Quote:
Originally Posted by ThankfulForever777
After leaving the LC, and delving into the Bible, I have come to notice a significant number of warnings issued by Jesus and the apostles aimed at believers. At this juncture, I no longer subscribe to the doctrine of eternal security of salvation, commonly known as "once saved, always saved."
|
Thanks for sharing ThankfulForever777. I'm actually not sure where I stand with respect to OSAS yet. This one verse I shared earlier seems to suggest someone who is truly born again will overcome:
1 John 5:4
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
I also lean towards the view that only the fourth soil is truly saved and shared similar reasons to you in an earlier post. Did you know the Greek word Jesus used in John 3:3 γεννηθῇ refers to the natural birth through the canal and does not refer to the moment of conception? A still born or miscarried fetus would not experience γεννηθῇ and life, hence the 2nd and 3rd soils experienced conception, but did not develop into a full term baby which experiences birth through the canal, so they never completed the process of being born again.
This could mean that being born again is not necessarily a short one time event. Sanctification and regeneration could be tied together for some period of time in this view. Perhaps there is a point where you give yourself over to Jesus so much that there's no going back and that's precisely the moment when heaven rejoices (Luke 15:7). Yet the thief on the cross was saved so maybe his "birth" was on an accelerated time through his suffering on the cross and seeing Jesus face to face. In some sense the thief handed over his life to Jesus (fulfilling Luke 9:24) when he said "Remember me when I come into your kingdom". He humbled himself and acknowledged that he was a sinner and worthy of death and that Jesus was his only hope.
And because only God knows our hearts, there is some mystery behind being born again as Jesus alluded to in John 3:8
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”"
Nevertheless I respect your view because there are so many verses that seem to go against OSAS as well. This verse from Paul seems to be a strong one:
Phil 3:11-12
"and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."
Paul didn't consider to have attained the "resurrection from the dead" while he was yet alive which is our hope for salvation. Focusing on the millennial kingdom reward may be putting the cart before the horse.