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You misunderstand me. I do not mean there is no assurance in general. I mean simply that a faith in my sincerity when I first believed is no assurance at all. And, yes, I say without reservation, that I know the testimony of which you speak.

I don't know my best friend in high school anymore. We have hardly anything in common now. He was married to my sister for 15 years. People can grow apart. It's a thing. God knew all about me before I was even born. The same way He knew about everyone who won't choose to be saved, as well. Human...

Why must you mock?

This is incredibly good stuff, SBG. No undue flattery intended, of course. :)

The problem is the ever-present obsession with our standing with God. I was born again when I was 8-years-old. I'm not concerned with my status at any time except right now. It's the only thing that matters in that respect. I don't know if I would be saved if I died right now. I'm not my own...

Doubletalk. Either a person is in a growing relationship with Christ or they are not. But God reserves the prerogative to preserve those who are reachable by His Spirit.

Exactly. The original Edenic lie. Trust and obey, 'cause there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. The old hymns were written when people believed the Bible meant what it said. Now they love to sing 7-11 songs--the same 7 words repeated 11 times--with no substance.

Absolute bunk. I have personally known people who clearly loved Jesus so much that they couldn't talk about anything else, turn from their faith and deny Him completely. Psychology is a real thing. People do what they want to do.

So did I. If I had died in 1989 I would have been as lost as the day is long. From 73 to 89 all I had was an assurance from the Southern Baptist church that as a backslider I would be saved unless I got to some unspecified point of rebellion.

"......but that salvation has to be genuine" = no assurance--conditional My eternal destiny cannot be predicated upon my own sincerity at one certain point in my life. No assurance of that at all. Either Christ is the Author and Finisher of my faith or there is no hope for me. Dependence...

Then there is no assurance. I heard this from the Southern Baptist church for the first 26 years of my life and it gave me no comfort at all. It is suitable for people who have strong willpower, naturally. For the rest of us, it is a plague.

Would you call that a definite distinction between trusting God for temporal things and spiritual things? I don't believe God casts us off for failing in either case. I believe there is only one unforgivable sin.

Of course

Hallelujah, Sister!!!

Never mid the context of Matthew 7, right?

The Bible makes no such distinction. We are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

It doesn't work that way for all of us.

It seems to me that for many folks, a cult is the organized body of believers that doesn't believe the way the one speaking believes. I'm not sure the "cult" designation is very profitable in a discussion such as the ones we have here on CB, especially the ones involving topics that may interest...

Assurance that provides the confidence that one can never be lost unless he only fooled himself into thinking he was saved in the first place isn't worth a nickel. This is simple psychology 101. For the benefit of those who aren't necessarily paying attention, let me say that again with...

It probably sounds off-the-wall, but I can't help but think of Christ Himself whenever I hear the words "garment" or "coat" used. And I can't help but wonder if this came up in the Bible study on the road to Emmaus, since He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning...