Posted on 05/31/2017 1:41:09 PM PDT by ealgeone
Paul must not have known all that when he wrote his epistles to the “Hebrews”, warning them against apostatizing to Judaism and dooming themselves.
Paul's writing in Hebrews would answer by saying "yes".
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. - Hebrews 6: 4-8
No, because a person born into God’s family is forever a part of it.
He is a new creation in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come.
God will not disown His own child when he sins any more than any earthly parent would disown their children when they disobey.
They will in love chastise and correct them and get them back on the right path, but NEVER give up on them.
And Colossians.
Isn’t Paul pointing to Christianity in this passage?
If one interprets the passages in Hebrews as indicating you can lose your salvation one must also recognize you cannot get it back.
Are you prepared to say once you lose it you cannot get it back?
If this is a “yes”, then, by this passage, not only can a Christian lose his salvation; once it is lost, it can never be recovered.
The problem with the thinking that you can lose your salvation is that instead of seeing God as a loving heavenly Father who WANTS to save people, He becomes a Divine scorekeeper nit picking at every little slip up that people make.
There’s no room for compassion, grace, or mercy.
It’s just legalistic law keeping, and if you make the grade, God is obligated to let you in.
I did not refresh fast enough to see your response!
For good according to that passage.
God is not obligated to anyone. Everything he does for fallen man is of His Grace, for His Glory alone.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you lose your salvation, only that if you don’t continue in the faith, you won’t be able to stand before Him holy, blameless, and without reproach.
There are rewards for faithful service and those can be gained or lost even while the person is saved, as if by fire.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
1 Corinthians 1:4-8I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 5:4-8For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritanceuntil we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Hebrews 6:17-20 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Jude v24"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy"
1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3156607/posts?page=313#313
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
For which the Greek, from the Byzantine, is:
2Corinthians 1:21-22 ο δε βεβαιων ημας συν υμιν εις χριστον και χρισας ημας θεος ο και σφραγισαμενος ημας και δους τον αρραβωνα του πνευματος εν ταις καρδιαις ημων
The first word in bold above is “bebaion,” the idea of confirmation, frequently used in commercial settings to confirm a bargain. Which of course makes sense of the remaining terms used here, which are also elements of a secured contract.
The second word in bold above is “sphragisamenos,” being sealed is to be marked by the signature, signet ring, or other unique proof of identity, that we belong to God, and this sealing is done by God, who is the one taking action in this verse. We do not and cannot seal ourselves. We do not, by our own powers, have access to God’s “signet ring.”
The third bolded word above is “arrabona,” and indicates what we might loosely refer to as earnest money, but in Hebrew culture conveys more the idea of a pledge of covenant, a security given as a guarantee that the deal will go through, though we only receive part payment at the beginning. See ערב for the related Hebrew stem indicating “pledge.”
YES, but there are only two ways and they must be deliberate, purposeful and change the meaning.
Are you prepared to say once you lose it you cannot get it back?
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What a great question, if you are a Christian, and you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you know Him, then in order to turn away from Him you must no longer love Him. In order to turn to another God perhaps you hate Him. It seems to me that if you walk away from the Lord Jesus Christ after you know Him you may be committing the unpardonable sin. So perhaps you can not “get it back”.
Fortunately it is not for me to judge whether someone is or is not a true Christian. Just because someone is a Christian and has given his life to Christ does not mean he loses the ability to make decisions, he does not lose his agency. In my opinion no matter how wonderful a person, how wonderful a Christian you are you can always decide to turn away. After knowing Christ I would not want to be in your shoes if you turn away.
It refers to a calculated decision to abandon Christ, and in that case there would be no desire to get it back.
Hebrews 10:26 - “sin willfully” refers to the act of apostasy. The whole epistle was a warning to the Jews about going back to Temple worship.
The OT tells us to raise up a child in the way that they should go and when they are grown they will not depart from it. Is GOD not the most perfect loving parent?
But an adopted child that will not take lessons on the way that they should go can have the adoption reneged, revoked. But GOD is more faithful and has the most perfect adjusted for each individual method of parenting.
Lest we forget, Paul actually settled the questions in his letter to the Corinthians, where a fellow of the congregation was sinning in a way event he pagans would reject: he was living in marriage with his mother! Paul's advice was to give that one up to be driven by satan, so the flesh would perish but the soul be saved unto the day of 'deliverance' ... which I interpret as The Rapture, given the context of that portion of the letter. But it is not a settled issue.
Bottom line is discernment ... 'use perspective, Luke, use the Spirit perspective.' God does not renege, defraud, or lie. It is upon HIS Promise that one is born again, born from above, and HE has promised to raise us up in the way that we should go, stumbles and pratfalls included.
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