This question comes up once in a while, so it pays to get well informed and educated once and for all. There are too many scriptures that PROVE: "Once Saved-- Always Saved." [OSAS]. Why not do the research on "Salvation" and make sure of what you know. NOTHING CAN RIP OR SEPARATE US FROM GOD'S LOVE FOR US !! When/ after we are "Sealed" by the Holy Spirit into God's family of Saints -- nothing can peel us away from the Lord. The question is: 'Were we truly sealed in the first place -- were we absolutely serious and honest when we asked Jesus to come into our hearts... forever? Personally, I have "re-affirmed" that many times -- just to make sure, even though I didn't have to. I am still a sinner, but ask forgiveness for my sins and try to not repeat them.... poor man that I am. The pastor told me to read Ephesians chapter 4 also, but why not just read the whole book?? Like I HAVE SAID SO MANY TIMES... the time may come when we may be stripped of our Bibles, and then what?? Jesus told us in Matthew 24, that the time would come when even the Saints might be deceived with all the bad rumors and baloney floating around in the "Last Days." People whom we THOUGHT were good and faithful will turn away from the Faith, and also mislead many. Beware. We paid attention in Army Basic Training, because our very lives depended on it !! I think that super training saved my Bacon when I got into combat a year latter... and many other times in civilian life too.
I need to report that: Some great authors of the past may have written fine books that really helped us -- but in later times some fell away from the truth of the Bible, even as I mentioned before, so that many might be misled, even some of us older guys who have been around for a while. This humbling news ought to light a fire under our anatomy, friends, to beware, and stick ONLY TO THE THINGS LEARNED FROM THE BIBLE, because all men can slip, if they allow the devil a foot hold!! Even I have to double check my facts sometimes and also ask my good pastor friend, Kevin Sullivan, and others. And I am not so proud that I can't pull down a blog post or re-do it. I am only HUMAN, and make many mistakes.
I also want you all to THINK about what would happen IF our water supply regionally got interrupted or stopped for a week or so. Believe it or not, China wants our 'cleaner' water!! Theirs is very polluted, and they get sick half the time! Do we know how to purify our water if the stores run out in a mad rush for one reason or another?? I don't consider myself "The Mad Dr. Prepper" but I like to always have an edge on things, and do much reading on the side. The Proverbs takes about the ANT, and how he works hard to store up food for the Winter --- so why should we men and women save, invest, prepare to help our own families, with some 'rainy day' goodies? I have always SHARED my knowledge with my loved ones -- even when they call me "crazy and foolish." I am NOT rich by any stretch of the imagination, folks! But... there is what we call: "hard work" -- but also "smart work." So maybe I am a 'middle of the road' type of man -- not too unbalanced, not the first to buy something -- but not the last to buy it either. I might be looking to buy a cheap water purifier system soon, and just bought a book on the subject. Got to have clean, drinkable water. And remember, even with the Bible... I am not preaching to people -- but SHARING the good things with my friends, just as they do the same with me. That is called LOVE.
Warm Regards,
Tom
OSAS And 2 Peter 1:5-10
Q. In 2 Peter 1:5-10, Peter says to make your calling and election sure by growing in your faith so one does not “fall away”. Does this mean I could lose my salvation?
A. There are too many verses that clearly say we can’t lose our salvation for Peter to be speaking about this. A careful reading of verse 8 shows that his warning is against being ineffective and unproductive in our Christian life. Verse 9 confirms this, saying it’s possible to actually forget we’ve been cleansed from our sins. This doesn’t mean we’ve lost the cleansing, but that we act like we never received it.
So 2 Peter 1:5-10 is not a warning against losing our salvation, but against falling back into the lifestyle we lived before becoming saved. According to recent polls over 90% of those who profess Christianity live lives that are indistinguishable from their unbelieving counterparts. By failing to add goodness, knowledge, self control and the other qualities Peter mentioned to their faith, they’ve become just like the people around them. They haven’t lost their salvation but their lives are devoid of any evidence of their beliefs.
Jesus spoke of these people in His parable of the sower and the seed. He said they’re like the seed that fell among thorns who let the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth make them unfruitful (Matt. 13:22). When they get to heaven they’ll have nothing to commend them. Like the one whose works are all burned up in the fire, they’ll still be saved but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Cor. 3:15).
Finally, the Greek wording of verse 10 does not include “apostasia” which means “to fall away.” The word used there is “ptaio” which means “to stumble” or “make a mistake”. Peter was admonishing us to be diligent in our walk with the Lord to guard against living an unfruitful life.
A. There are too many verses that clearly say we can’t lose our salvation for Peter to be speaking about this. A careful reading of verse 8 shows that his warning is against being ineffective and unproductive in our Christian life. Verse 9 confirms this, saying it’s possible to actually forget we’ve been cleansed from our sins. This doesn’t mean we’ve lost the cleansing, but that we act like we never received it.
So 2 Peter 1:5-10 is not a warning against losing our salvation, but against falling back into the lifestyle we lived before becoming saved. According to recent polls over 90% of those who profess Christianity live lives that are indistinguishable from their unbelieving counterparts. By failing to add goodness, knowledge, self control and the other qualities Peter mentioned to their faith, they’ve become just like the people around them. They haven’t lost their salvation but their lives are devoid of any evidence of their beliefs.
Jesus spoke of these people in His parable of the sower and the seed. He said they’re like the seed that fell among thorns who let the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth make them unfruitful (Matt. 13:22). When they get to heaven they’ll have nothing to commend them. Like the one whose works are all burned up in the fire, they’ll still be saved but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Cor. 3:15).
Finally, the Greek wording of verse 10 does not include “apostasia” which means “to fall away.” The word used there is “ptaio” which means “to stumble” or “make a mistake”. Peter was admonishing us to be diligent in our walk with the Lord to guard against living an unfruitful life.
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