Good evening visiting Pharisees, wolves and

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Jason Badejo

Prax, I guess I am speaking of it in two contexts the first would be initial reprentance as in Mark 1:15 and Luke 13:3 the second would be more along the lines of confession when a saint falls short of the glory of God 1 John 1:7-2:2.

I wish Adino was here to enage in this...Confession and Repentance are not necessarily the same thing..

My question is, if a person has a repented heart full of faith, yet in weak moment he or she sinned, are they instantly lost until they say "Forgive me for my sins"? Do they need to cry or make a long prayer at an alter?

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I wish Adino was here to enage in this...Confession and Repentance are not necessarily the same thing..

My question is, if a person has a repented heart full of faith, yet in weak moment he or she sinned, are they instantly lost until they say "Forgive me for my sins"? Do they need to cry or make a long prayer at an alter?

Good question.

It's amazing what some reduce repentance to.

It's usually a formulaic question pleading for forgiveness. I think instead of Grace. The prodigal son. The Father didn't even wait to throw himself at his feet, run to him, and call for the ring. The prodigal turned back toward God was evidence enough that he was coming home, and this extravagant act of grace caused a response of gratitude from the prodigal, confessing his own sin.

[Jason B]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I wish Adino was here to enage in this...Confession and Repentance are not necessarily the same thing..

My question is, if a person has a repented heart full of faith, yet in weak moment he or she sinned, are they instantly lost until they say "Forgive me for my sins"? Do they need to cry or make a long prayer at an alter?

No, I don't at all believe they are instantly lost. I believe that once someone is in the body of Christ, the blood of Christ covers all such "sins" because those sins are already on Christs account and His righteousness is on our account. (1 Corinthians 5:21/Romans 3:21-5:1)

I do believe it is possible to be lost after being born again, but I believe that one must choose to walk away from God in complete unbelief, or in complete disobedience and unrepenantant sin. (Ex: say John Doe livbed a Christian life for 20 years, was an exceptional saint, possibly even a preacher and missionary, but gets involved in an affair. If JD repents I believe there remains salvation for him. However if he puts his own selfish desires above God's word, refuses to repent, and continues on in his adulterous lifestyle and dies 10 years later, I would believe he was lost)

Basically I am sayin once we're saved its hard to be lost. You can be if you want to, but if you don't want to be lost, and serve God the best you can, I believe the blood of Christ covers all our sins and failures.

I think the thought that we can be lost over every little thing is a great error (one which Calvinists often accuse Arminians of, which most Arminians do not affirm such)/ But I have seen this type of thinking in the pentecostal movement for a long time. One week Sis Doe is considered to be living a righteous and holy life, the next week she trimmed her hair, and is backslid, on her way to hell. A month goes by, she repents, and is "saved" again. 6 months down the road she "backslides" and loses salvation again. On and on it goes. We all know people who are "in church" and "out of church" about as often as the weather changes. I don't believe salvation is like a merry go round. You either on or off. And once on it is possible to get off, but your not jumping back and forth. I believe Hebrews 6:4-6 applies here.

[Jason B]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I wish Adino was here to enage in this...Confession and Repentance are not necessarily the same thing..

My question is, if a person has a repented heart full of faith, yet in weak moment he or she sinned, are they instantly lost until they say "Forgive me for my sins"? Do they need to cry or make a long prayer at an alter?

Sorry Prax, I hope I answered you question in the context you asked it, but I didn't respond to this.

No not necessarily. An alter can be a good place of repentance, but not necessary. My repentance came at home, when I realized if I didn't straighten up I was truly going to hell. I don't even think I used the word "repent" I did ask God to forgive me, and help me to be a Christian. Thats about all I knew, since I don't have much of a religous background, and ZERO Oneness pentecostal background. To me initial repentance is simply a change of heart and direction. It is literally a move from the power of Satan to the power of God.