Untitled

When I first wrote this chapter it was written with all the usual arguments against the stance that once you are saved you cannot lose your salvation. Then God showed me how simple the argument was against this and so the chapter is considerably shorter as none of the standard arguments for or against this are relevant.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

There is a book that lists all who have salvation. If your name is not in it you do not get eternal life.

In Rev 3:5 this church was told to repent and obey Jesus. They were disobedient and were not repenting. The threat was that their name would be removed from the Book of Life. These people had their name written in this book so had eternal life but were in danger of losing it through disobedience.

As it was shown in Rev 3:5 that we can lose our salvation through rebellion after we have been saved then it cannot be true that you are predestined to be saved. If that was the case you would not lose your salvation through disobedience. Election also depends on our decision as we cannot be elected if we do not want to follow Jesus.

Election and predestination are different. Election is a call to follow Jesus and be changed into His image, while predestination is the limitations God has given you to work within once you respond to His call. It is not being chosen to be saved.

G1588 klektos From G1586; select; by implication favourite: - chosen, elect.

G1589 eklogē From G1586; (divine) selection (abstractly or concretely): - chosen,

Election (in the Christian contest) just means being chosen by God to become one of His people. People are chosen who are willing to do what is required to be a follower of Jesus and who will respond to God’s offer to follow and obey Jesus as their Lord. It is like choosing a group of workers. You only choose those who are willing to do the work.

It is not so much the choosing to be a Christian but the choosing by God of the people who He knows will respond and will allow themself to be developed into the person He wants a follower of His to be like. It is no use God choosing people who do not want to follow Him and trying to mature them into what He wants His followers to be.

These are people God knows will accept Jesus and will obey God in all they do. He does not choose them to be saved as that would over ride their free will, but chooses them because they desire to be saved and follow Him.

All four usages of predestination are based on the above word. In this usage it refers to God determining the parameters within which we are to live and by this, limiting what we can do as a follower of His and thus have guidelines (God’s Plans for you) to walk in as required by Mat 6:33. Outside these parameters we serve his enemy in some way.

These parameters limit us to what is necessary for us to be saved, just like any good parent limits what their children can do so they wont hurt themselves. It is not a controlling the person or a choosing the person to do something but a guiding the person in the way they should live to satisfy God. They have a choice not to obey which sdi why they can loose their salvation.

(Rom 8:29) God knew beforehand what people would do and determined that all who followed Jesus would be conformed to the Image of Jesus.

(Rom 8:30) Those whom He knew would respond He called and justified.

(Eph 1:5) He determined that those who would respond would be adopted as sons.

(Eph 1:11) We are called to the purpose of God that He has determined we are to fulfill if we are to be a follower of His.

Salvation is not a result of Calvary. We are not saved by calvary. At Calvary we were redeemed and the blockage between God and us was removed so that we now have direct access to God without the need of a priestly sacrifice for our sins as Jesus took the place of that sacrifice. Salvation in the Old and New Testaments has always been through faith in God (The Old) or Jesus (The New Testament. There has never been a place in Salvation for any physical activity or observance that we do. It is all faith in what God has done.

The Holy spirit shows a person their need of Jesus

They respond and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour

They are now citizens of the Kingdom of God and are marked by Him to show this

They must now study to be able to live as citizens (Work at their Salvation) so they will not lose it

They must do the work of The Kingdom (Good Works mentioned in James that are an evidence of a person’s faith)

By Grace through Faith (Eph 3:8,9)

Result of God’s Love (Jn 3:16)

A result of hearing the word and believing it (Jn 5:24)

Confessing with mouth and believing in your heart That Jesus has come in the flesh, has been raised from the dead and is Lord (Rom 10:9-10)

A heart relationship not a legal act (Jn 17:3)

Reflected in what we do for Jesus out of Love for Him and His Kingdom (Jn 14:15, Heb 9:27, Jn 13:34-35)

A willingness to suffer as He did (2Tim 3:12)*

Serving Him for His purposes (as He is Lord) and not our own (Mat 25:31-46)

2 Tim 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

People say they follow Jesus but it is when the transition to deciding to suffer for Him occurs that you become useful to Him and can do what He wants you to do for Him. Until that stage is reached you are not really following Jesus. There are three evidences in a person who is following of Jesus:

Suffering for Him

Loving others as He loves them

Doing His work as He did

Any person evidencing these will be led by The Holy Spirit in these things and will be seeking to serve Jesus where, when and how He wants them too for the purposes of His Kingdom and resultant salvation of souls.

Salvation and citizenship are intertwined (you cant have one without the other).

A citizen seeks the things of God not His own

If not doing the things of God you either not a citizen (saved) or immature

Can a person leave jesus, and leave their first love, that’s the question, and the answer is an unmistakable, Yes!

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Can Satan deceive us to the point where we lose our salvation? Yes! Satan can’t just take away our salvation, he first has to teach us his doctrine of demons which deceive us, as Eve was deceived. OSAS is a doctrine of demons.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Can a believer err into sin and death? Yes, otherwise James would not have written the warning above to the "beloved brethren".

Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Your life will show which kingdom you belong too. If it shows the lifestyle of a citizen of The Kingdom of God then you belong to that kingdom. If it shows the lifestyle of a person who rejects Jesus and his will then you belong to the kingdom of Satan.

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

4 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,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 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.

This passage plainly states you can be saved and then lose your salvation and will be unable to repent and have your salvation back again.

Usually Quenching the Holy spirit is involved which is the unpardonable sin and you must have the Holy Spirit (i.e. be saved) to be able to quench Him. That is why we are to work at our salvation (not work to get it implying we have a part in it apart from accepting it as a gift from God).

1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

God knew who was going to respond so he called them (elected them). All are given the invitation to follow Jesus but those that respond are chosen (elected) to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Those that do not respond cannot be chosen as they reject Jesus as Lord and thus saviour. This includes those that give nominal obedience to Christianity (lukewarm Christian are an example) but do not treat Jesus as Lord. Those that are elected obey Him as Lord, accepting fully what He did at Calvary. Those who responded are predestined to live within the limitations He has made for them f they want to keep their salvation. Thus they are predestined to the ‘good works’ (the kind of works that God expects from His people) as against ‘evil works’ (the kind Satan and his followers do.

Satan has to offer a way of salvation that counteracts God’s way. For Satan’s false gospel to be accepted it must appear to be within the guidelines of The Bible so it is a plausible alternative but inadequate in that those believing it are not saved, or if saved, are rendered infective against him for some reason, usually by ignorance of Satan or a belief Satan cannot harm them as they are OSAS (once saved always saved) or similar.

God’s salvation is based on Love, Grace, Mercy obedience and Holiness. Satan’s OSAS is based on a Capricious whimsical God who chooses who will be saved, there is no mercy or Grace involved and in place of holiness is legalistic observance to show your OSAS and Christianity is correct.

People in these false/perverted Gospels are intolerant as the demons jealously guard this error in them and make them intolerant to the truth and to those who would show it to them. This means you cannot usually share the truth with them till these demons are bound or removed. Thus demonic binding type prayer is required in these cases before the truth will be accepted by these people.

There are two schools of thought about salvation, you have free will and decide for or against God, or the alternate view that God has made the decision to save you can never lose your salvation regardless of how evil a life you live. All positions are either at these extremes or a combination of these two view points.

As it can be seen from Revelation 3:5 you can lose your salvation and that salvation (Rom 10:9-10) is a choice we have to express so that God does not decide who will be saved and through the way we put into practice the Christian life we decide if we go to heaven or hell. as well as the rewards we will get in heaven (Gal 6:7-8)

This attitude states we have to do something ourselves to obtain Salvation. That works or ritual are necessary. It is often a result of the person not believing God can love them enough to do all it all himself and that they must do something so God can accept them for the purposes of salvation. Deliverance is needed to free them from this attitude.

This attitude places a person under the Law and negates what Jesus did at Calvary by saying it was not sufficient – that more than faith in what he did was required. That Calvary was not a finished work.

It negates Grace, Love and Mercy saying we are only accepted if we do certain things. This attitude does not appropriate what Jesus did at Calvary and like OSAS negates parts of The Bible or has to rationalise them away. and give them meanings they do not have.

Anything that adds to the Gospel modifies the Cross or interprets the Bible in a special way implies it is not innerent and thus unreliable and not God inspired. This also means the scripture they use to back up their argument cannot be relied upon if the Bible is not inerrant.

Satan does not understand God’s Grace, Love and Mercy which is why anything he substitutes for the Gospel is legalistic merciless and loveless.

These two doctrines (OSAS and legalism) also diminish the importance of the Kingdom and citizenship of the kingdom implying these are not necessary for Salvation. OSAS says that you do not have to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God and legalism implies you need to so something as well as God to be saved. They do not rely on the finished work of Jesus at Calvary and the necessity to do our part in living in obedience as a citizen of The Kingdom of God.

Acts 14:21,22 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 4: 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Romans 11:13-14 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Phil 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.