I know the passage. There are others that say different, so what do we do? All of Chapter 9 is about election. How do you deal with all of the many verses about election and weigh them against a couple of verses that almost make it seem like salvation is not secure?
There is no Chapter 9 in Philippians; there are only four chapters.
How do you deal with all of the many verses about election and weigh them against a couple of verses that almost make it seem like salvation is not secure?
Thus the insufficiency of sola scriptura and the need for a living Magisterium.
"...There are others that say different, so what do we do? All of Chapter 9 is about election"
You must be speaking about Romans 9?
Election is something that we don't know today, but God knows right now whether we are elect. Since God sees everything as one NOW, He is aware of whether we will respond to His grace or not in the end. We can't possibly know OUR OWN status of election in the future. We can only be sure of it today - as by our fruits, we can judge ourselves. We know we are in Christ if we obey His commandments (1 John, Acts 5, etc). This is a sure sign of our election TODAY. But as you know, Biblewonk, some people will revert to the vomit that they left (Peter) and are in a worse situation than before they were "saved". Paul discusses this theme in 1 Cor 10 and Hebrews 3 and 4. The Jews were an elect people, but did they all perservere? Apparently not, and the same can be said of Christians, as Paul discusses in Romans 11 and the branches. (Sorry I don't have more specific verse quotes, I don't have my bible handy)
Regards