OK I will give it a go..Once saved always saved
If I understood properly (forgive me if I am mistaken) I believe you are a Traditional Catholic shall we say, so I fully expect you will have a hard time with this theory.
Many theologians believe this...goes like this
The New Testament says we are saved by grace through faith, it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.
We can not earn salvation, it is a total free gift of God. Our righteousness is like “FILTHY RAGS” to God.
Not one is Righteous not one! I am sure you know all these Scriptures, I do not have Chapter and verse, just off top of my head from memory.
Romans Chapter 8 vs 38, 39 says...I am persuaded that neither death nor life,nor angels,nor principalities,nor powers,nor things present,nor things to come,nor height nor depth,nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Am I saying once saved always saved means a person can ask Jesus into their life and then eat drink and be merry? Absolutely not.
God has foreknowledge into the future, he knows our motives, whether or not we are sincere when we ask him into our life in the first place, so anybody that thought like that would not be able to receive the Lords Spirit anyway.
When Christians are saved they receive the Holy Spirit and are sealed basically.
I can give you a few examples of who believes this Pat Robertson 700 Club, David Mainse 100 Huntley Street, Radio Bible Class, you know the Daily Bread booklets. Mart Dehaun did a entire Bible study for Daily Bread on this very topic.
Anybody that believes in the Rapture.... When Jesus returns in the air all Christians throughout time will rise first then the Christians that are still alive on the earth will join them.
Some refer to this as the Rapture... All Christians will be judged by Christ, but salvation is not at issue. Anybody that received Christ was sealed by the Holy Spirit, and our salvation is not in question. But are still being judged for our life.
Now many people do NOT believe this, absolutely!
So what is the alternative....All of a sudden OUR righteousness is NOT like filthy rags as Jesus said?
Salvation is NOT a free gift of God lest any man should boast...as Jesus said.
We can earn Salvation, even though Jesus said no?
Or is it we are only saved for moments at a time, and the moment we do something wrong we are un saved instantly?
Jesus died on the cross for our sins because we could not save ourselves. None of us are good enough to be saved by our own merit... He died once and for all, no more temporary animal sacrifices, The Lamb of God himself, Jesus took our place, the final sacrifice.
BTW I am giving you the theory, the argument of many theologians, if it sounds like me preaching was not the intent, just going from memory of the studies.
To believe otherwise is to believe that salvation, being saved is only a temporary fix.
Now anybody that thinks this means, great I will get saved so that I can live in sin, would not have been sincere in the first place, hence would not be saved in the first place.
As Christians we do not want to sin against the Lord, we feel guilty and we ask forgiveness.
That`s the theory, and most Pentecostal ministers believe this, they might not have a name for it.
Those that do not believe this are still saying I am good enough to be saved, it isn`t just grace through faith as Jesus said. it`s my works also.
Again, Jesus said Not One is righteous! He says our righteousness is like filthy rags.
It`s our works and Not Christ`s sacrifice we are then saying.
It`s true James said faith without works is dead, we are supposed to want to do for the Lord
Anyway that`s the theory.
And yes I believe it, do I want to start drinking and carrying on because I think I might get away with it, no!
You might be surprised just how many pastors/theologians believe this
“BTW I am giving you the theory, the argument of many theologians, if it sounds like me preaching was not the intent, just going from memory of the studies.”
It’s all about theology. That would be discussion biology without understanding the theories behind them. Theologians of course are fair game. No worries.
Couple things here. Christ gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins, as both fully man and fully God bridged the gap between God and men.
His sacrifice does not change, our response is to either accept his sacrifice and to seek repentence. Now, if it is true that once we receive the holy spirit, that we cannot be lost, then the inevitable consequence of this belief is that go and sin no more.
However, I believe that believers in Christ can lose their connection to the holy spirit. You are quite right, they are marked as God’s own in baptism, and that does not change. They are not the same as they once were. The Holy Spirit will still be in them, but it will not be effective. Think of it as a motor running down. Sin clogs our connection with God, and the more we turn to sin, the less well our connection with the Holy Spirit and with God.
Can God lose one of his own who is marked, yes, if that person chooses to abandon God for something else in his heart. I believe it’s possible. This is why we have to confess our sins and continue to seek repentence for our sins not just once, but throughout our lives.