Sure, one perfectly good Biblical use of the concept of "saved" is the "eternal glory" use. Nothing controversial there. I have identified four uses of that concept from the Bible on this thread (foundations, cross, belief, and glory).
We can turn away from God at any time through sin and in doing so be lost. Those who stay faithful until the end (and that means repentant even though they will be sinful) will be saved. Those who fall away will not.
Those who "fall away" PERMANENTLY were never "there" to fall away from in the first place. The Bible says none of the elect fall away permanently. Christ loses ZERO of His sheep.
Protestantism/Baptism makes a fundamental error here in assuming that the moment you accept Christ you cannot fall away, and that you have a "free ride" from there on. That's not what the Bible tells us.
As WM posted, if God is good for His word, and we think He is, then a true believer cannot fall away permanently. That's just the way God made it. In addition, Paul teaches against any notion of "free ride", and we are the ones quoting it to you. What does it take for us to convince you that we don't believe that? WE ARE QUOTING THE BIBLE TO YOU! :)
This is also where Luther's pecca fortiter error comes in: you cannot be faithful and continue to sin boldly. Those who give in to sin boldly have forsaken Christ.
This is also where your misunderstanding of what Luther was saying comes in. Luther never taught what you are saying above.
The Bible teaches throughout the same theme: repent and your sins shall be forgiven, relegated to divine oblivion. Christ's sacrifice is powerful indeed, as you say, but He shed His blood only for some even though God would desire all men to be saved. That's because some will repent, and some won't. So, while His sacrifice certainly is good enough for the whole world, only some of the world will repent and be forgiven.
That sounds positively Reformed. Well said my good man. :)
The reformed theology says that we must repent because God predestined us to repent. What Orthodox theology says is that we repent because Christ made it possible to (i.e. we can) repent.
My original comment and your response both mentioned the regenerate man not wanting to sin like he used to, instead his general disposition would be one of wanting to please God. I thought THAT'S what you were talking about. And your above is fair enough. We say Christ went way beyond the possible and actually DID it.
Double-speak, FK. If being saved is guaranteed, then temporal cocnepts do not matter. The Bible, however, makes it clear, that temporal salvation is not just another concept, but something that will happen to those repentant souls who await Him until the end.
God will keep His end of the promise, but we can't say that for ourselves. That is placing way too much trust in our sinful nature that keeps on sinning.
Those who "fall away" PERMANENTLY were never "there" to fall away from in the first place
More twisted words, FK. Makes you think a lawyer wrote it. :) How can you fall away from something you were never there to fall away from? Get real. The Bible speaks of falling away by those who were there.
Again, God will keep His promise and those who hope in Christ will not be snatched away, but those who reject God at some point in their lives (happens all the time) will be lost for good. The Bible tells us that we can't serve God and Mammon. Clearly it is a choice we make, and as long as we live on this earth we can make choices. God doesn't make that choice for us.
As WM posted, if God is good for His word, and we think He is, then a true believer cannot fall away permanently
Again, we are not compelled to love God. Those who love God and believe in Him will not be let go by Him. But there is no guarantee that at any point in your,life you can be driven to the devil's side.
How can someone who believes in Christ and loves God go "postal" and kill a dozen former co-workers? And, I want to stress this, anyone can be driven to violence. Anyone can give in to evil.
In addition, Paul teaches against any notion of "free ride", and we are the ones quoting it to you. What does it take for us to convince you that we don't believe that?
The "free ride" comes form the double predestination fantasy of the Reformed, which they find in Paul. If you are predestined to be saved, then there is nothing that will change that. That's a "free ride." That absolves you of all responsibility for your actions. It's a free ticket to sin boldly and call on Christ at the same time. Devilish indeed.
This is also where your misunderstanding of what Luther was saying comes in. Luther never taught what you are saying above
I am misunderstanding Luther? LOL! How can anyone sin boldly and believe? Those who love God cannot sin boldly. They will sin, unintentionally, but they will not do so forthright.
FK: That sounds positively Reformed
No it doesn't, FK, because because it implies a free will to choose God or to choose evil. By dying on the Cross, God gave us all an opportunity to repent. That much was given to all humanity. The rest is our decision.
My original comment and your response both mentioned the regenerate man not wanting to sin like he used to, instead his general disposition would be one of wanting to please God
And how does that "fit" into Luther's pecca fortier formula?!? Sinning boldly and wanting to "please" God is an oxymoron, FK.