Our journey to heaven is like a bike race. We don't know who is going to scratch a knee or fall out of the race before it's over. The end is not sealed. Just because one person seems to be leading in the front doesn't mean he's going to win and get the gold. He might run over a pebble at the next turn and slip and break a leg. We don't know who's going to drop out next. Anybody can drop out. It is a possibility, and that's why the bikers need to be cautious and pay attention.
Now, imagine that God gives you a vision and shows you a glimpse of the future, and you get to see that biker #45 is going to win the race. Now that you know, you can say with certainty that nothing is going to stop him! And this would not be considered a boastful statement, since you've seen the future. On the other hand, if you had not seen the future, it would be boastful.
The same thing happened to Paul the Apostle. This man was in heaven and saw the future and that's why he was able to say what he said in Romans 8:38, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Some preachers take this verse out of context and create a general doctrine out of this, teaching that once you become saved, you're always saved. This is the equivalent of saying that once you get on the bike, you're automatically a winner and nothing can stop you. You might as well close your eyes and put your hands up in the air. The bike is going to steer itself, because you can't fail. When people take this advice seriously, they actually do stop paying attention and they break a leg. And the illusion is so strong they still think they're going to win. This is why there are Christians who think lightly of sin. This is the core doctrine that produces fake Christians.
The great falling away that happens in the last days might be because of this doctrine. It sounds very appealing, because it assures people that their life is on autopilot. All they have to do is say a prayer, and they're on a straight path to heaven.
Abounding Grace, I just want to make sure I understand the first of your last 2 posts. You say:
QUOTE:There are Christians who believe no one has any certainty until death. Do you have assurance and certainty now? Are there any Christians who are so holy that they rest assured that they will go to be present with the father when they die or when the coming of the Lord takes place? END QUOTE
I realize your posts were not expressly written directly to me so if I may humbly request your explanation to the following question.
Are you suggesting no one has a right to the certainty of the assurance of their salvation contrary to 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may >>know<< that you >>have<< eternal life” (my emphasis added)
This Bible study shows that you have to believe that Jesus is God to be saved!! **QUIZNOS** does not believe that Jesus is God.
John 20:27-29: Then He said to Thomas, "Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe!" Thomas said to him, "My Lord and **MY GOD**!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed!"
Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor and **MIGHTY GOD**!
Isaiah 7:14: The Lord Himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him **IMMANUEL**! {Which means **GOD WITH US**!}
Matthew 1:20-23: The angel of the Lord said to Joseph, "Take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She is to give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus which means **GOD IS HELP**, because He will save His people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet {Isaiah 7:14 above} "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him **IMMANUEL** which means **GOD WITH US**!
John 1:1-4; 18: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the **WORD WAS GOD**. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him **ALL THINGS WERE MADE**. In Him was Life, and that Life was the light of all mankind!!... No one has ever seen God, but the One and only Son, who is **HIMSELF GOD** and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known!
John 14:6,7: Jesus says, "I am the **WAY** the **TRUTH** and the **LIFE**. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you will know the Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have **SEEN HIM**!"
**GOD'S WORD COMMANDS THAT WE SHOULD ONLY WORSHIP GOD**!!
Matthew 4:9,10: Satan said to Jesus, "All this I will give you if you bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, Away from Me Satan! For it is written, '**WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD** and serve Him only!
Revelation 19:9,10: The angel said to me, "Write this: **BLESSED** are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the **LAMB**!" And he added, "These are the true words of God!" At this I fell at his feet to **WORSHIP** him, But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus! **WORSHIP GOD**! For it is the spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus!"
Revelation 22:8,9: I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "**DON'T DO THAT** A am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who **KEEP THE WORDS** of this scroll. **WORSHIP GOD**!!
Hebrews 1:6,8: When God brings His firstborn into the world He says, "Let all God's angels **WORSHIP HIM**.... About the Son He says, "Your throne, **O GOD**, will last for ever and ever, a scepter of justice will be the scepter of **YOUR KINGDOM**!"
Matthew 28:18-20: Jesus says, "**ALL AUTHORITY**in heaven and on earth has been given to **ME**. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always!"
**JESUS CHRIST, OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR**
Jesus is **WORSHIPED** many times in God's Word in Matthew 2:2,8,11; 14:33; 28:9,17 Luke 24:52 John 9:38 and Revelation 5:11-14 and !5:4!!
Matthew 2:10,11: When the Wise Men saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and **WORSHIPED HIM**!
Matthew 14:33; Then those who were in the boat **WORSHPED HIM**!!
Matthew 28:8,9: So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and **WORSHIPED HIM**!
Matthew 28:16,17: Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When the saw Him, they **WORSHIPED HIM**!
There are some who completely ignore these Scriptures and claim that Jesus is not God because he said that the Father is greater than me in John 14:28 and that the Father told Him what to say as per John 14:23,24: Jesus says, "Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. The words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me."
John 9:37,38: Jesus said, "You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you!" Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he **WORSHIPED HIM**!
NOTE: Jesus is called the **LAMB** 30 times in the book of Revelation! Jesus became our atonement of sin by becoming the **LAMB OF GOD**. If Jesus was just a human he would have inherited the human sinful nature and then he could not be the atoning **LAMB OF GOD**!!
Revelation 5:13,14: Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, an all that is In them, saying "To Him who sits on the throne and to the **LAMB** be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!" The 4 living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and **WORSHIPED**!
Revelation 17:14; They will wage war against the **LAMB**, but the **LAMB** will overcome them because He is **LORD** of lords and King of kings--and with Him will be **HIS** **CALLED**, *CHOSEN** and **FAITHFUL** followers!!
Titus 2:13,14: We wait for the **BLESSED HOPE**--the glorious appearing of our **GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR**, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify a people that are **HIS VERY OWN**, eager to do what is good!!
*NOTE** **THERE WILL BE ONLY **TWO THRONES** IN THE HEAVENLY ETERNAL NEW JERUSALEM**!
Revelation 21:22,23: 22:1-3: I did not see a temple in the City, because the Lord God Almighty and the **LAMB** are its temple. The City does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of the Lord God gives it Light, and the **LANB** is its lamp ....Then the angel showed me the river of the Water of Life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the **THRONE OF GOD AND THE LAMB** {Jesus} down the middle of the great street of the City. On each side of the river stood the Tree of Life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month... **THE THRE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB* will be in the City!
Revelation 3:21,22" Jesus says, "To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with Me on **MY THRONE**, just as I overcame and sat down with the Father on **HIS THRONE**!"
Prophetic, I reviewed your last post and it would appear you believe Jesus is equal with God. Have you now adopted the biblical view that the Son of God is equal with God the Father or am I mistaken?
**IS JESUS CHRIST CO-EQUAL WITH GOD THE FATHER**??
The Roman Catholic Church was the first denomination to state that God the father and His Son Jesus are completely **CO-EQUAL** in AD 325.
Question: Is Jesus who is God **CO-EQUAL** with God the Father? There are certainly many Scripture which show the many ways that Jesus is equal to the Father such as they are both God and they both created everything together and they will both have the only 2 thrones in the eternal New Jerusalem.
**BUT WHAT DOES GOD'S WORD SAY ABOUT SOME OF THE WAYS THAT THE SON OF GOD IS NOT EQUAL TO HIS FATHER**??
John 14:28: Jesus says, "If you loved Me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the **FATHER IS GREATER THAN I**!"
John 10:27-30: Jesus says, "My sheep listen to My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one can snatch them out of My hand. **MY FATHER, WHO HAS GIVEN THEM TO ME** is **GREATER THAN ALL**!"
John 6:37,39,44,65: Jesus says, "**ALL** that the Father gives Me **WILL** come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will **NEVER** drive away... And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall **LOSE NONE** of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the Last Day.... No one can come to Me **UNLESS** the Father who sent Me **DRAWS HIM**, and I will raise him up at the Last Day!!... No one can come to Me **UNLESS** the Father has **ENABLED THEM**!!"
John 17:17: Jesus says to His Father, "Sanctify them by the truth **YOUR WORD** is Truth!!"
Deuteronomy 18:17-20: The Lord said to Moses, "I will raise up for them a Prophet from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put My words in His mouth. He will tell them everything I command Him. I Myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to My words that the Prophet speaks in My Name!"
John 14:23-24: Jesus says, "Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and **WE** will come to them and make **OUR HOME** with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; **THEY BELONG TO THE FATHER WHO SENT ME**!"
Revelation 1:1: The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which **GOD GAVE HIM**!
Jesus is the **HEAD** of God's Kingdom in the NT era until His 2nd Coming and **THEN** He will hand over the **ETERNAL** Kingdom to God the Father!
I Corinthians 15:23-24: For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the Firstfruits, then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. **THEN** He will hand over the {**ETERNAL**}Kingdom to God the Father!
There are 7 passages in the New Testament which state that we should **ONLY PRAY TO GOD THE FATHER**!! **SUCH AS**:
Matthew 6:6-10: Jesus says, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and **PRAY TO YOUR FATHER**, who is unseen. Then **YOUR FATHER**, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them for your **FATHER KNOWS** what you need before you ask Him! This then, is how you should pray: 'Our **FATHER** in heaven hallowed be your name, **YOUR {**ETERNAL**}KINGDOM** come, **YOUR WILL** be done, on earth as it is in heaven!'"
Luke 11:4: Jesus says, "When you pray say: '**FATHER**, hallowed be Your Name, your {*ETERNAL*} Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. "**FORGIVE US OUR SINS**, for we forgive everyone who sins against us!'"
Revelation 1:1: The Revelation from Jesus Christ, which **GOD {The *FATHER*} GAVE HIM**!
Matthew 26:39: Jesus said, "My Father, if it is possible. may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will but **AS YOU WILL**!"
Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the **WILL OF MY FATHER** who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
Matthew 12:50: Jesus says, Whoever does the **WILL OF MY FATHER** in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!"
John 14:28: Jesus says, "If you loved Me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the **FATHER IS GREATER THAN I!"
Brother Silver said in the op that there is a false doctrine. He would call it eternal security. So I was seeking to find out what he believed. Some proponents of his teaching believe if you die with one sin unconfessed, you are eternally damned.
I liked what Matt slick said in one of his posts on the issue. There are Christians on both sides of the issue. We all are committed to Christ, to living lives that please Him.
Since being born again is used in John to refer to salvation, I think of us as babies. We don't do anything to get born and we don't know anything. But God wants us to grow up and become mature. May God give the increase.
