Subject: COULD A BELIEVER LOSE THEIR SALVATION? |
Bible Note: Sorry JVH0212, but I can't seem to leave you alone. Please don't put ideas into passages. Read them for what they are. Following are the verses you quoted with my interpretations: John 5:24 is simply saying that those that are saved have everlasting life. It does not say anything about not being able to lose that salvation. Romans 8:28-39 is talking about external things will not be able to separate us from God. Jude 24 - Yes, God is able to keep us from stumbling but if we refuse the help then it's our problem. 1 John 2:19 - is talking about how we will know it is the last hour (v 18). I believe it's kind of saying that we will be suprised when we see friends and family turn away from God because they were not saved because if they were saved then they would not have turned their backs on Jesus. Note that verse 24 says "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father." Note the "If it does". This implies that it is possible that to turn your back on what you once knew. And if we do keep what we heard in us, what will happen? Verse 25 - "And this is what he promised us -- even eternal life." You are again putting ideas in Phil 1:6 that are not there. Read it again. It is saying that God will not bail out on us and will keep his offer of salvation until the end. Did you even read John 8:31? Jesus is telling the Jews that believed in him (therefore saved) that If they hold to His teaching, they are really his disciples. In otherwords, Jesus is telling this group of saved people that if they continue belive they will be saved which implies that if they stop believing, then they will not be saved. Hebrews 3:14 "We have come to share in Christ IF we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." Notice the "IF" If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to prove that it's possible for a person to renounce their own salvation. Psalm 51:11-12 "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." The author of this psalm obviously thought he could lose God. 2 Peter 5-10 is telling us to make every effort to make sure we keep the "good qualities" and that IF we do these things we will not fall. Eph 1:14 - Yes, the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Jesus died for our sins. Our salvation is guaranteed (as long as we do not renounce that salvation). In otherwords, if you take a pop (or soda) bottle to the store they will give you the deposit - it's guranteed unless of course you decide to throw that bottle out the window on the way. When you get to the store, you'll have nothing. And one more verse I'll add: 2 Peter 2:20 "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning." It doesn't matter who the "they" are (in this case he's talking about false teachers) it's more important to notice that the "they" were saved becase they escaped the corruption of the world thru Jesus and then lost that salvation (entangled and overcome in the ways of the world) and will pay dearly for this. |