Luke 8:12 is hina me pistuesantes swthwsin (that they may not believe [and] be saved] You are correct that Pisteusantes is an aorist tense. It is also a passive, subjunctive participle. Aorist refers to punctiliar action, and this refers to the initial act of faith.
But we must go on to the next verse, Luke 8:13, which uses hoi de epi tes pisteuousin [who for a time continue to believe] - pisteuousin is present tense, middle voice, indicative mood, i.e. continue to believe for themselves.
So the interpretation of Luke 8:12 cannot be made in isolation from the very next verse, Lk 8:13. Yes, there is an initial act of believing in 8:12, but they continue to believe (8:13) for a short time and then fall away.
I agree that 8;12 cannot be made in isolation of v.13. In fact, that is one of my points. The fact that Jesus used the present tense of believe but adds "for a while" certainly removes the claim that one must continue to believe in order to be or stay saved.
Recall what happens the
moment one believes. God forgives, justifies, adopts as sons, and saves (gives eternal life). And don't forget regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised who would be with us forever. There are no verses that teach that any of these things can or have been removed from anyone.
Therefore, I cannot accept Luke 8:12 as an example of no need to continue to believe.
To be clear, the command is to continue to believe. But at the moment of faith, all these things occur and cannot be removed. So, one is saved and secure the moment they believe. Whatever happens beyond that point is covered under "and things future" in Rom 8:38.
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers"
Acts 16:31 states, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved'. It is true that 'believe' is pisteuson, a 2nd person singular, aorist, active imperative. It refers to the point action of something that happened.
Right. Paul did not tell the jailer he had to continue to believe in order to be saved. One is saved WHEN one believes; that very moment.
But Acts 16:31 cannot be separated from Acts 16:34, 'he had believed in God'. Here believed is pepisteukws (from pisteuw-). It is a perfect tense, active, participle. What's the meaning of the perfect tense in Greek? 'The perfect represents a present state resulting from a past action' (Wenham 1965:139). So the application of Acts 16:34 to Acts 16:31 is that the believing in the past (16:31) continues the believing in the present (16:34).
The "present action" is one's salvation from believing in the perfect tense. Actually, Wallace says it this way:
The force of the present tense is simply that it describes an event that, completed in the past, (we are speaking of the perfect indicative here), has results existing in the presemnt time (ie, in relation to the time of the speaker). Or as Zerwick puts it, the perfect tense is used for "indicating not the past action as such but the present 'state of affairs' resulting from the past action." Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics page 573
So, the perfect tense isn't speaking of continuing to believe, but rather the continuing
results of the past action of believing.
Therefore, I do not see that Luke 8:12 and Acts 16:31 reach the exegesis that you are pressing because of the context that refutes such an aorist idea.
How does the context refute this? It is unarguable that in both soils 2 and 3, the seed germinated into plants, but the plants didn't produce fruit. i.e.: they believed, were saved (existence of plants from the seed {word of God}), but due to various life circumstances, didn't mature and produce fruit. The general current state of affairs as seen across evangelicalism, unfortunately.
For a person to be saved, he/she must have an initial act to believe, but he/she must continue to believe/trust in Christ (present or perfect tenses). The results from a past action are continuing in the present. That's what these two verses teach in context.
I believe I've clarified and corrected your points.
[*]The aorist tense indicates the beginning of the believing action (Lk 8:12), but in Lk 8:13, the present tense of 'believe' indicates the need to continue believing.
In fact, the phrase "for a while" does not remove the action of being saved through faith.
[*]The aorist tense indicates the beginning of the command to believe (Acts 16:31), but Acts 16:34 has the perfect tense of 'believe' to demonstrate the need for continuing results.
The perfect tense is about continuing
results from the past action of believing.