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"ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED":A Genuine Horror Story
by DEAN CROSBY Man that guy never gives up does he? Now Satan has come up with a new outreach;this one is to convince Christians that God is so full of love that He will grant them salvation no matter how much evil or sin they engage in. Satan has drastically changed his message since his early days in the garden when he worked overtime in order to persuade Eve that she could do anything she wanted to because God wouldn't mind.Being the clever pitch man that he is,Satan changes the content of his message to appeal to different population groups.Most recently in churches you are likely to hear this message,"Beloved our Lord loves us so much that He has given us His assurance of the eternal security of salvation." But when Satan starts hanging out on the street he will change the language in his message to turn street people on.In that environment it sounds something like this:"Hey Babe,let me lay this down for you. You can get down on anything you dig. You got that? Don't make no difference to God.You know how much chicks turn Him on don't you? Don't your preacher man keep telling you that?Yeah baby! Ok girl let's go get your grove on now." Those who seem to revel in the "once saved always saved" heresy usually quote a few Bible verses that seem to support Satan's teaching while totally ignoring the content of those verses that make it abundantly clear that the false sense of security Satan is instilling in the minds of some Christians will prove in the worst imaginable way to be deadly wrong.The best examples I have personal knowledge of are my two counseling clients who firmly believing the "once saved always saved" fantasy trip their churches had taught them, decided that God wouldn't mind their suicides one single bit;exactly what Satan pushed them to carry out.Never more than today do Christians need to heed this dire warning: Matthew 7:15-16 (New Living Translation) 15 "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? The horrible irony is that while trying to increase the attendance in their churches by peddling a "Big Sugar Daddy In The Sky" theology,ministers are actually diminishing their congregations by encouraging disgraceful sin that will make their church members ashamed to even consider returning to their churches.If only ministers would warn their church members with Bible verses like these: Hebrews 6:4-6 (New King James Version) 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away,to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. Hebrews 10:26-27 (Contemporary English Version) 26 No sacrifices can be made for people who decide to sin after they find out about the truth. 27 They are God's enemies, and all they can look forward to is a terrible judgment and a furious fire. Is that graphic enough for you all or do you need more? The spiritual peddlers who keep trying to sell "once saved always saved" seem to derive almost erotic-type pleasure quoting verses that upon examination can not be validly used for Satan's mission either because the wording in the verses contain conditional statements or because they are modified by other verses in the Bible. The best known example of the first type of deceit comes from what is probably the most famous verse in the entire Bible : John 3:16 (New King James Version) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The words "believes in Him" make it clear that obedience to Jesus' teachings based on the belief that He is indeed our Savior and has taught us divine truth,is a requirement for salvation. The second type of deceit is illustrated very well in the Apostle Paul's writings.Here are some verses that appear to support the "once saved always saved" heresy: Colossians 1:12-14 (Contemporary English Version) 12 I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light.13 God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son,14 who forgives our sins and sets us free. The problem is that Bible verses can not be taken out of the context of the entire New Testament.It is essential to also read the rest of the Apostle Paul's writings such as this powerful warning: Galatians 5:19-21 (New King James Version) 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. There are numerous warnings in the Bible that our salvation is conditional upon our continuing faithful obedience to God but absolutely none of them are more astonishing than the following verses which explain that billions of people who receive a temporary salvation and are granted admission into Jesus' thousand year kingdom, which He will establish after His "Second Coming", will later be destroyed by Him due to their sin. REVELATION 2O:7-9 (Contemporary English Version) 7 At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be set free.(FROM HELL) 8 He will fool the peoples of gog and magog,(THESE TWO WORDS MAKE UP A HEBREW TERM WHICH IN ENGLISH ROUGHLY MEANS "MULTITUDE AND MAGNITUDE" WHICH INDICATES THAT SATAN WILL HAVE THE POWER TO DECEIVE PEOPLE IN ALL AREAS IN A SEARCH TO FIND NEW RECRUITS FOR HIS KINGDOM) which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle.(AGAINST JESUS) They (THE SATANISTS) will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach, 9 and they will march all the way across the earth. They will surround the camp of God's people and the city that His people love.(JERUSALEM) But fire (THIS COULD BE A FRIGHTENING LIGHTNING STORM THAT STARTS NUMEROUS FIRES) will come down from heaven and destroy the army. Well so much for the once saved! Hopefully the truly satanic nature of the "once saved always saved" deceit campaign can now be easily understood.Satan will continue to peddle it to spiritually stupefied minions and due to their persuasive authority they will be able to convince billions of those who have been saved that they can not lose their salvation no matter what they do, even if they join an army to launch a military attack on Jerusalem. It is so tragic and of course morally sick that some Christians will refuse to accept the "Thou Shalt Not Kill" Commandment due to Satan's deceit,until they are sent to hell for engaging in it! For the final proof of the purely satanic nature of the "once saved always saved" campaign we should turn to the words of Jesus Himself.The always savers claim that since they have the assurance of eternal salvation,not only are acts of repentance unnecessary but in fact they are an insult to Jesus because asking Him for forgiveness reveals a lack of faith in His alleged guarantee of salvation. Luke 13:3 (New King James Version) I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THOSE ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY YOUR ETERNAL LIFE !! Here is the Christian teaching on salvation in Jesus' own words: Matthew 10:22 (New King James Version) And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the E N D will be saved. I would love to believe that this will be the E N D of this argument but tragically the Book of Revelation tells me differently. Dr. Dean Crosby is a published author,instructor in New Testament studies, and Christian therapist. He holds a bachelors degree in communication,a masters degree in counseling,and a doctoral degree in psychology.He is the founder and director of the Christian Caring Center,a non-profit internet counseling agency.Dr. Crosby can be personally contacted at [email protected] but information about his counseling center should be requested at [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |