Jesus is the Mediator of the Covenant. God didn't make a covenant with Himself. Do you recall the first Covenant? Were not the People of God involved?
Noone is arguing that they can’t turn away- however, they still have not lost their salvation
I heartily disagree. Scripture are full of people "losing their inheritance" once promised because they turned away. I could post DOZENS of such Scriptures. As a matter of fact, there is at least one such verse in nearly every book of the New Testament. To deny that salvation can be lost is to deny what God's Word says over and over again.
It is crystal clear that Hebrews 10:26-27 says, for example, that there is NO SACRIFICE for the one who willfully sins. How is such a person going to heaven? I thought that one could go to heaven only through Christ's blood. Now, if you insist that a person is once saved-always saved, HOW does a person receive salvation If they have no blood of Christ to wash sins away? You are clearly missing the point of the verses I have posted and are not thinking them through.
Rather than being a servant of the Word, accepting what is said, you are taking a theology, "Once saved always saved", and forcing the rest of Scriptures to fit it. If something doesn't fit, you explain it away or pretend it isn't there. Really, how are you going to explain away so many Bible verses that talk about losing inheritance, returning to the former life of sin, and losing the Blood of Christ - AND STILL claim they are saved for heaven?
Once saved always saved is a false gospel that the devil preaches so that people can become lax in their walk with Christ, rather than persevering and 'working out one's salvation in fear and trembling'. Be careful, because the devil is a lion, just waiting for Christians to drop their guard down and lead them back into the slavery of sin.
Regards
[[You are equating our past salvation, our acceptance of Jesus Christ and projecting that same salvation event into the future salvation event, entering heaven. They are NOT the same event, nor does the former guarantee the latter.]]
Jokus- God tells us that the saved’s names are written in the Lambs book of life- it’s a done deal.
[[ Really, how are you going to explain away so many Bible verses that talk about losing inheritance, returning to the former life of sin, and losing the Blood of Christ - AND STILL claim they are saved for heaven?]]
I’m afraid it’s not me fitting an ideology to scriptures, Christ Clearly states that it is NOT through works that we are saved, but that it is entirely a gift of God- with no ‘strings attached’ so that man can NEVER boast of his own salvation. Christ went into great depth talking about being freed from the law- the same law that condemned the Jews when they slipped up, and made a very clear point about the law being done away with in regards to salvation. Under the old law, man did have to work to keep from sinning in order to be saved, and had to keep giving sacrifices, but when you examine the Apostles words and Christs, you will clearly see that the final sacrifice has doen away with hte law- why? So that NO man can EVER boast that he has saved himself. What you propose is that we can indeed boast of our salvation by always walking upright and making sure we never sin and always ask forgiveness so that we won’t lose our salvation when we do sin- You are putting us BACK UNDER the law that Christ’s death abolished.
Hebrews 6: 4-6 state the following that if we could lose our salvation, then we could NEVER AGAIN regain salvation-
4 For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame.
So, if we can NEVER be restored, the EVERY PERSON would be lost and go to Hell because EVERY PERSON continually sins- there are no degrees of sin- sin is sin, and ANY sin could result in lost salvation IF losing salvation were a possibility. EVERY sin is a turning away from God- A willful act of defiance to God. We know we shouldn’t, but we conciously make the decision to turn away from God and do the sin.
Jo Kus- if you can swing it, there is an excellent book by Charles Stanley called Eternal Security. Charles is an excellent teacher of God’s Word, and His books are always uplifting and helpful. In Eternal Security, He tackles thie often misunderstood concept of conditional salvation. I’m not trying to convert you or anything, but I think it’s a subject that is well worth exploring as the burden of Sin HAS been lifted from us once and for all, and living a life believing that we are responsible for maintaining our own salvation puts a yolk around our necks, and a heavy heavy burden on our shoulders that Christ NEVER itnended for us- here’s a link to hte book- or perhaps your local library might have it. Stanley is a trustworthy teacher, and a righteous man of God who has deep insights into God’s word http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1011693&item_no=64175