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The passages of scripture which made me give up on "once saved always saved" and "faith alone"
- [2 Peter 2] 17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
- Simply said: to turn to Jesus is to turn away from evil. Those who say they are saved in Jesus and practice evil are not turning away from evil - they are fooling themselves and are not saved. This is very sad.
Saved by fear:
[Josh 2:9, 12-14] and (Rahab) said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.12 "Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth,13 and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death."14 So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."
Saved by hope:
[Pss 146:5.12] Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
[Lamentations 3:24]"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
Saved by trust:
[Jer 39:18.5] For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the LORD."
Saved by seeking:
[2Chr 30:18] For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "The good LORD pardon every one 19 who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness." 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah, and healed the people.
Saved by giving alms:
[Luke 11:41] But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
Saved by confession:
[Luke 18:13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Saved by love:
[Luke 7:47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."
Saved by baptism:
[1Pet 3:21] Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Saved by conviction:
[2Cor 7:10] For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.
Saved by keeping the commandments:
[Mat 19:17] And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
Saved by the prayer of others:
[Jas 5:15.27] and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Saved by forgiving:
[Mark 11:25] And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
Saved by the washing of feet:
[John 13] 10Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you."
- The Lord is saying these things - not me! Do you believe in the Lord? Then believe what He says! Being saved by "faith alone" is a mis-interpretation of scripture.
- It is obvious the Lord gives us more than one way to be saved. 'Repent' means to 'turn'.
This is the main point:
It really does not matter HOW a person turns to the Lord, what matters is STAYING turned to Him.
- Does this mean Paul was wrong? No. It means his words have been interpreted incorrectly.
- You may say: "Paul tells us grace is a gift of God". This is true, but Paul also says that grace can be lost.
- [Heb 10:29] How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?
- [Gal 5:4] You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
Who Is A True Member Of The Church And The Body Of Christ:
[Revelation 12:17] So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Some Warnings or How To Lose Salvation:
Please realize these warnings were given to APOSTLE baptized, miracle working, tongue speaking, first century Christians.
- There are many warnings in scripture about loosing salvation. I will only list the ones that really made me understand - as Paul says:
[Phil 2:12] Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
- [Mat 18:32] Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; 33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? 34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
- [1Cor 10:6] Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance." 8 We must not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
- [1Tim 3:6] He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil;
- [Rev 3:1] "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. "'I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. 2 Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
- [1John 4:20] If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
- [John 15:6] If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
I believe a person can always repent and get right with God. Live by this verse:
[Proverbs 28:13] He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Praise God Forever!