Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)We have followed a chain of logic testing the claim that the individual believer is guaranteed to go to heaven when he or she dies. The conclusion is that the basic premise is false. If you cant reject the premise at this time, PM, please at least consider it open to question. Weve seen a case where straightforward reasoning tells us that it is faulty. If this does not convince you, then please critically reconsider it from a Biblical perspective as well.
You will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
"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)Converted to Christ, received the Holy Spirit, then fell away. Ergo, no guarantee. Jesus Christ also speaks explicitly about this in no uncertain terms. Faith is a gift from God, but it is possible to misuse, discard or destroy that faith.
Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith (1 Timothy 19)People can turn from their faith in various ways and for various reasons.
There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6: 6-12)This does not say you are guaranteed eternal life, it says take hold of the life which you were promised. We must persevere to obtain the promise, just as Scripture says:
And thus Abraham, having patiently endured,obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:15)For it is not he who begins to believe, but he who endures to the end who will be saved.
For IF you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but IF by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Rom 8:13)Now the death that Paul is talking about here is a Spiritual death. Those who say we will not die if we persist in committing sins may be said to echo the words of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Surely you will not die. Indeed, Adam lived over 900 years, but Adam and Eve did in fact die a Spiritual death for their disobedience. All sin is disobedience to God.
Dont you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obeywhether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)
who by grace have been saved through faithWhich is a tradition of men that reads into Scripture a past perfect tense that signifies a guarantee of salvation to those who cling to this doctrine.
For by grace you are saved through faith,.."Which is passive tense, signifying that man is the object of salvation, not past tense, which would be ungrammatical, and not past perfect tense (have been saved) signifying that man is guaranteed salvation regardless of his actions. These are two entirely different statements. PM, the doctrine of once saved always saved is not Scriptural, it is based on an ungrammatical reading of Scripture, and Scripture as a whole speaks directly against it.
Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, IF you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. (Romans 11:20-22)No. A believer will not go to hell because of his sins.
I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others, I myself should not be disqualified." (1 Cor 9:27)Disqualified from what? St. Paul is speaking about he himself being disqualified from eternal life. So much ought we to be working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals: nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1Cor 6:9, 10)PM, know the tree by its fruits. This is strange doctrine is not biblically based. It is leading you directly against Scripture. To say that a believer is capable of sinning and yet guaranteed not to go to hell is to assure a person that any sin they commit will be forgiven. This is a presumption upon the Mercy of God. God has told us to keep the Commandments if we would see eternal life, and Scripture stresses this multiple times. If we do not keep the Commandments, we have no assurance of Salvation. On the contrary, we can expect to go to hell.
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we willfully persist in sin AFTER having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy "on the testimony of two or three witnesses." How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Hebrews 10: 24-36)Christ has said to be compassionate, and to keep the Commandments. For those who believe they are saved but who are disobedient to Christ, it is not a guarantee of heaven which is to be expected, but a fearful prospect of judgment.
"...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not acknowledge God AND upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might...." (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)The punishment here is spelled out for two groups, those who do not acknowledge God, and for those who are disobedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I understand the last one to apply to those believers who are disobedient to the teachings of Christ. Presumably this is the same group as those who address Him as 'Lord, Lord', and who prophesied, drove out demons, and performed miracles in His name, but who were nonetheless disobedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christthat is, those believers who are lawless, or evildoers.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!' "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock." (Matt 7: 21-24)Here we see actions that are generally associated with great faith--performing of miracles in Jesus name, but the believers are nonetheless banished from God because they were evildoers.
Given that someone who has been converted to Christ may commit murder and fornication, and Scripture says that murderers and fornicators have no place in the kingdom of heaven, you have posited that the believer will repent, without fail. This amounts to believing that the Christian does not have free will, an idea that you rejected earlier. If the person is free to sin (murder, adultery, fornication) then he is free to not repent. That is, if the Holy Spirit does not prevent the free exercise of the will in committing the first sin, there is no reason to expect that the Holy Spirit will prevent the free exercise of the will in the second case.
The believer is a new creation in Christ ... with a revived spiritual nature (i.e. the life of God).2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.The believer has been made a child of God.Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.The believer will manifest the evidence of his/her new nature in Christ, though not always consistently.
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Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
For he/she is yet a child in Christ, ... not fully mature, ... not fully Christlike in his/her behaviour.
When we, His children, sin against Him, ... He will forgive us.1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.But the spiritual child grows in his/her faith, ... much like our physical children grow into physical, mental, and emotional maturity.Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;God has promised to persevere with us until we have achieved the christian maturity He desires for us.
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,And so ... we may slip ... but we will not stay down ... for God lifts us up and sets us back on our way.
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
He will chastise, ... and even chasten us ... so that we will be moved to repentence.Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:As believers, ... we have opened our hearts to the love of God.
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
And the love of God moves us to show our love for Him in our obedience to Him.1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.That same love will move us ... to repentence for those wrongs which we commit as His children.Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance ?