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A woman kept looking for her lost coin until it was found. She didn't give up. She didn't throw the coin away later. And the coin didn't even know it was lost.
A shepherd left the 99 sheep to search for the one lost sheep. He didn't give up until it was found. The sheep may have been aware that it was lost, but didn't know how to get back.
A son wanted his father's inheritance to go out and live his own way in the world. So the father granted it to him - the son went out and spent his money foolishly until he had nothing and was living and eating with the pigs. Then he realized that his father's servants always had more than enough. So he returned begging for forgiveness. His father welcomed back with open arms and celebrated his return by throwing a party. But his brother was angry that their father would do this.
Some workers were working all day. Near the end of the day the boss hired more workers, and paid them the same wages as those who had been working all day. They were upset over this.
A: "I found Jesus!"
B: "I didn't know He was lost!?"
We don't find Jesus, He finds us.
Who is in control here?
Does the coin throw away its salvation?
Does the sheep fight back and not want to be saved?
Does the father reject anyone who leaves to go his own way?
Does the works we do amount to something that saves us?
Discuss.
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Personally I believe we are secure in our salvation as long as we desire to be in relationship with God. But one can decide to say "I no longer want salvation" and walk away from God and end up lost. One need not worry about losing one's salvation as long as one wants it.
I can pretty much go along with that -- that as long as we want salvation, it is ours.
You see scripture is clear that it is God who works in us to do his will. It is God who draws us to Jesus, leads us to repent, enables and grants for us to believe.
God is working all things out according to the purpose of His will, and He is working all things for the good of those who love Him. The reason we love Him is because He loved us first.
So you see God is the one who is in complete control of salvation. So if God wants to save someone, they will be saved. And since that is the case, there is no possibility that you can lose your salvation, because God is the one in control.
Conversely, if one rejects God, it is because God has not drawn them in, has not lead them to repent, and has not granted and enabled them to believe. Not yet at least.
What is important, is what God says about it, people really don't like this subject too much and it is easy to go to the easy place. If when God spoke to the church in Rev He said they could be blotted out of the book of life He meant it. There will be a falling away first, many will depart from the faith, but in Rev God warns of a worldly church where people go into sin as Christians and do not endure to the end and this does not just mean they just don't believe in Him. They might very well believe in Him they just don't want to be holy and live for Him, it is a very bad place that grace has been taught as if we can have Him without purity. When a Christian thinks he does not have to know the Bible or live it and can just have faith and it takes care of it is a very sorry day. Even people that know this isn't true are still living in the world thinking their not. God said be separate and He meant it, Peter said they want to live in error, and Paul said in Hebrews Ch 6 they had the Holy Spirit and it is clear that if enduring to the end is all through the New Testament that people and choose not to endure. I wonder how many today ever saw a day that they gave God what He asked, I wonder why people think we can't obey or be perfect given God Job and Noah were and that Zachariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptists parents walked in all the commandments of God blameless or perfect. Did God mean it about these people, yep, did they ever sin, yep, but not always. truly it is not easy to lose, but people today work so hard a not being holy and not knowing the Bible and obeying it, I wonder how calling themselves Christians has not been the main element in God ending the world. My people do not consider, he was talking to Christians, the ox knows it stall and the birds know Him and His ways ,but christians today are so full of TV and lies, you might really think as God said they are not His, just think so But truly a person can have and follow Him and go bad Solomon did and worked hard at it too, with warnings
a wicked man leaves his wickedness it will be remembered no more
a righteous man leaves his righteous it will be remembered no more
Ezekiel had a forehead of adamant stone harder than flint and was told warn them, but they just won't obey you, if today is not this way given the world has never see wickedness as bad as today, had to go out and work at it not so long ago, now people just sit and watch and get on the internet and see what no one come understand not so long ago, the anti christ is alive and he likes TV and cell phones and internet and movies, He likes people having so many different lies all at the same time and then, why not be born again too...
raise your hand, repeat after me, God loves you, you now have no worries, it is taken care of, persecutions, tribulations, hated of all nations Christians will be, enemies will be those of your own house. What about repentance, sin no more less a worse thing comes upon you Jesus said, scary to fall into the hands of the living God, where is my fear,
The sum of the whole matter to fear God and keep his commandments, Solomon said
Job feared God and hated evil, watch TV, you are in the world
Judas was saved at one time, but fell by transgression. Some say that he was not saved, yet that is nonsense; you can't be a disciple of Jesus and not be saved. However, after journeying for awhile, the devil got to him -- and he fell from grace.
Jesus plainly stated that He intentionally chose a disciple that "had a devil." Nothing "out of control" there, imo!
My Security is in what God IS . It is Not in Once saved always saved, this in my opinion is an excuse to live how you want and abuse the grace of God.
The LORD IS my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God IS my rock, in whom I take refuge. He IS my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.Psalm 18:2
Surely God IS my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, IS my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." Isaiah 12:2
Of David. The LORD IS my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD IS the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
The LORD IS my strength and song; and he IS become my salvation Psalm 118:14
Can you give me the bible verse where the Devil overtook Judas?
Luke 22:3
And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve,
Entered:
1) to go out or come in: to enter a) of men or animals, as into a house or a city b) of Satan taking possession of the body of a person c) of things: as food, that enters into the eater's mouth
I don't look at salvation as a "thing" that we "possess." I look at it as an event. A life-saving event. When you are dying (drowning, trapped in a burning house, choking on a chicken bone) someone can come along and SAVE your life. When that happens, you have been saved. That person was your salvation. The moment they carried you out of the burning house or vast ocean, or performed the Heimlich maneuver on you, was your moment of salvation. That doesn't mean you'll never die or that you'll never choke again or fall overboard again. It just means that at that time, and until you fall into peril again, you are saved from _____________.
Salvation in Christ, in my opinion, is the same. You are saved FROM sin, hell and eternal death. Likewise, if you end up once again in a place where you need to be rescued - whether you're in sin, in error, deceived, in contract with the devil or whatever - you can be SAVED again.... you can receive salvation again.
Therefore, my answer to this question is that you can't "lose" your salvation, but you can indeed stand in need of it once again. I believe that the OSAS doctrine is false and quite dangerous.
The difficulty I see with discussing concepts such as "Once Saved Always Saved" is that it really depends on the context of what we mean by being "saved". Being "saved", and how we experience our salvation, or come to know it through regeneration, faith, etc., are really different phases that happen at different times.
For example. Paul spoke of his salvation before the world began:
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Paul tells us that the very purpose and grace of God that "saved" (past tense) was his and given to him (past tense) before the world began. Paul was biblically "saved" by grace before the world began.
Now if we stop and think about that for a moment, here is a man, whom prior to his conversion was called Saul. Saul took great joy cursing Jesus (Paul tells us he was a former blasphemer). This man Saul took every opportunity to persecute the Way and put to death those proclaiming the Gospel and calling on the Lord (think of Stephen). This man Saul was an egregious sinner. He was the Chief of sinners. Yet, the bible tells us that he was "saved" by grace before the world began. Obviously, Saul was not experiencing being "saved" during his crime sprees, but none-the-less, Saul was biblically "saved".
Paul even tells us that he was "called" before the world began.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
And yet, that calling (a holy calling no less) was a calling without repentance by God. Jesus did not repent of His calling Saul, even while witnessing Saul's crimes against Himself, the Church and humanity.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Saul, was not only "saved" during his period of ungodliness but was also called with a "holy calling", all the while committing crimes of murder against Jesus' followers, blaspheming their Lord, and breathing continual threats of malice against his enemies.
Saul was "saved" biblically. And quite frankly there was nothing he could do or say to reverse Jesus' love for him, the grace given him in Christ for salvation, or make it go away. Saul simply was not, as yet, born of the Spirit.
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