WHAT THE APOSTLES TAUGHT
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| Grace is Christ's finished work... until ourselves become the finished work... |
- BEING GOD'S HOUSE FOREVER HAS A CLAUSE
For [of course] every house is built and furnished by someone, but the Builder of all things and the Furnisher [of the entire equipment of all things] is God. And Moses certainly was faithful in the administration of all God's house [but it was only] as a ministering servant. [In his entire ministry he was but] a testimony to the things which were to be spoken [the revelations to be given afterward in Christ]. But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father's] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, IF we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ]. Hebrews 3:4-6 AMP
One of the glorious truths of the New Testament is that the Spirit of God dwells within us the house of the Lord. However to continually be the house of God is a choice that depends on us. If we do not hold fast the confidence and hope UNTO the end what happens, we cease to be the house of God. Is it possible not to hold our hope and confidence in God till the end of time? Yes! "IF" is a clause that validates that possibility. Hence we cannot say that a born again can never cease to be God’s house. He can based on the interaction of his human will in respect to God.
- A CHRISTIAN CAN DESERT THE LIVING GOD
SEE THAT YE REFUSE NOT HIM THAT SPEAKETH. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we (Christians) escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:25,28-29 KJV
[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you (Christians) a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], LEADING YOU TO TURN AWAY AND DESERT OR STAND ALOOF FROM THE LIVING GOD. But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him]. FOR WE HAVE BECOME FELLOWS WITH CHRIST (THE MESSIAH) AND SHARE IN ALL HE HAS FOR US, IF ONLY we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end. Hebrews 3:12-14 Amplified
Believers can depart from God as a result of being hardened to continue in sin or having a belief that sin does not weigh on their faith. Notice the word "IF" again. Therefore partaking of Christ is not a condition based on Christ's eternal sacrifice and redemption but our own will to continue in what is eternally available to us.
- BELIEVERS CAN INCUR GOD’S INDIGNATION IF…
FOR IF WE GO ON DELIBERATELY AND WILLINGLY SINNING AFTER ONCE ACQUIRING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)?For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people (saints). It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:26-31 Amplified
Who was Paul addressing when he declared that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God? Christians are warned of wilful indulgence in sin. Even as the righteousness of God, what we do with His righteousness matters.
- CHRISTIANS CAN QUIT ON THE LORD'S COMING
For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. BUT THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH [My righteous servant shall live by his conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; And If He Draws Back And Shrinks In Fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him. But our way (of living in the gospel) is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul. Hebrews 10:36-39 Amplified
Christians can stop walking in faith and jilt the promise of the Lord’s coming. They can withdraw and go back to perdition. We are to wait for the Lord's coming patiently and to believe on until the day our Lord appears (that's the saving of our soul in the context). For if we don't hold on to our faith in Him our souls cannot be saved at his appearing. But Paul exhorted them as being able to continue in faith till the Lord’s appearing.
- CHRISTIANS CAN NEGLECT THIS GREAT SALVATION
Therefore we (believers) ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, Lest At Any Time We Should Let Them Slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we (believers) escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord (Jesus Christ), and was confirmed unto us by them (Apostles of the Lamb) that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. Hebrews 2:1-4 KJV
There is very much possibility that even the great gospel of salvation can be tossed aside by a Christian. If not, Paul wouldn’t have warned the Hebrews to give earnest heed to what they have heard.
NOTE: I have deliberately shared these five (5) warnings above from HEBREWS so that those who peg the doctrine of Once saved forever saved on their understanding of the words Eternal Salvation and Redemption from the same epistle, may see that they have a wrong interpretation of the use of those words.
Other epistles that corroborate the warnings in Hebrews:
- SHIFTING FROM THE HOPE IS A POSSIBILITY
And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father's] presence. [AND THIS HE WILL DO] PROVIDED THAT YOU CONTINUE TO STAY WITH AND IN THE FAITH [IN CHRIST], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, NOT SHIFTING OR MOVING AWAY FROM THE HOPE [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached [as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister. Colossians 1:21-23 Amplified
We can only be presented to God holy and faultless if we continue in the Faith and we are settled in the faith, not shifting from it. Though we have been reconciled, a man can wander off instead of settling in the Hope of Christ's gospel.
- TEACHERS OF THE WORD CAN TOTALLY BACKSLIDE
[1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction... [14] Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: [15] Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness… [19] While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. [20] FOR IF AFTER THEY HAVE ESCAPED THE POLLUTIONS OF THE WORLD THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, THEY ARE AGAIN ENTANGLED THEREIN, AND OVERCOME, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. [21] For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. [22] But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 2 Peter 2:1,14-15,19-22 KJV
Apostle Peter graphically reveals the gradual regression of Teachers or Pastors back into the world. When they cannot cease from sin, they soon give themselves over to the sin (especially) of adultery and covetousness, they swerve from the Spirit and walk in the flesh and become servants of it. They finally and fully become entangled in bondage again, they begin to preach falsehood and lure (seduce) "Unstable souls" and they damn their own souls in the process.
- ONCE SAVED IS NOT FOREVER SAVED IF…
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, TURNING THE GRACE OF OUR GOD INTO LASCIVIOUSNESS, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I WILL THEREFORE PUT YOU IN REMEMBRANCE, THOUGH YE ONCE KNEW THIS, HOW THAT THE LORD, HAVING SAVED THE PEOPLE OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, AFTERWARD DESTROYED THEM THAT BELIEVED NOT. AND THE ANGELS WHICH KEPT NOT THEIR FIRST ESTATE, BUT LEFT THEIR OWN HABITATION, HE HATH RESERVED IN EVERLASTING CHAINS under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Jude 1:3-6 KJV
Why did Apostle Jude use these allegories in the scripture above? He was clearly admonishing Christians that once saved does not equal forever saved if they do not retain their position of right standing before by continuing in faith.
- MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURES CAN LEAD ASTRAY
But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise, in which righteousness (uprightness, freedom from sin, and right standing with God) is to abide. SO, BELOVED, SINCE YOU ARE EXPECTING THESE THINGS, BE EAGER TO BE FOUND BY HIM [AT HIS COMING] WITHOUT SPOT OR BLEMISH AND AT PEACE [in serene confidence, free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts]. And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation ( that which is conducive to the soul's safety), EVEN AS OUR BELOVED BROTHER PAUL ALSO WROTE TO YOU ACCORDING TO THE SPIRITUAL INSIGHT GIVEN HIM, SPEAKING OF THIS AS HE DOES IN ALL OF HIS LETTERS. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures. LET ME WARN YOU THEREFORE, BELOVED, THAT KNOWING THESE THINGS BEFOREHAND, YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR GUARD, LEST YOU BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE ERROR OF LAWLESS AND WICKED [PERSONS AND] FALL FROM YOUR OWN [PRESENT] FIRM CONDITION [YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS OF MIND]. 2 Peter 3:13-17 Amplified
Peter reveals to us that we can fall away from our own steadfastness by misinterpreting the scriptures, particularly that of Paul. This may lead us to our own utter destruction. Is this scripture not so apt about the Once saved forever saved doctrine?
NOTE: A sister or brother has not backslidden because she/he sinned. To such people 1 John 2:1 should be considered. They can always come boldly to God through Christ in repentance and ask forgiveness and God will forgive them as emphasized in 1 John 1:9. These warnings are directed to believers who have become sin-hardened and those who are willing to depart from the Christian faith.
Indeed Jude wrote:
NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, AND TO PRESENT YOU FAULTLESS before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Jude 1:24
God is able to keep us from falling if we retain our willing partnership with him. Finally, grace is Christ's finished work given to us to be utilised in our own daily walk, until ourselves become the finished work of Christ's grace. Here there is no contradiction but perfect harmony of God's word.But this must be considered in line with the same promise and clause found in the words of Paul.
And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father's] presence. [AND THIS HE WILL DO] PROVIDED THAT YOU CONTINUE TO STAY WITH AND IN THE FAITH [IN CHRIST], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, NOT SHIFTING OR MOVING AWAY FROM THE HOPE [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached [as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister. Colossians 1:21-23 Amplified
From the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. I have offered at least nine (9) scriptures from the pen of three apostles on this subject. If any man teaches otherwise he has no cloak for his ignorance, his ignorant is based on his own volition. This article is an admonition for proper and further study of scriptures before we hold on to beliefs and doctrines. We must create the time to learn the scriptures then arrive at truth. There is no other time than now to take heed to ourselves, and filter what we hear, bringing every thought captive and subdued unto the obedience of Christ. Let it be said about me and you that they searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Timothy 4:15-16 KJV
Grace and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ who is eternally true. Amen. Read Part I
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