PRAISE the LORD for opening my Understanding the 70th Psalms. A Very Good friend told me to read this Psalms Everyday in 1978. Thank You Jesus For My Friend Marie Wooding. RIP
Godhead is self-existent having Life within Itself. They never acquired life, rather the God head is Life Itself.
Jesus certainly came in flesh and blood. Please explain correctly so no one thinks wrong in this!
1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
John 6 and 7 chapter Stay blessed in His Holy Name Jesus, love u all in Christ.
Thank you Lord for this Psalms of comfort and praise. Even as we are in this great quandary of differing opinions, information and the desire for the people in office to control the populace; Scripture reminds me that You are still on the throne and is still sovereign in all things. V2,3 They believe themselves to be in control, but they will be ashamed and confounded in due time. Come quickly Lord Jesus. v. 4, 5 Therefore let me and all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You. You are magnified.
"But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying."
Make my heart to soar because You are in the Heavens of Heavens and You always take care of Your Children covered in the Precious Blood of Jesus, your Son, the Anointed one.
October 5, 2021
God bless all and especially those who have not trusted in the Lord's salvation.
I very much understand in the "danger" in that some may believe it doesn't matter if they sin willful etc. In thinking "I can't lose my salvation". Maybe picking and choosing not reading the Bible as a whole. As I noted two ways the Lord knows who are His: faithful, obedient, giving their lives to the Lord, and endure all the way to the end & a pure heart and who are truly devoted to the Lord shall endure till the end.
I understand Jesse & others view of basically that if you veer and one day reject the Lord, as many have done, you were never really saved in the first place. Also I understand yours, and others, view in basically we have free will and we must fight the good fight all the way to the end. The devil is always at work in this evil world and we must always focus on keeping the full Armor of God on.
Me making that post was to just to put another perspective in that the Lord knows who is going to spend eternity with Him.
I understand and respect both views. As long as a person is truly devoted to the Lord, with a pure heart, and endures to the end. Living for the Will of our Father and doing what pleases Him. They are the Children of God and heirs with Jesus Christ who gave His life to save us all. We must follow the ways of Christ.
I appreciate your reply brother Michael. The post you replied to was just to bring peace between two perspectives. I think both perspectives agree we must stay focused on the Lord and diligently serve Him with a pure heart. To the end.
The danger of believing that we cannot lose our salvation is that a person may thus not take seriously the importance of carefully safeguarding our "faith" and not giving in to "willful" sin that can rupture our relationship with God. John 15:10 ; Jude 1:21.
2 Peter 3:16 "As also in all his (Paul's) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they...wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, UNTO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION."
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I KEEP UNDER MY BODY, and bring IT INTO SUBJECTION: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a CASTAWAY."
2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I" (Paul) have fought a good fight, "I" (Paul) have finished my course, "I" (Paul) have kept the faith: HENCEFORTH there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
To say that a person who stops believing and obeying God was never really a Christian is superfluous. God promises that if a person repents and believes in Christ, he will have his sins forgiven. Acts 3:19. When gentiles did this, they received the Holy Spirit from God and were baptized in water. They became part of the Church. Acts 10:44-48. However, they must now be careful not to abandon their faith (apostatize) or give in to the sinful flesh with no care or repentance.
Hebrews 12:15-17 Looking diligently lest any man FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD; lest any ROOT OF BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP trouble you, and thereby many be DEFILED; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, HE WAS REJECTED: for he found NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, though he sought it carefully with tears.
That means a lot to me. I never considered Galatians 4:6-9, but it makes perfect sense. And yes, I do notice the transition in verse 9, where the writer says "I am persuaded better things of you." He is now speaking to those who were probably genuine believers and continued on until the end. We don't see that in verses 4-6. There were many people following along, some continuing on, and some leaving. Those who left never surrendered their life to Christ. But then there were those who did surrender.
Maybe this can be the new thread about Salvation. I guess the question being "if you can lose your Salvation". I very much enjoyed reading your five page comments on this Jesse. Which I do agree with also. As others brothers say Michael and Adam noting mainly I'd say about our free will. Which is true as God gave us the choice to choose our paths. As I also agree with your views.
I've been wanting to put my perception of this as I've seen the discussions. How I want to show my view of this is in the eyes of the Lord. Seeing that God knows everything. He knows the end before the beginning. He knows exactly who is going to be faithful, obedient, giving their lives to the Lord, and endure all the way to the end. There is no confusion or "what if's" in the Lord. So as it seems some may be saved today that may change in their destiny. Also as some are non-believers today may become the strongest Saint tomorrow.
The Lord knows His sheep as He searches hearts and knows us all. 1 Samuel 16:7.
Hopefully my comment may bring peace as weather we think it to be one way or the other. Those with a pure heart and who are truly devoted to the Lord shall endure till the end. 2 Timothy 2:19.
Sadly i know of more than one incident where some one has joined a congregation ,confessed their faith and been baptised for the sole purpose of pleasing their potential spouse ,they say all the right things and then some where down the line ,after marriage ,they confess that they never really believed or even understood the Truth .
Hello Jesse. Thank you for taking the time to share more explicitly about that great Truth - I fully agree with what you wrote: the impossibility of a truly born again person, baptized in & filled with God's Holy Spirit, to ever find in his heart to want to leave the wonder & experience of a divine change of heart & mind, and want to turn back to the weak & beggarly things of the past life ( Galatians 4:6-9).
But for any here who will continue to maintain that our understanding is incorrect, I would then explain vv 4-6 in this way: the Hebrews writer is sharing an 'impossible' scenario. "It is impossible" because of the 'impossibility' to re-crucify Jesus again (& maybe, again & again), putting the whole blessed, final work of God for our salvation into a disgraceful mess & shame. And since that is an impossibility (that a true believer who has received the goodness of Heaven) to again shame the Lord, the Hebrews writer quickly expresses, "But (I) am "persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation" (verse 9).
So why should he write this in the first place? For the very purpose of this letter: to show to these believers who were largely saved from judaistic legalism & error, that Jesus Christ & the merits of His Cross cannot be lightly regarded, even as seen by His exemplary Character (as written right throughout Hebrews): Him being far superior to any prophet, the angels, even Moses, by His Priesthood & by the Power of Faith, Hope & Love He gave to us. So, if some say that these are saved people in vv 4-6, then the writer is saying that such a situation cannot arise, since an apostate would have to re-crucify Christ to be saved again - which thing IS an impossibility ( Romans 6:10). And the RC belief in the Eucharist & Transubstantiation are related here.
So your word is correct Jesse: these were not believers spoken about because such a scenario cannot happen, rather the writer was persuaded that the believers' faith was genuine & strong.
Well, does man have free will to chose to love God and obey him or does God control us to the point where we can't do otherwise?
Did Adam have a choice? Yes. He chose badly and paid the consequences.
Did Noah have a choice? Well, he could have joined the others and would have died in the flood.
Did the ancient nation of Israel have a choice? Well, at times they chose to obey and were blessed. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, they chose to disobey and paid by destruction from Babylon and then Rome.
Christians have a choice to obey or not. God can help us, but he will not make us obey automatically. That is why we have so many warnings given throughout the New Testament by the Apostles to Christians in the Church.
Galatians 6:7-8 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
Hebrews 10:26 "For if WE sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,"
Paul includes himself in that statement. If WE sin willfully...
Romans 2:6-8 "Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,"
So the writer of Hebrews encourages the believers to move past the foundation doctrines and elements of the things of the Lord, mainly because the people who stay in that area can either be saved or unsaved.
There's some that taste of the Holy Spirit, they partake of the Holy Spirit, they get the knowledge and enlightenment of the basic truths and foundations of the things of Christ, and they might even in their mind believe that it's true.
But he's showing them that moving on shows you're saved. He says right now you're dull of hearing, so I encourage you in your Spiritual growth to get your senses exercised by God's word. If not, you'll just drop out and it will just prove that you're not the real thing!
Hebrews 6:4-6 does not show that a believer can lose their salvation. It's talking about those who were following along and being enlightened to the truth but never taking the next step in surrendering their life to Christ. They turned and walked away because of what it would cost them to leave Judaism to claim Christ as their Messiah.
That doesn't mean that a Gentile can't do that. There are many people over the years that have. A person can be in a group with believers and seem just like everyone else but not be saved.
They can even give up their old lifestyle and seem to be following the Lord and then after some time just walk away and go right back to where they were before. And people might wonder what happened because they seemed like a believer.
Well, if you understand the parable of the sower, you know what happened. Only one out of the four people that received the seed gets saved. There are three others that heard the same thing that the saved person hears, but they have different reactions.
One of them is a person that's excitingly, with joy, hears the word. But then when tribulations come, and by the way, that's how you grow, through trials and tribulations, but when the tribulation came, they quit because it's not exciting anymore.
Now it's down to living life. Now it's down to trusting the Lord, and learning how to live by faith! And to the flesh, sometimes it's not as exciting as it first was. So they quit!
The indication in the bible that a person is saved is that they make it all the way to the end. All saved people make it all the way to the end.
A person who is not saved can look, and act, and talk, and believe just like a normal believer. You can learn the language and learn the doctrines, and learn the lingo and say "praise the Lord," and you can learn how to put Jesus bumper stickers on your car correctly, and then one day just disappear and denounce the whole thing. That person was never saved to begin with.
The proof that one is saved is that they make it to the end. Why? Because we are kept by the power of God for salvation!
Hebrews 6:5, "And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,"
All these tastes, it's like sampling. A non-believer can sit in with believers and receive the same ministry of God's Spirit to that group, even in their own lives, as to the truth of Christ. And then it says "And the powers of the world to come." They were actually there to participate.
I recall the ten lepers that approached Jesus and wanted their healing. So He healed the ten lepers and sent them on their way, and only one of them stopped and returned to worship the Lord, and the Lord turns to the disciples and says weren't there ten lepers?
Nine of them just took their healing and took off. Only one turned to worship Christ.
There are people who participate in the powers of God's Spirit moving in amongst His people, and they're not even saved.
And then Hebrews 6:6 says, "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Here's the literal translation from the Greek text. The King James says "if they shall fall away." There's no "if" in the Greek text. It's just after having fallen away. They've already done it.
It's after having fallen away. And you can see in all these things that he's listing, they are all past tense. It's something they used to do that they don't do anymore.
Verse 4 started off by saying it's impossible for these people. Verse 6 says to renew them again unto repentance; Impossible! Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.
These are Hebrews and Jews who went back and denounced the whole thing and were back professing their unbelief, and hatred, and anger toward the Lord and they were doing it publically.
In John Chapter 3, we all know John3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." But that verse is just the beginning of a more detailed introduction of the fact that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil, so they turned away from the light.
But then there are others who came to the light because they have a desire for the enlightenment. So everybody gets enlightened but not everybody responds in the same way. An enlightened person is not necessarily a saved person.
When everyone stands before God, their responsibility first of all and foremost will be what you did in response to the light. It won't be words.
It won't be that you get punished because you used the wrong translation of the bible and didn't understand a couple of words. It's what you did when you were enlightened. And you might not even have known when. Everyone is enlightened to the truth.
It says for those who were once enlightened. Secondly: and have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've participated with the things of Christ. They have participated with the Holy Spirit. They don't have Him living inside, but they tasted of that heavenly gift that God gives to His people. They're sitting in amongst God's people and they're participating and they're receiving.
Then it says "And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Notice the emphasis? They were partakers, that is, they were in this interaction and the Holy Spirit was ministering to them. They were partaking of the Holy Spirit as He was enlightening them.
But notice they were partakers of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is the Holy Spirit, not Christ. The Holy Spirit's the one that's ministering. They didn't know Christ!
I would like to share my understanding of Hebrews 6:4-6 because there are many teachers that use this text to show that a believer can lose their salvation, not understanding that the writer of Hebrews is talking to people who have been listening and receiving the truth, and understanding the truth, but then ready to go back and not make that final surrender to Christ. They say that you can't be enlightened unless you're a Christian. And that is not true.
This may be a little lengthy, but I believe that when it comes to salvation, no words should be spared. I hope that you would take 5 or 10 minutes to read what I have to say here. That's all I ask.
(Part 1)
Hebrews 6:4 says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,"
The writer says first of all in verse 4, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. Notice past tense verbs. The word enlightened means to have your mind illuminated to the truth. And as I said, there are those who say that only believers can be enlightened.
Well, John tells us in John 1:9 that the light, who is Christ, enlightens every man coming into this world. Every person is enlightened to the truth.
Paul says in Romans Chapter 1, beginning at Verse 18 that no one has an excuse when standing before God, because even creation testifies to the very attributes of God.
In other words, the Holy Spirit uses creation as an initial enlightenment for every human being. That doesn't mean that every human being hears the gospel message.
I emphasize, and I'm not trying to belittle the gospel or its importance on preaching or teaching, but the gospel of John is presenting to us that the light of the world has come into this world, and the emphasis is the difference between light and darkness.
Dear Gregory Byrd , i am so sorry for your loss ,please try to live another day ,and after that try for one more ,God will never ever leave you ,He knows your pain as He knew your wifes pain also ,she is at peace now as im sure you know but you are left here in this world without her ,i am so sorry ,God may still have things that He needs you to do for Him ,you may be needed to help some one for Him ,its hard for you to see any kind of future hapiness but try to remember Gods love for you ,you are His child and He loves you as a Father , dont give up hope ,you are a Christian and you know that Jesus is coming back ,you can be with him but its not for you to decide when that should be , be strong ,Jesus is right there with you ,all day every day He is with you and if you lean hard on him he will keep you on the straight and narrow path to His Kingdom . Much love to you in Christ .
I am very happy that you liked the post I put together of basically "sins or evil things" we should stay away from. I added a couple things though most of it is from the NT. I actually started taking notes of these things and have all the verses that I would like to share with you as it seems you are taking notes of these things also for your sermons. This will give you all the places, and a couple more, where I got those things I posted:
Mark 7:20-23, Romans 1:21-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:16-21, Ephesians 5:5, Hebrews 12:14, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, James 1:19-22, Colossians 3,
As some things are noted in several places so I had to delete things so they would not show up twice.
Knowing this may help you preaching to others I am very thankful to put in my little bit to help. All glory to the Lord.
Having been called I am striving for perfection so I will be chosen. Good comments down below from Spencer, I admonish your good works as well as Richards. If the bible tells us that: Transgression equals the Law and the Law equals Transgression; then we look under "Tees" for the category "Transgression" and we find it not. I pray and hope for a "Transgression" category or "Radio button" Transgression.
Why? A favorite question of the ignorant and unlearned. I admonish the search engine Richard because the search engine presented over two pages verses with "transgression". Please add this category so I may write my sermons with greater efficiency unto perfection.
I am very thankful for this website Richard, actually I am extremely thankful for this website Richard.
God bless you. Put your trust in God and His Word. I promise it will be okay. My husband died when I was 28. I am 37 now. I felt the same way you do . Infact sometimes I still do. But I know that God lives in me and He is stronger then my grief. He is for you too brother. Don't give up. God uses time to help ease pain. Give God your trust and your time. You will see. I promise. Proverbs 3:5-7. The bible is healthy for you.
Know I am praying for you, I can not say I know what your going through because I haven't lost someone that close to me.. but I can go to the Man who does, God.
Please know that you will be in my prayers continuously
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Godhead is self-existent having Life within Itself. They never acquired life, rather the God head is Life Itself.
Jesus certainly came in flesh and blood. Please explain correctly so no one thinks wrong in this!
1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
John 6 and 7 chapter Stay blessed in His Holy Name Jesus, love u all in Christ.
"But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying."
Make my heart to soar because You are in the Heavens of Heavens and You always take care of Your Children covered in the Precious Blood of Jesus, your Son, the Anointed one.
October 5, 2021
God bless all and especially those who have not trusted in the Lord's salvation.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
If we believe believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
I very much understand in the "danger" in that some may believe it doesn't matter if they sin willful etc. In thinking "I can't lose my salvation". Maybe picking and choosing not reading the Bible as a whole. As I noted two ways the Lord knows who are His: faithful, obedient, giving their lives to the Lord, and endure all the way to the end & a pure heart and who are truly devoted to the Lord shall endure till the end.
I understand Jesse & others view of basically that if you veer and one day reject the Lord, as many have done, you were never really saved in the first place. Also I understand yours, and others, view in basically we have free will and we must fight the good fight all the way to the end. The devil is always at work in this evil world and we must always focus on keeping the full Armor of God on.
Me making that post was to just to put another perspective in that the Lord knows who is going to spend eternity with Him.
I understand and respect both views. As long as a person is truly devoted to the Lord, with a pure heart, and endures to the end. Living for the Will of our Father and doing what pleases Him. They are the Children of God and heirs with Jesus Christ who gave His life to save us all. We must follow the ways of Christ.
I appreciate your reply brother Michael. The post you replied to was just to bring peace between two perspectives. I think both perspectives agree we must stay focused on the Lord and diligently serve Him with a pure heart. To the end.
God Bless.
The danger of believing that we cannot lose our salvation is that a person may thus not take seriously the importance of carefully safeguarding our "faith" and not giving in to "willful" sin that can rupture our relationship with God. John 15:10 ; Jude 1:21.
2 Peter 3:16 "As also in all his (Paul's) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they...wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, UNTO THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION."
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I KEEP UNDER MY BODY, and bring IT INTO SUBJECTION: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a CASTAWAY."
2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I" (Paul) have fought a good fight, "I" (Paul) have finished my course, "I" (Paul) have kept the faith: HENCEFORTH there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
To say that a person who stops believing and obeying God was never really a Christian is superfluous. God promises that if a person repents and believes in Christ, he will have his sins forgiven. Acts 3:19. When gentiles did this, they received the Holy Spirit from God and were baptized in water. They became part of the Church. Acts 10:44-48. However, they must now be careful not to abandon their faith (apostatize) or give in to the sinful flesh with no care or repentance.
Hebrews 12:15-17 Looking diligently lest any man FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD; lest any ROOT OF BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP trouble you, and thereby many be DEFILED; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, HE WAS REJECTED: for he found NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Good day, Richard.
You're welcome. I'm glad I'm not losing my marbles!
You are very welcome. The Lord is good!
That means a lot to me. I never considered Galatians 4:6-9, but it makes perfect sense. And yes, I do notice the transition in verse 9, where the writer says "I am persuaded better things of you." He is now speaking to those who were probably genuine believers and continued on until the end. We don't see that in verses 4-6. There were many people following along, some continuing on, and some leaving. Those who left never surrendered their life to Christ. But then there were those who did surrender.
Maybe this can be the new thread about Salvation. I guess the question being "if you can lose your Salvation". I very much enjoyed reading your five page comments on this Jesse. Which I do agree with also. As others brothers say Michael and Adam noting mainly I'd say about our free will. Which is true as God gave us the choice to choose our paths. As I also agree with your views.
I've been wanting to put my perception of this as I've seen the discussions. How I want to show my view of this is in the eyes of the Lord. Seeing that God knows everything. He knows the end before the beginning. He knows exactly who is going to be faithful, obedient, giving their lives to the Lord, and endure all the way to the end. There is no confusion or "what if's" in the Lord. So as it seems some may be saved today that may change in their destiny. Also as some are non-believers today may become the strongest Saint tomorrow.
The Lord knows His sheep as He searches hearts and knows us all. 1 Samuel 16:7.
Hopefully my comment may bring peace as weather we think it to be one way or the other. Those with a pure heart and who are truly devoted to the Lord shall endure till the end. 2 Timothy 2:19.
God Bless.
But for any here who will continue to maintain that our understanding is incorrect, I would then explain vv 4-6 in this way: the Hebrews writer is sharing an 'impossible' scenario. "It is impossible" because of the 'impossibility' to re-crucify Jesus again (& maybe, again & again), putting the whole blessed, final work of God for our salvation into a disgraceful mess & shame. And since that is an impossibility (that a true believer who has received the goodness of Heaven) to again shame the Lord, the Hebrews writer quickly expresses, "But (I) am "persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation" (verse 9).
So why should he write this in the first place? For the very purpose of this letter: to show to these believers who were largely saved from judaistic legalism & error, that Jesus Christ & the merits of His Cross cannot be lightly regarded, even as seen by His exemplary Character (as written right throughout Hebrews): Him being far superior to any prophet, the angels, even Moses, by His Priesthood & by the Power of Faith, Hope & Love He gave to us. So, if some say that these are saved people in vv 4-6, then the writer is saying that such a situation cannot arise, since an apostate would have to re-crucify Christ to be saved again - which thing IS an impossibility ( Romans 6:10). And the RC belief in the Eucharist & Transubstantiation are related here.
So your word is correct Jesse: these were not believers spoken about because such a scenario cannot happen, rather the writer was persuaded that the believers' faith was genuine & strong.
Well, does man have free will to chose to love God and obey him or does God control us to the point where we can't do otherwise?
Did Adam have a choice? Yes. He chose badly and paid the consequences.
Did Noah have a choice? Well, he could have joined the others and would have died in the flood.
Did the ancient nation of Israel have a choice? Well, at times they chose to obey and were blessed. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, they chose to disobey and paid by destruction from Babylon and then Rome.
Christians have a choice to obey or not. God can help us, but he will not make us obey automatically. That is why we have so many warnings given throughout the New Testament by the Apostles to Christians in the Church.
Galatians 6:7-8 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
Hebrews 10:26 "For if WE sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,"
Paul includes himself in that statement. If WE sin willfully...
Romans 2:6-8 "Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,"
Kindly.
I'm familiar with that view.
Gad bless.
So the writer of Hebrews encourages the believers to move past the foundation doctrines and elements of the things of the Lord, mainly because the people who stay in that area can either be saved or unsaved.
There's some that taste of the Holy Spirit, they partake of the Holy Spirit, they get the knowledge and enlightenment of the basic truths and foundations of the things of Christ, and they might even in their mind believe that it's true.
But he's showing them that moving on shows you're saved. He says right now you're dull of hearing, so I encourage you in your Spiritual growth to get your senses exercised by God's word. If not, you'll just drop out and it will just prove that you're not the real thing!
Hebrews 6:4-6 does not show that a believer can lose their salvation. It's talking about those who were following along and being enlightened to the truth but never taking the next step in surrendering their life to Christ. They turned and walked away because of what it would cost them to leave Judaism to claim Christ as their Messiah.
That doesn't mean that a Gentile can't do that. There are many people over the years that have. A person can be in a group with believers and seem just like everyone else but not be saved.
They can even give up their old lifestyle and seem to be following the Lord and then after some time just walk away and go right back to where they were before. And people might wonder what happened because they seemed like a believer.
Well, if you understand the parable of the sower, you know what happened. Only one out of the four people that received the seed gets saved. There are three others that heard the same thing that the saved person hears, but they have different reactions.
One of them is a person that's excitingly, with joy, hears the word. But then when tribulations come, and by the way, that's how you grow, through trials and tribulations, but when the tribulation came, they quit because it's not exciting anymore.
Now it's down to living life. Now it's down to trusting the Lord, and learning how to live by faith! And to the flesh, sometimes it's not as exciting as it first was. So they quit!
The indication in the bible that a person is saved is that they make it all the way to the end. All saved people make it all the way to the end.
A person who is not saved can look, and act, and talk, and believe just like a normal believer. You can learn the language and learn the doctrines, and learn the lingo and say "praise the Lord," and you can learn how to put Jesus bumper stickers on your car correctly, and then one day just disappear and denounce the whole thing. That person was never saved to begin with.
The proof that one is saved is that they make it to the end. Why? Because we are kept by the power of God for salvation!
One more short post, I promise!
Hebrews 6:5, "And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,"
All these tastes, it's like sampling. A non-believer can sit in with believers and receive the same ministry of God's Spirit to that group, even in their own lives, as to the truth of Christ. And then it says "And the powers of the world to come." They were actually there to participate.
I recall the ten lepers that approached Jesus and wanted their healing. So He healed the ten lepers and sent them on their way, and only one of them stopped and returned to worship the Lord, and the Lord turns to the disciples and says weren't there ten lepers?
Nine of them just took their healing and took off. Only one turned to worship Christ.
There are people who participate in the powers of God's Spirit moving in amongst His people, and they're not even saved.
And then Hebrews 6:6 says, "If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Here's the literal translation from the Greek text. The King James says "if they shall fall away." There's no "if" in the Greek text. It's just after having fallen away. They've already done it.
It's after having fallen away. And you can see in all these things that he's listing, they are all past tense. It's something they used to do that they don't do anymore.
Verse 4 started off by saying it's impossible for these people. Verse 6 says to renew them again unto repentance; Impossible! Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.
These are Hebrews and Jews who went back and denounced the whole thing and were back professing their unbelief, and hatred, and anger toward the Lord and they were doing it publically.
In John Chapter 3, we all know John3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." But that verse is just the beginning of a more detailed introduction of the fact that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil, so they turned away from the light.
But then there are others who came to the light because they have a desire for the enlightenment. So everybody gets enlightened but not everybody responds in the same way. An enlightened person is not necessarily a saved person.
When everyone stands before God, their responsibility first of all and foremost will be what you did in response to the light. It won't be words.
It won't be that you get punished because you used the wrong translation of the bible and didn't understand a couple of words. It's what you did when you were enlightened. And you might not even have known when. Everyone is enlightened to the truth.
It says for those who were once enlightened. Secondly: and have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've participated with the things of Christ. They have participated with the Holy Spirit. They don't have Him living inside, but they tasted of that heavenly gift that God gives to His people. They're sitting in amongst God's people and they're participating and they're receiving.
Then it says "And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Notice the emphasis? They were partakers, that is, they were in this interaction and the Holy Spirit was ministering to them. They were partaking of the Holy Spirit as He was enlightening them.
But notice they were partakers of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is the Holy Spirit, not Christ. The Holy Spirit's the one that's ministering. They didn't know Christ!
I would like to share my understanding of Hebrews 6:4-6 because there are many teachers that use this text to show that a believer can lose their salvation, not understanding that the writer of Hebrews is talking to people who have been listening and receiving the truth, and understanding the truth, but then ready to go back and not make that final surrender to Christ. They say that you can't be enlightened unless you're a Christian. And that is not true.
This may be a little lengthy, but I believe that when it comes to salvation, no words should be spared. I hope that you would take 5 or 10 minutes to read what I have to say here. That's all I ask.
(Part 1)
Hebrews 6:4 says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,"
The writer says first of all in verse 4, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. Notice past tense verbs. The word enlightened means to have your mind illuminated to the truth. And as I said, there are those who say that only believers can be enlightened.
Well, John tells us in John 1:9 that the light, who is Christ, enlightens every man coming into this world. Every person is enlightened to the truth.
Paul says in Romans Chapter 1, beginning at Verse 18 that no one has an excuse when standing before God, because even creation testifies to the very attributes of God.
In other words, the Holy Spirit uses creation as an initial enlightenment for every human being. That doesn't mean that every human being hears the gospel message.
I emphasize, and I'm not trying to belittle the gospel or its importance on preaching or teaching, but the gospel of John is presenting to us that the light of the world has come into this world, and the emphasis is the difference between light and darkness.
I am very happy that you liked the post I put together of basically "sins or evil things" we should stay away from. I added a couple things though most of it is from the NT. I actually started taking notes of these things and have all the verses that I would like to share with you as it seems you are taking notes of these things also for your sermons. This will give you all the places, and a couple more, where I got those things I posted:
Mark 7:20-23, Romans 1:21-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:16-21, Ephesians 5:5, Hebrews 12:14, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, James 1:19-22, Colossians 3,
As some things are noted in several places so I had to delete things so they would not show up twice.
Knowing this may help you preaching to others I am very thankful to put in my little bit to help. All glory to the Lord.
God Bless you on your journey brother Gary.
Why? A favorite question of the ignorant and unlearned. I admonish the search engine Richard because the search engine presented over two pages verses with "transgression". Please add this category so I may write my sermons with greater efficiency unto perfection.
I am very thankful for this website Richard, actually I am extremely thankful for this website Richard.
Gary Smith (aka Nobraham)
My heart aches with you at this time. I am so sorry that you have lost the love of your life.
God promises to comfort and help you, if you know Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior and he always keeps his promises.
*Nothing or no one can separate you from His love ( Romans 31:39).
He is the God of all comfort ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
He heals the brokenhearted ( Psalm 147:3).
He promises to help you & uphold you by his mighty power ( Isaiah 41:10, 13).
His help is present & abundantly available and He will never leave nor abandon you ( Psalm 46:1; Hebrews 13:5-6).
He gives extra strength when we are weary ( Isaiah 40:26-31).
May you trust in Him and rely upon his promises.
Love in Christ,
Mrs. Curley Manning
Salvation Scriptures:
there is none righteous, no not one ( Romans 3:10).
all have sinned and fall short of God's glory ( Romans 3:23).
the wages of sin is death, but God's gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ( Romans 6:23).
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved ( Romans 10:13).
Please know that you will be in my prayers continuously
Isaiah 40:29-31 KJV