By your reckoning... which is without scriptural basis, or even sound reasoning. You certainly aren't going to be saved if your faith doesn't endure, and we would not be told to endure if we had no part in it, even if your faith enduring is... by faith.
It is the work of God that we believe (jesus in John 6)
of your working to endure your faith of your own power. it is your work. thus in effect. Your working to keep your salvation.
It is not my reasoning. It is basic works 101
if your doing something to earn something, Your working for it. Period
It doesn't say they professed to believe, or that they were part of the church. It says their departure (not apostasia)made it clear they were not believers. You can be with a teacher of the gospel for some time, learning the doctrines and beliefs of the church before you decide you don't believe and "go out from them". If you depart from there, and go around to other churches denying Jesus trying to deceive people, guess what- that will reveal you didn't believe what they taught.
He said they were OF US.
You will twist it however you want. People do not become part of something unless they CLAIM to believe in the thing they are aprt of.
Not every apostate goes out from the church, though. and they don't all openly deny Jesus, and they don't necessarily go around as false teachers either. That is what these anti-christs were doing. You can see that is what he is talking about and not people that simply left the faith and went about minding their own business.
This is about those who become against christ who were once part of the church
I know many who have left. it brings pain in the church because you wonder.. Especially when someone goes and talks to them, and they say they do not believe anymore..
John is telling them they were never of us
Again, it's not a blanket statement. Even if someone who leaves the faith is an anti-christ: that's not what verse 19 is about. It's about specific people that were going around to deceive the church. THOSE people went out from the church (a physical departure not "apostasia"). THEIR departure made it clear they did not believe. That's all it says. He is talking about something that actually happened, he's not making a principle out of it.
Whatever. believe what you want..
There's nowhere in the bible where the apostles are like "HEY GUYS DON'T CONCERN YOURSELF ABOUT BELIEVEING IN JESUS, REMAINING IN CHRIST, DOING GOOD WORKS, WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT! GOD DOES IT FOR YOU. Its not there.
Now you throw the old strawman arguement that all workers throw out. I never claimed it was about that.. You just will only see what you want to see. And thats fine.
My faith is in God. not in myself. if I start to trust myself to remain in the faith. someone better slap me a few times to wake me up. Because I am not trusting in God.
