I too was raised S Bapt. Every Sunay was a salvation message because teaching wasn't important, only salvation. When I joined the Navy, I believed OSAS near as much as I believed in Jesus as my savior. I remember telling my shipmates, how I could have two buttons before me and pushing the one could kill every person in the world and still be saved. Then I could push the other and kill myself and then go be with Jesus forever in Heaven.
Then I got into the scriptures and when I read Heb 6: 4-6 I was devastated and wept before the Lord for three days. Then I remember asking the Lord; If it's not OSAS, what is it? I read the new testament through many times with just that one question in my mind. Scripture is spiritually discerned and the natural man is not able to be a partaker of the Holy Spirit, so that this passage in Heb 6 can only be referring to one who was born of the Spirit! I don't know how many times I've been told that they never were saved. This is just changing scripture to prove one's own doctrine at the expense of the truth!
I found the answer to be that we must keep the faith unto the end. A study on stumbling vs falling is incredibly illuminating to those who seek the Lord's truth.
There are so many scriptures that teach this that I am unable to understand how anyone can believe OSAS and actually know the scriptures.
Scripture teaches us that Calvin knows nothing yet as he ought to know. And again, Let God be true and every man a liar.
Gal 5: 4 "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." The Lord is not lying to us here or trying to scare us into obedience! Remember, let God be true and every man a liar!
How many babes in Christ allow their faith in Jesus to wither and die, thinking all the while that they're safe and secure no matter what they do; like blaspheming the Spirit of the Lord or by denying Jesus before man so that Jesus will deny him before our heavenly Father or even by rewriting the book of Revelations while leaving out selected portions, sadly!
If you really want the truth, then see Is 28: 9, 10 KJV "Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." Then your knowledge and doctrines will slowly change as more and more illumination and revelation of the Spirit are added unto you. If not, then something is wrong and it's not the Lord!!!
Again! You have made a doctrine out of one verse! Gal 5 is about Judaism and going back to the law. The entire book is about Paul writing to Judaizers!
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" Gal 1:6-9
The minute I saw the abbreviation for Galatians, I think , "Judiazers" and "another gospel" the entire book is one letter. It deals with one issue! People thinking they will lose their salvation if they aren't circumcised. But in Acts 15, the First Church Council resolved that Gentiles didn't need to be circumcised. Paul talks about Jew & Greek. Paul is explaining a basic concept, which by pulling out one verse, you obviously don't understand, you miss the point of the whole book!
"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal 3:26-29
"Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:2-5
Read Gal 5:4 in context. Not just of the passage above, but of the whole book of Galatians. Paul is warning people not to desert the true gospel, because evil men are trying to pull them back to being Jews only. These people are not committing wanton sin, but stupid sin. They are trying to earn their salvation by works of the law. They are over zealous, having run into some Pharisees, trying to get back lost Jews, and trying even to convert Gentiles to Judaism. They aren't the same religion. You cannot be both a follower of Judaism and Christ. One is works of the law, the other is grace.
My suggestion is to get a modern translation of the Bible, read up on the background. Then read Galatians through straight 5 times. Don't pull one verse out of context to support your erroneous belief! You have committed eisegesis by pulling verse 4 out of chapter 5.
As for Isa 28, I have no idea what you are trying to say. Do you know what Isaiah is about? Try reading chapter 1!
"4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him." Isa1:4
The whole book is about sin, of all the surrounding nations, and Israel. It is also about the coming Messiah. As for Isa 28, did you read the whole chapter, before pulling verses 9, 10 out of context?
"Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah"
Chapter 28 chastises Judah and Ephraim, but God gives beautiful hope!
"5 In that day the Lord Almighty
will be a glorious crown,
a beautiful wreath
for the remnant of his people.
6 He will be a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength
to those who turn back the battle at the gate." Isa 28:5-6
Your verses are not to stand in isolation to back your poor hermeneutics. Instead, CONTEXT!
"9 Who is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
to those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that
a little here, a little there.”
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
God will speak to this people,
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
13 So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured and snared and captured." Isa 29:9-13
A rule for this, a rule for that is not a good thing. Verse 13 explains it is a trap & a snare.
It grieves my heart to see how badly people like you have been taught. Understanding the Bible isn't about pulling isolated verse out and twisting it to support your point. It's about understanding the passage, the chapter, the book, the Testament or Covenant.
Preachers need to stop preaching their favourite verses & start teaching people how to read &interpret the Bible for themselves. How? By reading it in context. By understanding the biblical background. You have shown exactly nothing in your post.
Cont'd
