Our salvation is determined by our faith, not by how we live. We do, however (imo), still have the free will to deny Christ after we have received Him and thus give up our salvation.
Our faith and how we live are intertwined
The faithful live very differently from the unfaithful
Our salvation is determined by our faith, not by how we live. We do, however (imo), still have the free will to deny Christ after we have received Him and thus give up our salvation.
IMHO, faith has NO value without “Free Will”.
“Our salvation is determined by our faith, not by how we live. We do, however (imo), still have the free will to deny Christ after we have received Him and thus give up our salvation.”
It does not follow, since all those who are given by the Father to the Son, do come to the Son infallibly (John 6:37). Therefore if you once confessed Christ, and then leave as an apostate, in reality you were not given by the Father to the Son, but are, in fact, a reprobate who was “never of us,” and must leave to manifest that you were “not of us.”
1Jn_2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
It’s also worth noting that if you are GIVEN by the Father, that you should have faith in the Son, then your faith did not precede the giving, but was caused by the giving. Therefore, it is as the scripture says,
Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
The latter part of this verse also explains the necessity of good works, which do not earn salvation, but are the consequence of salvation.
What you are describing is apostasy. The parable of the soils explains this well.
You're kidding, right? Not by how we live? Let's see James said:
James 1:2 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 2
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[b] is that?
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (ESV)
Okay?
We do, however (imo), still have the free will to deny Christ after we have received Him and thus give up our salvation.That would be what we call SIN, and the answer?
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ “