10 of my favorite warning Scriptures to Christians vs. OSAS

[John Zain]

Mark 9:43-48 •
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed,
rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
… And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame,
rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
… And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—
This makes a nice case for the necessity of being sanctified unto holiness (i.e. removal of sin)!

John 15:1-6 •
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes,
that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered;
and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Christians who do not bear fruit are not abiding in Jesus, and are rejected as worthless.

Rom 8:1-13 •
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
… that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to 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,
nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
… For if you live according to the flesh you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Christians who are carnally-minded (walking in the flesh) are headed for eternal death.

1 Cor 15:1-2 •
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you,
which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved,
if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Christians who do not continue in the faith and believing in the gospel have believed in vain.
This agrees with what Jesus said about first counting the cost of discipleship.

Col 1:21-23 •
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy,
and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith,
grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard
Jesus will sanctify Christians unto holiness, IF they steadfastly continue in the faith.

Heb 3:6 •
… but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are
if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Christians really belong to Christ IF they hold fast their confidence firm to the end.

Heb 10:35-39 •
Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need
of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
“For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
Christians who do not continue to live by faith have actually drawn back to perdition.

James 1:12-16 •
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved,
he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
… But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown,
brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Christians who fail to overcome the temptation to sin, and do so grievously, do so unto eternal death.

1 Jn 2:3-5 •
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.
By this we know that we are in Him.
Christians know they truly love God, and are really "in Christ", when they are keeping His commandments.

Rev 2:10-11 •
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
Christians are "overcoming" when they are continuing until death ...
their faith, their sanctification unto holiness, their overcoming sin, and their victory over Satan!
This is what Jesus did when He overcame (Rev 3:21).

IMO, all of the disobedience, rebellion, habitual sin, etc. of which Christians are guilty ...
can be confessed and repented of, enabling them to be fully restored back into God's grace!
However, there are some NT passages which really seem to indicate otherwise.

 

[IBeMe]

Heb 10:
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

I can just see you rubbing your hands with glee John Zain.

 

[Harry3142]

Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:5-13,NIV)

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

But now a righteousness from God. apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:19-26,NIV)

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written:

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (Romans 9:30-33,NIV)

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (I John 3:21-24,NIV)

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:16-26,NIV)

The church has one foundation, and that is Jesus Christ himself. It is our faith in the efficacy of his atoning sacrifice, and only that faith, which ensures our salvation. Nothing that we do can either augment that faith or take its place. Our only hope of salvation rests solely in what God himself has already accomplished through the work of his Son, Jesus Christ.

As a result of that faith God not only gives us the gift of salvation, but also the gift of his Holy Spirit's taking up residence within us. When the Spirit comes to bond with us he brings with him 'the fruit of the Spirit'. It is these motivations which are to be at the core of our new nature as Christians, and our only means of obtaining them is through our accepting Christ's sacrifice as the perfect atonement for our sins. So it is not a matter of our having faith in Christ + obeying a set of laws, which all too often are themselves merely a manipulative device enabling the leaders of a certain denomination/sect to attain temporal power and wealth. Instead, it is a matter of our faith in Christ itself initializing a spiritual rebirth, with the Holy Spirit rather than we ourselves controlling the spiritual progression.

 

[Harry3142]

Double Post

 

[FHII]

I won't talk about the OSAS doctrine.... In fact, I never was into it and if any think I was, I renounce it. But I stand by what the Bible says about predestination. Frankly, I think this has more to do with grace through faith than it does OSAS, but that is just my opinion.

If you go over to the debate board, and look at one of the threads on OSAS, I talked a bit about this thinking.