Posted on 06/01/2015 11:54:08 AM PDT by Laissez-faire capitalist
Even Charlie Manson could be saved as long as there is sincere repentance and a sincere belief in Christ and his precepts. All Christians sin, like everybody else. Repentance requires a rejection of sin and a sincere desire and effort not to sin again. We won’t be perfect but a sincere effort is required. Thus repentance is a continuous lifelong process. This analysis is the same under either a Reformed or Arminian theology of salvation.
That’s the part God gets to decide. It’s a personal relationship between God and you.
The rest of us don’t know what God is going to do with you.
How do you know, when it could be that your deceitful, wicked heart is telling you that you know Him, when you actually don’t?
1. No revealed sin can be decreed by humans not to be sin.
2. Acknowledged personal sin must be fought against.
3. If not fought against but instead accepted, then one should question the validity of one’s salvation.
the flip side of that question is why would God save someone he knew he would have to unsave later on down the road. And maybe even have to resave and unsave several times before the final verdict comes in. He wouldn't.
Paul does say the presence of the Holy Spirit is a "seal" and "pledge" of our salvation. 1 John tells us that if one in continuously (constantly) committing a sin they claim to have repented from then they were never saved in the first place. That makes sense as it would indicate that no sincere repentance has taken place.
Then if that is true should they parade themselves as being saved?
Should they now come out and say, as Baptists, that there are some who claim to be saved but they finally do something that shows that they were never saved to begin with and were thus falsely saved, and if the allegations are true, that Josh may in fact have never been saved in the first place at age 7-8 or at age 14-15 but was falsely saved.
If they say that the allegations are true, and that they believe Josh was truly saved at 7-8 and still saved at the age of the allegations supposedly happening, then they would have to say, too, that someone can commit homosexual acts after accepting Christ and still be saved.
That is the can of worms that has been opened up, and thus opens up Baptists to finally laying a line in the sand am]nd saying that when someone does this or that or commits a certain amount of sins that they were never saved to begin with.
But Baptists won’t do this.
They let everyone within their ranks engage in salvific relativism when it comes to the issue of salvation, and thus you have all kinds of people doing this and that and some Baptists will say:
“they were never saved to begin with” and other Baptists saying:
“No, they are still saved, they are just out of fellowship with Christ” and thus Baptists have created a three-ring circus when it comes to salvation and who was and is truly saved and who is falsely saved according to their own Calvinistic baseline doctrine.
Josh’s victims did not consent.
You’re chasing you tail.
Christians are save and yet they sin.
But someone says they are “fighting sin” and truly is or truly isn’t - and no one knows which is which as they can’t see into their hearts.
In that case, you have Baptists/Calvinists saying “That person was never saved to begin with even if they are saying they are doing #3” and other Baptists saying “No, they are still saved, and are fighting against sin (#3), but just out of fellowship with Christ” and other Baptists saying “No, they are still saved, but out of fellowship with Christ” and are being duped by this person who really isn’t fighting against sin but is just going through the motions -— thus Baptists create a three-ring circus when it comes to who is and isn’t saved.
re: “How can we know which Duggar is saved and which isn’t?”
We can’t know. Only God alone knows this man’s heart. Remember King David committed adultery and murder, yet was still loved and forgiven by God. He faced some terrible consequences because of his sin, but he did repent and God forgave him.
As to Mr Duggar, only God knows.
Now, whether or not this man has truly repented - even if he has, there are still consequences to his actions which cannot be removed. For example, he should never be put in charge of children or allowed to be alone with children. Ever.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Don't think that verse means:
--->if one in continuously (constantly) committing a sin they claim to have repented from then they were never saved in the first place.
All People have sinned, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, no matter how many times we sin. But we shouldn't sin just becuase we will be forgiven.
Then tell me how many sins and what kinds of sins a person has to commit before Baptists/Calvinists will finally say “That person is the one that can be characterized as the one who was never saved to begin with and one who has duped us this whole time.”
Or is it all salvific relativism, and “Joe Blow” person out there rapes people continually, and some Baptists say that he was never saved to being with and others saying that he is still saved just out of fellowship.
If some were to say that raping others continually is a sign of a false salvation (never saved to being with) then how many less than continually and truly saved? 1 rape a week? 1 time a month? 1 time a year and still saved?
But what amount of sin constitutes “continually” or “constantly”?
Because the Holy Spirit dwells within me - that is not my "heart" telling me that, nor is it my own deceitfulness - it is the Holy Spirit.
I may not know much, but this much I do know - I belong to Jesus and walk by faith, not by sight.
If you knew the Shepherd, you would know the Shepherd.
By your standard no one who commits an act of sin after they profess Christ as Savior is/remains saved.
For every little white lie you tell, or maybe you break the law and exceed the speed limit, or maybe you commit a little lust in your heart....in your opinion you are not saved.
That's the standard you're holding Duggar to. If your standards are to be used, then no one is saved or could ever be saved and remain saved. It would be a continuous cycle over and over and over again always wondering if you were or were not saved.
He may be forgiven for his transgressions, but that does not remove the consequences of breaking the law.
If it is all true, should he have to be put on a list of people who have committed sexual crimes?
James tells us that if we break one of the commandments (like lying) we have broken them all... so we all stand before God as GUILTY
The central issue is repentance.
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