FreeGrace2 said:
To be real clear, this position is really the position of Jesus Christ Himself. Do you believe what I quoted from Him or not?
It seems you view some sins worse than others and will result in loss of salvation. But you don't have clear verses. And you CAN'T have such verses, because what Jesus said NAILS THE DOOR SHUT on loss of salvation. It isn't true, or Jesus is lying.
What's your choice here?
Hi Free Grace.
To be clear, I don't believe Christ, or the Bible, contradicts itself.
OK, that's a good start!
I believe Christ is the Truth, and the Bible is the Inerrant and Inspired Word of the Living God.
Again,
I believe the Bible contradicts the OSAS Interpretation, in multiple passages, some of which I cited earlier.
OK then, I must assume that you really have no idea what Jesus said so plainly in John 10:28. Because what He said is clearly and plainly eternal security.
He gives eternal life, and the recipient shall never perish. If you can prove He didn't say that, please proceed.
Beyond that, I reject any interpretation or explanation of Scripture that is claimed to teach loss of salvation.
I can say the same. "Ok, so you DON'T believe what Jesus said in John 15:2-6 [or Mat 13:20-21; 24:12-13; Rev 2:10 etc]. Well, that's just real sad". Instead, I recognize you have a different interpretation.
Actually, no "interpretation" is required to understand what Jesus said in John 10:28.
And because the verse is so simple and straightforward, you have to prove to me that Jesus didn't say that recipients of eternal life shall never perish. Good luck with that.
I gave you my interpretation of John 10. There the Lord is speaking of His elect, those who persevere, not just those who are justified.
Nope.
I believe Justification+Perseverance=Salvation, as I explained. You believe Justification=Salvation, and all the justified will persevere.
Yep. You are a faith PLUS works kind of guy. I flatly reject that.
As the Lord said "Many are called, but few are chosen", many of those called to justification will not persevere as Jn 15:2 explains.
Has nothing to do with getting saved or losing salvation.
Earlier, you agreed some Christians do not persevere in the Faith, but even give it up entirely. Mat 24:13 says these were not saved.
Since you didn't quote the verse, I will, to see if your statement agrees with what the verse says.
"but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Did you bother to read the whole context? Or just land on this single verse and try to make a doctrine out of it?
So, here's the actual context for v.13
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
The context is the "end of the age" (v.3) and Christ's Second Advent. Then, v.4-12 describes the Great Tribulation. So v.13 is in the context of the 7 year tribulation. v.13 has NO application to everyone. Only those who will be IN the tribulation.
To make it real clear, I believe those who receive the Grace of Justification, plus the Grace of Perseverance, will never fall away.
Well, God doesn't gift "perseverance" to anyone. In fact, the NT encourages and admonishes believers to persevere. It is a choice that all believers must make.
Agreed, Scripture is not contradicted. But a wrong interpretation can be contradicted.
Because John 10:28 is so clearly worded, you are going to have to prove to me that my understanding is incorrect.
If we still disagree, we may have to agree to disagree. God Bless.
I hope you won't just give up. Rather, please prove to me that John 10:28 doesn't mean what it says.
I don't want to be wrong any more than you want to be wrong.
So help me out here, and tell me what Jesus meant in John 10:28.