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I understand what you are saying, but I still do not see 1 Corinthians 9 teaching the same thing as Matthew 25. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is talking about running a race, keeping his body under control, and not being disapproved after preaching to others. The whole context is service, discipline...

I agree we may not find common ground on this, but I still do not think the text supports your conclusion. The third servant’s view of his lord is not presented as wisdom. Jesus calls him “wicked and slothful” in Matthew 25:26. That is not the language of a faithful servant who simply lost...

I agree that once a person is truly Christ’s own, he does not stop belonging to Christ. That is not the issue. The issue is whether Matthew 25 proves the third servant was truly Christ’s own in the saving sense. I do not believe the text says that. Calling him a servant does not settle the...

Paul saying, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” does not prove Matthew 25 is only about loss of reward. The word “castaway” in 1 Corinthians 9:27 means rejected or disapproved. Paul is speaking with sober seriousness, not playing games with a...

I agree that grace and works must not be confused. Salvation is the gift of God, not wages earned by performance. But I still cannot make Matthew 25 only about loss of reward. The third man is called a servant, but that alone does not prove he was a true regenerate servant of Christ. Jesus also...

No, I do not believe a born again man cannot sin. That is not what I said, and that is not what Scripture says. John wrote to believers and said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” ~1 John 1:8. He also said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful...

No, he was not damned for being a bad investment banker. He was exposed as a wicked servant who did not know his master, did not trust his master, and did nothing with what had been entrusted to him. That is the point of the parable. The text does not say he tried and failed. It says he buried...

I agree that salvation and reward need to be distinguished. That is part of the confusion in this thread. Salvation is not a reward for faithful service. Salvation is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ...

I am not confusing justification with salvation. I am refusing to separate what God joins together. Justification is not the whole of salvation, but it is part of salvation. Those whom God justifies, He also glorifies. Paul says, “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom...

I would say the verse means exactly what it says. “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” ~Mark 13:13. But that does not mean a truly born again believer keeps himself saved by his own power. It means the saved endure because God keeps them. That is the part you keep...

The inheritance argument actually works against what you are saying. You said someone has to die before the inheritance is received. That is exactly right. Christ died. Hebrews says, “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” ~Hebrews 9:16. The death...

No twisting is needed. The problem is that you did not prove what you claimed. Philippians 4:3 says there were faithful fellow laborers whose names were in the book of life. I believe that. But that verse does not say a born again believer can be justified, made a new creation, passed from...

I agree that grace causes perseverance. That is exactly my point. If grace causes perseverance, then perseverance is the fruit of grace, not the condition that earns eternal salvation at the end. God’s grace does not merely give us a chance to save ourselves. Grace saves, changes, keeps, and...

That is still making eternal salvation depend on being “found faithful” as the condition for receiving it. That is the problem. Scripture does not say eternal life is given after death to those who proved faithful enough. Scripture says, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our...

I will answer your questions, but we cannot take verses that speak about abiding, fruit, obedience, hope, and future glory, and use them to cancel the plain words of Christ. Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath...

That is not what I said, and it is not what Scripture says. A church meeting on Sunday is not the same thing as replacing the Sabbath unless that church teaches Sunday is now the commanded Sabbath. If a church says, “God changed the Sabbath command from the seventh day to Sunday,” then yes, I...

You are still answering something I am not arguing. I have never said sin is harmless. I have never said a man can live in iniquity and still have biblical assurance. I have said the opposite. If a man walks in darkness, loves sin, and will not repent, I would not comfort him. I would warn him...

In Matthew 25, the talents represent what the master entrusted to his servants. They are not eternal salvation itself. The text says the master “delivered unto them his goods” ~Matthew 25:14. That is stewardship. They were accountable for what belonged to him. The faithful servants proved...

Faithfulness matters, but faithfulness is not the ground of justification. Christ is. Martyrdom, endurance, obedience, and fruit are evidence of real faith, not the payment for salvation. We are saved by grace through faith, not of works, and then created in Christ Jesus unto good works...

I did not say believers are already perfected in glory. That is not the argument. Yes, weakness remains. Yes, the flesh must be mortified. Yes, glorification is still future. But you keep taking the future completion of salvation and using it to deny the present possession of eternal life...