Posted on 09/20/2019 9:01:36 AM PDT by pastorbillrandles
Was Paul in faith when he sinned??? Did the fella in 1 Cor. 5 lose his salvation???
Yep!
That seal is forever! You cannot undo what God has done. Period!
Ephesians 1:13-14
Ephesians 4:30
2 Corinthians 1:22
love it!
and thank God for that!
Who says that sins don’t mater? Paul said maganoita (May it never be). We are crucified to sin. If you think it doesn’t matter you are not saved and the spirit is not in you.
1 John 1:8-10
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
I think if we acknowledge that we all sin - even after we are saved, as the verses above explain, we’d all probably come to the conclusion that the cycle of sinning & repenting is an endless part of Sanctification while we are alive in this fleshy sinful rot.
Not sure what this unbelief/belief theory has to do with it. I fight my flesh daily and it’s war literally. I’m still saved, and The Lord is faithful like He always is being there at my side through it all.
The Roman Catholic Church is notorious for teaching similar theories regarding behavior driven salvation. Hopefully Randles isn’t going there.
Absolutely! Amen!
That's our part...What about Jesus' part???
Jesus came to live within us...
He sealed his Holy Spirit in us...
He performed a Spiritual operation where our soul/spirit (where there is no sin imputed) was cut away from our body/flesh ( which is corrupted and exceedingly sinful) to make us two of one man/woman...
Once you belong to Jesus you are a part of the family, even if you're the red-headed step child...
Getting saved is not a contract that can be broken...It's a spiritual event that lasts for eternity...He'll drag you home, kickin' and screamin' if he has to...
In my experience those who lose faith and go back to the world do not stop believing ON Jesus...You still remember the day you got saved but sometimes things happen and for whatever reason, the world gets in the way...Regardless of what Jesus says, sometimes you think he isn't helping or won't help you out of your dilemma and you go where things make your flesh feel better (physically or emotionally)...
But I'm here to tell ya, when you hit the bottom and look up, and you can see your Father a far way of, with his arms raised and you can just make out that voice that is saying, 'Come Home', that's the sweetest sound you will ever hear...Sweeter than when you first believed...
Losing faith does not mean losing belief...I for one don't accept the notion that you can lose belief once you've been saved...
Every sin is an at of unbelief to sin as a believer is to lapse into unbelief, no mater how momentarily. (What is so hard about this to understand?) to depart from faith and to just abandon one’s self to sin or former sins is what I am warning about. The Gospel is to “go on believing”,
I strive to do what is right and that f I am honest with myself I fail miserably. Every single day. I do the right things for the wrong reason or do the wrong thing altogether. I am so thankful my salvation and eternal security depend on Jesus and not myself. He has dealt with our sin. All of it. All I can offer is my eternal praise and gratitude along with all of my sinful self. And the real miracle is that is all He wants.
There are many Spirit filled Christians that wander in the desert for long periods. God is faithful. If He has put His seal on you no one can remove it. Not even yourself.
Sis, eternal praise & gratitude is just about all we can offer Him.
A grateful heart & spirit goes a long way. Remember the 10 lepers that He healed and only one came back praising God and thanking Him. Unreal!
The Lord controls our very next breath of air and heartbeat. I’m in absolute awe that the Creator of the Universe loves me, cares about me, wants me to be with Him, died for me...
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wrap my head around those facts in this life. Leaves me speechless.
So true!
God bless.
... do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers...
Was Paul constantly bouncing in and out of belief (Rom. 7 )???
Here's something I'm sure most won't get, or accept...The record of every sin we have or will ever commit will be burned up and removed from our record before we hit heaven...
Can we do any thing we want and still go to heaven??? Actually, yes we can...BUT WE DON'T WANT TO...We want to please God...God wants us to WANT to please him, NOT have to please him...That's why he judges the heart and not our sinful flesh...
A lot of people don't get that...They say, 'You don't want to please God to get to heaven'???
NOPE...
We want to please God because he is God and he is our Father...And besides that, he is working inside us to help us do these things...
In the church epistles God doesn't threaten us but time after time encourages us to follow after the new man and not the old...
From the OP: “Salvation cannot be obtained by our personal merit. Thank God , because there is not one of us who could ever merit salvation. We cannot earn it, nor can we who have received the gift, ever lose it due to lack of merit.”
I think most everyone would agree with you that salvation cannot be merited. The problem arises when people try to lump obedience to the will of God with meritorious works.
Never, ever in the Bible did obedience to God’s will merit God’s grace but obedience is a condition that God places upon His free grace.
Belief/faith therefore is an act of obedience that is a necessary condition to receive grace but does not merit grace.
There is a difference between obedience and works of merit:
John 6:27 “Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall GIVE unto you: for him the Father, even God, hath sealed.”
According to John 6:27 eternal life is a free gift that Christ “gives” yet Christ said to “work” for it. In the context, belief is the work given to man by God that man must do to have eternal life. Hence the free gift that Christ ‘gives’ is CONDITIONAL upon man doing the obedient work of believing. As long as man CONDITONALLY CONTINUES to do this work of believing he will maintain access to God’s grace, Romans 5:2. If one quits doing this conditional work then he loses the only access to grace.
**Stony ground = shallowness (not fully committed, not believing with whole heart)
Sun = trials / persecution
Thorns = cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches**
The seed on both the “stony ground”, and the “thorns”, sprouted. You can’t wither away if you haven’t sprouted to begin with. Likewise, thorns can’t choke something that wasn’t living.
The testimony of Jesus Christ, to those that are members of the seven churches, has this common requirement: he that overcometh.
Amen is in order.
Once you are in God's Family, he is the parent whether you are an obedient child, an unruly child, or a rebellious child. To be in the new birth reality, God has imputed the righteousness of Christ to you and sealed your once dead spirit with the Life flowing from the Holy Spirit. It is that Life flowing from the Holy Spirit that Adam forfeited in Eden. And thus death passed to all men. BUT God has provided His way whereby all who call upon the Lord believing He is and IS a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him are born into His Family.
If this seems a hard saying, know that believe / believing on Him is an action word in the Greek, meaning an ongoing exercise of belief, or 'faithing' if you will. Once saved by HIS new birthing of your once dead spirit, He is the parent, the author and finisher of your faith, your faithing.
And you and I will not spend the rest of our lives without sinning. That is why He is the author and finisher of your faith. Faithing is action directed by the born again spirit influencing the will of the soul of the regenerate.
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