you've only gotta be saved once. Jesus' salvation is once and for all :)
Dear 360watt,
There are numerous scriptures which teach that a believer can lose their salvation.
Here is what you are not considering:
A believer can be "killed" by Satan and lose their salvation after they have received the Early Rain of the Spirit. These verses below apply to a called out believer before they are converted.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Satan spiritually kills a called out believer by deceiving them through their carnality. He kills them by causing them to mix "works" with faith. He accomplishes it quite easily since a carnally minded believer prefers works over faith anyway:
Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, the old is better.
When a believer mixes "works" with faith, it causes them to commit the
sin that leads to death:
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
A believer commits adultery with Satan when they follow his ways which teach a salvation by "works". When a believer falls for his deception, they will fall from grace:
Gal 5:8 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Satan has the ability to deceive a called out believer because the Early Rain of the Spirit is only an "
earnest amount" (a down payment) of the Spirit. Since the Early Rain is only a down payment of the Spirit and not the full amount, the believer will remain carnally minded and spiritually blind after receiving the Early Rain.
Eph 1:13-14 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 (Early Rain), 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance UNTIL the redemption of the purchased possession (occurs at the Latter Rain), unto the praise of his glory.
The "redemption of the purchased possession" occurs when Christ
comes again to one of His Elect with the Latter Rain of the Spirit. This is the same baptism the Apostles received on the Day of Pentecost and it is the same baptism Paul received after being blind and in Damascus for three days. Paul "typed" receiving the Early Rain on the Damascus Road. His blindness "typed" the spiritual blindness which remains after a person receives the Early Rain.
The Latter Rain baptism is the
salvation point and with it,
the believer can never fall away again. At that time, their calling and election is "made sure" (
2Pet 1:10).
So yes, a called out believer who only has the Early Rain of the Spirit
can and WILL lose their salvation. It is part of the Pathway to Salvation an Elect believer must travel. However, a converted Elect believer who has received both the Early and Latter Rains of the Spirit can
never lose their salvation again.
Christ presented how & why a "called out" believer (one who only has the Early Rain) will lose their salvation in the verses below:
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself SEVEN other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
The spiritual symbol of an unclean spirit represents Satan's false truth. Since a new believer remains
spiritually blind (
Mark 8:21-25) after receiving the Early Rain of the Spirit, they cannot replace their worldly false beliefs with the truth of Christ. ONE unclean spirit leaves but comes back with SEVEN more
(represents the spirit of anti-Christ) since their house remains void of the truth of Christ. Now, instead of ONE unclean spirit within them, they now have EIGHT. The number EIGHT is a spiritual symbol which represents a
new spiritual condition. In this case, the new spiritual condition is
worse than the first.
John tells the church that the spirit of anti-Christ is coming and has in fact, already come:
1John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Paul calls the believer who has the indwelling spirit of anti-Christ the
Man of Sin:
2Thes 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first, and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Christ also presented this truth again in "type" in the following story:
Mar 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, my name is LEGION; for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
Here is a brief summary of the spiritual message this story teaches:
The man with the many unclean spirits represents the Elect just prior to their conversion. The stones the man uses to cut himself represents the Law of Moses (man’s work). The unclean spirit (Legion, who are many) represents the
spirit of anti-Christ who has spiritually killed the man (he dwells among the tombs). When Christ comes to the man with the Latter Rain of the Spirit, Christ drives out the spirit of anti-Christ by the brightness of His appearing. This represents the judgment of the Beast and False Prophet. Before this happens, Legion asks to go into the great herd of Swine feeding upon the hill. The Herd of Swine represents called out believers who are also chosen (“2000” in the herd). When Legion enters the Swine, they run into the sea and are killed just as the possessed man was killed earlier.
Joe
