- Jun 26, 2015
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There has been a huge argument brewing in church circles, and it centers around the doctrines of OSAS vs. conditional salvation. The former believe that once you are saved and believe, nothing, and I mean nothing, can cause you to lose your salvation, even YOU! The other side sees the multitude of warnings, and sees things we are exhorted to DO, and if we do them, taking heed to ourselves, and endure to the end, we shall be saved.
To the OSAS crowd, I agree, we need to be secure in our salvation, and there truly are verses that speak of such a confidence. However, I have never heard any OSAS person adequately explain the multitude of Bible verses that hang conditions onto our being saved.
To these latter ones, let me say this. I agree that there seem to be clear CLEAR warnings, that the OSAS crowd simply ignores. We are told that if we DO these certain things, things, we will never fall. However, think for a minute. Suppose we stop paying heed to the warnings and our heart is hardened a bit. As it continues, we end up over time not repenting “ because now it is no big deal. God’s grace is bigger than my sin, right?” Eventually we can end up not saved at all and miss heaven, correct? So how to we couple this very possible scenario with any security at all? If it is on OUR shoulders to stay saved, first, where is there any security in that, and secondly, how do we avoid becoming legalistic, because it happens all the time?
Some in both camps often say “I KNOW I am saved because the Spirit tells me I am.” Ok,but think about this, no matter where your belief falls. Why is there a seeming insurmountable canyon between these two partially true beliefs? Listen guys, “feeling saved” is not the guarantee we think it is. Heck, most everyone “feels saved”. But...... so did those in the final judgment who said “Lord, Lord.....”, only to hear “I never knew you”. Do we think they knew that was coming? Nope. They were blown away in shock and confusion.
So how do we know we are saved? What is the basis for our confidence? As the Word tells us, we must continue in the faith with clean consciences, and live lives for God. We need to do those things that are pleasing to Him. We need to avoid willful sin as if it is the plague. We are to set our affections on things above, not on things of the earth. We are to repent “IF” we sin(not when), and here is the biggest. We do all these things.....all the way to the end. Scripturally, that is the only true way to know. We endure, seeking His will, not ours.... always.
But think, if this is true, then this is a scary scene, because that means nothing is secure, as we always have to control our “other self”, the black dog, the one who listens at times to the enemy. The Bible calls it our old man, our fleshly nature, who can and will lead us astray if we give him half a chance. . As long as he lives inside us, we remain in danger with no security whatsoever.
So IS there security for us? Absolutely! Where is it found? One place and one place alone. Romans 6, when we put off our old nature by faith, and never let it rise from the grave again. You see, when we finally reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Him, when we finally come into agreement with God that we are dead and our life is hid with Him in Christ, and yield ourselves to Him as those who are now alive from the dead, everything changes.
No more is it up to us to keep us from falling, but it is on His broad shoulders. He becomes the one who keeps us from falling, praise God! Now THAT is good news! But you see, the promises God has made to us to keep us from falling, to not let us be tempted above that which we are able to bear, our impenetrable shield of faith, they only works when we are walking in the new man.
Yes, OSAS is true, but only IF we put on our new man, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. That is why there are so many arguments between OSAS people and conditional salvational people. There is a razor thin line between these two, and it is called the highway of holiness, where a man, though he be a fool, shall not err therein. There is TOTAL security there. However, as long as we choose to live in our old nature, refusing to believe that God has already made us new people, we give Satan a huge advantage. You see, he still has influence over our old natures. We cannot trust ourselves, if we still have a fight going on between our black dog and white dog. The man with the battle going on inside is not safe.... ever.
Listen, though! Here is the truth that has been hidden from us. Here is the truth we are even now awakening to. We are NOT both black dog and white dog! If we are His, we ARE new creatures, and old things, and the “old us” are passed away. We are not a mixture, trying to get more white and less black over time. But there is something we must do to “activate” this truth in our lives.
And what is this activating ingredient? It is combining the precious blood of the lamb with the words of OUR testimony. It is this act, we are told, that will turn efeated, lukewarm saints into true overcomers in the last days. Guys, WE are the ones they are talking about! It is not a work God asks of us, but rather a leap of faith! We do not look at how much sin we have to still overcome, we do not look at how much fruits we still have to bear to be considered worthy of being called “new creatures”. We believe we are new simply because God tells us we are. And the amazing thing is, when we do activate our new nature, we WILL overcome all willful sin, We WILL become fruitful! How do we know? Because God will do it through us? He is the master potter than changes us into the image of His Son. It is HIs work, and always was!
How important this is, and I pray you see it! You see, unless we align our testimony with this truth, we enable the black dog to live on, and brothers and sisters, I pray you believe me, our black dog, our old nature, cannot be trusted, not for a nano-second.
Blessings,
Gideon
To the OSAS crowd, I agree, we need to be secure in our salvation, and there truly are verses that speak of such a confidence. However, I have never heard any OSAS person adequately explain the multitude of Bible verses that hang conditions onto our being saved.
To these latter ones, let me say this. I agree that there seem to be clear CLEAR warnings, that the OSAS crowd simply ignores. We are told that if we DO these certain things, things, we will never fall. However, think for a minute. Suppose we stop paying heed to the warnings and our heart is hardened a bit. As it continues, we end up over time not repenting “ because now it is no big deal. God’s grace is bigger than my sin, right?” Eventually we can end up not saved at all and miss heaven, correct? So how to we couple this very possible scenario with any security at all? If it is on OUR shoulders to stay saved, first, where is there any security in that, and secondly, how do we avoid becoming legalistic, because it happens all the time?
Some in both camps often say “I KNOW I am saved because the Spirit tells me I am.” Ok,but think about this, no matter where your belief falls. Why is there a seeming insurmountable canyon between these two partially true beliefs? Listen guys, “feeling saved” is not the guarantee we think it is. Heck, most everyone “feels saved”. But...... so did those in the final judgment who said “Lord, Lord.....”, only to hear “I never knew you”. Do we think they knew that was coming? Nope. They were blown away in shock and confusion.
So how do we know we are saved? What is the basis for our confidence? As the Word tells us, we must continue in the faith with clean consciences, and live lives for God. We need to do those things that are pleasing to Him. We need to avoid willful sin as if it is the plague. We are to set our affections on things above, not on things of the earth. We are to repent “IF” we sin(not when), and here is the biggest. We do all these things.....all the way to the end. Scripturally, that is the only true way to know. We endure, seeking His will, not ours.... always.
But think, if this is true, then this is a scary scene, because that means nothing is secure, as we always have to control our “other self”, the black dog, the one who listens at times to the enemy. The Bible calls it our old man, our fleshly nature, who can and will lead us astray if we give him half a chance. . As long as he lives inside us, we remain in danger with no security whatsoever.
So IS there security for us? Absolutely! Where is it found? One place and one place alone. Romans 6, when we put off our old nature by faith, and never let it rise from the grave again. You see, when we finally reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Him, when we finally come into agreement with God that we are dead and our life is hid with Him in Christ, and yield ourselves to Him as those who are now alive from the dead, everything changes.
No more is it up to us to keep us from falling, but it is on His broad shoulders. He becomes the one who keeps us from falling, praise God! Now THAT is good news! But you see, the promises God has made to us to keep us from falling, to not let us be tempted above that which we are able to bear, our impenetrable shield of faith, they only works when we are walking in the new man.
Yes, OSAS is true, but only IF we put on our new man, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. That is why there are so many arguments between OSAS people and conditional salvational people. There is a razor thin line between these two, and it is called the highway of holiness, where a man, though he be a fool, shall not err therein. There is TOTAL security there. However, as long as we choose to live in our old nature, refusing to believe that God has already made us new people, we give Satan a huge advantage. You see, he still has influence over our old natures. We cannot trust ourselves, if we still have a fight going on between our black dog and white dog. The man with the battle going on inside is not safe.... ever.
Listen, though! Here is the truth that has been hidden from us. Here is the truth we are even now awakening to. We are NOT both black dog and white dog! If we are His, we ARE new creatures, and old things, and the “old us” are passed away. We are not a mixture, trying to get more white and less black over time. But there is something we must do to “activate” this truth in our lives.
And what is this activating ingredient? It is combining the precious blood of the lamb with the words of OUR testimony. It is this act, we are told, that will turn efeated, lukewarm saints into true overcomers in the last days. Guys, WE are the ones they are talking about! It is not a work God asks of us, but rather a leap of faith! We do not look at how much sin we have to still overcome, we do not look at how much fruits we still have to bear to be considered worthy of being called “new creatures”. We believe we are new simply because God tells us we are. And the amazing thing is, when we do activate our new nature, we WILL overcome all willful sin, We WILL become fruitful! How do we know? Because God will do it through us? He is the master potter than changes us into the image of His Son. It is HIs work, and always was!
How important this is, and I pray you see it! You see, unless we align our testimony with this truth, we enable the black dog to live on, and brothers and sisters, I pray you believe me, our black dog, our old nature, cannot be trusted, not for a nano-second.
Blessings,
Gideon