Public Discussion With Michael Brawner
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· 110 viewsRefutation of Once Saved, Always Saved
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Passages That Refute Once Saved, Always Saved
Passages That Refute Once Saved, Always Saved
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
1 John 2:24-25
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Luke 8:12
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
This passage shows that the word “believe” is being used in connection with salvation, because in this verse the belief that would save them never takes place.
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.
Those in never believed, and thus were never saved, but those in did believe and were thus saved, but only for awhile before falling away.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
There is a clear contrast between those who believe only for awhile () and those who believe with patience (hupomone=perseverance; ).
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Luke
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
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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.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
The Question (v. 42): “Who is the faithful and wise steward” whom his Lord will reward at his coming?
The Answer (v. 43): “That servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” as instructed.
The Reward (v. 44): “He will make him ruler over all that he hath.”
The Peril (v. 45): “That servant” may grow careless and become unfaithful during his lord’s long absence.
The Penalty (v. 46): The lord will come unexpectedly and “cut him in sunder” and “appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” (or the “unfaithful”).
And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Luke 12:39
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
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Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
A. T. Robertson on
“Most writers take Paul to refer to the possibility of his rejection in his personal salvation at the end of the race. He does not claim absolute perfection () and so he presses on. At the end he has serene confidence () with the race run and won. It is a humbling thought for us all to see this wholesome fear instead of smug complacency in this greatest of all heralds of Christ.”
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
proves that one can be forgiven, and then later be counted guilty again because of an unwillingness to extend the same grace. Hence, a forgiven servant, who becomes unforgiving, can be delivered to the tormentors!
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
John 15:16
And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
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I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Results of Failing To Abide In Christ:
Fruitlessness (; )
Removal and loss of life (, )
Burned ()
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus did not say, “I am the Vine and those who pretend to be my followers, but who are really just faking it, are the branches.”
makes it abundantly clear that the branches were actually clean—not just pretending to be so!
Alexander Maclaren on
“Separation is withering. Did you ever see a hawthorn bough that children bring home from the woods and stick in the grate; how in a day or two the little fresh green leaves all shrivel up and the white blossoms become brown and smell foul, and the only thing to be done with it is to fling it in the fire and get rid of it? “And so,” says Jesus Christ, “as long as a man holds on to Me and the sap comes into him, he will flourish; and as soon as the connection is broken, all that was so fair will begin to shrivel, and all that was green will grow brown and turn to dust, and all that was blossom will droop, and there will be no more fruit any more for ever.”
Withering means destruction. The language of our text is a description of what befalls the actual branches of the literal vine; but it is made a representation of what befalls the individuals whom these branches represent, by that added clause, “Like a branch.” Look at the mysteriousness of the language. “They gather them.” Who? “They cast them into the fire.” Who have the tragic task of flinging the withered branches into some mysterious fire? All is left vague with unexplained awfulness. The solemn fact that the withering of manhood by separation from Jesus Christ requires and ends in the consuming of the withered is all that we have here. We have to speak of it pityingly, with reticence, with terror, with tenderness, with awe lest it should be our fate.
But O, dear brethren! be on your guard against the tendency of the thinking of this generation to paste a bit of blank paper over all the threatenings of the Bible, and to blot out from its consciousness the grave issues that it holds forth. One of two things must befall the branch, either it is in the Vine or it gets into the fire. If we would avoid the fire, let us see to it that we are in the Vine.”
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
It is not a question of whether eternal life is eternal. If we fail to abide in him, the eternal life is still eternal, but our participation in that life, our access to that life ceases. We share that life only as we continue to abide in Him (; )
The most constant characteristic of the Greek Present Indicative is that it denotes action in progress (Ernest De Witt Burton, Syntax and Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek, Sec. 9)
“Verily, Verily, I say unto you—He who is hearing my word, and is believing Him who sent me, hath life age-during, and to judgment he doth not come, but hath passed out of the death to the life” ( in Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible ).
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:5
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
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.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Romans 14:10
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Of the eight references in 1 John to the fact of the believer’s being born of God(considering that gennetheis in 5:18 refers to Jesus), four are perfect participles and three are perfect indicatives. John’s emphasis is on the new birth as a present relationship, rather than as a past event. But there are specific conditions essential to the sustaining of the relationship (Shank, p. 94).
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
“Cannot sin” in cannot mean that one is incapable of ever committing a sin because teaches otherwise.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
When Does The Child Of God Receive Eternal Life?
Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Romans 2:6-8
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Romans 2:6-7
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, When at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, Beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
The Two Faces of “Shall Not”
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread.
He is ever merciful, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed.
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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Warlick’s Answer To Bogard’s “Soul Has Eternal Life But Body” Does Not Argument
“If the soul has eternal life here, and can’t lose it, but if the body has to continue faithful in this life to get eternal life in the world to come, then the body may fail of obtaining the life, so in this case, you would have a bodyless spirit in Heaven, and spiritless body in hell. This is Baptist doctrine according to Mr. Bogard” (Bogard-Warlick Debate, p. 125).
“God has given about three-fourths of the New Testament to Christians, teaching them how to live, that they may finally be saved, and yet, we are to be insulted with the foolish claim that God knew all the time that no one was in danger of being lost” (Warlick, pp. 127-128).
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2 Timothy 2:
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1 Corinthians 9:23-
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
How can a church fall without the members thereof falling?
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Can one refuse to do these things and still not fall?
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
Ezekiel 18:20-
And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
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.
Revelation 3:4
God’s people are in the book of life ()
Sin will cause them to be blotted out of the book of life ()
Those not found in the book of life will be cast into the fire ().
Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Corinthians B. The Proper Role of Church Leaders (3:5–15)
3:12–13. Builders must also show caution because God will reward church leaders according to the work they accomplish. Because Paul spoke of any man, his words apply to every believer. But they form a direct warning to church leadership.
Church leaders can build upon the foundation of Christ’s gospel in two different ways. On the one hand, they can use gold, silver, and costly stones. These materials will withstand the fire of God’s scrutiny that will test the quality of each man’s work. On the other hand, they can build with wood, hay or straw. Such materials will not withstand the fire of divine judgment.
Paul said that the Day (the day of final judgment) would bring … to light the nature of each leader’s work so that his work would be shown for what it was. So, all Christian leaders should pay careful attention to what they bring to the church. Although the true nature of their work may remain hidden for a while, it will be revealed one day for all to see.
By this argument, Paul called the leaders and participants of the Corinthian divisions to account. He asserted that the trouble they caused would detract from their eternal rewards. He also encouraged them to reaffirm the gospel so they would gain greater rewards on the day of judgment.
3:14–15. Paul further explained the two possible outcomes for church leaders. If a leader’s work survives the fire of God’s judgment, he will receive his reward. God promises great rewards to those who serve him faithfully (Matt. 10:41–42; Rev. 11:18). But if a leader’s work is burned up by divine judgment, the true believer himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames of a burning house. Judgment on church leaders is more severe than on ordinary believers (Jas. 3:1). For this reason, leaders must lead the people of God very carefully.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The First Letter to the Corinthians b. The Corinthians Are God’s Building (3:10–15)
But it is not the Corinthians themselves who are under scrutiny. Rather, the work of those who have led them, or more accurately, “built” them, is being tested by fire. While the six building materials are probably listed on a “scale of descending value,”42 Paul’s point is simply that some endure in fire (gold, silver, costly stones), while others are consumed (wood, hay, straw).43 If the former are worthy of the foundation, the latter are not. Whether a worker’s task be primarily evangelistic or pastoral, both must be in keeping with the character of the foundation stone, who is Christ. As Paul demonstrates throughout chapters 1–4, the cross is the key both to the initial establishment and ongoing moral renewal of the church. Any doctrine of the cross that treats it only as the entry point into the Christian life is seriously deficient. The mention of three unsuitable materials recalls the ominous warning of v. 10b. “Careless” building resorts to such inferior supplies. And Paul is not talking here just about himself and Apollos. A more general application is signaled with the words, if anyone builds. As the next verse shows, care should be taken when building, because a most searching inspection process will certainly be undertaken at some point.
3:13 A number of terms indicate the eschatological nature of this Day of Judgment. The verbs “to become (apparent),” “to bring it to light,” “to reveal,” and “to test (with fire)” are all regularly used of the final, climactic event of human history.44 The timing of that judgment is mentioned in 4:5: it will happen “when the Lord comes.” This heaping up of synonyms for the same event of examination leaves the inescapable impression that there will be no doubt about the assessment. No trace of indistinctness will be left, and no one will think a retrial necessary. The work of Christian leaders will be shown for what it is. As Thiselton puts it: “Together these terms carry the sonority and weight of what in English we might think of as an apocalyptic epiphany: a universal disclosure in which all hitherto protective veils of ambiguity and hoping-for-the-best (or, equally, fearing-for-the-worst) are removed in a definitive, cosmic act in the public domain.”45 The fact that Paul can speak of the Day with no further explanation indicates the central position it must have occupied in his preaching and teaching, an event he labeled more fully in 1:8 as “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Seeing that we are not privy to human motivations and unable to gauge long-term effects, our judgments about Christian work will always be open to correction. “But God pronounces a definitive verdict at the last judgment which cannot be revised, for all factors have been taken into account in a total context.”46 Paul’s words provoke fear in those who will be so judged, and humility in the Corinthians who had presumed to make judgments themselves ahead of time. This is not to say that we can never know the character of a leader’s work. But we must always remember that such judgments ultimately belong to God. As Paul can say at another point to the Corinthians: “What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience” (2 Cor. 5:11).47
The image of a fire ravaging a group of buildings and fully consuming everything save only the most durable materials would have resonated with the Corinthians. Corinth had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. and its re-founding in 44 B.C. by Julius Caesar probably meant that some buildings in Paul’s day were a patchwork of new and old materials. A mixture of building materials was regularly used in the construction of Mediterranean cities, whose dry climate made fire an ever-present danger. “Great fires” have raged in cities across the centuries to devastating effect, from Rome in A.D. 64 to London in 1666, Chicago in 1871, and San Francisco in 1906. The image is readily comprehended and evokes appropriate alarm. The fire will test the quality of each person’s work, or “what kind of work48 each has done.” Only those Christian ministers who worked with “gold, silver and costly stones” will have anything to show for their labors.
3:14–15 Unfortunately, exactly which criteria determine whether a person’s work survives the flames are not spelled out in the passage. How do you tell the difference between “gold, silver and precious stones” and “wood, hay and straw” when it comes to building “God’s temple”? To answer this question, commentators tend to read in what they think is important about Christian ministry.49 However, as ever, context is our best guide. Three directions suggest themselves, one from the previous sections of the letter and two from chapter 4.
Although rarely noticed, strictly speaking, the judgment Paul envisages here is not of himself and other gospel workers, but only of the latter. In vv. 10–11 Paul speaks confidently of having successfully laid the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, as “a wise builder” in Corinth. It is only those who “build on this foundation” (3:12)50 whose “quality of work” (3:13) is in question: “their work will be shown for what it is” (3:13). Paul believes that his “foundational” work is up to standard. But this is not mere presumption on his part. In 1:18–3:4 he has already engaged in a searching evaluation of his work and whether or not he has “emptied the cross of its power” (1:17b) and given people “human wisdom” or “God’s power” on which to rest their faith (2:5). He did not “preach the gospel with wisdom and eloquence” (1:17), and he does not declare “the wisdom of this age,” but rather “God’s wisdom” (2:6–7). The foundation he laid was “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2), and in a manner appropriate to the message (2:1–4). If we wonder which criteria Paul has in mind when describing the judgment of Christian prophets and teachers, we need look no further than the values Paul espouses and exemplifies in chapters 1–2. To spell it out, building materials that will be burned up are those in keeping with human wisdom instead of the wisdom of God, which is the fullness of the message of the cross.
The second and third criteria of judgment are mentioned in chapter 4. 1 Corinthians 4:4–5 makes many of the same points as 3:13–15 about God’s exclusive prerogative to judge his workers, the thoroughness of that judgment, and the promise of rewards. The new element is the news that on the Day of Judgment the Lord Jesus “will expose the motives of people’s hearts” (4:5). Disturbingly, then, God will consider not only what Christian workers said and did in their attempts to build up God’s people, but why they behaved in this way. On reflection, this is not unrelated to the first criterion. As we noticed earlier, the “human wisdom” Paul so thoroughly avoids, and God so utterly condemned at the cross (1:18–20), involves not only displays of human brilliance and a message of human adequacy but also the values of self-reliance and self-promotion. In a nutshell, Paul teaches that God will judge Christian workers on the single measure of their avoidance of human wisdom and adherence to the wisdom of the cross as they go about their work. Thus, to conform to “the wisdom of the world” (1:20) in Christian ministry is not only to empty the cross of Christ of its power (1:17) and to encourage a misplaced faith (2:5), but it also leads to the minister’s forfeiting a reward from God (3:8, 14). It is to prove not to be “faithful” to the Master (4:4). Much is at stake for building and worker alike.
But this reward of which Paul speaks, in what does it consist? Verse 15 confirms that Paul is not speaking of salvation as the reward in question, for the builder who suffers loss will nonetheless “himself”51 be saved. The verb “to suffer loss” does not mean “to punish” but to be “deprived of something.”52 The issue then is not reward or punishment, heaven or hell, but reward or no reward. It is the builder’s “work” (3:13) that will be burned up, not the builder himself. As Fee states, 1 Corinthians 3:14–15 is not “a soteriological statement.”53 The picture is of someone escaping from a burning building just in time, “saved by the skin of their teeth.” It is hardly flattering or reassuring, and Paul does not present it as in any way normative or acceptable, but it does not undermine Paul’s notion elsewhere that believers are saved by grace and not by works (e.g., Eph. 2:8–10). Paul has every confidence that all Christians, those who have been given “grace in Christ Jesus,” will be “blameless” on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8; cf. Rom. 5:1; 8:1). 1 Corinthians 3:12–15 functions as a warning to those who lead God’s people to “build with care” (3:10), not only for the sake of the church but for their own sake.
The word reward could be translated “wages, pay, salary,” the main concept being “closely bound up with that of an employer’s assessment of the value of the work.”54 As Thiselton notes, the notion of a reward for workers “intensifies the point that Paul and Apollos are responsible to God, their employer, for judgments about their success or failure, not the community.”55 Some who read this passage, anxious to avoid any compromise of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, urge that the reward of which Paul speaks is the satisfaction of work done with God’s help, “by the grace of God” (3:10), as Paul puts it. An authentic ministry is its own reward. The “wise builder” who “builds with care” derives pleasure from serving God well and from watching the church being built up.
While this may be true, it can hardly be Paul’s point since, as v. 13 indicates, the final outcome of a builder’s work is hidden until “the day” brings it “to light.” The reward can only be an eschatological “prize” (1 Cor. 9:24–27; cf. Phil. 3:14). Whatever its precise nature, its essence is “praise from God” (4:5). We may compare Jesus’ promise in the parables of the Bags of Gold in Matthew and the Ten Minas in Luke: “well done, good and faithful servant!… Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matt. 25:21, 23; cf. Luke 19:17). In both cases the reward for faithful service is the master’s pleasure and his confidence, which leads to a further entrusting of responsibility.
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The First Epistle to the Corinthians b. The Image of the Building and the Testing of the Builders’ Work (3:9c–15)
Still more to the point, one cannot judge the quality of the work of another builder: others are “either doing that which will last or that which will perish,” and only time and the day of judgment will determine this.67 It is telling that even work which someone genuinely builds upon the foundation may still turn out to be of no permanent value.
As a builder whose building, not the foundation, is consumed by fire, escapes, but with the loss of his work [ALFORD]; as the shipwrecked merchant, though he has lost his merchandise, is saved, though having to pass through the waves [BENGEL]; Mal 3:1, 2; 4:1, give the key to explain the imagery.
The College Press NIV Commentary: 1 Corinthians 2. Building on the Foundation Laid by Paul (3:10–17)
The wording of 3:14 makes it very clear that Paul recognizes the fact that all or part of one’s efforts in the kingdom of God may not survive.4 It is Paul’s conviction that clearly some of the converts will survive. These would be represented by the images of gold, silver, and costly stones. The second half of 3:14 affirms what Paul had already mentioned in 3:8, namely that he and Apollos will receive a reward from God for their efforts. In neither of these cases does Paul make clear what the reward is. Christians have often speculated about degrees of reward and punishment from God at judgment day, but there is no specific information in either of these verses to indicate what the reward is. Some have suggested that it is the satisfaction of seeing one’s converts receive eternal life. Others have suggested that it is the satisfaction of seeing one’s work for God withstand the judgment day. One thing that is very clear in this context is that Paul’s idea of reward here has nothing to do with financial remuneration. Paul is not concerned here with making affirmations about physical blessings or compensation that comes with success in God’s work.
3:15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Paul begins this verse by acknowledging that the work, namely some of the converts of Christian workers, may be burned up in God’s eschatological fire.5 When this happens, Paul says, the worker himself will not be lost because his converts are lost. Even though it is very clear that Paul affirms that the Christian worker will be saved, it is not as easy to understand his idea when he says, “only as one escaping through the flames.” This phrase has received various interpretations throughout church history. As early as the third century A.D., this text was understood to be scriptural proof for the concept of purgatory.6 Others have understood this imagery to be saying that even though one’s life and doctrine have been unacceptable to God, these impurities will all be burned away at judgment day. This view is represented, for example, by John Calvin in his commentary where he deals with this verse. Calvin says,
there is no doubt that Paul is speaking of those who, while always retaining the foundation, mix hay with gold, stubble with silver, wood with precious stones. In other words, they build on Christ, but because of the weakness of the flesh, they give way to some human viewpoint, or through ignorance they turn aside to some extent from the strict purity of the Word of God.… Paul says that men like that can be saved but on this condition. If the Lord wipes off their ignorance and purifies them from all uncleanness. And that is what the phrase “as if by fire” means.7
After giving his interpretation of this issue Calvin comments, “I am sure that my interpretation will satisfy all of sound judgment.” Even though the position of the Roman Catholic church (which advocates purgatory) as well as the position advocated by John Calvin has had many supporters, neither of these seems to take as seriously as they should the immediate context and metaphorical imagery of chapter 3.
Perhaps the best interpretation of this admittedly difficult phrase is that found in the Greek Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Walter Bauer.8 In his lexical notes on the Greek word for fire (πῦρ, pyr), he makes the following comments about this verse. “Of the Christian worker who has built poorly in the congregation, it is said, he will be saved as through the fire, that is, like a person who must pass through a wall of fire to escape from a burning house.” Bauer goes on to give examples of this prepositional phrase “through the fire” from ancient Greek literature, both pagan and Jewish. If this is correct, then the following would be Paul’s point in this highly symbolic and metaphorical affirmation. Paul would be saying that there is no doubt about the salvation of the Christian worker himself and that the best way to explain the salvation of the Christian worker, given the limitations of the metaphorical language which Paul has already established, is to say that he will come out of this burning building as one breaking through a building that is on fire.
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.
Some say the righteousness of is man’s righteousness, but if true this would make it sinful to turn from man’s righteousness!
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Hebrews 2:
H
Therefore we 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 escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them 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?
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Hebrews 3:
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit.
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.
Hebrews 6:1-
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 8:1-
My tongue shall speak of thy word: For all thy commandments are righteousness.
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Revelation 3:18-1
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
1 Corinthians 11:29
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Some misuse to say that John is writing that the Christian is incapable of sin after being born again.
But in the same writer declared that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
teaches that one cannot sin as long as the seed (the Word of God; ) remains in them to guide them. No one has ever sinned because they were following the Word of God!
But if they leave the Word of God, like Demas () they can sin again, and receive the wages of sin, the second death (; ).
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
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:
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.
1 T
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
1
Psalm 106:12
Then believed they his words; They sang his praise.
They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel:
Psalm 106:21
They forgat God their saviour, Which had done great things in Egypt;
Wondrous works in the land of Ham, And terrible things by the Red sea.
Therefore he said that he would destroy them, Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Yea, they despised the pleasant land, They believed not his word:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
1 Corinthians
But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
For thou hast delivered my soul from death, Mine eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
If his children forsake my law, And walk not in my judgments;
If they break my statutes, And keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.
Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
My covenant will I not break, Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness That I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure for ever, And his throne as the sun before me.
It shall be established for ever as the moon, And as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
If his children forsake my law, And walk not in my judgments;
1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If a child of God dies drunk, will he be saved?
What if David had not repented of murder and adultery?
When God chastises a man, which suffers, the body or the spirit of man? What sins, the body or the spirit?
Are those sanctified by the blood of the covenant, born again children of God, or alien sinners?
Can a man fail of the grace of God if he was never in that grace? ()
What happens to a weak brother who has been destroyed?
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
How To Live Forever According To Baptist Doctrine
Commit sin
Refuse to repent
The Lord won’t allow you to die until you do repent
But you won’t repent
Therefore, you will live forever
Was Judas Saved Before He Fell?
Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
John
If Satan entered Judas this proves he was not in him before this; therefore Judas was not always a devil! In fact, Judas received power to cast out devils (), and Satan cannot cast out Satan (). Judas was not a devil from the beginning—he was a disciple who fell and went to his own place!
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Set thou a wicked man over him: And let Satan stand at his right hand.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
And there was great joy in that city.
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
James 5:12
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
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.
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
For some are already turned aside after Satan.
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.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2 Peter 2:1-
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The Christian can be tempted
The Christian can be drawn away
The Christian can allow lust to be conceived
The Christian can allow lust to turn into full-grown sin
When sin is finished it brings death to the Christian!
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
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;
Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:
If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.
Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.
So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2 Cor 7:9-10
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
For he said, Surely they are my people, Children that will not lie: So he was their Saviour.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, And the angel of his presence saved them: In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; And he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Jer 2:32
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: