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Salvation is for eternity. Once your saved you can not lose your salvation. Otherwise it wouldn't be salvation but probation . Rom 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If your right you better be darn sure your saved because the wages of sin is death. You better not be playing with sin. The phrase once saved always saved causes some to lapse into sin because they think they can't lose their salvation. Not only does sin reign in death but death came by sin.

Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Sin always ends in death. That's why we confess if we do sin so that we can be cleansed and not die. It is not just a matter of fellowship that is at stake.
Sin is no respector of persons. Sin does'nt care if you are christian or not. It wants you to be it's slave. He that commits sin is a servant of sin. The soul than sins shall die.

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

On the other side of the coin there are those who forget they still have the flesh to deal with as an enemy of their soul. They think that the keeping of the law is their protection from losing their salvation. This is the work of the flesh.

Gal 5:4  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

The flesh can appear to be very righteous even holy. They promise liberty but they themselves are slaves to depravity. For if you begin by faith and then turn to the Law for maintenance you are living by the flesh and are in danger of the works of the flesh taking over your life.

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Faith is the only means by which we can live a holy life. The just shall live by faith. As we recieve Christ by faith so we walk in Him by faith.

Faith is the means by which we walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Jesus is the final authority on the matter.

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

The two little words "in me" are key to this passage. You can't be in Christ and not be saved. Anyone in Christ is a new creature. It is possible to not abide or remain in Christ who is our life. In that case we lose the life flow and are cut away from the vine and cast forth and wither and are burned.

The simple solution is to simply abide by faith in Jesus' love. He loves you so much. Even the smallest faith, yes the weakest saint is kept safe in Him. So do not cast away your faith in Jesus. Trust Him. If there is a sin you need to confess, do so quickly. Love Him, enjoy Him. Who else can you turn to? He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin when we confess.

Blessings,

asaph

One of the best kept secrets in Christianity is that God accepts us.
True, he can't stand our sinful acts, but he loves us. He doesn't have us on performance-based acceptance. He has us on Jesus-based acceptance.

It is wonderful to have the full assurance of salvation,
and it is God’s will that every one of us enjoy this assur-
ance. Toward the close of his life the Apostle John wrote by
divine inspiration:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, THAT YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life..." (I John 5:13).

There are three bases upon which believers in Christ may
enjoy the full assurance of salvation:

First, God urges every true believer: "Let us draw near,
with a sincere heart, in FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH..."
(Heb. 10:22). This is the full assurance that results from
simply believing God; much as a child implicitly believes
what his father has said and is absolutely sure that it is
true. God says: "He that believeth on the Son hath ever-
lasting life" (John 3:36). We may simply  and with good
reason  believe His Word and enjoy the full assurance of
faith.

Second, we may enjoy what Heb. 6:11 calls "THE FULL
ASSURANCE OF HOPE." The hope of the Bible, however,
must not be confused with wishing. The Christian’s "hope"
is "an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast" (Ver. 19).
It comes from having proved God. Thus the full assurance
of hope is the confidence that results from having accepted
God’s Word.

But third, and best of all, is what Col. 2:2 calls "riches of
THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING." This
full assurance is God’s reward to Christians who study His
Word and His purposes, beginning with His plan of salva-
tion as revealed in "the gospel of the grace of God." When
one not only believes God’s Word, but begins to understand
it he cannot but be gripped by its sublime reasonableness,
its powerful logic, and its provision for his deepest needs,
and thus he comes to enjoy "all [the] riches of THE FULL
ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING."

Another Amen for you Brother

Brother Love :)

Amen "Once Saved Always Saved"


Brother Love :)

Posted By A4C:

It is wonderful to have the full assurance of salvation,
and it is God’s will that every one of us enjoy this assur-
ance. Toward the close of his life the Apostle John wrote by
divine inspiration:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, THAT YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life..." (I John 5:13).

There are three bases upon which believers in Christ may
enjoy the full assurance of salvation:

First, God urges every true believer: "Let us draw near,
with a sincere heart, in FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH..."
(Heb. 10:22). This is the full assurance that results from
simply believing God; much as a child implicitly believes
what his father has said and is absolutely sure that it is
true. God says: "He that believeth on the Son hath ever-
lasting life" (John 3:36). We may simply  and with good
reason  believe His Word and enjoy the full assurance of
faith.

Second, we may enjoy what Heb. 6:11 calls "THE FULL
ASSURANCE OF HOPE." The hope of the Bible, however,
must not be confused with wishing. The Christian’s "hope"
is "an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast" (Ver. 19).
It comes from having proved God. Thus the full assurance
of hope is the confidence that results from having accepted
God’s Word.

But third, and best of all, is what Col. 2:2 calls "riches of
THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING." This
full assurance is God’s reward to Christians who study His
Word and His purposes, beginning with His plan of salva-
tion as revealed in "the gospel of the grace of God." When
one not only believes God’s Word, but begins to understand
it he cannot but be gripped by its sublime reasonableness,
its powerful logic, and its provision for his deepest needs,
and thus he comes to enjoy "all [the] riches of THE FULL
ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING."

Amen Brother

THE FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING

Brother Love :)

Amen "Once Saved Always Saved"

DITTO ;D

 :)

Brother Love :)

I think the saddest thing about believing that something we do or fail to do could cost us our salvation, is the thought that Christ's work would be insufficient apart from our obedience.  Obedience is the mark of the believer, not the maker.  Christ paid the price for my sin, once, for all.  I am bought with His blood, justified with His sacrifice, sanctified with His power, and one day will be glorified with His presence.  I am saved because He saved me!


We are held between the hand of the Father and of the Son - One God, holding us clasped in His hands.  Could I or anyone ever break that hold?


Praise God!

YES!!! Amen and Praise God!

Thank You Jesus

Brother Love :)

 ;DPlease notice in Paul's Epistles the phrase "faith of Christ"! In the KJV, every place Paul mentions it,  it ALWAYS refers to His Faithfulness. ALL English Bible Translations from 1850 onward take  "faith OF Christ"[His Faithfulness] and make an unfounded & interpretive change in the text so that we see "faith IN Christ"[our faith in Him] in its place. There is no word for "in"(Gr. en) in these passages! The "of" in "faith of Christ" means that which belongs to him. I say all that to say this : It is His Faithfulness of what He did at Calvary that gives me security. 1970+yrs ago, when He died, He took on the whole worlds Sin problem to himself (from Adam to the last person to ever be born)! Not one of us are left out of that equasion--includes men for all time. As we (thru Paul's teaching of the Cross of Christ), look back on His sacrifice for us, we see we WERE Forgiven of ALL our sins[yes--even those we haven't done yet!!], Sanctified, Justified(declared righteous), etc.  :) The moment we believed that He died & was buried & was raised from the dead (1 Cor.15:1-4) for us as ungodly sinners (Rom.5:6,8), we entered into the Kingdom of [God's] dear Son (Col.1:13). Our Security can only be found in Paul's Epistles. It is Unconditional!! ALL references outside of Paul's Letters are refering to Israel's Conditional Security---If they DO what God told them, then they HAVE security. John speaks of the Promise of Security (e.g. JN.10:27-29), MATT.-LK. speak of the Duty to obey (e.g. LK.9:62). *** I am considering doing a verse by verse study on this Topic ( at a later date ). ;)

Ambassador4Christ, AllinAll, and Brother Love:

How does your view fit in with Ezekiel 33:12-20, and John 15:5-10?

I have asked for an explaination of this in other threads, and still has not been addressed.

asaph referred to a little out of John 15, yet nobody offered and explaination to what that scripture was saying.  Please offer me your explaination of both scriptures I mentioned above.  I look forward to hearing from you.  

God bless.

everyday newborn,

You skirted my question...

You understand perfectly what I have asked you...

If Your salvation is based on something you did, or claim to have done, then Gods work is not 100 %.

If Gods salvation is not 100% His work in you, then this is why you can never be assured of "eternal security", because that security is in something you must do, to keep it, and you know eventually you won't do.........and lose your gift..

This is why you ask the question, you do...

Ezekiel 33, is written to the Jews who were under the OT Law of Moses, the Covenant has been abolished even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, by Jesus in his flesh. (Eph 2:15)

John 15:5-10, is not a difficult passage, the key is knowing something about the vine and the vinedresser of the vine of which He (Jesus) is speaking of.

I say read the passage very carefully, then visualize what is being said, using mental imagery, this is what helped me understand this passage of scripture, it is not a tough one to understand, of course one must possess the Holy Spirit and pray for understanding.

I will give you some key things which will help you to get started.

The passage Jesus is speaking of is actually Jhn 15:1-6.

The vine being referred to herein is a creeping climbing plant that produces melons, cucumbers, or grapes which I am sure people in that day, He spoke these words were familiar with.

The vine in view herein is probably the Grape vine, because the branchs burn.......

And here, He referred to himself as the vine (the Plant itself), symbolically in the OT, the vine refferred to Israel.

Ok, this is what you need to understand,  Jesus referres to
himself as the Vine, and His Father as the Vinedresser (vs 1),  
His Father prunes, tends and cares for the wellbeing of the Vine, every branch which does not bare fruit He takes away, the branch that bares fruit He prunes, so that it might bare more fruit (vs 2), you need to examine what this might mean, but consider this in the light of what happens to the branches which produce much fruit, after the fruit is removed, and the branch withers and dies, He (the Vinedresser) takes them away also, as part of the care and maintenance of the vine.

What might this mean??

At verse 3, He makes it clear that everyone who is washed by the word (Titus 3:5-7) is cleansed or clean (speaking of the stain of sin) which is preached, this is where Jesus makes the connection that the branches represent men. Some abide in Him, some do not.

Vs 4, Abide in me, is an exhortation found throughout the NT, for those who are saved to live in Jesus, and to separate themselves from sin, the call is to live, a Holy Life, if any sin "we have an advocate with the Father (the vinedresser), Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 Jhn 2:1),

It is presumed all believers understand they are saved because of His (Jesus) righteousness not our own (Rom 4:6, 5:18, 6:16) *see what Paul says about the righteoiusness which he trusted in at Phil 3:8-9.

Now notice verse 5, Those who abide in Him, Jesus says; bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Now verse 6, is the verse which causes problems for many, and where the difficult to understand portion of this passage begins, but it really isn't;  on the surface it appears to teach that any branch that is cut off and cast away is likened to a man that was abiding in Jesus, and then because he no longer abides in Him, he is cut off; This then is developed by some who teach doctrinal erorrs into a "lose your salvation doctrine".



But, if you read the verse very carefully, this is not what it says at all, in fact in examining it carefully there is nothing said about pruning nor cutting off a branch.

In any real vine, branches wither and die, naturally.......

It simply says;
If a man abide not in me,[/b[ he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Any man that does not abide in Jesus, (does not belong to Him) is not a branch of this vine of which He is. This is what is being said, herein.

So you see, these verses do NOT TEACH, a man which abides in Jesus, loses his salvation, it simply says that those who do not abide in Him, is cast forth as a branch, and withers and dies, and is burned........

One has to stretch what is written to make it says, that any MAN that does not abide in Him, used to be like a branch that did at one time, but doesn't know.


Beware of FALSE, teachers...................I wouldn't put alot of faith in anything asaph....said.  

But my question to you is, whose righteousness do you trust in??

And do you believe What the Lord says about His salvation He gives to men.

Isa 51
6  Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
8  For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.


Blessings,
Petro

Thank you for replying Petro, I will go back and consider what you have said and re-read the scriptures.  I will let you know what I conclude.

And no I have not skirted your question, I asked for clarification, obviously meaning I wanted to make sure I was clear on what you were asking before I answered, and I thank you not to accuse me of knowing what you meant and purposely dodging it.  I will answer that question as well.



God bless

{See Eternal Security for the Believer thread for response.}