Post by morningstar on Apr 30, 2014 16:09:30 GMT
Omega Letter
He Only Thought He Was Saved.
By Jack Kinsella
I was talking with a friend yesterday when the topic turned to a mutual acquaintance who got saved but about six months later, he was right back where he had been before meeting Christ.
My friend, who shares my faith in the doctrine of eternal security remarked, "I guess he only THOUGHT he was saved."
I suppose my friend made that assumption because of his bedrock faith that salvation is a one-time event that cannot be repeated. In that regard, he has Scripture firmly on his side.
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)
This is an interesting passage in that I've heard it used as a "proof text" against the doctrine of eternal security. In point of fact, it teaches the opposite. The Scripture says it is impossible for a saved person that falls away to be renewed unto repentance because it would require crucifying the Lord again.
It baffles me how that verse can be construed to mean that one can lose one's salvation because it so clearly says that is impossible. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He prayed:
"those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." (John 17:12)
My friend said that Judas was the example of a guy that thought he was saved but he really wasn't. I can't get there from here, since before Pentecost, NONE of the Apostles had any assurance of salvation. Salvation requires the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
FULL ARTICLE LINK
Fair Use for Discussion Purposes.
He Only Thought He Was Saved.
By Jack Kinsella
I was talking with a friend yesterday when the topic turned to a mutual acquaintance who got saved but about six months later, he was right back where he had been before meeting Christ.
My friend, who shares my faith in the doctrine of eternal security remarked, "I guess he only THOUGHT he was saved."
I suppose my friend made that assumption because of his bedrock faith that salvation is a one-time event that cannot be repeated. In that regard, he has Scripture firmly on his side.
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)
This is an interesting passage in that I've heard it used as a "proof text" against the doctrine of eternal security. In point of fact, it teaches the opposite. The Scripture says it is impossible for a saved person that falls away to be renewed unto repentance because it would require crucifying the Lord again.
It baffles me how that verse can be construed to mean that one can lose one's salvation because it so clearly says that is impossible. When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, He prayed:
"those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." (John 17:12)
My friend said that Judas was the example of a guy that thought he was saved but he really wasn't. I can't get there from here, since before Pentecost, NONE of the Apostles had any assurance of salvation. Salvation requires the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
FULL ARTICLE LINK
Fair Use for Discussion Purposes.
