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NASB | Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]. [John 7:39; Acts 2:33] |
Subject: Can you lose your salvation? |
Bible Note: Lookin, You have some good points; but: We must allow all of the scriptures to balance out each other. Anyone, you and I included, must not take isolated verses and interpret them by themselves. The other very significant issues is; do not rely on the English to correctly interpret what was written in the Greek. As we all know the Greek is very precise as our English is anything but. In order to have a clear understanding of what Ephesians 1:13 is saying we must take it in context with all of Ephesians chapter one. If God chose us before the foundation of the world and the Holy Spirit sealed us in Him in the past tense, then this was done by God's choice not ours. No matter how you look at "whom God choose and why," the scriptures are clear that it was done "and sealed," in our case, thousands of years before we were ever born. Of course the effect of being sealed was fully accomplished "after we were saved." God, knowing who will be (or would be depending on your interpretation) sealed those who will be saved thus securing their salvation. The whole point of how this discussion began was "the security of salvation," and if it can be lost by a born again believer. As I stated in my last response the Bible is very clear that "what God seals" can not be "unsealed." What God does no man can undo. And, the other side of that coin would be that if it were possible to loose what God had done then no one could get "re-saved" as the scriptures show it to be "a one time action in the past." Looking at what Romans chapters 1,2, and 3 shows that no man has ever sought God on his own; "no not one, not even one." Stop to think about it; it's much harder to stay saved in a totally hostile world than to get saved. We are not Satan's enemy til after we're saved. Would God then, after securing our salvation, leave it up to us to stay saved? If getting saved is a gift from God, would God then leave His sheep among wolves and expect us to "hang in there?" Would we as humans recruit and train a soldier then send him out to battle "all on his own?" God who sent His only begotten who suffered and died for us, has a specific plan for our life and eternity then "leave us to fend for ourselves?" I know of no mortal man who would do that to another man. No human General would ever send a soldier out in enemy territory and say "good luck hope you make it." Let alone God who sacrificed His only Son for us. The very idea that God went to all that trouble to save us would then expect us to stay saved. If we have not the ability to get saved, not even remotely, how would God then expect us to "stay saved." God who loved us and gave His all is now going to expect us to "not lose what He Himself gave us and paid the ultimate price for?" Something to think about........ Personally, I think the teaching that one can loose what God has done is the ultimate insult to a God who has clearly shown us our depravity and our total ineptness to accomplish anything. Hope this helps, my friend. Psalm 25 |