was not common practice in their lifestyle, it was only one the only act of sin that brought both Adam and Eve to their spiritual of death.

David began to iniquity

Shockingly, even people who are extremely strong in faith can subsequently err to the point of committing sin that leads to death. That's what David did. His manifest sins were one act of adultery and one act of murder, who would exclude him from the kingdom of God and bring him into the lake of fire (1 Cor. 6:9,10; Rev. 21:8). 21

For at least 9 months, he was, according to the Bible, adulterer and killer due to his separate acts of adultery and murder.

Nathan said to David:

why did you disregard the word of the Lord, doing evil before His eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you took his wife for your wife, and you killed him with the sword of the Ammonites; (2 Sam. 12:9)

Note what David did evil. You may say that this is not a great revelation of truth at all. Of course adultery and murder are evil. But false teachers, some of whom say they reject eternal security, would claim that David did not lose his salvation, even though 1 Cor. 6:9,10 and Rev. 21:8 are so clear. When 2 Kings. 12:9 is considered along with this and the next passage, we have even stronger evidence that David lost his salvation during that dark time in his life:

David spiritually died

When I tell the righteous that he will live, and he will trust in his righteousness and will make a lie, then all his righteous deeds will not be remembered, and he will die from his iniquity, which he did. (Ezekiel 33:13)

Those who make a lie as David did, spiritually are dying, according to the above. The following fragment is even stronger evidence that David lost his salvation for a while:

And the righteous, if he departs from his righteousness and does wrong, will do all the abominations that the wicked do, will he be alive? All his good deeds, which he did, will not be remembered; for your iniquity what does and for his sins, in which he is a sinner, he will die. (Ezekiel 18:24)

When the righteous departed from his righteousness and began to do iniquity, then he will die for that. (Ezekiel 33:18)

If the righteous departs from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies for it, then he dies for his iniquity, which he did. (Ezekiel 18:26) 22

Unfortunately, some reject the clarity of these Scriptures and try to distort the facts to say that David did not lose his salvation (not died) after adultery and murder. Such a person is also bad or even worse than the teacher of eternal security, even though he may appear to deny the doctrine of eternal security.

Note: Severe warnings Ezek. 18:24,26; 33:13,18 were not clean hypothetical as some might argue, for to David they came true.

Even David knew that at that time he did iniquity and hence was spiritually dead because of his sin:

Have mercy on me God according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy compassions, blot out my transgressions. Wash me many times from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my iniquities, and my sin is always before me. You, You alone have I sinned and I have done evil before your eyes so that You are righteous in Your judgment and pure in Your judgment. (Ps. 50:3-6) 23

Also, some like to misuse Ps. 51 to claim that David only lost the joy of your salvation. They somehow miss how, according to the last quote, David humbly and sadly asked God for mercy because of their sins, this prayer is like the one that according to Jesus, the repentant tax collector was saved (or was justified):

The publican, standing afar off, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but striking his chest he said: God! be merciful to me a sinner! I tell you that this went justified into his own house more than that: for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and self-degrading rise up. (Luke 18:13,14)

After David prayed for mercy, forgiveness (and salvation), he also asked for other things, such as the return of the joy of his salvation (Ps. 50:14). Psalm 50 is the prayer of an apostate.

1 Stanley Toussaint, Can a believer lose his salvation?, treatise (Good News Association Broadcasting, Inc., 1979), p. 2.

2 The Hebrew text says "Samuel said" is two times (1 Sam. 28:15,16). Then in verse 20, as the preceding verse mentions, were the words of Samuel. It seems that God allowed the real Samuel to speak to Saul through an occult medium, but Saul became more desecrated turning towards that environment (Lev. 19:31).

3 Westminster Worship(General Assembly Presbyterian Church, USA, 1983), chapter XVII, On the Perseverance of the Saints, paragraph 1.

4 In an attempt to neutralize the biblical warnings that refute the HOSD, sometimes proponents of this doctrine say that the word "if" does not imply that this could happen, but is simply used to encourage a righteous life. This explanation is clearly refuted by Solomon! Warning 1 Par. 28:9 shows that there was a real danger and possibility of apostasy for the one who was saved, just like in the New Testament (Mt. 10:33; 2 Tim. 2:12; compare with John 18:25,32) .

5 Arthur W. Pink, Eternal Security(Grand Rapids, Baker Publishing, Fourth Edition, 1996), p. 109.

6 Charles Halff, Eternal Security: True or False?(San Antonio, TX: Christian Jewish Foundation, 1971), p. 7.

7 Robert A. Moray, The saving work of Christ(Sterling, Grace abounding Ministries, Inc, 1980), p. 232.

8 D. George Kennedy, Can a Christian fall away of free will? pamphlet (Ft. Lauderdale: Coral Ridge Ministries), p. 9.

9 (Chattanooga, TN: Ankerberg Theological Research Institute), Vol. 4, Number 8, August 1997, p. 4.

10 All respected translations likewise show that the true faith existed for a short period of time. Examples: “this belief existed for some time” (Green’s); “those who believe for a while” (Interlinear translation by Young); “they only believe for a while” (New Revised Standard Version); “they believe for a while” (New American Standard Version). On the contrary, the Living Bible, which is only a paraphrase and not actually a translation, gives: “believes for a while”!

11 Ankenberg Theological Research Institute News Journal, Edition 4, Number 8, August 1997, p. 3.

12 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion(Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Erdmans Publishing Company, Reprint 1995), translated by Henry Beveridge, 3.24.6.

13 Ankerberg Theological Research Institute News Journal(Chattanooga, TN: Ankerberg Theological Research Institute), Vol. 4, Number 7, July 1997, p. 6.

14 King James Version, Exhaustive Symphony of the Bible(Nashville: Abingdon, 1976), Greek Dictionary, p. 11, #326.

15 Hal Lindsay, Liberation of the earth planet(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974), p. 128.

16 Ankerberg Theological Research Institute News Journal, Edition 4, Number 8, August 1997, p. 8.

17 When Jesus said “one of you is a devil,” he was referring to his present condition. If the Lord wanted to let know that Judas was never saved in the first place, could He say, “Did I not choose you as the Twelve? Yet one of you is the devil.” But this - not what Jesus said!

18 John MacArthur, Jr., Gospel according to Jesus(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1989), p. 99.

19 Ibid.

20 Strong's Greek Dictionary, p. 47, #3306.

21 Harold Barker, Security forever(Neptune, NJ: Loizeau Brothers, 1974), p. 152.

22 word krima, translated as court or condemnation, also used in Jude. 4 and carries with it the meaning of a curse! See Strong's Greek Dictionary, *2917, p. 43.

23 Ankerberg Theological Research News Journal, Edition 4, Number 8, August 1997, p. 6.

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