Draft - Enduring to the End

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 – identity/practice; formerly vs now; not occasional sin

Galatians 5:19–21 – habitual practice (πράσσοντες); lifestyle identity

Ephesians 5:5 – identity labels; inheritance exclusion

Colossians 3:5–7 – past walk vs present identity

1 John 3:6–9 – ongoing sin incompatible; present tense pattern

1 John 2:19 – departure reveals false identity

Hebrews 3:14 – perfect tense reality; perseverance evidential

Matthew 7:16–20 – fruit reveals identity

Romans 6:1–2 – died to sin; identity incompatibility

Romans 8:9 – Spirit defines belonging

2 Corinthians 5:17 – new creation identity

Titus 2:11–12 – grace trains; not permissive

John 10:27–28 – hearing/following pattern; preserved

Philippians 1:6 – God completes work

I just did a breakdown of the greek for John 5:24. In the greek, this passage is very emphatic that hearing and believing are what characterize the person who has eternal life. They are directly connected. And yet, that eternal life is possessed now, also emphatic in the greek, but well translated into english, which supports eternal security. It’s not temporary conditional life, it’s eternal. So, those who truly believe are characterized by believing.

ὁ (the one who) ἀκούων (hearing) καὶ (and) πιστεύων (believing)

ἀκούων - hear - present active participle, portraying action as ongoing/in process. Not aorist (which would emphasize a completed act).

πιστεύων - to believe - present active participle, portraying action as ongoing/in process. Not aorist (which would emphasize a completed act).

The greek defines the saved person as the one who is hearing and believing, rather than merely describing a past moment of hearing or believing.

When he says he’ll never leave nor forsake us, that is directed at those who are saved, not those who were never saved. Aka. A sinners prayer does not save us. One time “oh, that sounds good, I believe that” is not what is being described here. A “fully convinced” belief results in His keeping of us (John 10).

And, there are many phrases that are conveyed in the NT indicating people will not be saved if they have their identity in those things (sexual immorality, drunkenness, etc). Those cannot be directed at true believers, as having their identity in sin is not a possibility. Can they struggle in "severe" ways? Of course! But, having our identity in sin more looks like "don't really care, I'm covered by the blood, I can do what I want". Now, the greek is translated fairly well in the ESV. As far as I can tell, the english embodies most points the greek is trying to convey. Caveat: while I probably know greek more than most, I'm not an expert. Hebrews 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. How does this break down? Simply put, if we have come to share in Christ, means "if we are currently and actually sharing in Christ". The verb "to be" in this context is indicative, meaning "actual reality". So, I would say that a better translation would be "For we have truly come to share in Christ, if we indeed hold our original confidence firm to the end.". This is not about some work performed to be saved, it's about a state of being, created by salvation. That is to say, Christ works in us to that end. It's 100% not like "Oh my, I have to hold on, I'm going to die if I sin too much, oh no, what do I do?" 1 John tells us the same thing, where it says they went out from us because they were not of us (i.e. not true believers). There's so much in the NT that conveys this concept. I'm confused how you can believe this.