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Dangerous
Doctrine
Eternal Security is not a new doctrine, but
is as old as creation itself. In Gen 3:1-5 we see the
doctrine originating in the mind of Satan.
Gen
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of
the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto
the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat
of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be
as gods, knowing good and evil.
In V3
Eve quoted God as saying, "But of the fruit of the
tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye
die. "And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall
not surely die.
We have
the origin of Eternal Security in these verses. We have
God speaking and the serpent or the devil speaking.
Neither of them (God and the devil) have ceased to talk to
people since. God is speaking in His Word, and the devil
is continuing to deny it.
God told
Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil, lest he die. "Ye shall not surely
die". This is the first lie we have record of, Jesus
said the devil was a liar from the beginning.
Satan not
only told Eve this lie and made her believe it, he has
been telling people ever since that sin and disobedience
will not bring death. But God's word is true, and Adam and
Eve did surely die, not physically because we have record
of them living and rearing a family.
They died
a spiritual death, in so much that God drove them from the
garden, and his presence. The scriptures teach that if we
do not have Christ as our Saviour we are dead. The
following scripture reference prove that if we are living
in sin we are spiritually dead.
Isa
59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between
you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from
you, that he will not hear.
Rom
7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom
7:10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to
life, I found [to be] unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me].
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the
commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death
unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin,
working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom
6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of
God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eph
2:1 And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in
trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience:
Col
2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
1Ti
5:6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she
liveth.
Anytime
we are separated from God we are dead as far as salvation
and our soul is concerned. Sin is the thing that
separates; Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid
[his] face from you, that he will not hear. When we are
separated from God we are separated from life itself.
Adam and
Eve had the opportunity of obeying God and staying in the
Garden of Eden, But they made the choice and forfeited it
by obeying Satan....You have the choice to obey God and
stay in his presence or disobey and be cast out.
Eternal
Security is a dangerous doctrine for the following
reasons:
1. It
cause Christians to be careless. Any teaching that brings
a carelessness over you is not of God. Christians take an
indifferent attitude toward their salvation, they can
easily say I don't have to be careful and watch, even if I
do sin I wont be lost and go to hell
2Cor
7:11-- For behold this selfsame thing, that ye
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought
in you, yea, [what] clearing of yourselves, yea, [what]
indignation, yea, [what] fear, yea, [what] vehement
desire, yea, [what] zeal, yea, [what] revenge! In all
[things] ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this
matter.
Heb
12:15 --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; ..You can't
fall off something you haven't been on.
Eternal
Security is dangerous because it causes people to take the
attitude I don't have to be careful, I don't have to
discipline myself, I can't be lost any way, therefore many
are cold and indifferent about God and his work, and the
kind of daily lives they live
2. This
is a dangerous doctrine because it causes backsliders to
be eternally lost. Many have gone back in sin, and yet
they are taught and believe they will be saved anyway.
Either by God forcing them back of destroying their works
at judgdment. Therefore people will go to judgment
deceived, believing they are saved when they are not. They
testify..Does a person who testifies of this know what you
are actually saying---I am--indicates present tense--I am
now a sinner. You can't be a sinner and a Christian. If
you are walking like Christ --You are a Christian.
3. This
doctrine takes away man's free moral choice. Many people
who believe this doctrine believe God will force men and
women back to repentance if they backslide from God, by
severe chastisement on them. If this were true, after a
man is saved he would become a robot or a zombie, with no
power of choice for his own life.
God made
man from the beginning to be free to choose his own God to
worship in life. Why did God put a tree of life and death
in the Garden of Eden...Simply to give man a choice to
choose from.
God put
some things in this world to be left alone. We need this
things to choose from. We show our love to God by choosing
the right things. In choosing the right things we say I
had rather have Jesus than the evil things of this
world... If me cannot backslide and be lost, why does the
devil continues to waste his time at such. Yet he hasn't
ceased to trouble God's people since the Garden of Eden.
Some say
since we are born into the family of God and became his
son, that we will be his son, no matter what we do or how
we live. We can't compare this to the natural family in
that sense. When I was born of my parents, I had no choice
in this birth. I knew nothing of it what so ever, I came
into this world without choice of birth; color; hair;
eyes; skin or even parents.
When I
became born of God, I did have a choice in this. To be
exact it was my choice only, no one could make that choice
for me. If I could choose to be born again the second
time, could I not choose to be unborn again. REMEMBER I'm
the one doing the choosing when it comes to salvation.
BIBLE
PROOF YOU CAN FALL
1 Cor
10:12--Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
standeth take heed lest he fall. If the above scriptures
were all that I had to base my opinion on that a person
can fall, then I would readily admit, that I didn't have
very sufficient Bible proof for such a stand. This
scripture is addressed to he that thinketh he stands not
necessarily to those that are actually standing.
Ezekiel
18:4 we are told "The soul that sinneth it shall
die." There is no distinction made between the soul
of a Christian or a sinner, it simply says it--the one
that sinneth it shall die. Remember God is no respector of
persons. Verse twenty of the same chapter says, "The
soul that sinneth it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son: The righteousness of the righteous
shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall
be upon him. "It is important to know that each
individual must stand in judgment for his own personal
action.
Ezek
18:24-- But when the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness and committeth iniquity (sin) and doeth
according to all abominations that the wicked man doeth,
shall he live? (notice the question asked and the answer
given) All his righteousness that he hath done, shall not
be mentioned: in his tresspass that he trespassed, and in
his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die."
You see wilfull sin always bring spiritual death.
Verse
26 makes it even more plain and more settled.
"When a righteous man turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them;
(physically) for his iniquity that he hath done shall he
die (spiritual death or damnation.)
There are
two deaths brought out in this verse since a person cannot
die but one physical death, then the first death mentioned
must be a physical death because he died in his sins, not
for them. The second death mentioned must mean the
judgment and punishment. Jesus is referring to judgment
and hell often used such terms as perish, damnation and
destruction.
Ezekiel
is saying if a righteous man cease from his righteousness
and turn to sin and dies in his sin, then he will be lost.
Ezekiel did not leave a person without hope. Verse 27,
"Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed and doeth that which is
lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he
considereth and turneth away from ALL his transgressions
that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not
die." This has to be a spiritual death, because we
know that everyone must die physically. Repentance is
turning away as mentioned in Verse 27, "Therefore, if
a person will repent for his wickedness he has the promise
he shall live."
Romans
8:17 teaches us that the Christian has been made heirs
with God, and joint heirs with Christ. Now in Numbers
14:12 God spoke to Moses concerning Israel :I will smite
them with pestilence, and disinherit them.
God is
saying he will not permit them to have the promise land,
because of their sinful ways. The only way Israel ever got
to the promise land was to continue traveling. They even
lost forty years just wandering around no where.
Psalms
9:17--The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all
nations that FORGET God. Tell me how does a person forget
something he has never known. You must have some knowledge
of something, before you can forget it. Yet some people
argue that a backslider, has never been saved. God says he
that forget God shall be turned into hell. Some would
content or argue that God will not let a person forget,
but Jeremiah 2:32 says--My people have forgotten me days
with number.
Exodus
32:33--And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath
sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
This
incident took place after the children of Israel turned to
idol worship, worshipping the golden calf which Aaron had
built. Moses began to interceed to God for their sin, and
said "Yet now if thou will forgive their sin; and if
not, blot me, I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast
written.
In this
scripture (Exo 32:32-33) we discover that God has a book
which he has written, for further proof of the written
book of God read: Luke 10:20; Heb 12:23; Phil 4:3.
We also
discover in the Bible(Exo 32:31-33) that it is possible
for our names to be blotted out of the book of life. Rev
3:5 also teaches this fact. "He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before ny Father, and before his angels."
Now if it
were not possible for our names to be blotted out as some
contend, why did God give the promise to the Church at
Sardis, He that overcometh, I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life. This scripture very definitely
says, that if we don't overcome we will be blotted out of
the book of life. Exodus 32:32-- teaches us that we
can be blotted out because of sin.
If we
have been saved and our names are written in heaven, and
we fall back into sin, then our names are blotted out.
Once
again some may say he never was truly saved or he would
not have fallen.T HINK.........the book we are talking is
the book of life, and only saved people have their names
written in the book of life with spiritual life abiding in
them.
Now we
have learned it is possible to have their name blotted
out, but it could not have been blotted out; if it never
were in it. Understand that your name must first be on
something before it can be removed
Rev
20:15-- And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Our only
secure hope lies in having our names written in the book
of life. Therefore, we must be careful to live in such a
way that God will not blot our names out. If our names
have been blotted out of the book of life for sin, then
our name is not in this book then hell is a definite
promise.
Rev
20:12-- teaches us that the books (plural) and the
book (singular) which is the book of life, will be at the
judgment, these books will be opened (or searched for our
personal records).
The books
(plural) that we will be judged from are the books of the
Bible. Those that lived under Moses law will be judged
according to the law, while we that are under the new
covenant will be judged accordingly., and remember our
righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and
Pharisees, who were very strict law keepers.
NEW
TESTAMENT PROOF WE CAN FALL
Some
might not want to accept the argument that one can fall,
by quoting old testament scriptures, by being misled into
believing we are not to accept the Old Testament any
longer, but that we are to only live under the New
Testament.
For those
who will not accept the OT scriptures these are references
in the Testament that teach a person can be lost after
being saved.
CUT-OFF
John
15:1-16-- We have the highest of authority speaking
here which is Jesus. Verse 4 "Abide in me, and I in
you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine( the vine is Christ-verse1); no more can
ye except ye abide in the vine.
The word
abide means to dwell or stay, now the general teaching of
this scriptures leaves it to the free moral choice of the
believer as to whether or not he remains in Christ. The
last clause says EXCEPT YE ABIDE IN ME, WHICH MAKES IT
CONDITIONAL NOT COMPULSIVE.
Verse
6--IF A MAN ABIDE NOT in me he is cast forth as a
branch and is withered; and men gathered them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned.
Remember
the definition of the word IF means "on the
condition." Jesus is saying on the condition that a
man does not abide or stay with me, (this makes it free
choice) then that man is cast into the fire. (wither means
to die). Remember Rev 20:15 taught us about the fire of
hell. We find the word IF again in verse 7, 10, 14, and so
on.
Romans
11:21-22--For if God spared not the natural branches
(literal Israel) take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God; on them
which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, IF THOU
CONTINUE IN HIS GOODNESS: otherwise thou shall be cut off.
Paul
enter into a discussion of the falling of natural Israel
by unbelief. He then proceeds to warn the engrafted
Gentiles to be careful lest they also be cut-off. Once a
sprout is engrafted into a trunk of another tree it
becomes a part of that tree or as one tree.
The
engrafted Gentiles, have become as the natural
Israel--literal Israel was cut-off for unbelief, the
engrafted Gentile has become the new spiritual Israel.
Read Romans 2:28-29; 3:29; 4:11-14. These passages
teach that the promise was not to Abraham through the law,
but through the righteousness of faith.
Galatians
3:7--Know ye therefore that they which are of the
faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Check Gal
3:14-18
Gal
3:28-29--There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for ye all are one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
promise.
Once we
become saved, we become God's new Israel or Jew, we become
the seed of Abraham and the heirs according to the
Promise.
Romans
2:28-- For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly( the
literal Jewish tribe); neither is that circumcision, which
is outward in the flesh. (where is the Jew or who is the
Jew) answer.. verse 29--But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly; and circumcision (purifying is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Romans 11:26--teaches all
Israel shall be saved, this is not hard to understand once
you understand that the church is now God's Israel
Now in
Romans 11:22, Paul put the condition for being saved
or spared. IF (on the condition) thou continue (remain) in
his (Christ) goodness, otherwise (if you dont continue)
you will be cut-off.
The
engrafted sprout is part of the trunk but it remains only
on the trunk by meeting the required conditions. If you're
cut-off then you're not on, then if you are not on the
trunk of the tree or vine, you will surely die in
yourself. John 15:4-6-- Paul leaves no doubt, as to
the fact a person can be cut-off.
In
verse 23 he leaves encouraging hope that a backslider
can be engrafted in again, that is if they abide not in
unbelief.
Some say,
How can a person be saved more than once? When a person is
saved or born again, the new birth creates the right
relationship between God and man. When a person backslide
this relationship is broken by sin. When a backslider
repents and returns back to God that relationship is made
right again.
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