TDS52 said:
Eternal life is a gift given to us by believing on Christ and accepting the gift for ourselves. When we give gifts to those we love, we do not attach strings to those gifts nor take them away from those we give them to.
My mom gave me a precious stone, it was beautiful, but I lost it because of my carelessness. I did not hold on to my precious stone, then I frantically searched for it and then found it. After some time, I lost it again then I searched again and then I found it again. I kept loosing it again because of my careless behavior and I never found it again.
Heb 6:4 For [it is] impossible for the ones once having been enlightened and having tasted of [fig., experienced] the heavenly free gift and having became sharers of [the] Holy Spirit
Heb 6:5 and having tasted [fig., experienced] [the] good word of God and the powers of the coming age,
Heb 6:6 and having fallen away, to be
renewing [them] again to repentance, having crucified again to themselves the Son of God and having publicly disgraced [Him].
Renewing them AGAIN- meaning they have been renewed before, I don’t know how many times but those who have fallen away, fell away before for a number of times and were renewed again for a number of time. Just like I kept loosing my precious stone, at some point I never found it again and probably never will.
At some point God will Rom 1:28 And according as they did not think good to have God in their knowledge,
GOD GAVE THEM UP TO A REPROBATE MIND TO PRACTISE UNSEEMLY THINGS;They did not Hold on to their gift they became careless by sinning, probably thinking that their gift is safe - 1Ti 6:12 Strive earnestly in the good conflict of faith.
LAY HOLD OF ETERNAL LIFE, to which thou hast been called, and hast confessed the good confession before many witnesses.
Heb 3:14 For we are become companions of the CHRIST
IF INDEED WE HOLD THE BEGINNING OF THE ASSURANCE FIRM TO THE END;
TDS52 said:
Only the recipient may exchange the gift. In salvation, we exchange our sinful life for the life of Christ to come into us, abide with us, live in and through us. We trust Him to be true to His word when He said in Hebrews 13:5c , "...for he hath said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE." The word "never" has a simple meaning "at no time". I think we can be assured that GOD is true to His word, for He cannot lie.
You are right we exchange our sinful life for the life of Christ! How many once saved Christians out there are living the sinful life and still have their security of salvation in OSAS doctrine??
Joh 15:4
Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, thus neither can ye unless ye abide in me.
Guess what? Not only Jesus abides in us, but we are told to abide also in Him! Wanna know if we abide in him or not? By our fruits. Are fruits of the Spirit stealing, sexual immorality, murder, any disobedience to God? Lets see what are fruits of the Spirit and what are not!
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions, disputes, schools of opinion,
Gal 5:21 envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revels, and things like these; as to which I tell you beforehand, even as I also have said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit God's kingdom.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity,
Therefore we do not abide in Christ when we disobey God.
Heb 13:5:
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,”
So why will Jesus never desert you nor will ever forsake you according Hebrews 13:5? No reason? No! If you make sure that your character is free form the love of money, being content with what you have. Did I take anything out of context?
Hebrews 13:5c is actually taken from the Old Testament reference of Deut. 31:6,8. God’s promise to Israel in Deut 31:6’8 is that he will never leave or forsake them. But then in verses 16-18 we read:
Deut. 13:16 The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Deut. 13:17 “Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and
I WILL FORSAKE THEM AND HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ Deut. 13:18 “But I will surely hide My face in that day
BECAUSE OF ALL THE EVIL WHICH THEY WILL DO, FOR THEY WILL TURN TO OTHER GODS.2 CHRON. 15:2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him;
BUT IF YOU FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL FORSAKE YOU
2Tim 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with [Him];
if we deny [or, disown] [Him], that One will also deny us.
2Tim 2:13 If we are unfaithful, that One remains faithful; He is not able to deny Himself.
If we deny Jesus he will deny us also, then the bible goes on to say that if we are unfaithful, Jesus remains faithful. Faithful to what, one might ask. It cannot mean that if we are unfaithful to Jesus he will remain faithful to us, because one, it doesn’t say exactly that and two, that would totally contradict the previous verse. Wouldn’t you agree? So we are left with interpreting these two passages and not have them contradict eachother. Do you remember when Jesus himself said in Mat 10:33? "But whoever denies [or, disowns] Me before the people, _I_ also will deny him before My Father, the [One] in the heavens.
You see although Christ remains faithful to His promises. In 2 Tim 2:13, the statement refers to His faithfulness in carrying out the warning that he himself give in mat 10:33, that he will disown or deny us in the presence of the Father “if we willfully and knowledgeably disown/deny him. HE cannot deny what He Himself said in Mat 10:33.
Thank you for reading.
