1 Tim 1:18 Timothy, my child, I am instructing you in keeping with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may continue to fight the good fight 19with faith and a good conscience. By ignoring their consciences, some people have destroyed their faith like a wrecked ship.
Destroyed faith? Wrecked ship?
Colossians 1:23 However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
You MUUUUUSSSSSSSTTT. Here's a deep theological question for you: what does the word MUST mean? What happens when we are told we MUST remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith and........instead our faith is destroyed/shipwrecked?
In order to have faith that gets destroyed you first had to have it right? So you had faith unto salvation, that faith is then destroyed/shipwrecked, then what? Do you really think with destroyed/shipwrecked faith you can still be "saved?" Hint: you MUST remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith..
Here's another hint from Hebrews 11:13 ... All these people died having faith...they died "in" the faith. What does it matter how they died? Why is the fact that they died HAVING FAITH make any difference? Here's a clue: you MUST remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith..
But hey, what about this? Ephesians 2:8
... For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift:
See! Its a gift, its not of yourselves! Yea..and? God gifts you with a salvation that is 1. by grace and 2. THROUGH FAITH and what happens when the FAITH you were given as a free gift gets shipwrecked/destroyed? Yep, it was a free gift but what did YOU DO WITH IT?
There is a large group of people in the world today who call themselves christians who do not believe that faith is necessary for salvation. In fact, these people don't believe anything is necessary to be "saved" except one 5-10 second "decision for Jesus." It has been written here previously that a true de-cision for Jesus is a cutting off (that's what de-cision means) from any other possibility aside from day in, day out living for Jesus in faith, obedience etc. Where we differ is on the point of what a de-cision really is. Is it a 5-10 second event out of a life time or is it a complete and utter cutting off of the past from today and the future and total commitment to Jesus for life, till death do we NOT part :-)?
If all it took to be "saved" was one 5-10 second teary eyed statement then don't you think the vast majority of people who call themselves servants of Jesus would make it into the kingdom? Why is it that we read in Matt 7:14-28 that only a FEW will make it in when the once saved always saved teachers tell us a 5-10 second "decision" is all that's required to make it through the small gate/narrow road leading to life? Why will MANY be turned away while recounting all the wonderful things they did for Jesus (Matt 7:21)? Didn't they ALL make at least a 5-10 second teary eyed "alter call" confession? If so, then WHAT HAPPENED? Why is it that MANY will be turned away?
The wrong time to figure out you've been lied to about a 5-10 second teary eyed confession is when you are standing before Jesus. If the "once saved always saved" crowd is right, then I have nothing to worry about, I made my decision a long time ago and I recommit myself to Jesus each and every day. If they are wrong then untold millions are going to hell based on a lie that they can do whatever they want after their teary eyed confession is over and the worst that will happen is they'll get "less rewards" in heaven. In effect, "once saved always saved" IS a license to sin. Forget all the talk about "well we wont sin because we love Jesus."
The "rubber meets the road" for "once saved always saved" when day to day moments of decision appear for people struggling with sin. The little devil sits on one shoulder and the angel on the other shoulder. The devil whispers "what's the worst that can happen? You can enjoy every sizzling hot moment of sin today and the worst that will happen is you get downgraded from Mercedes to a Toyota in heaven! Sure Jesus might be a little upset, but you can always ask for forgiveness tomorrow......come on...you know you want it.....I'll let you fill in the rest of the story.
^^THAT is whats going to send untold millions/billions of people to hell. A license to sin taught in the "services" held for the sheople across the world. Satan knows this game well. What did the Lord say about all this? Hosea 4:6 ... My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
There are no guarantees that any of us lives to see tomorrow. The escape from all (luke 21:36) could show up any day now and our spiritual houses must be in order. Toying around with sin will end up very very badly for you if you continue in it. Once saved always saved is a doctrine of devils designed around thousands of years of satanic experience with human nature. Thick darkness is settling down on this world because of the lack of light in the world. WE are the salt and light in this world but what happens when the salt loses its saltiness?
Luke 14:34 Now, salt is good. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can its flavor be restored? 35It is suitable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. People throw it away. Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”
grace and peace
Be Anxious For Nothing
5 years ago
