The Barrd said:
or that they didn't have "the root of salvation" in them....and maybe in some cases that might be true.
What do you mean in "some cases". Either you have the root or you don't. We don't remain in God, rather God remains in us, forever. God doesn't give up on
us. Is the root not the "seed" and the "truth" in us...
1 Pet 1:23 NIV For you have been born again, not of perishable
seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 John 3:9 NIV No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's
seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
2 John 1:2 NIV because of the
truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
The Barrd said:
But unless and until we can read someone else's heart, we have no right at all to judge his faith. I believe....no, I am sure....that it is possible for someone with "saving faith" to turn away and be lost.
Scripture states that nonbelievers are considered "the lost". This term is only valid for nonbelievers. The reason they are not His sheep is because of unbelief..John 10:26 NIV.
Matt 18:12-14 NIV “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven
is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Luke 19:9-10 NIV Jesus said to him, “
Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save the lost.”
John 10:25-30 NIV Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26
but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
1 Pet 2:24-25 NIV “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
The Barrd said:
It is a masterpiece of deception, leading many away from the narrow path that leads to life, and unto the broad path that leads to destruction.
Believing only comes once Barrd. What does Jesus mean when he says "through me"...
John 10:9 NIV I am the gate; whoever enters
through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.
Matt 7:13-14 NIV - These passages refer to salvation in Christ. Jesus is describing two gates, the gate to death Job 38:17 NIV, Psalm 107:18 NIV, Isa 38:10 NIV, Matt 16:18 NIV.............and the gate to heaven and eternal life Matt 7:14 NIV, Matt 22:14 NIV, Luke 13:22-30 NIV, John 10:9 NIV, John 14:6 NIV, Acts 14:27 NIV.
The word "destruction" refers to the spirit of the antichrist...2 Thess 2:3 NIV Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Also, the word "perish" refers to nonbelievers...John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.