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To: af_vet_1981; Springfield Reformer
I think I read from you that Eternal Security is a doctrine you believe but cannot prove in the lab; you'll only know for certain after God's judgment. It is folly to downplay the warnings as only being about rewards and not being about salvation, except where expressly addressed. We should believe the Scriptures that warn believers to repent, to watch, and to obey.

Thank you for the confirmation of the accursed gospel you hold to. When you contend that no one can have assurance of their eternal salvation until they die, when you call such assurance "folly" (or presumptuous, as some have) and declare that all anyone can hope for is that they will be found worthy of heaven by repenting, watching and obeying, then you ARE preaching a gospel based on works. I sincerely believe there is a spiritual blindness present that causes people to miss the essential message of grace in the true gospel. We are NOT saved by the works that we do, but by the unmerited, undeserved grace of God that He gives to us as a GIFT by which we accept through faith. If we do not earn our salvation by our works - as Scripture repeatedly states - then we do not do works in order to keep that salvation.

That blindness I spoke of happens when people imagine God will save them because they have earned it by their good actions, that God owes them heaven because they have been "good" and done all the things they have been told God requires them to do. Yet Scripture says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.

Yes, believers SHOULD be warned that sin and disobedience in their lives will bring God's chastisement and His discipline, because:

    In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

      “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”


    Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:4-11)

God will not cast out His children, He will not LOSE a one, He will not take the Holy Spirit from those He has sealed. It is a promise based on HIS faithfulness, not ours. This IS the gospel of the grace of God and those who disagree with it - though they may pay "lip service" by affirming their belief in "justification by faith" - by requiring works in order to stay justified, expose the accursed and false gospel behind their doctrine. It is the SAME thing God used Paul to reveal and, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, those that hear the voice of the Shepherd of our souls, will surrender to His leading and follow Him and WILL find rest for their souls.

1,179 posted on 07/12/2014 2:24:44 PM PDT by boatbums (God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
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To: boatbums; af_vet_1981; Springfield Reformer

>> “When you contend that no one can have assurance of their eternal salvation until they die...” <<

.
Strawman after strawman, when will the fallacy stop?

Assurance comes from enduring in faithful obedience to the end!

Anything less yields the reverse.

“The faith of many shall wax cold...”
.


1,188 posted on 07/12/2014 5:39:08 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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