Good point and I agree for the most part.
My problem is with those who completely turn their backs on Christ, reject Him, condemen Him. I know 2 people in particular, one who may have never had a saving faith, but one who did, who later rejected Christ. Rejection of Christ means one is no longer His follower, no longer believes.
Matthew 12:31-32 says, “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Dear reaganaut,
There will be people who were not
believers who fall by the wayside.
Christ said there would be.
Those who are saved will be preserved.
The only way you can blaspheme
the Holy Spirit today is to reject
Christ’s gracious gift - the greatest work.
“...He is able to guard what I have
entrusted to Him until that day.”
Salvation never depended on your efforts,
your faithfulness, or your works.
To believe so is to misunderstand the value
of the Only Son of God’s sacrifice. There
is not a single sin you could commit that
was not covered by His blood 2,000 years ago
- even the sin Peter committed three times
in one night, denying Him.
The believer’s weakness is not unexpected
to the Savior. He is not surprised by weakness
or sin. He is drawn to it.
If it depends at all on your hold on Him,
not only won’t you be saved, but no one
could be saved. Thankfully, it depends
on His hold on each of his own.
You are inside the Saviors hand, wrapped
inside God the Father’s hand!
Rest there.
Let His life flow through you to bear
His fruit. Rest in the acceptance you
have “in the Beloved”. You could never
be accepted based on anything you could
do or not do. The acceptance of the believer
rests entirely on the work of Christ.
Can you break your fellowship with God through
sin? Yes. Repent and turn back to all He has
done for you. You will find the same acceptance
waiting there.
This is, after all, not mormonism or any other
system of worthless works. It is true Christianity.
Accept no substitutes.
best,
ampu