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HELP'S Word-studies
Cognate: 5048 teleióō – to consummate, reaching the end-stage, i.e. working through the entire process (stages) to reach the final phase (conclusion). See 5056 (telos).
And no, Scripture does not somewhat conceal the truth about mans' salvation. The truth is stated plainly.
Sorry, there are several important spiritual truths, which God has somewhat hidden in Scripture.
Can you imagine what some of God's reasons might be for this?
If someone gives me the go-ahead, I will start a thread on it.
Let's suppose when I'm age 33 1/3 I am born again. I no longer drink 2 bottles of Jim Beam every night and no longer beat my wife and kids. I backslide at age 45 and start drinking 3 bottles of Jack Daniels and beating the wife more than ever. The kids are long gone taken by social services. At age 78 I come back to God. I die at age 79. Heaven or Hell? Let's say I die at age 59. Heaven or Hell?
Years ago, there was this old man who grew a vineyard and made some wine. He got stinking drunk and fell asleep naked. To top it off, when one of his kids saw him naked the old man put a curse on the son's family. If he had died in the middle of this, would it have been Heaven or Hell?
I'll let someone else take the first crack at this ... meanwhile ... Stay thirsty my friends!
Our eternal salvation is not based upon our righteousness or lack thereof. Our salvation is based entirely on the fact that at the moment of faith in Christ God imputes His own perfect righteousness to us and pronounces us justified which qualifies us to live in the presence of God forever. And the reason that God can impute His righteousness to those who place their faith in Christ is because of His FINISHED work on the Cross where He paid the judicial penalty for every sin that will ever be committed in the human race.
No amount of unrighteousness on the believer's part can nullify the perfect righteousness of God which has been credited to his account and by which he has been justified and eternally saved. And no amount of human righteousness can make anyone acceptable to God. That is why He credits His own perfect righteousness to those who have believed on Christ.
No matter how much the believer sins, it is handled as a family matter and the believer's eternal salvation is not at risk.
Sanctification involves both a positional aspect and an experiential aspect. The experiential aspect of sanctification is the process of spiritual growth of the believer. But in a positional sense every believer is sanctified at the moment he first believes on Christ and he is positionally sanctified forever. He can never lose that positional sanctification. And here is the Scripture which states that.
Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified (Perfect tense) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:10 is speaking of the positional aspect of the believer's sanctification and is in the perfect tense. The Greek perfect tense has the following meaning;
Perfect Tense
The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action. Greek Verbs (Shorter Definitions)
The perfect tense means that the believer has been positionally sanctified and that that sanctification continues on, no matter how the believer lives experientially.
Hebrews 10:14 goes on to say,
Heb. 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected (teleioó - Perfect tense) for all time those who are being sanctified.
teleióō has the following meaning.
HELP'S Word-studies
Cognate: 5048 teleióō – to consummate, reaching the end-stage, i.e. working through the entire process (stages) to reach the final phase (conclusion). See 5056 (telos).
Regardless of his experiential status, the believer has in a positional sense been perfected for all time by virtue of being in union with Jesus Christ. Positionally the believer has been brought into perfect relation with God the Father by reason of being permanently in Christ. The believer has been seated with Christ in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:5-6) and cannot lose his position.
It should be mentioned that while in Hebrews 10:10 sanctification is in the Perfect tense, in Hebrews 10:14 it is in the present tense. But the present tense of Hebrews 10:14 does not nullify the force of Hebrews 10:10 which views the believer's positional sanctification as being brought about by the death of Christ. The believer is identified with Christ in His death on the Cross and with His resurrection. And so again, by virtue of being in Christ and identified with Christ, the believer is positionally sanctified. Regarding the difference between the perfect tense of verse 10 and the present tense of verse 14, F. F. Bruce writes,
In v. 10 the statement that ''we have been sanctified'' is made in the perfect tense; here, as in 2:11, the present passive participle is used. In v. 10 the emphasis lay on the unrepeatable nature of the death of Christ as the sacrifice by which his people have been set apart for the worship and service of God; here their character as the people thus set apart is simply indicated in timeless terms, because emphasis is being laid on the fact that by that same sacrifice those who have been cleansed and ''perfected'' are now eternally constituted God's holy people. [The Epistle to the Hebrews, F. F. Bruce, p. 247]
If you do not learn to distinguish between the believer's experiential status and his positional status, you will never understand that the believer is eternally secure based on his position in Christ which is permanent and cannot be lost. The believer's position in Christ which is permanent is not the same as his abiding in Christ which refers to his experiential status.
And no, Scripture does not somewhat conceal the truth about mans' salvation. The truth is stated plainly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by evangelist-77
Sorry, there are several important spiritual truths, which God has somewhat hidden in Scripture.
Can you imagine what some of God's reasons might be for this?
If someone gives me the go-ahead, I will start a thread on it.
I repeat. God has not hidden anything which is necessary for man to know in order to be eternally saved.
And as expected, you completely ignored everything I said in post #10.
I repeat. God has not hidden anything which is necessary for man to know in order to be eternally saved.
And as expected, you completely ignored everything I said in post #10.
I never said there was.
I believe that I believe almost nothing in your post #10, so why reply.
You gloss over dozens of passages which warn of losing "eternal life", going to heaven, gaining perdition, etc.
And it appears you aren't open to learning anything new.
The problem that I have with the "Arminian" doctrine, which what the OP has espoused, is that I do not KNOW that all things are working together for good because I love God and am called according to His purpose (Romans 8).
Are temptations there to build me up in my spiritual growth or to tear me down..?
If I believe that after being born-again, I can lose my salvation.. I believe I might still be of the following:
Romans 9
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
So I do not KNOW by FAITH that all things are working together for good. When times of trouble come in life, I'm not sure if it ultimately is unto my destruction..
This is VERY HARD to live the Christian life when you do not KNOW you are saved..
How in the world am I going to do the following..?
Romans 5:3-4
King James Version (KJV)
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
How in the world am I going to glory in my tribulation if I do not KNOW (by Faith) that all of the tribulations are there because God LOVES ME and is building me UP not tearing me down through trials?
It's hard to have patience through tribulations in this context. In fact.. it is IMPOSSIBLE (I think) for a Christian to even WALK the Christian walk without KNOWING they are FORGIVEN. << Key WORD and TENSE to rest and meditate on...
Legalism (is what the Arminian doctrine is ultimately), I believe, leads to a HARDENED HEART. It is DANGEROUS GROUND and is I believe a HUGE motivator for APOSTASY because after all..
I might not be good enough...
Well praise GOD I know I am not good enough, and WILL NEVER be good enough.. I fall FAR SHORT of His standard.. I'm not even on the chart. Without JESUS Christ I certainly have NO GROUND to stand on.
Only one sentence would be expected, and this doctrine certainly DOESN'T produce HOPE.
Romans 8:24
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
This is why I reject the Arminian doctrine.. I believe it produces a self-righteous Pharisaical spiritual "better than thou sinners" pride.
Correct doctrine must produce correct living with the correct motive. The great commandment is Love.. loving our Savior God and each other...
Loving according to Corinthian 13 and other passages requires putting others needs ahead of our own.. One can do this if they are a Christian because they KNOW that God has PROMISED THEIR LIFE in Eternity..
Matthew 16:25
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it
The problem that I have with the "Arminian" doctrine, which what the OP has espoused,
is that I do not KNOW that all things are working together for good
because I love God and am called according to His purpose (Romans 8).
Mike, I really like your post.
IMO, your blue is Romans 8:28-30 and is the most famous Calvinistic election passage.
Truly, Mike ...
It's okay, and even expected, that you will sin occasionally.
And you can take care of the situation, i.e. maintain your righteousness ...
"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess (repent of) our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:7-10)
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