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(sorry - been away)

*** I'm looking at the verses quoted in this post, however, and they all refer to being saved in the future***

Present AND Future tenses are used. That is because both are true. The Kingdom of God has *already* come and it *will* come.

Think of Abraham. He received the promise of God that he should become a mighty nation - by faith - it had to be by faith because the fulfillment of that promise was yet in the future.

The fulfillment of that promise rested on God's faithfulness to His word. Abraham believed God would do for him what He promised - and the Scriptures say he was justified (or accounted righteous) thereby. Paul uses this as a type of our salvation.

***I see that it says we have been justified (made righteous) but it does not say we have a guarantee of going to heaven based upon this.***

In the NT, the guarantee of salvation is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. He is the "down payment" on the promise of God's salvation of the believer in the future.

2 Corinthians 1:21-23
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 5:4-6
For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

and finally...

Ephesians 1:13-15
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

*** "Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful lest he fall!""***

I believe you are using this verse out of context. A believer can "fall" into temptation - but not into hell. Where is the entire body of the Epistles, is the believer ever warned of the danger of their eternal destruction?

The reader may be warned that they might not truly be converted (and therefore in mortal danger) but converted people are never threatened will hell.

***This sentence does not say, once you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and once you have believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you have been saved.***

The verse leave NO OTHER OPTION open. If you do those things you WILL be saved - Period - End of Story. If you WILL surely be saved then your ARE saved now.

***I'm particularly disturbed that anyone might be reading that last sentence as an indication that we can say, "I'm saved!" in the sense that it would mean,"I have been saved" ie I've received a guarantee to go to heaven when I die,...***

The guarantee is there, my friend. It may disturb you, but the believer who has the Holy Spirit living within them is guaranteed heaven - not because of what they have done, but because of what God has done for them.

****...regardless of my actions***

The only "actions" we are capable of are tarnished at best. The only truly "good works" that man can perform are those done by God acting though him. For God to act though someone they must first be in right relationship to Him. Good work flow from a relationship with God - they do not "earn" one a right relationship with God.

*** To be honest, I'm totally puzzled by the use of the term, "I am saved" Is it me, or is this a grammatical atrocity?***

Example of "saved" in past tense usage...

2 Timothy 1:8-10
"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who *saved* us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"

Titus 3:4-6
"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he *saved* us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,"

*** I don't see as a Scriptural teaching the idea that a guarantee of salvation flows automatically from the conversion experience***

"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

Thoughts?

"Present AND Future tenses are used. That is because both are true. The Kingdom of God has *already* come and it *will* come."

Petronius Maximus, we are not talking about the parousia, we're talking about salvation. PM, We are called to share in the Blessedness of God our Father, but being wounded by sin, we stand in need of salvation by God. Divine help comes to us in Christ through the moral law that guides us and the grace of God that sustains us. Scripture tells us to "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Phillipians 2:12, 13)

"The fulfillment of that promise rested on God's faithfulness to His word. Abraham believed God would do for him what He promised - and the Scriptures say he was justified (or accounted righteous) thereby. Paul uses this as a type of our salvation."

Good, so with regards to salvation it is a promise, not a fait accompli, correct? That is what "The fulfillment of that promise rested on God's faithfulness to His word," means, right? It is a promise for a future event.

"Though we speak thus, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things that belong to salvation. For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love which you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise." (Hebrews 6:9-15)

Or as our Lord put it:

"and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)

Brother, you and Quester do well to remind us of the importance of Faith in God, of Belief in the promises of Christ, and of total and complete trust in God our Father. I, on the other hand, will remind you that God is not indifferent to our actions, and in fact, we will be judged not according to what we believed, but according to our actions. God has prepared good works in advance for us to do, and God has given us Commandments to follow for our own good. Neither those works nor those Commandments are optional.

"In the NT, the guarantee of salvation is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. He is the "down payment" on the promise of God's salvation of the believer in the future."

I do not see this. The guarantee of salvation is in the Promises of Christ, which are made to those who love Him (and this includes keeping the Commandments.). If we persevere in Christ, we will obtain the promise. It is possible to turn away from God and to reject the Holy Spirit.

"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

You see, God is faithful in all things, but we may turn away from Him who would save us, and reject the very Spirit which advocates for us, and which would make us free collaborators in God's work here in the world. We may receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and we may later reject the Spirit. It is the same story as the covenants made with God in Scripture. Man indeed makes covenants with God, but man is left free to break those covenants. Those who are saved in the OT are saved in the same way as those who will be saved in the NT: By Grace, through faith, working in love.

"2 Corinthians 5:4-6
For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."

My translation actually reads quite a bit differently, it does not say guarantee.

"Now the one who has prepared us for this is God, who has given us the Spirit as a first installment." (2 Corinthians 5)

I've seen this elsewhere translated as a pledge. It is not a guarantee that we will go to heaven when we die because we have been born again. Look at the next 6 verses:

" So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men; but what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience." (2 Corinthians 5: 6-10)

This passage, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 parallels Romans 8: 17-30, where Paul speaks of the reception of the "first fruits" of the Spirit.
"And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."<
The gifts of the Spirit do not make us puppets, however, and God is described as a Lord and as a Father, not as a puppeteer.
" So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for IF you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but IF by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8: 12-13)
We are called to live according to the Spirit and to submit to the Holy Spirit which we have received at Baptism. Quester and I were discussing Matthew Chapter 5, which I think describes well the life of the Spirit to which God calls us. We will, however, be judged according to our actions. Or as Paul states elsewhere in the Letter to the Romans:
"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. "
That is, we will be judged according to our actions. There will be no double standard for those who have have undergone a conversion to Christ. We too will be judged according to our actions. For example, if we condemn others, we will be condemned by the same standard.

"*** "Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful lest he fall!""***

"I believe you are using this verse out of context. A believer can "fall" into temptation - but not into hell. Where is the entire body of the Epistles, is the believer ever warned of the danger of their eternal destruction?"

If we can fall into temptation, then we can fall into hell, correct?

"The reader may be warned that they might not truly be converted (and therefore in mortal danger) but converted people are never threatened will hell."

Truly converted versus untruly converted??? What you are seeing here is a weakness of a theological system which says a person is guaranteed to go to heaven once he has converted to Christ. "The reader may be warned that they might not truly be converted." In other words, nobody is guaranteed to go to heaven when they die because of their conversion, because everyone can wonder if it was a "true" conversion experience. Save yourself some trouble, it was a true conversion experience. But it's not the conversion experience that is our assurance of salvation, it is our continued clinging to the Promises of Christ, a continued faith in God, not a one time deal. The bottom line is, when we are judged, we will be judged according to our actions, not according to whether or not we underwent a conversion experience. "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." That is, if we continue to accept Jesus as our Lord (and this includes keeping his Commandments,) He will save us. The only way for you to reconcile a conversion experience to Christ as being a guarantee of salvation (and as I've written before, I think this is a completely inaccurate reading of Scripture to begin with,) is to assert the non-Scriptural teaching that we have no free will, as Calvin did. Rather than build a mountain of human assumptions on a foundation of sand, it's better to take the plain words of Scripture at face value. We have converted to Christ, now we must walk according to the guidance of the Spirit, and if we fail to do so, we have no assurance of Salvation.