Results 1 - 7 of 7
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | once saved always saved? | Eph 5:8 | chris4him | 179925 | ||
once saved always saved? | ||||||
2 | once saved always saved? | Eph 5:8 | DocTrinsograce | 179926 | ||
"The doctrine of divine grace, according to eternal purpose, which God [sic] in Christ Jesus before the world began, is a doctrine according to Godliness; and when rightly held and taught, tends to promote comfort, zeal, and perseverance in all holy obedience, from a sense of gratitude; and in nowise interferes with the obligations and responsibilities of men; but when made a party question, and run into extremes, (to which controversy leads), it becomes a snare to many souls -- a nurse of inaction, and a conductor to the ruins of Antinomianism. The opposite extreme should assiduously be guarded against -- dwelling on practical religion, and insisting on the duties and obligations of man, without keeping in constant view their moral and guilty disability, and the sovereignty of God in affording salvation to them, as unworthy, helpless sinners, as directly tends to the bogs of [synergism]. The truth of the gospel, rightly held and taught, is that which turns men away from darkness to light, and the power of sin to serve the living God, by faith which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." --James R. White | ||||||
3 | am i wrong? | Eph 5:8 | chris4him | 180073 | ||
doc, in light of my question, my concern is that christians may be walking around practicing sin, (even if it is telling a lie) and believing that they will be saved and not seperated from God in the judgement because of this doctrinal belief. am i wrong for assuming this? thanks, chris | ||||||
4 | am i wrong? | Eph 5:8 | DocTrinsograce | 180075 | ||
Dear Chris, You're right and your concern is well founded. (I'd suggest a little more explanation next time.) The problem of excusing sin is pandemic. It tends to be more prevalent, among the lost, though. We need to remember that there are both tares and wheat in the visible church. Sometimes the stuff the tares are saying may be interpreted as stuff that wheat are saying. Does that make sense? :-) I like how my pastor rephrased it once, though, "Once changed, always changed." The pursuit of holiness is a hallmark of every true believer. In Him, Doc |
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5 | am i wrong? | Eph 5:8 | jlhetrick | 180077 | ||
Hello Doc, "Sometimes the stuff the tares are saying may be interpreted as stuff the wheat are saying." I agree. A serious and obvious problem in the church today. Worsened by those "higher ranking" tares that are successfully breaking down and ruining long-established denominational entities. One of the most used excuses of the day is that of "acceptance". Acceptance, colored with the unbiblical application of love has lead many astray. It's an obvious indication of the lack of individual bible study and prayer; the willingness to surf the latest wave of doctrine spewed out from the organizational reef. Having grown up on the gulf coast and lived several years in Hawaii, I have observed and participated in the croweded rush to catch the next big wave. As a boy and then a younger man, I was unaware and unconcerned that the sharks hunt close to shore. The importnat thing was the thrill of the ride. Like the ocean reef broken off and imbeded just beneath the skin, it only takes a small bit of false doctrine to spread poison throughout the whole body. Praise God that the church does not belong to them or us, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. He will separate the wheat from the tares. In the love of Christ, Jeff |
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6 | am i wrong? | Eph 5:8 | DocTrinsograce | 180078 | ||
Dear Brother Jeff, Good comments! I appreciate the commitment you've made to sound doctrine. I suspect that part of our problem is an unscriptural definition of the church itself. When that foundation is not sound, everything built on it will be unsound. Of course, what is more fundamentally wrong, is our inability to render sound doctrine from Scripture alone. These problems mean that we live as what might be described as a "functional or practical atheist." (See Psalm 53:1; 74:18, 22; Isaiah 32:6.) When we live as though there is no God, it is no wonder that others learn to do the same. A. W. Tozer wrote something quite germane to our discussion: "Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. "Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards decline along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God. "Before the Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, 'What is God like?' and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is, and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind. "...Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech… Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God… Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them." In Him, Doc |
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7 | am i wrong? | Eph 5:8 | jlhetrick | 180085 | ||
Brother Doc, A lot more could be said on this topic, but your quote of Tozer really does sum it up. Thanks for passing on those words of wisdom. Jeff |
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