I believe in once saved, always saved!
 

Yes! I will tell you I believe in once saved, always saved.

Once I get to heaven and here Jesus say 'well done, thou good and faithful servant' I am once saved and always saved! :scripture

True... True...

What if you land in purgatory first? HMMMM?

Since we're cherry picking here, I think WBF has probably chosen to eliminate "Purgatory" from his possibilities.

How about this:

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

We were "once saved, always saved" since before the foundation of the world!

Before you ever made a decision to live for God, God chose you to be "holy and without blame." He did this because it was His "good pleasure" to do so. Once you have obtained this "inheritance" you are predestined to be the "praise of glory" for Him who "worketh all things after the counsel of his will."

Once you understand this, you will understand Romans 9:16:

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

I believe in conditional eternal security. As long as I do my part, I can be secure. I grew up being eternally insecure. That's not a jab at my heritage, just that I didn't understand my standing with God.

Most of the instruction given to us in the epistles are in the form of verbs or words that denote an action like: pray, study, be thankful, walk, etc. So I agree that Christians do have 'things to do' but God does a greater part in perfecting us and keeping those that want to be kept. When we fail we can rest assured that God will help us get back up again, and again, and again....

Are we chosen by God's foreknowledge of the choice we would make to believe the gospel?

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.1 Peter 1:2

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Rom 8:29-30

You won't be saved from bumping into people who you do not like here on earth.

I think there will be a degree of punishment laid out to the saints.

You will have to spend the first 10 thousand years with so and so from this forum going round and round about......

You know that would be enough torment that I would do anything to avoid it! :toofunny

I had previously decided not to reply to this post, but I suppose everyone changes their mind once in a while.

It is my belief that you are taking the word "us" out of context. Paul was speaking to the church in Ephesus. He was not speaking to the individual. What Paul was saying here was that God has predestined that there is going to be a church; that there was going to be a body of Christ; that there was always going to be a group of believers. In other words, this does not affirm that God chose some individuals and reject others, but rather before the world was, before there was Jew or Gentile, God chose to have a people for himself.

Why did you stop at verse 12?

Eph 1:13 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,

If Paul was speaking to the individual in regards to predestination, why would there have to be trust? Why would there be a need to hear the word of truth or a response to believe? Did these individuals not have the choice to reject what they heard? Were they predestined to accept what was preached to them?

If God has predestined us unto salvation or eternal damnation, why would Peter write, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”? (2 Pet 3:9) Why would God be longsuffering with the world if he had already predestined salvation unto chosen individuals? Why is he not willing that any should perish?

Why would Peter preach that “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off (availability of the promise to the Gentiles)?

Romans 9:16 refers to when God is gracious, it is not because a human will (him that willeth), or a human work (him that runneth) lays him under obligation, and forces him to give, but the gift is of him, due to his mercy, which he has the right to bestow where he will. It is not a reference in any way to predestination.

As far as “once saved, always saved,” Peter also spoke of making your calling and election sure (2 Pet 1:10). The word he used was diligence. In fact, he said, “if you do these things (speaking of the fruits of the spirit), ye will not fall. Why would he reference a fall to those who already have obtained the faith (vs. 1) and escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (vs.4)? Is it possible that one could have a falling away from Christ? Absolutely.

Why would Paul be so concerned with the church of Galatia in saying, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel?” If they had already received salvation through Paul’s ministry, surely “once saved, always saved” would cover them even if they were persuaded to false doctrine. If once saved, always saved was the rule, the letter to the Galations would never have been needed.

We could go on and on, unfortunately it is late here and I must be heading to bed. I will be glad to continue this discussion tomorrow should someone want to.