There can NOT be any questioning the fact that Maitreya is the antichrist and the first Beast Spoken of in Chapter 13 of the Book Of Revelation this is because of the fact that the number of his name is 666 and that can be proven by viewing this video;
By the way it only takes one Christian saying a prayer to over come the powers of Maitreya and Benjamin Creme and here is a video that has proof of that claim;
Here are even more videos with proof that Maitreya is the antichrist (Son Of Perdition and the son of Satan).
If this is NOT enough to convince you that Maitreya is the Antichrist then just look up Constance Cumbey's experience with attending a speech given by Benjamin Creme, or you could just look up you tube videos about Maitreya Antichrist and then just watch the videos that claim that he IS the antichrist and realise that Maitreya is the very incarnation of evil spoken of in the book of Revelation Chapter 13 verse 18: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Basically Maitreya is at least the MOST likely candidate for the position of THE antichrist so ANY ONE who follows him MUST RUN away from him and RUN TO JESUS before it is TOO LATE and NO ONE should even CONSIDER following this DEMON POSSESSED man or even believe ONE word which Benjamin Creme says because Benjamin Creme is MOST LIKELY the False Prophet.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
More Songs about the End Times.
Please WAKE UP!!! Jesus will be coming to Rapture The Church to Heaven SOON. many people have seen that every thing is already prepared for the Wedding Celebration up in Heaven, however while those whom have put there faith in Jesus and have asked him to forgive there SINS are ALL safe in Heaven there WILL be seven years of HELL on Earth. Just in case you don't believe me just google the New World Order, The Great Tribulation, The Anti-Christ, or the Mark of The Beast. You should also do a search about the Rapture of the Church, Visits to Heaven, or visit websites like http://www.spiritlessons.com/ , http://www.raptureready.com/ , http://www.rapturealert.com/ , and
Bible Code Information.
There are many people whom believe that the Old Testament of the Bible contains hidden messages which are either prophecies regarding future events or warnings about what might happe. These codes are found in the copies of the old testament which were written in Hebrew so therefore the english copies of the bible do NOT contain ANY valid codes what so ever regardless of the version that people claim to have found those codes in. Here are some videos which contain more information on the Bible Codes.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A brief disclaimer.
Ok so I want you to know that at least a few articles in this blog are just my OPINIONS about things; such as the article where I stated my opinion that things will get bad prior to the Rapture, And the contents of the article about the approaching of the rapture, and a few others. Basically as long as every one of you goes to Heaven then it does not really matter what your personal views on various topics are because the only thing which REALLY matters is where you end up spending eternity. By the way I don't agree with every claim that is made by the websites which I provide links to however I still feel that they all contain some good information and I am considering posting a top 5 or maybe a top 10 list of websites which I have provided links to. Please post some responses to the messages which I have put on this blog and check out my youtube channel which is
www.youtube.com/user/chrisschmidt85
www.youtube.com/user/chrisschmidt85
Monday, February 1, 2010
Biblical references to the Rapture by Jack Kelley.
Rapture References
by Jack Kelley
Recently I was challenged to make a list of all the passages in the Bible that hint of a pre-trib rapture. As you may know I believe Paul was the first person on Earth to present a clear pre-trib teaching, about 20 years after the cross. Before that time it was unknown because Jesus didn’t teach it to His other disciples during their time together. And since the Olivet Discourse is directed at Israel, there’s no mention of it there either, even though the end times is in view. Israel will not participate in the rapture.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that doing this requires that you already have a working knowledge of the pre-trib position, because without it you wouldn’t recognize some of these references as being pertinent to the subject. But ever since Paul revealed the rapture, scholars have been seeing hints of it here and there, even in the Old Testament.
Before we begin, in 1 Cor. 2:6-8 Paul explained why God’s plans for the church had been kept secret until after the crucifixion. He said that if the rulers of this age (Satan & Co.) had understood all that God intended for us they would not have crucified the Lord. Not that they could have stopped it, of course. But had they known God was going to use the murder of His Son to save us all, they wouldn’t have gone ahead with it, and in fact would have tried to prevent it. It wasn’t until He was on the cross that they discovered the Lord’s death was going to become payment in full for all our sins, so instead of it being cause for a great celebration it totally disarmed them and made them into a public spectacle (Colossians 2:13-15). Then, 20 years later, they learned about the rapture. These were both things that God had planned from the beginning, but a good general keeps his strategy a secret in order to take his enemy by surprise, so God didn’t let Satan (or anyone else) know about these things until it was too late for him to react. Even now, Satan doesn’t know when the rapture is coming. All he knows is what we know, that each new believer could be the last one, the one that takes us all out of here and beyond his reach forever.
I’m convinced that God’s plan requires the Church to disappear before Daniel’s 70th week begins. Remember, the Lord set aside 70 weeks (490 years) for Israel to accomplish 6 things. (Daniel 9:24) At the end of 69 weeks (483 years) Jesus was crucified, the clock suddenly stopped, and Israel disappeared along with its Temple and Old Covenant worship. Daniel’s prophecy was left incomplete and from that time on, God’s focus was on the church.
The reappearance of Israel in 1948, the promised rebuilding of a Temple, and resumption of Levitical sacrifice during the 70th week make it clear that the Church didn’t end the dispensation of Law but only interrupted it seven years short of its intended duration. We would all agree that if the introduction of a dam into a stream of water interrupts its flow, then it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that removal of the dam will be necessary for the flow to resume. Therefore if the introduction of the Church after the 69th week of Daniels prophecy caused the interruption in its fulfillment, it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that the Church will have to be removed before the final seven years of the dispensation of Law can run their course and Daniel’s prophecy can be fulfilled.
Of course there are other sound reasons why the church has to disappear before the End Times begin in earnest. Not having a destiny on Earth, our presence here would serve no purpose during the time of Earth’s liberation from bondage (Romans 8:19-21). Not being subject to judgment the Church has no unfinished business with God that could be concluded during the End Times. Unlike Israel we don’t need to be made righteous because we’re already as righteous as God is (2 cor. 5:21).
Jeremiah 30:11 says the End time judgments will serve a two fold purpose, to completely destroy all the nations among which Israel has been scattered and to discipline Israel. Since God does not consider the Church to belong to either group our presence on Earth during that time would be irrelevant.
But the most important reason, as we’ll see, is that God said we won’t be here. Those who teach the Church’s presence on Earth during any part of Daniel’s70th Week have to re-define grace, re-invent the church and re-interpret the Scriptures to support their position.
With that introduction, let’s look at some of the clearest hints God placed in the Scriptures to show He has always planned for a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. Naturally, we’ll begin in the Old Testament.
Enoch Disappeared
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took Him away. (Genesis 5:24)
In Matt. 24:37, Jesus said that the time of His coming would be like the days of Noah. He went onto explain that just as all the unbelievers perished in the flood, all unbelievers would perish at the time of His 2nd coming as well. Those who survive the devastation of the Great Tribulation will immediately face judgment and be taken off the planet. The parables of the servant, the ten virgins, and the talents explain this, as does the account of the Sheep and Goat judgment. (Matt. 24:45-25:46)
But if you give the Lord’s statement its widest possible application, you can see that as the time of the Great Flood drew near there were 3 kinds of people on Earth. There were the unbelievers who perished in the flood, Noah and his family who were preserved through it, and Enoch, who was taken by the Lord well before it.
Just so, as the End of the Age draws near there will still be three kinds of people on Earth. They are the unbelievers of our time who will perish in the End Times judgments, modern Israel who will be preserved through them, and the Church who will be taken by God well before they begin.
There some interesting similarities between Enoch and the Church. For starters, the name Enoch comes from a root which means to train or teach. To the church Jesus said, “Go and make disciples (students) of all men.” (Matt. 28:19) And according to Hebrew tradition, Enoch was born on the day that would become Pentecost. It’s the same day the Church was born. I believe Enoch was an early type of the Church and his disappearance before the flood gave the first hint of a pre-tribulation rapture.
Lot Had To Leave Sodom
But flee there quickly, because I can not do anything until you reach it. (Genesis 19:23)
Abraham had struck a bargain with the Lord that if even 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah He would spare the cities. The fact that the cities were destroyed indicates 10 righteous people could not be found there. But there was one, and though He wasn’t bound to do it, the Lord instructed the angels to get Lot out of town before commencing their judgment. Peter referred to Lot’s rescue from Sodom as evidence that the Lord does not judge the righteous with the wicked (2 Peter 2:7-9) Lot therefore becomes a model of the Church, who with a righteousness imputed by faith, has to be removed from the time and place of judgment before it begins.
Where Was Daniel?
Daniel 3 contains one of the most popular children’s stories of the Old Testament. Many don’t realize that it’s also one of the clearest models of the End Times anywhere in the Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar represents the anti-Christ who decrees that anyone who refuses to bow down and worship the statue he has made will be put to death in the fiery furnace, which represents Great Tribulation. Daniel’s three friends, representing Israel, refuse to worship the image and are thrown into the furnace to die. While in there they encounter the Lord, are preserved through the judgment, and are elevated to positions of honor in Babylon.
But where was Daniel? He was a prominent figure both before and after chapter 3. But in this episode his name was not even mentioned. Did he worship the statue to escape judgment? If you think that, you don’t know Daniel. Did he refuse to bow down but was not accused? If you think that, you don’t know his enemies. After all they rounded up his three closest friends. For the purposes of this story it’s as if he has disappeared altogether. In chapter 3, Daniel was a model of the Church, who during the End times judgments will have disappeared altogether, while Israel will be preserved through them, meet the Lord in the midst of them, and be elevated to positions of honor in the Kingdom Age.
Isaiah Said It Best
But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer. (Isaiah 26:19-21)
Without a doubt this is the clearest statement of the Lord’s intentions for the Church anywhere in the Old Testament. It can’t be tied to any event in history, but clearly awaits a future fulfillment. And it can’t be intended for Israel, whose resurrection will come after the time of God’s wrath, not before it. (Daniel 12:1-2)
Some day soon a group of people will suddenly rise from the dead. Another group, still living, will be whisked away to rooms prepared for them to be hidden from the time of God’s wrath. Then the Lord will punish the people of the Earth for their sins. The fact that the groups being resurrected and hidden are not objects of his wrath is indicated by the switch from second person (resurrected and hidden) to third person (punished). Notice how similar the wording is to 1 Thes 4:16-17 & 5:9, Paul’s teaching on the rapture.
But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. (The dead in Christ will rise first).
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; (After that we who are alive and left will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air)
It’s appropriate to insert John 14:2-3 here as well to see what rooms Isaiah was talking about.
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
This promise does not point to the 2nd Coming when the Lord will come to Earth to be with Israel here, where they are. This is a promise to the Church that He has gone to His father’s house to prepare our rooms for us. Then He will come for us to take us there, where He is.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. (For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.)
I’m convinced this is the passage Paul had in mind when he said “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.“ (1 Thes. 4:15). I say this because with the exception of 1 Thes 4:16-17 there is no passage in all the Bible that so clearly describes the pre-trib rapture of the Church.
This is not the sum of Old Testament verses that point to a pre-tribulation rapture. But it’s a good sample of the clearest ones, to help you see that God always intended to take us to be with him before He unleashes the End Times judgments upon the unbelieving Earth. Next time we’ll take a similar survey of the New Testament. See you then. 01-30-10
©2010 RaptureAlert.com. All rights reserved.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
for more information and proof of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture please visit, http://www.rapturealert.com/ , http://www.spiritlessons.com/ , www.home.flash.net/~evt/rapture.htm , and www.raptureready.com .
by Jack Kelley
Recently I was challenged to make a list of all the passages in the Bible that hint of a pre-trib rapture. As you may know I believe Paul was the first person on Earth to present a clear pre-trib teaching, about 20 years after the cross. Before that time it was unknown because Jesus didn’t teach it to His other disciples during their time together. And since the Olivet Discourse is directed at Israel, there’s no mention of it there either, even though the end times is in view. Israel will not participate in the rapture.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that doing this requires that you already have a working knowledge of the pre-trib position, because without it you wouldn’t recognize some of these references as being pertinent to the subject. But ever since Paul revealed the rapture, scholars have been seeing hints of it here and there, even in the Old Testament.
Before we begin, in 1 Cor. 2:6-8 Paul explained why God’s plans for the church had been kept secret until after the crucifixion. He said that if the rulers of this age (Satan & Co.) had understood all that God intended for us they would not have crucified the Lord. Not that they could have stopped it, of course. But had they known God was going to use the murder of His Son to save us all, they wouldn’t have gone ahead with it, and in fact would have tried to prevent it. It wasn’t until He was on the cross that they discovered the Lord’s death was going to become payment in full for all our sins, so instead of it being cause for a great celebration it totally disarmed them and made them into a public spectacle (Colossians 2:13-15). Then, 20 years later, they learned about the rapture. These were both things that God had planned from the beginning, but a good general keeps his strategy a secret in order to take his enemy by surprise, so God didn’t let Satan (or anyone else) know about these things until it was too late for him to react. Even now, Satan doesn’t know when the rapture is coming. All he knows is what we know, that each new believer could be the last one, the one that takes us all out of here and beyond his reach forever.
I’m convinced that God’s plan requires the Church to disappear before Daniel’s 70th week begins. Remember, the Lord set aside 70 weeks (490 years) for Israel to accomplish 6 things. (Daniel 9:24) At the end of 69 weeks (483 years) Jesus was crucified, the clock suddenly stopped, and Israel disappeared along with its Temple and Old Covenant worship. Daniel’s prophecy was left incomplete and from that time on, God’s focus was on the church.
The reappearance of Israel in 1948, the promised rebuilding of a Temple, and resumption of Levitical sacrifice during the 70th week make it clear that the Church didn’t end the dispensation of Law but only interrupted it seven years short of its intended duration. We would all agree that if the introduction of a dam into a stream of water interrupts its flow, then it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that removal of the dam will be necessary for the flow to resume. Therefore if the introduction of the Church after the 69th week of Daniels prophecy caused the interruption in its fulfillment, it’s reasonable and logical to conclude that the Church will have to be removed before the final seven years of the dispensation of Law can run their course and Daniel’s prophecy can be fulfilled.
Of course there are other sound reasons why the church has to disappear before the End Times begin in earnest. Not having a destiny on Earth, our presence here would serve no purpose during the time of Earth’s liberation from bondage (Romans 8:19-21). Not being subject to judgment the Church has no unfinished business with God that could be concluded during the End Times. Unlike Israel we don’t need to be made righteous because we’re already as righteous as God is (2 cor. 5:21).
Jeremiah 30:11 says the End time judgments will serve a two fold purpose, to completely destroy all the nations among which Israel has been scattered and to discipline Israel. Since God does not consider the Church to belong to either group our presence on Earth during that time would be irrelevant.
But the most important reason, as we’ll see, is that God said we won’t be here. Those who teach the Church’s presence on Earth during any part of Daniel’s70th Week have to re-define grace, re-invent the church and re-interpret the Scriptures to support their position.
With that introduction, let’s look at some of the clearest hints God placed in the Scriptures to show He has always planned for a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. Naturally, we’ll begin in the Old Testament.
Enoch Disappeared
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took Him away. (Genesis 5:24)
In Matt. 24:37, Jesus said that the time of His coming would be like the days of Noah. He went onto explain that just as all the unbelievers perished in the flood, all unbelievers would perish at the time of His 2nd coming as well. Those who survive the devastation of the Great Tribulation will immediately face judgment and be taken off the planet. The parables of the servant, the ten virgins, and the talents explain this, as does the account of the Sheep and Goat judgment. (Matt. 24:45-25:46)
But if you give the Lord’s statement its widest possible application, you can see that as the time of the Great Flood drew near there were 3 kinds of people on Earth. There were the unbelievers who perished in the flood, Noah and his family who were preserved through it, and Enoch, who was taken by the Lord well before it.
Just so, as the End of the Age draws near there will still be three kinds of people on Earth. They are the unbelievers of our time who will perish in the End Times judgments, modern Israel who will be preserved through them, and the Church who will be taken by God well before they begin.
There some interesting similarities between Enoch and the Church. For starters, the name Enoch comes from a root which means to train or teach. To the church Jesus said, “Go and make disciples (students) of all men.” (Matt. 28:19) And according to Hebrew tradition, Enoch was born on the day that would become Pentecost. It’s the same day the Church was born. I believe Enoch was an early type of the Church and his disappearance before the flood gave the first hint of a pre-tribulation rapture.
Lot Had To Leave Sodom
But flee there quickly, because I can not do anything until you reach it. (Genesis 19:23)
Abraham had struck a bargain with the Lord that if even 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah He would spare the cities. The fact that the cities were destroyed indicates 10 righteous people could not be found there. But there was one, and though He wasn’t bound to do it, the Lord instructed the angels to get Lot out of town before commencing their judgment. Peter referred to Lot’s rescue from Sodom as evidence that the Lord does not judge the righteous with the wicked (2 Peter 2:7-9) Lot therefore becomes a model of the Church, who with a righteousness imputed by faith, has to be removed from the time and place of judgment before it begins.
Where Was Daniel?
Daniel 3 contains one of the most popular children’s stories of the Old Testament. Many don’t realize that it’s also one of the clearest models of the End Times anywhere in the Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar represents the anti-Christ who decrees that anyone who refuses to bow down and worship the statue he has made will be put to death in the fiery furnace, which represents Great Tribulation. Daniel’s three friends, representing Israel, refuse to worship the image and are thrown into the furnace to die. While in there they encounter the Lord, are preserved through the judgment, and are elevated to positions of honor in Babylon.
But where was Daniel? He was a prominent figure both before and after chapter 3. But in this episode his name was not even mentioned. Did he worship the statue to escape judgment? If you think that, you don’t know Daniel. Did he refuse to bow down but was not accused? If you think that, you don’t know his enemies. After all they rounded up his three closest friends. For the purposes of this story it’s as if he has disappeared altogether. In chapter 3, Daniel was a model of the Church, who during the End times judgments will have disappeared altogether, while Israel will be preserved through them, meet the Lord in the midst of them, and be elevated to positions of honor in the Kingdom Age.
Isaiah Said It Best
But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer. (Isaiah 26:19-21)
Without a doubt this is the clearest statement of the Lord’s intentions for the Church anywhere in the Old Testament. It can’t be tied to any event in history, but clearly awaits a future fulfillment. And it can’t be intended for Israel, whose resurrection will come after the time of God’s wrath, not before it. (Daniel 12:1-2)
Some day soon a group of people will suddenly rise from the dead. Another group, still living, will be whisked away to rooms prepared for them to be hidden from the time of God’s wrath. Then the Lord will punish the people of the Earth for their sins. The fact that the groups being resurrected and hidden are not objects of his wrath is indicated by the switch from second person (resurrected and hidden) to third person (punished). Notice how similar the wording is to 1 Thes 4:16-17 & 5:9, Paul’s teaching on the rapture.
But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. (The dead in Christ will rise first).
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; (After that we who are alive and left will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air)
It’s appropriate to insert John 14:2-3 here as well to see what rooms Isaiah was talking about.
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
This promise does not point to the 2nd Coming when the Lord will come to Earth to be with Israel here, where they are. This is a promise to the Church that He has gone to His father’s house to prepare our rooms for us. Then He will come for us to take us there, where He is.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. (For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.)
I’m convinced this is the passage Paul had in mind when he said “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.“ (1 Thes. 4:15). I say this because with the exception of 1 Thes 4:16-17 there is no passage in all the Bible that so clearly describes the pre-trib rapture of the Church.
This is not the sum of Old Testament verses that point to a pre-tribulation rapture. But it’s a good sample of the clearest ones, to help you see that God always intended to take us to be with him before He unleashes the End Times judgments upon the unbelieving Earth. Next time we’ll take a similar survey of the New Testament. See you then. 01-30-10
©2010 RaptureAlert.com. All rights reserved.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
for more information and proof of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture please visit, http://www.rapturealert.com/ , http://www.spiritlessons.com/ , www.home.flash.net/~evt/rapture.htm , and www.raptureready.com .
Make Sure That You WILL Spend Eternity In HEAVEN.
ONE DAY YOU WILL DIE!
Eternity is a very, very long time!
Make sure you spend eternity in Heaven!
Are YOU going to Heaven?
Take the Survey and find out:
Individual Survey and Poll:
Dear Friend,
Please take a few short minutes to complete the following survey to yourself:
1. Has anyone ever told you that God loves you and that He has a great plan for your life? (YES) (NO)
2. If today were your last day here on earth, do you know for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would go to Heaven? (YES) (NO)
3. If you answered, “yes” to question #2, is that because you are a good person and/or because you attend church regularly? (YES) (NO)
4. Have you ever heard that the Holy Bible reads, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” And “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”? And “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?” (YES) (NO)
5. Did you know that you are a “Whosoever”? (YES) (NO)
Here’s a quick prayer for you:
Lord, bless each person who reads this with a long and healthy life. Jesus, do a quick work in their heart and make Yourself so real to them. If they have never called upon Your name, I pray that they will do so right now.
If you would like to receive the FREE gift that God has for you today, say this with your heart and your lips out loud:
Dear Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive me of my sins. Set me free. Jesus, thank You that You died for me. I believe that God raised You from the dead. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, the peace of God, and the joy of the Lord. Give me a passion to reach the lost, a hunger for the things of God, and a holy boldness to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m saved. I’m born-again. I’m forgiven and I’m on my way to Heaven because I have Jesus in my heart. Thank You Jesus!
When you asked Jesus to come into your heart and to forgive you, He heard you and did so. All of your sins are now forgiven. Always remember to run to God and NOT from God because He loves you and has a great plan for your life. That’s VERY good news!
6. Did you say the above prayer? (YES) (NO)
Absolutely nothing is more important in life than being born again of the Spirit of God, knowing Him personally, being saved from eternal death and judgment, and knowing for sure that you are going to heaven, experiencing God's pardon, purpose, peace, power. These are all a blessing of grace (unmerited favor) provided by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrew: Yeshua haMeschiah).
This is the "gospel," which literally means "good news." It truly is "the most joyful news ever announced," as the angels proclaimed at His birth some 2,000 years ago.
Some say that this free gift of grace offered by God is too good to be true. Well, it is good, and it is true. Only an infinitely loving and all-powerful God could have conceived of this! Others say that all this surely cannot be free, and we have to add something to it. Cults and non-Christian religions always try to add to it, an offense to God and what His Son did.
Why did God do it?
Because He loves you!
&
God wants YOU to spend eternity with Him in heaven!
This article was copied from http://home.flash.net/~evt/lost.htm and can ne copied and distributed as long as it is distributed for FREE since we must NOT put a price on saving souls.
Eternity is a very, very long time!
Make sure you spend eternity in Heaven!
Are YOU going to Heaven?
Take the Survey and find out:
Individual Survey and Poll:
Dear Friend,
Please take a few short minutes to complete the following survey to yourself:
1. Has anyone ever told you that God loves you and that He has a great plan for your life? (YES) (NO)
2. If today were your last day here on earth, do you know for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would go to Heaven? (YES) (NO)
3. If you answered, “yes” to question #2, is that because you are a good person and/or because you attend church regularly? (YES) (NO)
4. Have you ever heard that the Holy Bible reads, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” And “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”? And “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?” (YES) (NO)
5. Did you know that you are a “Whosoever”? (YES) (NO)
Here’s a quick prayer for you:
Lord, bless each person who reads this with a long and healthy life. Jesus, do a quick work in their heart and make Yourself so real to them. If they have never called upon Your name, I pray that they will do so right now.
If you would like to receive the FREE gift that God has for you today, say this with your heart and your lips out loud:
Dear Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive me of my sins. Set me free. Jesus, thank You that You died for me. I believe that God raised You from the dead. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, the peace of God, and the joy of the Lord. Give me a passion to reach the lost, a hunger for the things of God, and a holy boldness to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m saved. I’m born-again. I’m forgiven and I’m on my way to Heaven because I have Jesus in my heart. Thank You Jesus!
When you asked Jesus to come into your heart and to forgive you, He heard you and did so. All of your sins are now forgiven. Always remember to run to God and NOT from God because He loves you and has a great plan for your life. That’s VERY good news!
6. Did you say the above prayer? (YES) (NO)
Absolutely nothing is more important in life than being born again of the Spirit of God, knowing Him personally, being saved from eternal death and judgment, and knowing for sure that you are going to heaven, experiencing God's pardon, purpose, peace, power. These are all a blessing of grace (unmerited favor) provided by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrew: Yeshua haMeschiah).
This is the "gospel," which literally means "good news." It truly is "the most joyful news ever announced," as the angels proclaimed at His birth some 2,000 years ago.
Some say that this free gift of grace offered by God is too good to be true. Well, it is good, and it is true. Only an infinitely loving and all-powerful God could have conceived of this! Others say that all this surely cannot be free, and we have to add something to it. Cults and non-Christian religions always try to add to it, an offense to God and what His Son did.
Why did God do it?
Because He loves you!
&
God wants YOU to spend eternity with Him in heaven!
This article was copied from http://home.flash.net/~evt/lost.htm and can ne copied and distributed as long as it is distributed for FREE since we must NOT put a price on saving souls.
Monday, January 25, 2010
a biblical defense of the Once Saved Always Saved doctrine.
OSAS: Demystifying Hebrews 6 & 10
by Paul K.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The whole Christian theology of salvation is both easy and simple, and yet hard and complex. One of the central things sincere Christians disagree on is the topic of once-saved-always-saved (OSAS). In other words, once you have received God's salvation, can you lose it?
A foundation already laid for every Christian is the truth that the Bible is God's Word. He oversaw the authors who wrote the various letters and books, such that what they wrote was divinely inspired to be error-free and only truth. Because of this, every book in the Bible has the same Author: God. This is important to note in the area of searching out whether OSAS is true. We need to look at Scripture, confident that the same God who wrote, through His inspiration, the book of Romans, also wrote James and Hebrews--indeed, every book of the Bible.
God will not contradict Himself. If a passage in Romans says one thing, the same Divine Author is expressing truth by what is contained in Hebrews.
However, we need to do as Paul wrote:
"be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) NASB
The King James Version says it this way: "...rightly dividing...." While all Scripture is written FOR us, not all Scripture is written TO us. For instance, when God ordered Joshua and the children of Israel to attack a town and kill every living thing in it, we can learn from it that God hates sin and judges it, but that is not an instruction for us today to obey. Here are three good rules of studying the Bible in context: Discern to whom a Scripture is speaking, what subject it is addressing, and what do the surrounding verses say?
Scripture teaches us things about what we were like--what was true about us--before we came to faith in Christ. We were:
- helpless and ungodly (Romans 5:6)
- spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13)
- separate from Christ, excluded from Israel, strangers to God's promises, having no hope, and without God (Ephesians 2:12)
- sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6)
- in spiritual darkness (Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:13)
- cursed by the Law (Galatians 3:13)
- condemned in our works (Galatians 2:16)
- sinners (Romans 3:23)
- deserving of death (Romans 1:29-32)
- straying sheep (1 Peter 2:25)
On and on the list goes.
Then, we came to faith in Christ. Scripture also teaches us things about what we are like--what is true about us--now that we believe. We are now:
+ justified and at peace with God (Romans 6:1)
+ spiritually alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)
+ brought near to God (Ephesians 2:13)
+ children of God (Ephesians 5:1; 1 John 3:1-2)
+ children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)
+ saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9)
+ freed from the Law (Romans 6:14)
+ forgiven for our sins (Ephesians 1:7)
+ have eternal life (John 3:16; 6:47)
+ His sheep (John 10:27)
This list, too, goes on and on.
We who believe are born-again (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:22-23); our salvation is protected by the power of God (1 Peter 1:4-5); we will never perish (John 1:27-28); we are joined to the Lord and one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17); we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20); God abides in us and we abide in Him (1 John 4:15); we are already seated in heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6).
The evidence that once we believe, we are in an incredible place of eternal blessing, is overwhelming. Jesus said of His sheep (i.e., believers in Him), "...no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." (John 10:29) Mark it well: He said "no one." That includes you and me.
So, then, it is wise to research passages in Scripture that seem to say you can lose your salvation. I emphasize the word "seem." Remember our three rules of Context? "Discern to whom a Scripture is speaking, what subject it is addressing, and what do the surrounding verses say? When so many other passages paint a picture of glory guaranteed, we will do well to resolve what other seemingly contrary passages are really discussing.
Two such passages occur in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10. To help clarify these, let's understand that a common mistake believers make in understanding the Bible is that they confuse how a believer gets saved, with what a believer is to do once they are already saved. None of us, when we first are saved, jump to instant spiritual maturity. By way of illustration, consider the growth stages of a human being. When we are physically born, we at first just lay there and wiggle our toes; then we crawl; then we toddle; then we walk, then we run. Also, physically, we know next to nothing. As we grow, we go through stages of physical, emotional and mental growth. The born-again experience is similar. Someone who is newly saved knows next to nothing, and has to go through stages of spiritual growth. We do this by learning from and feeding upon the Word of God:
"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." (1 Peter 2:2)
When we are first saved, we begin spiritually as little children, even if we are physically 100 years of age!
The Apostle John wrote about three stages of spiritual growth: little children, young men, and fathers.
Spiritually, about all we know when we are first born-again is that our sins are forgiven.
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven." (1 John 2:12)
In our spiritual infancy, we also do know that God is our Father:
"I have written to you, children, because you know the Father." (1 John 2:13c)
As we grow into spiritual teenagers, we learn the Word of God, and are able to use it to battle the devil and his temptations to sin:
"I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:2:13b)
"I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:14b)
As we grow to spiritual adulthood, we get beyond merely knowing thing "about" God, to knowing God Himself:
"I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." (1 John 2:2:14a)
Sometimes those who think you can lose your salvation, are thinking that people who are sinning "too much" must have lost their salvation, when in reality they are spiritually immature and have not yet grown to be "strong" and haven't yet learned to "overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:14b)
Sometimes believers get so much grief and trouble for being a Christian that they get tempted to back-off from being demonstrably a Christian. This was the trouble with the Christian Hebrews to whom the writer (we don't know who the human author was) was sending the letter to the Hebrews. They were suffering so much for being Christians that they were turning away from following Christ to going back to Moses, the Law and the temple sacrifices. This clearly was what Hebrews was written to address.
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1)
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)
"But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." (Hebrews 10:32-36)
The letter to Hebrews addresses why the Hebrew Christians should not turn away from Christ, for Christ is superior in every way. To turn back to Moses and the Law would be to abandon the superior for the inferior. Hebrews demonstrates that Christ is superior to angels (Hebrews 1:4-14); superior to Moses (Hebrews 3:1-19); that Christ is our rest from works (Hebrews 4:1-9); and that Christ has a higher order priesthood, a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek.
It is here in reference to Melchizedek that the writer gets down to the business of concern about the spiritual growth of the Christians who were wavering, being tempted to go back to Moses and the Law:
"Concerning him (i.e., Melchizedek) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing." (Hebrews 5:11)
The Hebrew Christian recipients of the letter apparently were not grasping deeper spiritual truth. He says that they ought to have grown into spiritual maturity; instead of being babies needing to be fed, they ought to have been the ones teaching the spiritual babies. Yet, they were needing spiritual food fit for spiritual babies (i.e., elementary principles=milk) instead of spiritual food fit for spiritual adults (i.e., teachings about Melchizedek = solid food).
"For by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their sense trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 5:11-14)
So, starting Hebrews chapter 6, the writer to the Hebrews urges them to leave behind "baby food" (i.e., elementary teaching) and press on to maturity, and lists several "basic" (i.e., baby) Christian teachings.
"Therefore leaving behind the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment." (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Now, since the writer urged them to press on to maturity (verse 1), he brings up a possible problem.
"And this we will do, if God permits." (Hebrews 6:3)
"If God permits." What on earth can he mean? Is there a situation where God would NOT permit someone to "press on to maturity," and if so, what could that situation be? The writer then gives a list of certain conditions to explain what he means by "if God permits."
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come." (Hebrews 6:4-5)
Notice the above steps demonstrate a progression of spiritual growth. First, they demonstrate that the person was "enlightened." This means they came to saving faith, that is, became a believer.
"I pray that the eye of your heart may be enlightened." (Ephesians 1:18a) Paul wrote that to believers, meaning, saved people.
Then the writer to the Hebrews says "have tasted of the heavenly gift." We are told over and again that eternal life is a gift of God.
"...the gift of God is eternal life." (Romans 6:23b)
The next step mentioned is "have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit." This is a Christian-only experience. Only saved people have the Holy Spirit--unbelievers do not.
"...if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Romans 8:9b)
Up to this point, all these conditions apply to baby Christians. Next, some spiritual maturity gets added to the list: "have tasted the good word of God." Remember the "young men" (i.e., spiritual teenagers) that John wrote about?
"I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you..." (1 John 2:14b)
The writer adds yet another element of spiritual maturity: "and the powers of the age to come."
This condition corresponds to John's "young men" teaching about overcoming the evil one:
"I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:13b)
So, the situation where God would NOT permit someone to "press on to maturity" involved someone who is not only born again, but has gone on in spiritual growth toward maturity, either John's "young men" (i.e., teenagers) or "fathers" (i.e., adults) stage. The expression "(tasted) the powers of the age to come" indicates this is no beginner in the faith, no spiritual just-got-saved "newbie."
What, then, does the Hebrews writer say about this person?
"and then have fallen away." (Hebrews 6:6a)
The Greek word for "fallen away" is "parapipto." As far as I can tell from my study tools, it is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It carries the idea of "to fall around" or "fall aside," meaning in the area of, such as to the side of where a person should have been standing. This is supported by the warning Hebrews gives earlier:
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1)
So, "parapipto" is where someone has chosen, or allowed themselves, to "drift away from it."
In the context of the letter to these particular Hebrew Christians, "parapipto" is supposing that someone became a believer, grew into maturity, and then chose to abandon faith in Christ for another religion, in this case, was going back to Moses and the Law. So, if this person does this, what happens next?
"...it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:6b)
What does it say is impossible? "To renew them again to repentance." This does NOT say they lose their salvation, as salvation is not in view here. What is in view, is somebody who is saved whom God will not permit to "press on to maturity." Repentance simply means to change your mind. In Hebrews 6:1b, "repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" means to change your mind about depending on your works (which are dead) to save you, and instead to change your mind to depend on Christ to save you.
Context is everything. When someone deliberately turns away from Christ, they will not be allowed to change their mind back to faith in Christ. That is what it means when it says "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance," and why (in verse 3) it says "if God permits" (meaning there is a situation where God will NOT permit it).
So, why won't God permit it?
"...since they crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:6b)
Let's illustrate this with an example. Suppose a famous Christian who is the president of a famous Christian Bible school suddenly announces he doesn't believe the blood of Christ and His crucifixion solved mankind's problem of sin, but that Buddha had a better way, and forsakes Christ for Buddhism. Think of the shock waves that would send through the students, the faculty, and Christian communities around the world. Think of how it would affect the students and how it could damage their faith. After all, some students might reason, "If so-and-so, who is such a learned Christian, doesn't think Christianity is true, why should I study it?" Think of how the unbelievers in the media and the world at large who learned of it would mock and ridicule Christians, casting shame on the name of Christ saying, even one of their own has recanted. How they would laugh Christians--and Christ--to scorn!
Then suppose that former school president announces, "You know what, I guess I was wrong--Christ's death on the cross really did count for me after all." He is crucifying Jesus to himself all over again. First time he believed in the crucifixion, now after going away from the cross, he's trusting again in the crucifixion. How do you think the students would react, or for that matter, how the unbelievers would react? They would not, could not, trust him again. The unbelievers would certainly jeer, saying, "Oh, so NOW you believe?" The name of Jesus Christ would be put to open shame. This what the verse is saying by "since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
This, God will not permit. For someone advanced in Christian maturity and knowledge of the Bible, to do a "parapipto" involves such an injury against the faith they once held so strongly, that there's no coming back. Christ's blood still saves them, but with such a regression into complete unbelief, they will never again have more than "baby" stage faith--if that. God will not permit them to "press on to maturity."
Yet, they are still saved. Being saved isn't just a mindset. Being saved means being born-again. When that happens, the Holy Spirit literally indwells a believer, and a new life force, a spiritual one, now exists inside the believer where that life did not formerly exist. Nothing in the Bible makes a case for where that spiritual life force gets "un-born again" or "taken back" by God.
Quite the contrary, Scripture says that the believer is sealed with the presence of the Holy Spirit who is given as a pledge that we will have an inheritance in heaven:
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed--, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
We all start out spiritually dead. (Ephesians 2:1) Those who believe in Christ become spiritually alive (i.e., born-again) (1 Peter 1:23) and are protected by the power of God to make sure they get to heaven. (1 Peter 1:4-5)
A farming illustration follows in Hebrews 6 in verses 7-8.
"For the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned." (Hebrews 6:7-8)
The writer says that ground that drinks up rain produces useful vegetation. This represents a believer who stays the course, which is the very thing the writer to the Hebrews is urging the letter's recipients to do. For someone who fits the description of the exception case of verses 4-6, there is no fruit coming out of their life, but only thorns and thistles. Both of these latter are injurious to the hand of the one who touches them. They are "worthless."
The one who falls away (i.e., "parapipto") not only has no more fruit for God, but their unbelief is also spiritually injurious to those his unbelief touches. What is coming out of his life is worthless and harmful, and "fruit" of that sort is fit only to be gathered and burned up to protect people. That's why God won't permit them to "press on to maturity." They had some maturity before, and threw it away. Later in Hebrews, the writer urges again those Hebrew Christians suffering terrible things because of their faith, not to throw their faith away (i.e., don't give in and return to Moses and the Law):
"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." (Hebrews 10:35)
A "parapipto" person does "throw away" their confidence (i.e., faith) in Christ, and their life gets no blessing from God anymore. But, because such a person was redeemed by faith in Christ and became born again and was joined one spirit with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17), he still possesses eternal life. God will not curse one of His children, for He has redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13), but sadly that is as much as that person will get from God in this life, as Scripture says, the "parapipto" person will "come close to being cursed." (verse 8).
Such is the fate the writer to the Hebrews is warning the Hebrew Christians about, since they seem to be stuck in spiritual "baby" mode. He writes that they ought to have been teachers by now, but weren't. (Hebrews 5:12) He is warning them against "parapipto."
However, the writer then reassures them. While such a condition as described in Hebrews 6:4-8 is possible, he is confident that these believers are not ones in that condition described.
"But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking to you in this way." (Hebrews 6:9)
Still, verses 4-8 warn of what COULD happen if these Hebrew Christians (and us, for that matter) abandon Christ for something else. For the early Christians, it was Moses and the law. For us today, it could be anything else that would replace our faith in Christ, such as science, philosophy, a cult, devotion to a political cause, etc.
As we have just seen, Hebrews 6 is not describing losing one's salvation. While some Christians believe Hebrews 6 and 10 teach that you can lose your salvation, ironically, the letter to the Hebrews actually demonstrates OSAS! Look at the following two verses:
1) "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10)
2) "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14)
We who believed "have been" (i.e., happened in the past) "sanctified...once for all." Focus on that. The offering of Jesus's body is "once for all." Again, in that second verse, we are told (concerning the offering of Jesus's body) that "He has perfected (us) for all time."
Once for all... For all time...
When we believed, Jesus perfected us "for all time." That's once-saved-always-saved. How much clearer does it have to be?
Eternal life is a gift from God (Romans 6:23), and we receive it and the Holy Spirit the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ. (John 6:47; Ephesians 1:13) Keeping in mind that eternal life is a gift from God, let us look at what Scripture says about gifts from God:
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)
The gift of eternal life, therefore, will NEVER be revoked! Once saved, always saved. We cannot lose salvation by our sins, for Christ has paid for all of them (Colossians 2:13; 1 John 1:2; John 10:28). We cannot even lose it if we falter in our faith, such as the situation described in Hebrews 6. (2 Timothy 2:13)
The ONLY way we can be denied eternal life and a home in Heaven with God for all eternity, is if we never take that first step to place our faith in Christ. Yes, if someone denies Jesus Christ by refusing to place faith in Him, then he will be denied by Jesus on the Day of Judgment. That person will hear the terrible words of Jesus Christ:
"And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:23)
"Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41)
Think of those words: "I never knew you." They do not say, "I knew you once, but then I didn't know you anymore," as would be the case if Hebrews 6 taught you could lose your salvation. The words say, "I NEVER knew you."
For the one who has believed in Christ, the very opposite is true. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them..." (John 10:27a). Jesus KNOWS those who placed their trust in Him, yes, even those who failed later by "falling away" (i.e., "parapipto").
Only persons Jesus has never known go to hell. A believer, He has known, and He grants unto him eternal life, which cannot be revoked. A believer is a sheep that was lost, but now is found, and shall never perish. (John 10:27-29)
Think of the words of the beloved Christian hymn, "Amazing Grace":
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see."
In conclusion, when a lot of verses/passages say you are saved eternally, and one other verse/passage seems to say you can lose that salvation, you can sure you are missing the context somehow on the one. God can't contradict Himself.
Once saved, always saved. It's by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9). It's eternal life, not until-the-next-time-you-blow-it-life. It's "they shall NEVER perish." (John 10:28) It's being given an inheritance with the Holy Spirit as a down-payment. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Believers, hear this loud and clear! God went to too much trouble to purchase your freedom! It cost Him the life of His Son. He's not giving you up for anything in this universe or beyond!
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-38)
This article was found on www.raptureready.com and can be freely distributed by any and all means available to everyone whom finds it.
Please just say this prayer to be sure that you WILL go to Heaven when you die.
“Heavenly Father, I know that I have broken
your laws and my sins have separated me
from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want
to turn away from my past sinful life
toward You. Please forgive me, and help
me avoid sinning again. I believe that
Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins,
was resurrected from the dead, is alive,
and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to
become the Lord of my life, to rule and
reign in my heart from this day forward.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me
obey You, and to do Your will for the rest
of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
by Paul K.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The whole Christian theology of salvation is both easy and simple, and yet hard and complex. One of the central things sincere Christians disagree on is the topic of once-saved-always-saved (OSAS). In other words, once you have received God's salvation, can you lose it?
A foundation already laid for every Christian is the truth that the Bible is God's Word. He oversaw the authors who wrote the various letters and books, such that what they wrote was divinely inspired to be error-free and only truth. Because of this, every book in the Bible has the same Author: God. This is important to note in the area of searching out whether OSAS is true. We need to look at Scripture, confident that the same God who wrote, through His inspiration, the book of Romans, also wrote James and Hebrews--indeed, every book of the Bible.
God will not contradict Himself. If a passage in Romans says one thing, the same Divine Author is expressing truth by what is contained in Hebrews.
However, we need to do as Paul wrote:
"be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) NASB
The King James Version says it this way: "...rightly dividing...." While all Scripture is written FOR us, not all Scripture is written TO us. For instance, when God ordered Joshua and the children of Israel to attack a town and kill every living thing in it, we can learn from it that God hates sin and judges it, but that is not an instruction for us today to obey. Here are three good rules of studying the Bible in context: Discern to whom a Scripture is speaking, what subject it is addressing, and what do the surrounding verses say?
Scripture teaches us things about what we were like--what was true about us--before we came to faith in Christ. We were:
- helpless and ungodly (Romans 5:6)
- spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13)
- separate from Christ, excluded from Israel, strangers to God's promises, having no hope, and without God (Ephesians 2:12)
- sons of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6)
- in spiritual darkness (Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:13)
- cursed by the Law (Galatians 3:13)
- condemned in our works (Galatians 2:16)
- sinners (Romans 3:23)
- deserving of death (Romans 1:29-32)
- straying sheep (1 Peter 2:25)
On and on the list goes.
Then, we came to faith in Christ. Scripture also teaches us things about what we are like--what is true about us--now that we believe. We are now:
+ justified and at peace with God (Romans 6:1)
+ spiritually alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)
+ brought near to God (Ephesians 2:13)
+ children of God (Ephesians 5:1; 1 John 3:1-2)
+ children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)
+ saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9)
+ freed from the Law (Romans 6:14)
+ forgiven for our sins (Ephesians 1:7)
+ have eternal life (John 3:16; 6:47)
+ His sheep (John 10:27)
This list, too, goes on and on.
We who believe are born-again (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:22-23); our salvation is protected by the power of God (1 Peter 1:4-5); we will never perish (John 1:27-28); we are joined to the Lord and one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17); we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20); God abides in us and we abide in Him (1 John 4:15); we are already seated in heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6).
The evidence that once we believe, we are in an incredible place of eternal blessing, is overwhelming. Jesus said of His sheep (i.e., believers in Him), "...no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." (John 10:29) Mark it well: He said "no one." That includes you and me.
So, then, it is wise to research passages in Scripture that seem to say you can lose your salvation. I emphasize the word "seem." Remember our three rules of Context? "Discern to whom a Scripture is speaking, what subject it is addressing, and what do the surrounding verses say? When so many other passages paint a picture of glory guaranteed, we will do well to resolve what other seemingly contrary passages are really discussing.
Two such passages occur in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10. To help clarify these, let's understand that a common mistake believers make in understanding the Bible is that they confuse how a believer gets saved, with what a believer is to do once they are already saved. None of us, when we first are saved, jump to instant spiritual maturity. By way of illustration, consider the growth stages of a human being. When we are physically born, we at first just lay there and wiggle our toes; then we crawl; then we toddle; then we walk, then we run. Also, physically, we know next to nothing. As we grow, we go through stages of physical, emotional and mental growth. The born-again experience is similar. Someone who is newly saved knows next to nothing, and has to go through stages of spiritual growth. We do this by learning from and feeding upon the Word of God:
"like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation." (1 Peter 2:2)
When we are first saved, we begin spiritually as little children, even if we are physically 100 years of age!
The Apostle John wrote about three stages of spiritual growth: little children, young men, and fathers.
Spiritually, about all we know when we are first born-again is that our sins are forgiven.
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven." (1 John 2:12)
In our spiritual infancy, we also do know that God is our Father:
"I have written to you, children, because you know the Father." (1 John 2:13c)
As we grow into spiritual teenagers, we learn the Word of God, and are able to use it to battle the devil and his temptations to sin:
"I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:2:13b)
"I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:14b)
As we grow to spiritual adulthood, we get beyond merely knowing thing "about" God, to knowing God Himself:
"I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." (1 John 2:2:14a)
Sometimes those who think you can lose your salvation, are thinking that people who are sinning "too much" must have lost their salvation, when in reality they are spiritually immature and have not yet grown to be "strong" and haven't yet learned to "overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:14b)
Sometimes believers get so much grief and trouble for being a Christian that they get tempted to back-off from being demonstrably a Christian. This was the trouble with the Christian Hebrews to whom the writer (we don't know who the human author was) was sending the letter to the Hebrews. They were suffering so much for being Christians that they were turning away from following Christ to going back to Moses, the Law and the temple sacrifices. This clearly was what Hebrews was written to address.
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1)
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)
"But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." (Hebrews 10:32-36)
The letter to Hebrews addresses why the Hebrew Christians should not turn away from Christ, for Christ is superior in every way. To turn back to Moses and the Law would be to abandon the superior for the inferior. Hebrews demonstrates that Christ is superior to angels (Hebrews 1:4-14); superior to Moses (Hebrews 3:1-19); that Christ is our rest from works (Hebrews 4:1-9); and that Christ has a higher order priesthood, a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek.
It is here in reference to Melchizedek that the writer gets down to the business of concern about the spiritual growth of the Christians who were wavering, being tempted to go back to Moses and the Law:
"Concerning him (i.e., Melchizedek) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing." (Hebrews 5:11)
The Hebrew Christian recipients of the letter apparently were not grasping deeper spiritual truth. He says that they ought to have grown into spiritual maturity; instead of being babies needing to be fed, they ought to have been the ones teaching the spiritual babies. Yet, they were needing spiritual food fit for spiritual babies (i.e., elementary principles=milk) instead of spiritual food fit for spiritual adults (i.e., teachings about Melchizedek = solid food).
"For by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their sense trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 5:11-14)
So, starting Hebrews chapter 6, the writer to the Hebrews urges them to leave behind "baby food" (i.e., elementary teaching) and press on to maturity, and lists several "basic" (i.e., baby) Christian teachings.
"Therefore leaving behind the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment." (Hebrews 6:1-2)
Now, since the writer urged them to press on to maturity (verse 1), he brings up a possible problem.
"And this we will do, if God permits." (Hebrews 6:3)
"If God permits." What on earth can he mean? Is there a situation where God would NOT permit someone to "press on to maturity," and if so, what could that situation be? The writer then gives a list of certain conditions to explain what he means by "if God permits."
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come." (Hebrews 6:4-5)
Notice the above steps demonstrate a progression of spiritual growth. First, they demonstrate that the person was "enlightened." This means they came to saving faith, that is, became a believer.
"I pray that the eye of your heart may be enlightened." (Ephesians 1:18a) Paul wrote that to believers, meaning, saved people.
Then the writer to the Hebrews says "have tasted of the heavenly gift." We are told over and again that eternal life is a gift of God.
"...the gift of God is eternal life." (Romans 6:23b)
The next step mentioned is "have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit." This is a Christian-only experience. Only saved people have the Holy Spirit--unbelievers do not.
"...if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Romans 8:9b)
Up to this point, all these conditions apply to baby Christians. Next, some spiritual maturity gets added to the list: "have tasted the good word of God." Remember the "young men" (i.e., spiritual teenagers) that John wrote about?
"I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you..." (1 John 2:14b)
The writer adds yet another element of spiritual maturity: "and the powers of the age to come."
This condition corresponds to John's "young men" teaching about overcoming the evil one:
"I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:13b)
So, the situation where God would NOT permit someone to "press on to maturity" involved someone who is not only born again, but has gone on in spiritual growth toward maturity, either John's "young men" (i.e., teenagers) or "fathers" (i.e., adults) stage. The expression "(tasted) the powers of the age to come" indicates this is no beginner in the faith, no spiritual just-got-saved "newbie."
What, then, does the Hebrews writer say about this person?
"and then have fallen away." (Hebrews 6:6a)
The Greek word for "fallen away" is "parapipto." As far as I can tell from my study tools, it is found nowhere else in the New Testament. It carries the idea of "to fall around" or "fall aside," meaning in the area of, such as to the side of where a person should have been standing. This is supported by the warning Hebrews gives earlier:
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1)
So, "parapipto" is where someone has chosen, or allowed themselves, to "drift away from it."
In the context of the letter to these particular Hebrew Christians, "parapipto" is supposing that someone became a believer, grew into maturity, and then chose to abandon faith in Christ for another religion, in this case, was going back to Moses and the Law. So, if this person does this, what happens next?
"...it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:6b)
What does it say is impossible? "To renew them again to repentance." This does NOT say they lose their salvation, as salvation is not in view here. What is in view, is somebody who is saved whom God will not permit to "press on to maturity." Repentance simply means to change your mind. In Hebrews 6:1b, "repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" means to change your mind about depending on your works (which are dead) to save you, and instead to change your mind to depend on Christ to save you.
Context is everything. When someone deliberately turns away from Christ, they will not be allowed to change their mind back to faith in Christ. That is what it means when it says "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance," and why (in verse 3) it says "if God permits" (meaning there is a situation where God will NOT permit it).
So, why won't God permit it?
"...since they crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame." (Hebrews 6:6b)
Let's illustrate this with an example. Suppose a famous Christian who is the president of a famous Christian Bible school suddenly announces he doesn't believe the blood of Christ and His crucifixion solved mankind's problem of sin, but that Buddha had a better way, and forsakes Christ for Buddhism. Think of the shock waves that would send through the students, the faculty, and Christian communities around the world. Think of how it would affect the students and how it could damage their faith. After all, some students might reason, "If so-and-so, who is such a learned Christian, doesn't think Christianity is true, why should I study it?" Think of how the unbelievers in the media and the world at large who learned of it would mock and ridicule Christians, casting shame on the name of Christ saying, even one of their own has recanted. How they would laugh Christians--and Christ--to scorn!
Then suppose that former school president announces, "You know what, I guess I was wrong--Christ's death on the cross really did count for me after all." He is crucifying Jesus to himself all over again. First time he believed in the crucifixion, now after going away from the cross, he's trusting again in the crucifixion. How do you think the students would react, or for that matter, how the unbelievers would react? They would not, could not, trust him again. The unbelievers would certainly jeer, saying, "Oh, so NOW you believe?" The name of Jesus Christ would be put to open shame. This what the verse is saying by "since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
This, God will not permit. For someone advanced in Christian maturity and knowledge of the Bible, to do a "parapipto" involves such an injury against the faith they once held so strongly, that there's no coming back. Christ's blood still saves them, but with such a regression into complete unbelief, they will never again have more than "baby" stage faith--if that. God will not permit them to "press on to maturity."
Yet, they are still saved. Being saved isn't just a mindset. Being saved means being born-again. When that happens, the Holy Spirit literally indwells a believer, and a new life force, a spiritual one, now exists inside the believer where that life did not formerly exist. Nothing in the Bible makes a case for where that spiritual life force gets "un-born again" or "taken back" by God.
Quite the contrary, Scripture says that the believer is sealed with the presence of the Holy Spirit who is given as a pledge that we will have an inheritance in heaven:
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed--, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
We all start out spiritually dead. (Ephesians 2:1) Those who believe in Christ become spiritually alive (i.e., born-again) (1 Peter 1:23) and are protected by the power of God to make sure they get to heaven. (1 Peter 1:4-5)
A farming illustration follows in Hebrews 6 in verses 7-8.
"For the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned." (Hebrews 6:7-8)
The writer says that ground that drinks up rain produces useful vegetation. This represents a believer who stays the course, which is the very thing the writer to the Hebrews is urging the letter's recipients to do. For someone who fits the description of the exception case of verses 4-6, there is no fruit coming out of their life, but only thorns and thistles. Both of these latter are injurious to the hand of the one who touches them. They are "worthless."
The one who falls away (i.e., "parapipto") not only has no more fruit for God, but their unbelief is also spiritually injurious to those his unbelief touches. What is coming out of his life is worthless and harmful, and "fruit" of that sort is fit only to be gathered and burned up to protect people. That's why God won't permit them to "press on to maturity." They had some maturity before, and threw it away. Later in Hebrews, the writer urges again those Hebrew Christians suffering terrible things because of their faith, not to throw their faith away (i.e., don't give in and return to Moses and the Law):
"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward." (Hebrews 10:35)
A "parapipto" person does "throw away" their confidence (i.e., faith) in Christ, and their life gets no blessing from God anymore. But, because such a person was redeemed by faith in Christ and became born again and was joined one spirit with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17), he still possesses eternal life. God will not curse one of His children, for He has redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13), but sadly that is as much as that person will get from God in this life, as Scripture says, the "parapipto" person will "come close to being cursed." (verse 8).
Such is the fate the writer to the Hebrews is warning the Hebrew Christians about, since they seem to be stuck in spiritual "baby" mode. He writes that they ought to have been teachers by now, but weren't. (Hebrews 5:12) He is warning them against "parapipto."
However, the writer then reassures them. While such a condition as described in Hebrews 6:4-8 is possible, he is confident that these believers are not ones in that condition described.
"But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking to you in this way." (Hebrews 6:9)
Still, verses 4-8 warn of what COULD happen if these Hebrew Christians (and us, for that matter) abandon Christ for something else. For the early Christians, it was Moses and the law. For us today, it could be anything else that would replace our faith in Christ, such as science, philosophy, a cult, devotion to a political cause, etc.
As we have just seen, Hebrews 6 is not describing losing one's salvation. While some Christians believe Hebrews 6 and 10 teach that you can lose your salvation, ironically, the letter to the Hebrews actually demonstrates OSAS! Look at the following two verses:
1) "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10)
2) "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." (Hebrews 10:14)
We who believed "have been" (i.e., happened in the past) "sanctified...once for all." Focus on that. The offering of Jesus's body is "once for all." Again, in that second verse, we are told (concerning the offering of Jesus's body) that "He has perfected (us) for all time."
Once for all... For all time...
When we believed, Jesus perfected us "for all time." That's once-saved-always-saved. How much clearer does it have to be?
Eternal life is a gift from God (Romans 6:23), and we receive it and the Holy Spirit the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ. (John 6:47; Ephesians 1:13) Keeping in mind that eternal life is a gift from God, let us look at what Scripture says about gifts from God:
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)
The gift of eternal life, therefore, will NEVER be revoked! Once saved, always saved. We cannot lose salvation by our sins, for Christ has paid for all of them (Colossians 2:13; 1 John 1:2; John 10:28). We cannot even lose it if we falter in our faith, such as the situation described in Hebrews 6. (2 Timothy 2:13)
The ONLY way we can be denied eternal life and a home in Heaven with God for all eternity, is if we never take that first step to place our faith in Christ. Yes, if someone denies Jesus Christ by refusing to place faith in Him, then he will be denied by Jesus on the Day of Judgment. That person will hear the terrible words of Jesus Christ:
"And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:23)
"Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41)
Think of those words: "I never knew you." They do not say, "I knew you once, but then I didn't know you anymore," as would be the case if Hebrews 6 taught you could lose your salvation. The words say, "I NEVER knew you."
For the one who has believed in Christ, the very opposite is true. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them..." (John 10:27a). Jesus KNOWS those who placed their trust in Him, yes, even those who failed later by "falling away" (i.e., "parapipto").
Only persons Jesus has never known go to hell. A believer, He has known, and He grants unto him eternal life, which cannot be revoked. A believer is a sheep that was lost, but now is found, and shall never perish. (John 10:27-29)
Think of the words of the beloved Christian hymn, "Amazing Grace":
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see."
In conclusion, when a lot of verses/passages say you are saved eternally, and one other verse/passage seems to say you can lose that salvation, you can sure you are missing the context somehow on the one. God can't contradict Himself.
Once saved, always saved. It's by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9). It's eternal life, not until-the-next-time-you-blow-it-life. It's "they shall NEVER perish." (John 10:28) It's being given an inheritance with the Holy Spirit as a down-payment. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Believers, hear this loud and clear! God went to too much trouble to purchase your freedom! It cost Him the life of His Son. He's not giving you up for anything in this universe or beyond!
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-38)
This article was found on www.raptureready.com and can be freely distributed by any and all means available to everyone whom finds it.
Please just say this prayer to be sure that you WILL go to Heaven when you die.
“Heavenly Father, I know that I have broken
your laws and my sins have separated me
from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want
to turn away from my past sinful life
toward You. Please forgive me, and help
me avoid sinning again. I believe that
Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins,
was resurrected from the dead, is alive,
and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to
become the Lord of my life, to rule and
reign in my heart from this day forward.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me
obey You, and to do Your will for the rest
of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)