Thanks, all, for the responses.
Has anyone who believes OSAS addressed 2 Pet 2:22? AFAIR, no one did. Maybe I missed it, but I don't think so. To me, it is one of the clearest passages (along with Heb 10:29,39; Mat 24, Jn 15 etc) showing real apostasy is possible.
It seems you believe that if a believer ceases to believe, they lose salvation? Where is that taught? It is not.
As to 2 Pet 2, let's consider the context:
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
v.20 clearly indicates a believer who "are again entangled in the corruption of the world".
v.21 isn't about ending up in the lake of fire, as many assume or even presume. It is about the rest of their life on earth that will be worse. They will end up without the blessings of God on their lives, and have no reward in eternity.
v.22 is a proverb. A quote from Prob 26:11 - As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
The proverb teaches that idiots (fools) repeat their folly. It says nothing about an unsaved person returning to an unsaved state.
This is what Paul taught about those who lose out on blessings and eternal reward:
1 Cor 3-
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
v.12 speaks of works done by divine power (filling of the Holy Spirit), and works done by the power of the flesh. Figurative speech.
v.13 speaks of the Bema, or Judgment Seat of Christ, 2 Cor 5:10 - For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that
each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
v.14 speaks of God's FIRE of evaluation on the believer's works, whether good or bad. If good, the believer will be rewarded.
v.15 speaks of God's FIRE of evaluation on the believer's bad works, and will LOSE (suffer loss) eternal reward, "
BUT YET WILL BE SAVED".
So it's clear; believers who only have bad works, or works from the energy of the flesh will lose all potential reward, but still be saved.
The "flames" and "fire" here speak of God's evaluation, just as fire was used to burn off all the impurities in gold.
John 5:24 - “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Believes and has are both PRESENT TENSE verbs. This means the very MOMENT one believes savingly in Christ, they POSSESS eternal life. Boom!
John 10:28 -
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Here, we find Jesus teaching that those given eternal life shall never perish. So, when combining John 5:24 and 10:28, we KNOW that from the MOMENT one believes savingly in Christ, they shall never perish.
And notice that Jesus gave no exceptions to this; such as certain sins will cause them to perish, etc.
Eternal security is most certainly taught in Scripture.
The Calvinist view is basically that apostasy is impossible.
This is one of their errors.
These warnings are written in the Scripture so that we may not be over-confident of not falling in future.
The Bible encourages and admonishes believers to continue to believe, for sure. But not for keeping or maintaining salvation.
Acts 11:23 - When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and
encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
Acts 14:22 - strengthening the disciples and
encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
St. Peter himself was over-confident on the night of the Lord's Passion that he would not sin: "33Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.” Yet he precisely was one of those who fell away most, by denying the Lord 3 times, as the Scriptures show.
And never lost his salvation.
We see clearly that by the time of Pentecost, after St. Peter had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and confirmed in Grace, he had changed his mind, and now warns us in his Epistles that falling away is really possible even for genuine believers. Simon Magus also showed this.
Absolutely! But that does NOT mean loss of salvation.
We are to Keep Watch and Pray, as Our Lord told His Apostles, so that we may not fall. We are to pray "Lead us not into Temptation". as He Himself taught in the Lord's Prayer. Then, He who promised He will give us whatever we ask for if we persistently pray for it, will grant it.
All this is true and doesn't support the notion that salvation can be lost.
Now, I want to address a response made to Mat 24. Someone said it refers not to soul salvation but deliverance from physical death.
Let's read the passage again, in Mat 24:
9Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, 11and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
12Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 13But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
(1) Now, clearly, the first thing that appears is that the passage is NOT talking about being saved from physical death. It clearly says they will be persecuted and killed.
That is the point. People WILL BE killed during the Tribulation. iow, they WON'T ENDURE to the end. They won't reach the end of the Tribulation.
It says their SOULS will be saved, but their bodies will perish through being persecuted and killed.
No, the text is quite plain. Those who survive the Tribulation wil be saved. They will have persevered.
(2) So, what is it talking about? It's saying that, during the tribulation, wickedness will multiply and the love of many will grow cold. As others pointed out, the word for love here is ἀγάπη (agapē). Only believers can love with agape love. And that shows again that it is believers who will grow cold in their love for the Lord by loving wickedness over Him.
(3) And compare what the Lord said twice in the same Gospel earlier on: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (10:39) and "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (16:25). Here, the Lord says those who lose physical life for Him will gain eternal life.
The words "gain eternal life" refers to something greater than just having eternal life. Just like 2 Pet 1:10,11
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,
11 and you will
receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There is quite a difference between being welcomed into the eternal kingdom, which will be for every believer, and being RICHLY WELCOMED into the eternal kingdom. This will be part of the eternal rewards that deserving believers will experience.
And so with all those considered, it's very clear that the Lord is saying the one who perseveres through physical death, tribulations etc, including Martyrdom - unlike those believers who once loved with agape love but then grew cold - will be saved. It IS Soul Salvation imo. God Bless.
If all this were true, then Jesus couldn't have been truthful about John 5:24 and 10:28. These 2 words refute the teaching that salvation can be lost.