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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Can true Christians lose their faith? | Bible general Archive 1 | yampa78 | 88260 | ||
I grew up in a Christian home, but lately I've been searching for truth and trying to take my faith as my own. The biggest obstacle in my faith right now is the first hand stories I hear about people leaving the faith. I'm not talking about John and Jane who come to church once a month, sit in the back row, and read their bible once in a blue moon. I'm talking about former evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and seminary students. Charles Templeton is a prime example. Their conversion stories seem sincere, but they all come to a point where they see the world as it truly is and begin to doubt the existence of a loving God. Then they begin to find inconsistencies in the Bible that they had previously accepted by faith. Then they start thinking that if some of the Bible is inaccurate, then how can they trust it as a whole. At that point the foundation falls out beneath them, and all hope is lost. If John 10:25-30 is true, how can these people of faith come to a point where they can no longer believe? The most disturbing thing about the stories I've heard is that most of these people wish they were still able to believe, but their reason won't let them. They miss the hope and security of faith in Christ, but they've come to a conclusion in their minds that can not be reversed! Please help me as this issue is causing major distress in my quest for truth and my personal faith in Christ! At times it seems a curse to be such a deep philosophical thinker. Sometimes I wish I was able to have the simple childlike faith that many Christians have. |
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2 | Can true Christians lose their faith? | Bible general Archive 1 | Aspiring Overseer | 88406 | ||
Yampa, Should you "quit being a deep philosophical thinker" or reason with God? Isaiah 1:18 18"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, Do not give in to those who would encourage you to "go with the flow". Those people will not be present with you at the judgement seat. Here are but a few scriptures that show it is possible to depart from the faith--which is another way of saying "lose your salvation." And these are true departures, not situations where the people were only pretending to be saved. Heb 2:1 2:1For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. NAS Heb 3:12 12Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. NAS 2 Peter 2:20-22 20For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." NAS James 5:19-20 19My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, 20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins. NAS Heb 10:26-29 26For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? NAS Heb 10:32-36 32But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. 35Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. NAS Finally, Jude 5-6 5Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. NAS Beginning with the Nation of Israel, Jude gives example after example of those who had been "saved" by God (in the O.T.), only to ultimately "lose their salvation." This warning he gave to N.T. believers, lest they should wind up in a similar shape. AO |
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3 | Can true Christians lose their faith? | Bible general Archive 1 | yampa78 | 88593 | ||
As to the ability to lose ones salvation, I'm really not sure on the anwser. The Bible seems to have dozens of verses supporting both opinions. My problem with the idea of losing salvation is that it diminishes the atoning work of Christ. At what point is someone saved? And then at what point are they lost? After giving their life to Christ, how many sins do they need to commit to then be lost again? That brings up the question: is it our works or Christ's work that brings salvation? Then I also have a problem with the idea of election (once saved always saved). If this is the case, then Chist only died for some people. We therefore have no free will when it comes to salvation. That means some people were created just so God could send them to hell for eternal torment. Too many people today don't actually think about what they believe. They get so caught up in their jobs, hobbies, and relationships that they just believe whatever the church tells them because it sounds good and then go back to their lives without giving it any thought. It doesn't take much faith to be that kind of Christian. Real faith comes after we have struggled with a committed search for truth and find that human logic can not reason the existance God. Then a leap of faith is needed. Yampa 78 |
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4 | Can true Christians lose their faith? | Bible general Archive 1 | Aspiring Overseer | 88643 | ||
Yampa, Would you agree that only those people who love God will go to heaven? For many folks the concept of loving God is lumped into the same situation as loving your family, friend or spouse, yet they are different. Loving God does not mean you have a closeness to Him like your spouse. God is our creator, and as such, He is revered with fear; reverence for His position and the obligations He places on His people; fear of the consequences of not pleasing Him. Thus, as John 14:15 states, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" and Hebrews 5:9, "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation". Obedience to God's commands is necessary to have salvation. Yet your question as to how a Christian loses their salvation is excellent and is plain to understand. If all sin is a separation from God and all people sin (even Christians) how can anyone be saved? Repentence; God gave Christians the ability to acknowledge their sin and turn away from it and back to God. But here comes the key...their actions must speak louder than their words! Just like you wouldn't believe my apology for hitting you in the face for the second or third time, unless I actually did something to demonstrate my sincerity. Talk is cheap and everyone knows that, especially God! James 1:21-22 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. NAS Does this trivialize the blood of Christ? Of course not! Without the sheding of Christ's blood their would be no forgiveness of sin. It is the notion that a Christian has no obligation to work that is an afront to God. Christianity is not a complex or confusing religion. It is Satan that has made it that way in the minds of man. The only faith needed is that God exists and that people exist to serve Him. Once you understand what God requires, the balance is simple. AO |
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