Well you seem to be intent on putting the fear of Hell upon born again believers by stringing the verses that follow together.
How else would one determine the truth of what Scripture says?
You were not able to offer an alternative explanation to what those verses were really saying; So from my perspective, it just seems like you are disagreeing with what the Bible plainly states.
You said:
And then you quote this...
You do not understand what I am trying to say. The Jews are believers in GOD in the OT and they were at times in favor with Him, but they later rejected their Messiah. Israel is an example to us. We also have to continue in His goodness, otherwise we can be cut off just like the Jews (See: Romans 11:21-22).
We (the church) are told in Ephesians 5 not to be deceived on the matter that no whoremonger, or covetous man, or idolator has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and or God. So this means that we as believers cannot be whoremongers, or covetous, or idolaters. If so, we will not have any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ, and or God.
You said:
When Heb 6:6 makes it clear this can't happen.
Hebrews 6:4-6 is dealing with apostasy in one rejecting Jesus as one's Savior and it is not talking about just backsliding into sin. There were select Jews who thought they could avoid persecution for Christ by reverting back to their Old Jewish religion (Which does not proclaim Jesus Christ). In other words, they would be denying Jesus if they went back to Judaism.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son and James 5:19-20 is PROOF that a believer can fall away and die spiritually and then come back to the saving of their soul and live again spiritually. Remember, the father said that the son was "dead" and he is now "alive again." Jude 1:12 talks about those who are TWICE dead. How can a person be twice dead? I will tell you. They were dead the 1st time before they came to Christ, and then they died a second time when they fallen away from Christ and rejected Him.
You said:
Then you post this:
"Also, for the record, I believe we are saved initially and ultimately by God's grace through faith, and Sanctification is the next step or stage in the salvation process. It is not works alone that saves a person. It's both Grace, and Sanctification that saves! (See
2 Thessalonians 2:13). In addition, the works a believer does are not their own, but it is God who does the good work through them. So all praise and glory goes to the Lord for any good work done in a believer's life...."...and I feel to agree but hesitate knowing that you may have another definition of words.
We don't agree. You believe you are saved by believing in Christ alone, and that Sanctification is not a part of the salvation process. Sanctification is living holy by the Spirit and it does not seek to justify sin but to put it away out of our lives.
You said:
I note also that you ignore my simple question...
Will you at judgement rely on His righteousness or your own for your justification?
My reply was an answer to the question. I am saying that we are saved by both God's grace through faith in Christ, and by Sanctification. This means that at the Judgment, I trust in Christ for my salvation (Justification) AND in the works of God done through me in living a holy life (Which is a part of the Sanctification Process). So I trust in Christ's righteousness, both on what He has done for me with His death, burial, and resurrection, AND the good work He does through me. For Jesus says we cannot do anything without Him (John 15:5), and the 24 elders cast their crowns down before Jesus because it was the Lord ultimately working within them.
As for the Judgment:
Here are verses whereby I highlighted the words in "
blue" and "
red" that emphasize the importance of works and or faithfulness at the Judgment. You will notice that there is no talk about trusting in Jesus alone for one's salvation.
Revelation 20:12
"
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done."
Matthew 13:41
“...
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Matthew 25:22-23
“He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him,
Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."
James 1:12
"
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."
Revelation 21:8
"...
the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Matthew 25:24-28 ESV, Matthew 25:30 KJ2
"He ... who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him,
‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 7:22-23, Matthew 7:19 NLT
"
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire."
Luke 13:27 MEV, Luke 13:28
"But He will say,
‘I tell you, I do not know you, or where you come from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you
yourselves thrust out."
Matthew 25:41-46
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment..."
Warnings Concerning the Lord's Judgment:
(For He Will Repay Us According to What We Have Done)
• Matthew 7:26
"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, ..."
• Galatians 5:19-21
"
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
• 2 Corinthians 5:10
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
• Ecclesiastes 12:14
"For God shall bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
• Romans 2:6 GNT
"For God will reward each of us according to what we have done."
• Romans 14:10-12
"...for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
• Matthew 16:27
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."
• Jeremiah 17:10 a,
Jeremiah 17:10 b ESV
"I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
• Revelation 22:12
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
• 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
• Hebrews 10:26
"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins."
• Galatians 6:7
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
You said:
And then there is the issue of Jeremiah 32:40 in which the Prophet predicts a New Covenant in the future in which God would indwell believers to stop them falling away and losing salvation. Either Jeremiah was wrong or you are...
I would like for you to go back and read a little more to get a feel for what is happening in Jeremiah 32. Start with verse 36, and read on down to verse 42 (Jeremiah 32:36-42). This is talking about the Jews as a nation who come back to God under the New Covenant including the Land Promise (i.e. the Millennium). In other words, God will put his fear in the Jew's hearts to keep His commands in the Millennium. For this will be a time where Satan will be bound, and a time when Christ will live and reign for a thousand years upon this Earth.
