"But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed and keep all my statutes and live according to judgment and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die" Ez 18:21
I think Paul is talking about unrepented sin. That leads to permanent spirtual death.
I am not sure I am following you. Are you saying that one has to believe in hell to be subject to going there?
No, a person doesn't have to know of its existence, per sec, to be subject to the possibility of going there. However, a person of today does not necessarily believe it exists. It is a matter of faith. We trust that the Word we have received is from God and vouches for its existence - one that cannot be empirically proven until we witness its existence after our physical death
So according to you, Jesus DOES lose some of His sheep
Reciting the Sinner's prayer does not make someone Christ's sheep. A person can follow Christ's voice for a time - and then choose to ignore it later. That person did not persevere. If a person dies in this state, they have rejected God, no matter how much they followed God ten years ago.
"But if the righteous should leave his righteousness and commit iniquity, [and] do according to all the abominations that the wicked [man] does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned; by his rebellion in which he has trespassed and by his sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die." Ez 18:24
Seems pretty clear. But I imagine that you will tell me that I am somehow twisting Scripture's meaning.
Regards
I can't imagine a believer not believing in hell. If Jesus believed in it, that's good enough for me. :) It's the same with demons for me. I was on the fence for a while, but then I learned about the story where Jesus spoke to them. Case closed.
Are you saying that we, as believers, will witness the existence of hell after our physical deaths? I thought purgatory is different than hell.
Reciting the Sinner's prayer does not make someone Christ's sheep.
I agree that is not the causal element.
A person can follow Christ's voice for a time - and then choose to ignore it later. That person did not persevere.
I "think" you are saying that such as person was one of the sheep, but then left the fold. If true, then how do you interpret the certitude Jesus espouses in this passage?:
John 10:26-29 : 26 ... but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
So would the interpretation be that only some of His sheep follow Him, that He will give only some of His sheep eternal life, that only some of His sheep shall never perish, that no one, EXCEPT the sheep himself, can snatch the sheep out of either Christ's or the Father's hands? If so, then Jesus appeared to have quite a message problem.