Once Saved Always Saved????? (church, preaching, believe, scripture)
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Here's another topic that is confusing me as a new Christian.
In my bible class I read either in (Timothy, Peter I think), that to be truly saved we have to first accept Jesus as our Saviour.
But, it said that after that . . . if we have been truly saved, than our actions will reflect it . . . and we will truly repent, and our old self/ways die, and that our actions will reflect this.
A friend of mine said, that once you accept Jesus as Your Saviour, that is all you need to be truly saved.
My question is that, if we accept Jesus as our Saviour, and have faith in him, but we continue in our sin's without truly repenting, if our actions show that we are not behaving as Christians or walking in the ways that Jesus explains we should . . . . like forgiving eachother, not holding grudges, being generous to the poor, honoring mother and father . . . are we truly saved?
I am confused about this . . . as my dear husband was saved as a teen, but has no relationship now with God, doesn't acknowledge him, yet he believes that Jesus is the Son of God but nothing more. In fact, he asks me and the kids to pray about this or that . . . . and when I try to guide him gently toward Jesus . . . he gets annoyed.
If I refer to a scripture with the kids he's find, but if it's directed to him, he tells me to stop preaching . . .
Help me on this, I am sort of confused about this as well. Blessings,
Lifesigns....it is my experience and belief that one cannot just merely say the words "I am born again" and "I accept JC as Lord and Savior"....but, it must be accompanied by good works, action, and example.
It's just as much how you live your life as saying the before mentioned words.
My question is that, if we accept Jesus as our Saviour, and have faith in him, but we continue in our sin's without truly repenting, if our actions show that we are not behaving as Christians or walking in the ways that Jesus explains we should . . . . like forgiving eachother, not holding grudges, being generous to the poor, honoring mother and father . . . are we truly saved?
,
My church believes that we must believe that Jesus is the son of God, repent of our sins and be baptised in the name of the Lord. We believe that if we do these things, and then turn away from worshiping God it seems that salvation might be hard to obtain.
Matthew 7: 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me "Lord,Lord" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven
NIV Version
I know the verse in John that says No one can snatch them out of my father's hand, but the verse right before that says "My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me" In our interpretation of that, people who fall away from worship or return to their old ways, aren't following him. In our church people who fall away still have hope though. They generally return and ask for forgiveness of their sins. Of course this is just our interpretation. I'm interested to hear many others.
Lifesigns....it is my experience and belief that one cannot just merely say the words "I am born again" and "I accept JC as Lord and Savior"....but, it must be accompanied by good works, action, and example.
It's just as much how you live your life as saying the before mentioned words.
In fact, actions speak louder than words.
I agree with what you are saying Beth Ann.
James 2: 17 Even so, faith , if it hath not works is dead, being alone
Wow, I can really identify with your husband. I pretty much did the same thing, didnt want to talk about God, or Jesus, or church, or anything to do with any of it. Did it mean I wasnt saved? No Did it mean God didnt love me? No, Sometime as Christians IMO we go thru dry spells, kinda like valleys, I have no idea why and then its like you come up or out and are closer to God than youve ever been. Maybe others here can relate to what Im saying.
Okay the first part of your post there Lifesigns, I agree with the other posters here about good works, etc, and really it sounds complicated but its not...the more time you spend with Jesus, praying and reading the Bible, you just wont be able to keep yourself from wanting to be like him, and the more you let him take care of things, the more your faith will grow, because you have past experiences where hes helped you. What I mean by letting him take care of things, for example, instead of worrying about something, pray about it, then let God take care of it.
Lifesign
I am always very reluctant to second-guess someone's relationship with the Lord especially if they have ever professed Christ. My personal opinion is that we can walk away from the position we once had in Christ. But that said, I really think only the Lord knows a person's heart.
Sounds like from what you've said your husband may be pretty closed to discussing the topic with you. Is this right? (I know in a marriage there are sometimes just some buttons we know not to push!) But if you think it's possible at all, I would first pray about it and if the Lord leads and gives you an appropriate moment, I would try to have a heart to heart discussion with him about it. In fact if it were me, I would probably actually barge in like "a bull in a china shop" and make a complete mess of things! It's hard for me to appropriately keep my mouth shut if issues are important to me. But I don't advise that. Again, I would pray and let the Lord lead. Maybe even pray that someone else would speak to him about his relationship with the Lord, someone he could receive from.
You know your situation best. These are just some thoughts. I am praying for him with you! I'm sure you know prayer is where the real victory will be won IMHO!
I believe once saved ALWAYS saved. 1 John 5:13 "I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that yo may know you have eternal life". Eternal life is based on feelings but facts. You can know that you have eternal life if you believe God's truth. I also think if our salvation is not secure how could Jesus about those to whom He gives eternal life "and they shall never perish" John 10:28. If we could be saved one day and lost the next day, Jesus would take us to Heaven the minute we became saved. Can joy and insecurity really coexist? How realistic is it to expect us to rejoice over a relationship that is only as secure as our behavior is consistent?
Here's another topic that is confusing me as a new Christian.
In my bible class I read either in (Timothy, Peter I think), that to be truly saved we have to first accept Jesus as our Saviour.
But, it said that after that . . . if we have been truly saved, than our actions will reflect it . . . and we will truly repent, and our old self/ways die, and that our actions will reflect this.
A friend of mine said, that once you accept Jesus as Your Saviour, that is all you need to be truly saved.
My question is that, if we accept Jesus as our Saviour, and have faith in him, but we continue in our sin's without truly repenting, if our actions show that we are not behaving as Christians or walking in the ways that Jesus explains we should . . . . like forgiving eachother, not holding grudges, being generous to the poor, honoring mother and father . . . are we truly saved?
I am confused about this . . . as my dear husband was saved as a teen, but has no relationship now with God, doesn't acknowledge him, yet he believes that Jesus is the Son of God but nothing more. In fact, he asks me and the kids to pray about this or that . . . . and when I try to guide him gently toward Jesus . . . he gets annoyed.
If I refer to a scripture with the kids he's find, but if it's directed to him, he tells me to stop preaching . . .
Help me on this, I am sort of confused about this as well. Blessings,
I only read the OP, but here is a quote from the book Did Adam and Eve have Belly Buttons?
"...Being saved is more than a "one-time event." It is a process. There are "three tenses" to salvation. If someone asks, "Are you saved?" you should answer: "I have been saved from my sins through Christ's death and resurrection. I am being saved as I cooperate with God's grace. And I will be saved so long as I do not reject God's love and I die in His friendship (that is, in a state of grace)." Salvation is a past, present, and future reality...."
My question is that, if we accept Jesus as our Saviour, and have faith in him, but we continue in our sin's without truly repenting, if our actions show that we are not behaving as Christians or walking in the ways that Jesus explains we should . . . . like forgiving eachother, not holding grudges, being generous to the poor, honoring mother and father . . . are we truly saved?
I believe that this is somewhat of a contradiction. I mean if one has truly accept Christ as their Saviour and invited him into their heart then they can't help but want to live the best life they can. That is not saying one will not sin, we are all sinners but you won't choose to sin and you will always try your best. How can you not do those things you mentioned when they are Christ's teachings? How can you accept Christ and not his teachings?
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) But if you think it's possible at all, I would first pray about it and if the Lord leads and gives you an appropriate moment, I would try to have a heart to heart discussion with him about it. In fact if it were me, I would probably actually barge in like "a bull in a china shop" and make a complete mess of things!
