I have found some encouragement in the Bible and I wanted to share it. But as I started writing this, God started to reveal to me yet other things. And its so exciting. I can finally see some things that I have never seen before.
It really shows God as love, for that is Who He really Is. And it is really really encouraging. I think you will be blessed if you read it. (and understand it). I know that as you read it, youll have questions and questions that seem to be unaswered at first. But hang in there, I might answer them later on. So keep reading.
I had something really exciting happen to me in the last few months. God started to talk to me! So I faced the spiritual world. (I never faced it before, I was raised in a baptist family). So I had a conversation with my mom about it and she told me to becareful. She feels very uncomfortable when I say: God told me this or God told me that. She doesnt believe God does that. She said that there were people who went into the spiritual world (had spiritual experiences) and then turned away from God.
So this topic became very real to me. Can a person be deceived or not? I mean we know there are people who think the Spirit of God talks to them, but they are actually communicating with the spirits of the deceiver. The Bible says: test the spirits to see if they are from God.
Then in the recent month I started to come across these verses:
PSA 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
2TI 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
JUD 1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his presence without fault
JOH 6:39-43 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me,
PSA 37:23 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
PSA 121:3 He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber;
JOH 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
JUD 1:1 To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
I tried to tell my mom that its ok to enter the spiritual world if you are Gods child. And I told her: look, in Mat 24:24 it says that God will NOT let you be deceived.
MAT 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.
Did you notice that the verses which say that God will keep you from falling, are talking about the righteous ones?
So if those verses apply to righteous, then how do you know whether you are righteous or not? Once you come to Jesus do you automatically become righteous and then you stay that way? Or can something change? So I looked at all the verses over all to see if I can see whats going on. (I studied it before, but I got nowhere until now). But I had this new idea now. And I saw things differently. And I found encouragement for myself. And so I wanted to share my thoughts. Hopefully, you can see it too and be encouraged.
So we just read some verses which talk about God keeping us (The Righteous ones) from falling. But the Bible also says that people CAN fall away.
MAT 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith
2PE 3:17 fall from your secure position.
Mat 25:1-13 5 foolish virgins started off with oil (Holy Spirit) but didnt make it
2PE 2:20 by knowing our Lord and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end
HEB 6:4-6 who have shared in the Holy Spirit, if they fall away
ROM 11:22 provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
HEB 4:11 make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example
Heb 10:36 And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." ... who shrink back and are destroyed
Rev 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
REV 3:16 * So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
REV 3:2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die
2PE 1:10 For if you do these things, you will never fall
(that means if you dont, you might fall)
The assumption here has to be that those who fall away are NOT righteous. (Since God keeps the righteous ones from falling.)
We are used to thinking that its either eternal security for ALL believers OR a possibility of falling for ALL believers.
But what if there are TWO sets? What if the righteous ones are the believers, who were chosen by God before the creation of the world, who never fall away? And the other believers are not righteous and they were not chosen by God (probably because He foresaw that they wont be righteous). After all, THERE ARE verses in the Bible which say that some have been chosen.
1Pet 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
Acts 13:48 Those who were appointed to eternal life, believed
EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
2TH 2:13 because from the beginning God chose you to be saved
EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
(Ill mention later a problem of: why keep the righteous from falling, they are righeous in the first place, doesnt that mean they are NOT falling? And the problem of: well, its not fair: God chose the righteous and then keeps them from falling and thats why they dont fall. Who can blame those who fall for falling then? But dont get distracted just yet, continue with my train of thought.)
So as I see it now, there were some of believers in Christ which were chosen by God because of His foreknowledge of souls. And there were also believers in Christ who were not chosen. Why do I say they had to be believers? Because we read the verses that people fall away. Before somebody can fall away, they have to believe first. Before somebody, who shared in the Holy Spirit can fall away, they have had to receive the Holy Spirit first. (Heb 6:4-6) Before somebody could get spit out first, they would have to have been IN Jesus mouth first (Rev 3:16) Before somebody could fall from their secure position, they had to have that position first. 2PE 3:17
So why did God choose some and not the others? I believe its because according to His foreknowledge He saw something in the chosen ones that He liked, that made them qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints. (COL 1:12)
So at this point, people would say: So? Whats your point? Some believe in Jesus and then fall away. Others believe, but dont fall away. So whats the problem? Well, the problem is, that people can only come to Jesus and believe in Him if God enables them to.
John 6:65 says that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
and THEN, Jesus says: I shall lose none of those He has given me
So there are two problems. First, why did God enable ALL and not keep THEM ALL from falling? And didnt Jesus say that none of those who come to Him will be lost? So if God enabled them to come, and then Jesus said that none will be lost that means you cant fall away. But some DO fall away. So this is the problem. But I think I have the answer.
Lets deal with the second problem first. Jesus did say: I shall lose none of those He has given me. JOH 6:39-43 But do we know for sure that those He has given me include ALL those who come to Him? Or perhaps there are two groups who come to Jesus: those whom the Father has given Him AND the rest of those the Father enables to come. I know it sounds like I am stretching it. But I believe it to be the truth in view of other verses.
In another place Jesus said:None has been lost except JOH 17:12
So in these verses Jesus was showing us that there are exceptions to statements. Like when we write a book of rules we say: this is true, except if a is this and b is this, then it would be this, but if c was this then d would be this .
When Jesus talked, He didnt list all the possibilities like we do when we write our books of law. He just made a general statement. But general statements could very possibly exclude some things or have many exceptions. So its very important to see any statement in the light of other verses and never by itself and never make one statement BE your theology.)
A lot of the promises in the Bible apply to a current status of a believer. Imagine you have a job with good benefits. All those benefits are yours as long as you are an employee. Once you stop being an employee, then all those benefits are lost. Its the same with salvation. I dont think it applies to either group of people (chosen or non-chosen). I think its just something that explains how this believing thing works. So I am not sure where to insert this. I dont want you to lose your train of thought, so maybe you should skip this until the end. Or after reading this, go back to the previous part to see where we are.
So the Bible says that you CAN fall away from your SECURE position. The way I understand it is this: your position is kept in heaven for you and is secure just as long as you are still believing. If you are still believing, nobody can take it away from you. Once you stop believing, then you fall from this secure position. A secure position is just a promise. And a promise only applies if you keep persevering.
HEB 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
And here Paul is saying: you have been given a gift of being reconciled to God, but only as long as you still believe.
COL 1:22-23 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
So God is saying: here are all these statements which are true. And all these promises which are true. BUT, only they really only apply to those who keep believing. Once you stop, you take yourself out of the promise.
And so this means that those who come to Jesus, He will never turn away. And He doesnt. But later, they fall away themselves. But those whom the Father has given Him come to Him and STAY with Him. And so Jesus raises those up on the last day.
And even this verse: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God didnt mean: if you believe in the name of Jesus and thats all. Because as James pointed out: faith without works (deeds of faith) is dead. Even demons believe. So its not just believing in Jesus thats required. But Jesud did not list a whole bunch of exceptions to this rule. And there are plenty of verses like that. So therefore, I dont feel that I am stretching it by thinking that Jesus meant only one group in mind when He said: I will raise them up on the last day.
It really shows God as love, for that is Who He really Is. And it is really really encouraging. I think you will be blessed if you read it. (and understand it). I know that as you read it, youll have questions and questions that seem to be unaswered at first. But hang in there, I might answer them later on. So keep reading.
I had something really exciting happen to me in the last few months. God started to talk to me! So I faced the spiritual world. (I never faced it before, I was raised in a baptist family). So I had a conversation with my mom about it and she told me to becareful. She feels very uncomfortable when I say: God told me this or God told me that. She doesnt believe God does that. She said that there were people who went into the spiritual world (had spiritual experiences) and then turned away from God.
So this topic became very real to me. Can a person be deceived or not? I mean we know there are people who think the Spirit of God talks to them, but they are actually communicating with the spirits of the deceiver. The Bible says: test the spirits to see if they are from God.
Then in the recent month I started to come across these verses:
PSA 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
2TI 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
JUD 1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his presence without fault
JOH 6:39-43 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me,
PSA 37:23 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
PSA 121:3 He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber;
JOH 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
JUD 1:1 To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
I tried to tell my mom that its ok to enter the spiritual world if you are Gods child. And I told her: look, in Mat 24:24 it says that God will NOT let you be deceived.
MAT 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.
Did you notice that the verses which say that God will keep you from falling, are talking about the righteous ones?
So if those verses apply to righteous, then how do you know whether you are righteous or not? Once you come to Jesus do you automatically become righteous and then you stay that way? Or can something change? So I looked at all the verses over all to see if I can see whats going on. (I studied it before, but I got nowhere until now). But I had this new idea now. And I saw things differently. And I found encouragement for myself. And so I wanted to share my thoughts. Hopefully, you can see it too and be encouraged.
So we just read some verses which talk about God keeping us (The Righteous ones) from falling. But the Bible also says that people CAN fall away.
MAT 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith
2PE 3:17 fall from your secure position.
Mat 25:1-13 5 foolish virgins started off with oil (Holy Spirit) but didnt make it
2PE 2:20 by knowing our Lord and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end
HEB 6:4-6 who have shared in the Holy Spirit, if they fall away
ROM 11:22 provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
HEB 4:11 make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example
Heb 10:36 And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." ... who shrink back and are destroyed
Rev 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
REV 3:16 * So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
REV 3:2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die
2PE 1:10 For if you do these things, you will never fall
(that means if you dont, you might fall)
The assumption here has to be that those who fall away are NOT righteous. (Since God keeps the righteous ones from falling.)
We are used to thinking that its either eternal security for ALL believers OR a possibility of falling for ALL believers.
But what if there are TWO sets? What if the righteous ones are the believers, who were chosen by God before the creation of the world, who never fall away? And the other believers are not righteous and they were not chosen by God (probably because He foresaw that they wont be righteous). After all, THERE ARE verses in the Bible which say that some have been chosen.
1Pet 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
Acts 13:48 Those who were appointed to eternal life, believed
EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
2TH 2:13 because from the beginning God chose you to be saved
EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world
EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
(Ill mention later a problem of: why keep the righteous from falling, they are righeous in the first place, doesnt that mean they are NOT falling? And the problem of: well, its not fair: God chose the righteous and then keeps them from falling and thats why they dont fall. Who can blame those who fall for falling then? But dont get distracted just yet, continue with my train of thought.)
So as I see it now, there were some of believers in Christ which were chosen by God because of His foreknowledge of souls. And there were also believers in Christ who were not chosen. Why do I say they had to be believers? Because we read the verses that people fall away. Before somebody can fall away, they have to believe first. Before somebody, who shared in the Holy Spirit can fall away, they have had to receive the Holy Spirit first. (Heb 6:4-6) Before somebody could get spit out first, they would have to have been IN Jesus mouth first (Rev 3:16) Before somebody could fall from their secure position, they had to have that position first. 2PE 3:17
So why did God choose some and not the others? I believe its because according to His foreknowledge He saw something in the chosen ones that He liked, that made them qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints. (COL 1:12)
So at this point, people would say: So? Whats your point? Some believe in Jesus and then fall away. Others believe, but dont fall away. So whats the problem? Well, the problem is, that people can only come to Jesus and believe in Him if God enables them to.
John 6:65 says that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
and THEN, Jesus says: I shall lose none of those He has given me
So there are two problems. First, why did God enable ALL and not keep THEM ALL from falling? And didnt Jesus say that none of those who come to Him will be lost? So if God enabled them to come, and then Jesus said that none will be lost that means you cant fall away. But some DO fall away. So this is the problem. But I think I have the answer.
Lets deal with the second problem first. Jesus did say: I shall lose none of those He has given me. JOH 6:39-43 But do we know for sure that those He has given me include ALL those who come to Him? Or perhaps there are two groups who come to Jesus: those whom the Father has given Him AND the rest of those the Father enables to come. I know it sounds like I am stretching it. But I believe it to be the truth in view of other verses.
In another place Jesus said:None has been lost except JOH 17:12
So in these verses Jesus was showing us that there are exceptions to statements. Like when we write a book of rules we say: this is true, except if a is this and b is this, then it would be this, but if c was this then d would be this .
When Jesus talked, He didnt list all the possibilities like we do when we write our books of law. He just made a general statement. But general statements could very possibly exclude some things or have many exceptions. So its very important to see any statement in the light of other verses and never by itself and never make one statement BE your theology.)
A lot of the promises in the Bible apply to a current status of a believer. Imagine you have a job with good benefits. All those benefits are yours as long as you are an employee. Once you stop being an employee, then all those benefits are lost. Its the same with salvation. I dont think it applies to either group of people (chosen or non-chosen). I think its just something that explains how this believing thing works. So I am not sure where to insert this. I dont want you to lose your train of thought, so maybe you should skip this until the end. Or after reading this, go back to the previous part to see where we are.
So the Bible says that you CAN fall away from your SECURE position. The way I understand it is this: your position is kept in heaven for you and is secure just as long as you are still believing. If you are still believing, nobody can take it away from you. Once you stop believing, then you fall from this secure position. A secure position is just a promise. And a promise only applies if you keep persevering.
HEB 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
And here Paul is saying: you have been given a gift of being reconciled to God, but only as long as you still believe.
COL 1:22-23 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
So God is saying: here are all these statements which are true. And all these promises which are true. BUT, only they really only apply to those who keep believing. Once you stop, you take yourself out of the promise.
And so this means that those who come to Jesus, He will never turn away. And He doesnt. But later, they fall away themselves. But those whom the Father has given Him come to Him and STAY with Him. And so Jesus raises those up on the last day.
And even this verse: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God didnt mean: if you believe in the name of Jesus and thats all. Because as James pointed out: faith without works (deeds of faith) is dead. Even demons believe. So its not just believing in Jesus thats required. But Jesud did not list a whole bunch of exceptions to this rule. And there are plenty of verses like that. So therefore, I dont feel that I am stretching it by thinking that Jesus meant only one group in mind when He said: I will raise them up on the last day.