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Once a person has believed in Jesus Christ for salvation, that is once he has understood the issue involved in salvation, and has placed his total confidence and trust in Christ for that salvation, He is eternally secure. There is nothing that can cause a believer to lose his salvation. He didn't do anything to earn that salvation-faith is not a work, and man gets no credit for placing his faith in Christ-and he can do nothing to maintain his salvation.
Salvation is as simple as this. Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved...
I'm basically going to provide a number of links which provide all the pertinent information on the subject of the believers eternal security. I am posting this information for the benefit of those who seek the truth. I am not going to spend my time debating and arguing with those who are determined to remain in self-righteous legalism. Those are the people who refuse to understand the issue of God's grace, and persist, regardless of the facts, in thinking that they can somehow impress God with what they do and thereby deserve to retain their salvation.
There are also those who mistakenly think that eternal security is a license to sin. It is not. It is in fact a license to grow up spiritually.
For those who genuinely want to understand the issue regarding the believers eternal security, the following material provides the facts.
The confusion concerning eternal security results in large part over the failure to understand the difference between positional sanctification and experiential sanctification...
To understand eternal security, it helps to understand what reconciliation is. Reconciliation is basically the removal of sin as a barrier between man and God. Since all sin has been paid for by Christ on the Cross, there is no sin that a person can commt that can cause him to lose his salvation. Law of double jeopardy. A person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. God does not judge a believer for a sin that was already paid for by Christ. A believer can and does get disciplined for sin, but his salvation is never in danger. The sin of the believer is handled as a family matter as per Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-13; Revelation 3:19-21.
What Does the Bible Say About Reconciliation | Biblical Reconciliation (http://www.thebiblepost.com/biblical-reconciliation - broken link)
The following 5 links deal specifically with the issue of eternal security and will clarify the matter for those who will study the material with a truth seeking attitude.
A final word. There are always going to be those who reject grace. The principle of legalism always attacks the principle of grace. The only way to guard against these attacks is to be firmly grounded in sound Bible doctrine. Some people simply choose to be legalistic. It makes them feel important. They insist on believing that they can somehow manage to impress God with their righteousness and therefore merit attaining and maintaining their own personal salvation. They cannot. God is impressed by His righteousness. Not with theirs. God imputes His righteousness to the believer at the moment of faith in Christ and them declares him to be justified.
If it is man who chooses to believe of himself, then why cant he take credit for choosing to believe?
Man wouldn't have anything to believe in if it weren't for God making it possible to believe in something. Thus God makes faith meaningful, and He must therefore receive all the credit/glory for it.
Man wouldn't have anything to believe in if it weren't for God making it possible to believe in something. Thus God makes faith meaningful, and He must therefore receive all the credit/glory for it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike555
Because faith in non-meritorious. Refer to post #8.
Grace Christian Fellowship (http://gracecfellowship.org/word/20070321.htm - broken link)
The reason why faith is non-meritorious is because it is a gift from God. We are given faith and repentance, they are not of ourselves.
Eph 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Rom 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Gal 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Act 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
2Ti 2:25
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
The reason why faith is non-meritorious is because it is a gift from God. We are given faith and repentance, they are not of ourselves.
You have to choose Christ, if you do not choose then you burn forever when you die, it is up to YOU, it is YOUR choice......................... but it is not about you.
The thread title is true... Once saved always saved... believers salvation is secure. Both true. However, where is it stated in the scripture that salvation is limited to believers only? Where does it say that there is criteria to fulfill to receive a free gift?
Yes believers are saved.. they have recognized their salvation. But was their salvation 'activated' after they believed or before? I would say the bible states the salvation is what propels them into belief.. Can anyone show otherwise in scripture?
What about Romans chapter 4 which states that Abraham was credited with faith BEFORE his act of circumcision? Not after... before. So you CAN be credited with faith (and thus salvation) BEFORE you show any outward signs of change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katjonjj
But was their salvation 'activated' after they believed or before?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sciotamicks
huh? Do you know how extra-Biblical that sounds and IS???
See above. It is entirely biblical that salvation is "activated" or "credited" before outward signs manifest... this is what the faith of Abraham is! Once you have realized your salvation there is no need to have faith... why retain the faith of salvation when you HAVE salvation? If I have faith I will eat a candy bar while eating it... that is not faith. Just like believing you have salvation when you see it doesn't require faith at all. I would use Thomas as an example of this. His unbelief did nothing to change the facts that he saw later.
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