Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Hebrew 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
A: YES. Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." There are no other conditions placed on you to receive salvation. However, there are many conditions (i.e. discipline one's mind so as to achieve absolute obedience to God) to KEEP salvation. The idea of "once saved, always saved" is not biblical.
1 comment:
Amen. There's been some related discussion on this (without actually discussing the doctrine specifically) on the bogosphere regarding baptism and "the prayer."
The emphasis in many ministries has been on getting convert to say "the paryer" and get baptised, but little or no followup. Thus, towns may have dozens of baptisms, but no change in the character of the community because of a lack of Christian maturity. This has further led to "churn" where as much as 40% of reported new members are of existing Christians from other churches.
Many churches are just now coming to reralize the damage that has been done over recent decades by "once saved, always saved."
There's been some interesting discussion on the need for formal instruction before baptism, ala the Catholic Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and for more post-baptism training in discipleship.
http://scotwise.blogspot.com/2006/04/it-is-finished.html
http://freedomsanction.blogspot.com/2006/04/fewer-baptisms.html
http://www.wadehodges.com/?p=813
http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/archives/2006/04/evaluating_our.php
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