The 3 Major Ways of Salvation - Only One is Correct!

[JimfromOhio]

Salvation, ie new birth, is not unconditional, but it is conditional on you choosing the cross. I agree it is not about calvinism since calvinism is just one of several false ways of salvation. What it is about is truly choosing the cross (John 3.16) to receive eternal forgiveness.

The Bible clearly teaches we are all made in God's image with a free and sovereign will just like God's and God tries to save us all (universal atonement), but not all want it, and that is their choice. God is in control, but we have true free-will.

Who are those who receive the gift of faith? It is those who truly come to the cross and so receive to be saved by grace.

Therefore, as the OP proves, God's way of salvation is to predestinate us according to His infinite foreknowledge of our free-choice: a conditional election, unlimited atonement, resistible grace, for preservation of the saints.

This is the only way, and all other ways fail.

Actually, the only "freewill" we have is whether we acknowledge the "conviction" of the Holy Spirit to turn to God and repent. We don't choose God, God chose us. People are confused about "human decisions" and "God's decisions". follow this concept if I make decisions:Its like this, in Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Romans 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
Understand that wisdom, I can choose to serve God as I see fit in my heart, mind and soul however God may change my decision as He directs me to another direction. This proverbs have a HUGE impact in my life:
Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit, without the Holy Spirit, you can't have faith and without the Holy Spirit, you can't be spiritual. If you don't have faith, then you don't have the Holy Spirit. Faith don't come before the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit comes before Faith. Faith will express itself in faith deeds not just words alone. In Galatians 6:3 says "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." And in James 1:26 says, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless."

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.

1. God's Grace and Gift: Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

2. Holy Spirit: 1 Thessalonians 1:5 "because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake."

3. Holy Spirit: John 6:29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

4. Heart with the Help from the Holy Spirit: Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

5. Holy Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Faith is NOT Works: 1 Timothy 1:4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work—which is by faith.

As Christians, with the help from the Holy Spirit, we have the understanding of what pleases God; our thoughts, our desires, our affections that are transformed in over time. Christianity is radical because we change from old nature to the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of God that created us.

 

[L3g3nd]

No, it doesn't say loss of salvation, but loss of rewards. He is saved and always will be, but he may not return with Christ to reign in the millennial kingdom. He would lose rewards in outer darkness until the new city arrives at the end of the 1000 years. Just as you are wrong about Matthew 18, you are wrong about any other verse you try to use to substantiate your idea.

Though I know this is a futile attempt, I present to you Matthew 24:46-51...

46: Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47: Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48: But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49: And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50: The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51: And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Clearly, salvation can be lost.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Though I know this is a futile attempt, I present to you Matthew 24:46-51...

46: Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47: Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48: But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49: And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50: The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51: And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Clearly, salvation can be lost.

How can salvation be lost when the Holy Spirit SEALS your salvation?

2 Corinthians 1:22 set His seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." Promise of

1 John 2:25 And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.

 

[SteveDr]

Jim,

God chooses us by foreseeing our free-choice (Rom. 8.29). Now that I am saved I know that God chose me. I did not know I was chosen before I was saved.Those hearts the Lord hardens is because they have already decided what they want. God merely hardens what has already been decided by the person. All the boundaries of man's free-will is within the hand of God, that is, nothing that is created is not within God's control, but never does He coerce as in calvinism.

Faith is a gift from God and you can't have it unless the Holy Spriit gives it to you, and the Holy Spirit won't give it to you unless you employ the gift of the image of God in which you are made to choose the cross to activate that faith and receive God's saving grace. So you see clearly we have a conditional election and resistible grace given to an unlimited atonement. Let go of your works of the mind to assume God gave you faith before having to make the choice. God does not save that way and does not want to walk with those who would be so arrogant and presumptuous.

How can God save a person if that person has already made up their mind to be saved another way? You will have to choose the cross, and this right is still afforded to you, but you will have to let go of the false teaching of totally depravity. This is the repentance God wants from you to open you to the cross of salvation.

 

[SteveDr]

L3g,

Matt. 24.51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this same account found in Luke 12.47-48 he is to be beaten with many stripes. To be beaten is not to perish. He was a believer and remains so for the Lord's sheep shall never perish.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand" (John 10.27,28).

Why not just repent of your false teaching? Stop trying to rationalize the false idea, for as you can see with each attempt I can easily show how you misread loss of rewards as being loss of life.

You see whom you believe in is fickle, for he can give life then takes it away as though he did not have the foresight to do the right thing the first time. Let it go. You don't need it. It will do nothing for your life and can only worsen it with doubt.

To be cut asunder is to separate him and to be placed with the hypocrites. To be assigned a place with the hypocrites does not mean to receive precisely the same punishment, just as those who share the same place in jail do not receive the same punishment. The weeping and gnashing of teeth signfies deep regret and true repentance as they spend their time in outer darkness, outside the light of rewards of reigning with Christ during the millennium.

 

[L3g3nd]

L3g,

Matt. 24.51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this same account found in Luke 12.47-48 he is to be beaten with many stripes. To be beaten is not to perish. He was a believer and remains so for the Lord's sheep shall never perish.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand" (John 10.27,28).

You assume here that a Christian who falls away is still a member of the Lord's flock. No creature can pluck us from God's hand, but we can freely choose to deny Christ, and thus be denied by Him.

Why not just repent of your false teaching? Stop trying to rationalize the false idea, for as you can see with each attempt I can easily show how you misread loss of rewards as being loss of life.

No, with each attempt you merely succeed in insulting everyone who disagrees with you, as well as dishing out your own interpretation of the Bible.

You see whom you believe in is fickle, for he can give life then takes it away as though he did not have the foresight to do the right thing the first time. Let it go. You don't need it. It will do nothing for your life and can only worsen it with doubt.

I've no idea what you mean by this.

To be cut asunder is to separate him and to be placed with the hypocrites. To be assigned a place with the hypocrites does not mean to receive precisely the same punishment, just as those who share the same place in jail do not receive the same punishment. The weeping and gnashing of teeth signfies deep regret and true repentance as they spend their time in outer darkness, outside the light of rewards of reigning with Christ during the millennium.

Weeping and knashing of teeth sounds like only one thing to me, and it isn't merely the loss of any reward. The Bible is full of allusions to losing one's salvation (as California Josiah pointed out in his post).

 

[PETE_]

Man was created in “original righteousness” also referred to as “knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.”This original righteousness and holiness was lost through the fall but is restored in Christ. Ephesians 4:24 emphasizes that the new self of the believer is “in the likeness of God (and) has been created in righteousness and holiness.” Colossians 3:10 declares that the new self is “being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him,” a reference to Genesis 1:26.

We see that Adam was created in the image of God and when saved we are renewed to the image of God. But where do you find that the unregenerate man is in the image of God?

 

[Wizzer]

SteveDr,

From what I have read it seems that you are desperately trying to deny those passages which clearly warn against of the possible loss of salvation. I was just wondering what you are so afraid of? If someone really can walk away from the Lord, why would this cause such an adverse reaction in you? Are you perhaps insecure in your own walk? I have often thought that many who try to defend OSAS do so because they themselves are somehow insecure in their own walk. I simply do not understand all the paranoia over the potential of someone else walking away from God?

Wizzer

P.S. And just how do you explain the parable in Matthew 18? This parable stands in stark contrast to what OSAS teaches.