Presto! Just believe you're sealed and it must be true.Please,FK! So,by this analogy man determines that he is sealed by the Holy Spirit by just believing it.
The scriptures say that a man CAN know if he has a true relationship with God or not. After that, God's promises are either good or they are not. Paul said:
1 Cor 6:19-20 : 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
2 Tim 1:12 : That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Paul seems to think we can know. And notice that Paul didn't need another person to declare whether he was saved or lost. Paul knew it because of the personal relationship he had with God, one on one. It is the same with believers today.
Does this mean it's ok to sin now that you're sealed and have already determined for yourself that you have been selected to be in heaven?
Not at all:
Rom 6:1-7 : 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
That pretty much sums it up. The truly changed heart will not seek to sin in the way the Adamic heart did. The old has gone, and the new has come.
Sounds like you have taken away God's power to Judge you when you die by just believing you're sealed you must be guaranteed heaven.
For Heaven, I don't agree that God judges based on how many God points we rack up during life. He judges on whether we are justified or not.
We don't know if we are the lost or the saved,we are going to be judged at the end of our lives.
Then on what basis do you say we will be judged for Heaven or hell? I don't think I have ever heard an answer from an Apostolic that doesn't amount to a point system.
Salvation is an ongoing process that can be lost.
I have no problem characterizing "salvation" as a process, since it has more than one component. However, it cannot be lost, or else God is a liar. We are told that God's sheep are known to Him from the foundations of the world. We are also told that no one can snatch them out of God's hands. Therefore, the saved cannot be lost. Some men relish the idea that they are powerful enough to snatch themselves out of God's hand. I don't understand why they would want such an ability, but in vain they certainly do want it.
Bravo!!!!! keep it up.
So does every Tom, Dick and Harriette. Not there there can be any chance of self delusion, or even outright insanity, right?
And notice that Paul didn't need another person to declare whether he was saved or lost
That was the appeal of Paul's gnostic approach: no one can prove you wrong!
The truly changed heart will not seek to sin in the way the Adamic heart did
And since there is no one who doesn't sin, there just aren't any truly changed hearts, and there are no truly "saved" (justified) people.
For Heaven, I don't agree that God judges based on how many God points we rack up during life
The Bible says we are to be judged for our deeds. It's that aprt of the Bible some choose not to see.
Instead they posit that the "points" are used to assign who gets to live in the heavenly penthouse, and who in the basement. Now, that's truly Biblical /sar/!
Therefore, the saved cannot be lost
Of course not. They will be in heaven. No one can snatch them from there! Trouble is, none of us is in heaven yet and some confuse heaven with earth.
2 Tim 1:12 : That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
FK’s personal interpretation of the Scripture “”Paul seems to think we can know. And notice that Paul didn't need another per on to declare whether he was saved or lost. Paul knew it because of the personal relationship he had with God, one on one. It is the same with believers today.””
1 Cor 6:19-20 ]Paul does not say that by just believing we have secured our salvation.He is telling them to honor God,this requires perseverance.
Tim 1:12 Speaks of suffering for faith. This requires perseverance.
Having crosses and suffering in your life is the lesson here. If you don't have them you're obviously not leading the Christian life you think you are.
Scripture say we can fall away.
11 And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. 12 And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. 13 Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:11-14
Jesus says many are called but few are chosen. This man, who was destined to grace, was at God's banquet, but was cast out.
"And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day."
-John 6:40
Everyone who sees the Son and believes means the person “continues” to believe. By continuing to believe, the person will persevere and will be raised up. Belief also includes obedience, which is more than an intellectual belief in God.
FK-””Then on what basis do you say we will be judged for Heaven or hell? I don't think I have ever heard an answer from an Apostolic that doesn't amount to a point system.””
Dear Brother,We are judged by our love for one another,our perseverance through trials,willingness to suffer for the good of others,our humility etc..
This requires dying to oneself,something we are not preprogrmmed to do
Dying to oneself has to be a free decision.
I wish you a Blessed day