Attention everyone: Nobody in the OSAS crowd believes God “looks…

20 comments

1. Jenny Marie says:

   April 22, 2020 at 12:17 am

   Thank you and TRUE this is the gospel ! Praise Jesus

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2. Caleb Chamberlain says:

   April 22, 2020 at 1:13 am

   How do you deal with Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10:26-31?

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3. Aguilar Anthony Jesse says:

   April 22, 2020 at 1:29 am

   We should also evaluate Rev 3. Our names can be removed or as the Word of God puts it, “Blotted” out of the book of life?? There is no set in stone, while in this flesh of our body. This flesh is the one thing that can hold us back from fully having faith. As the word of God would put it, “Follow after the spirit, and not after the flesh”. Again, it says “Run the race!”, not that the race is won, but that we pick up our cross daily. I don’t believe one simple sin will keep you from heaven. In fact, Roman’s 10:9 is exactly what the apostle was addressing to the Church in Rome. They were concerned, that with sin in their life or having committed one sin, did they lose their salvation?? The Apostle had to clarify, if you confess that Jesus is your Lord, and truly believe that God rose him from the dead, you are saved. Most people believe that Roman’s 10:9 is the message of salvation but that is a misunderstanding. The writer of the letter was not “explaining”, nor preaching, how to be saved, IN A LETTER, but instead, he was reassuring them that they don’t lose their salvation through one petty sin (the beginning of Roman’s proves they were a church. A church is a group already saved.). THIS is where many would prolly ask, well isn’t all sin the same??? The answer is no. In another place, it is explained: There is Sin, and then there is sin that causes death”. Not all sin is the same. Yet, I get how one would say, well it’s written, “If you lie, then it is breaking the Law, and just the same as murder. You break one law, you have broken it all”. Yet, this is where it gets more technical. Allow me to bring up Jesus’ words here: If you speak against the Son of Man, your sin is forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven” (mind you most of my quotes are paraphrased). Are they the same then?? No. Not all sin is the same. There is sin, and then there is sin that leads to death. This sin that leads to death means it was the sin that killed that which was alive. Are we “alive” in the spirit before or after we come to the Lord? It would be after. Jesus said of them which were not followers of him, “Let the dead bury the dead”. In Christ we are alive, but there is a sin that can lead to death. Once saved always saved is no different from when Satan told eve, “You shall NOT surely die”. Watch out with his words. He knows scripture too.

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4. Aaron Vgp says:

   April 22, 2020 at 3:27 am

   What a good example of the hatchet job people need to do to to scripture in order to support their views.

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5. Albert Lee says:

   April 22, 2020 at 5:22 am

   It may help to think along this line : ONCE SAVED by grace through faith, ALWAYS SAVED by grace through faith. It was saving grace through faith that saved us, it shall be saving grace through faith that keep us saved. Would any of us Christians or pious Jews, at their dying bed, think for a moment that our life of piety and good record of obedience qualify us for heaven? Jews could plead God’s mercy and hope their life did not disappoint. For Christians, the grace of God, the finished work of our Saviour. According to James, if our faith was alive then good works would have abounded in service in our lifetime. Could sins rob us of our destiny? Then nothing can ever save us but the ever cleansing blood of Christ. Back to His grace which God gives sovereignly.

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6. Robert Finney says:

   April 22, 2020 at 5:27 am

   Most of these queries indicate the writers don’t know how to rightly divide Scripture.

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7. Avi-Asher Hyde says:

   April 22, 2020 at 5:38 am

   Except we’ve already been over those Scriptures to show how they don’t prove your point and usually disprove it.

   So many people were believers that fell away. And you can’t excuse every single one of them by saying they never believed in the first place.

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8. Jeremy Belter says:

   April 22, 2020 at 8:09 am

   Isn’t the Gospel the Good News that Christ died for sinners and rose and those with faith will have eternal life

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9. Timothy Hutson says:

   April 22, 2020 at 9:35 am

   Thos who follow the Spirit are grieved by their sin and try to avoid it. Once saved always saved has a flip side.

   1 John 2:19 NASB
   They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

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10. Jeff Finster says:

    April 22, 2020 at 9:48 am

    The debates over correct theology rage on. Does anyone else take an honest look at sectarian Xtianity as a whole and wonder what’s happening? My view…

    There is but one Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. Next, consider all the theologies of men over the centuries that are declared essential with this addition: that to deny them is to perish. IOW, you must believe X, Y and Z or you are not Christian… by implication “saved”. Question: are these theological deductions the power of God unto salvation? …or only the one Gospel message? Then we cannot tie the salvation of men to theologies. No power of God to save by them. Only the one Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

    No…?

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11. Andrew Beltz says:

    April 22, 2020 at 9:58 am

    ALL humanity’s hearts will never be changed—only a few (Matthew 7:14)

    Therefore the few whose hearts have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit must clamor against the reprobates for protection of the innocent.

    Reply
12. Chris Mabe says:

    April 22, 2020 at 10:13 am

    Nick Shara I think your zeal for gospel is very refreshing. With love, I would like to mention a couple of things which came to mind when reading your post. Hopefully they help refine the point even more.

    You mentioned that God tried plan A for 1800 years then divorced Israel and took a new bride called the church. The way the argument is stated might be confusing to some. God didn’t try plan A then switch to plan B. Plan B was always the plan from eternity. God has always saved by grace through faith. Before the cross it was faith in God and his promise of the one to come. Paul even says the gospel was given to Abraham in Gal 3:8. There was never a plan to save through the Law. The Law was given to show mankind that human could fulfill it. It was and is there to show us how sinful we are and how much we need Jesus. God has always kept his remnant.

    The doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved has become a watered down version of the Reformed doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. The typical way it is used by non-Calvinistic believers is that if you say a prayer for Jesus to come into your heart when you were 7 but then, throughout your life, never show any signs of conversion while wallowing in sin without repentance then that’s OK because you said a prayer when you were 7. You punched your ticket so to speak. That view is OSAS.

    Perseverance of the Saints would say that if you were truly converted in the first place then you can’t lose your salvation because God keeps you just like He kept His remnant in Israel. Generally those who are converted show signs of true repentance and genuine love for Christ. It may not always be immediately obvious so we shouldn’t be quick to judge, but we should love our brothers enough to talk to them about their walk with the Lord.

    In practical application OSAS makes no distinction between true and false conversion.
    Personally, I don’t think you are actually espousing OSAS the way I’ve defined it here. I think you’re closer to Perseverance of the Saints, but perhaps different definitions of OSAS between you and whoever prompted this post is making discussions more difficult.

    Forgive me if my love for you and your passion as a brother doesn’t come through in text. God bless you, Brother.

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13. Celeste Marie says:

    April 22, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    I am always amazed at how folks who question OSAS make the leap that it will somehow lead people into rampant and wanton sin. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    How could a person:
    Trust God to be the author and finisher of their faith.
    Believe that God loves them unconditionally and eternally.
    Know that God has indwelled them with His own Holy Spirit.
    Understand that God has promised to never let them go.
    Turn around and trash God’s law and live a willfully sinful life?

    If anyone fears that this is how they would react, then perhaps they should examine their own hearts.

    Knowing that I am safe in God’s arms has given me the freedom to love Him deeply and with abandon. I can follow Him wholeheartedly, knowing that even if I miss something, I will not be thrown away. I am free to face whatever comes my way with total assurance that my Shepherd will walk with me, gently, and with His loving Rod and Staff call me back to the truth, every single time.

    Knowing that God has given me Eternal life causes me to press in, to listen more closely, hear more clearly, and be obedient more quickly. It sets me free to train my eyes on Christ and not on my own ability to resist sin.

    I am released from the fear that my own weakness, failure, and sin may be more powerful than the Grace of God. It is His Grace that draws me near and gives me both the desire and the ability to grow in holiness.

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14. Celeste Marie says:

    April 22, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

    This verse actually says that He will NOT blot the names of the OVERCOMERS out of the book of Life!

    Who are the overcomers?

    1 John 4:4
    Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

    1 John 5:4
    For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
    In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

    1 John 5:5
    Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

    Revelation 3:5 is an ENCOURAGEMENT to believers, not a warning!

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15. Ikenna Anioji says:

    April 22, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    OSAS is such a beautiful doctrine. It bears out the love of God and his saving power in it’s fullness. However, the OSAS doctrine is based on a dangerous assumption around the sovereignty of God. It is caused by a misunderstanding of what God is doing with the human will.

    God is not weak to save or uphold the “saved” until the end. Sin is not capable of snatching the saved out of God’s hands. All those points are true. But the basis of “salvation through faith” is that a human is made to choose to be saved or not to be saved!

    Until the second coming of Christ, the loss of FAITH means the loss of SALVATION. And just as God commands us to love (Mark 12:30,31), despite the Holy Spirit planting love in our hearts by himself (Rom 5:5), saving faith is not just a gift of God but the prerogative of man to uphold or to reject.

    To insist that anyone who is lost was never truly saved is to go against the spirit of Christ. The Lord Jesus said that whosoever puts his hands on the plow and looks back is not worthy of the kingdom. He didn’t imply that such a person never truly put his hands on the plow. Jesus also said that if those days were not shortened, even the very elect would be deceived.

    In Jesus’ teachings, being saved, inheriting eternal life and inheriting the kingdom of God are one and the same time, and this promise will only take full effect at the second coming.

    Why would the Scripture be full of encouragements and warnings about keeping the faith till the very end if it made no difference, given also that we know that works only affect our rewards following Christ’s vicarious death?

    We must stop giving people a false assurance of salvation when Jesus himself told us to strive to enter through the narrow gate. The striving, obviously, is about keeping the faith and never taking offence at the saviour until the very end, no matter what comes out way.

    The wise virgins were ready and they kept reserve oil for their lamps, waiting until the groom arrived!

    Why in fact, have we elected to wrest the difficult teachings of Paul rather than understand them through the simple teachings of Jesus?

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16. Timothy Hutson says:

    April 22, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    If really saved then yes.

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17. Celeste Marie says:

    April 22, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    Yes, we must remain faithful. But it is God alone who keeps firmly rooted in our faith, not us.

    There is absolutely nothing we can do to make our dead spirits alive, that is a sovereign act of God. Once God has breathed our dead spirits to life, there is nothing we can do to make them dead again. To believe THAT is to question the sovereignty of God.

    It is prideful to claim that once we have been given eternal life as a gift from God that we are responsible to keep it.

    We are responsible for becoming ever more sensitive to the Holy Spirits leading, to listen closely, to study to understand clearly and to obey with ever-increasing speed. That is cooperating with our Sanctification, which Grace also enables us to do so.

    It is God who transforms us from Glory to Glory into the image and likeness of His Son. He is the author and finisher of our faith! He is the potter and we are the clay. We have been chosen to be divine vessels for the Holy Spirit.

    That work, from start to finish, is OF God, BY the power of God and FOR the Glory of God. We are privileged to cooperate and witness our own transformation, but we do not make ANY of it happen. God does.
    If we are responsible then we can take credit and pat ourselves on the back when we “make it”, and to point fingers of failure at those who don’t. All credit belongs to GOD.

    When an Israelite brought a lamb to be slaughtered for the remission of his sin, the priest examined the lamb to make sure it was spotless and without blemish. He never examined the man who brought it, only the lamb.

    Jesus is the LAMB that was slain to take away the SIN of the world.

    When we stand before Almighty God, it is Christ’s perfection that determines our Salvation, nothing else.

    Reply
18. Celeste Marie says:

    April 22, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    It is my understanding that before the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord, and up to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had not come as our Helper and Comforter. Until our sin debt had been paid by Jesus, the Holy Spirit did not indwell any human, as sin and holiness cannot be joined.

    When a person exercises his or her free will to believe in Jesus, we are made righteous by the blood of Christ and we are justified by His resurrection. Through faith, Almighty God breathes life into our dead spirits, and we are given eternal life, by Grace (unmerited favor) and the Holy Spirit indwells us, we are joined with Christ.

    God is omniscient. He knows every sin that anyone has committed or will commit, for all time. Why would an omniscient and sovereign God, grant eternal life to someone He knows, in advance, will turn away, just to take back His gift?
    How can a spirit that God has made alive by a sovereign act of His will, be made dead again by sin that has already been nailed to the Cross? How is it possible that we are given “Eternal Life” but then we are no longer alive? Was it just semi-eternal, or sorta eternal?

    We are made into brand new creatures when we are born again. Men, with living spirits, for the first time since Adam. And that living spirit, is forever united with and alive in Christ.

    Yes, we must continue to put our faith in God alone. Yes, we must grow in holiness and obedience. Yes, we are given the privilege and the responsibility of cooperating in our own sanctification. and during that process we can doubt, we can sin, we can even walk away for a time, but we cannot undo what God has done.

    God’s love is relentless and as our Shepherd, He will always find us and with His loving rod and staff, He will gently turn us back towards truth. Every time.

    Reply
19. Albert Lee says:

    April 24, 2020 at 5:45 am

    I think OSAS is only delusive IF adherents are presumptuous about their relationship with God, the Judge.. That is a pervasive unawareness of the need to be found in holiness and righteousness at all times. That is maintained by a contrite and repentant heart, and dependence on God.
    To believe in OSAS without forgoing the pursuit of holiness nor diminishing the need for purity is a safe combo.
    If not holding to OSAS then one had to contend with the relentless pursuit and conformity to illusive and arbitrary spiritual compliance. Which is the better option for our lives is really down to its effects on our relationship with God and others.

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20. Attention everyone: Nobody in the OSAS crowd believes God “looks… #ourCOG – ourcog says:

    April 13, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    […] Attention everyone: Nobody in the OSAS crowd believes God “looks… […]

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