Hi Everyone! Happy New Year!!
Christina,
What about 1 Corinthians 5? The person that Paul is talking about went to church, yet he was living with his fathers wife. So Paul said to "deliever such a one to Satan, for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit may be save in the day of the Lord Jesus."
If its found in Paul's epistles, then what age are we talking about? The age of GRACE, thats right. Do you and I ever "do" things we shouldn't? Is God judging us on the basis of our SINS, or on the basis of the performance of Christ on the Cross?
The Corinthian church was known for being "carnal." That is why Paul had to deal with them in such harsh terms. But what were they still called by God? "SAINTS".....gasp. They were MADE holy by virtue of being IN the one and only HOLY ONE.
Yes, they were delivered to Satan, as he is the god of this world, is he not? But they WERE saved unto the day of redemption BECAUSE they were sealed with the HOLY SPIRIT of promise and placed INTO the Body of Christ. They will lose rewards, just as we will , for those deeds done in the flesh...but they WERE saved by GRACE thru faith in the finished work of Christ (if they indeed trusted his death, burial and resurrection for their salvation.)
Do you think that these people who once believed but then have gone the other way, were ever really saved? Will they be raptured too?
If they trusted in the Cross....yes. Were they ever saved to begin with?....that only God knows. It is not for us to determine. The Bible tells us that we are saved by what we BELIEVE...not by how we "perform." If salvation was based on our performance, how many of us would be in heaven? Do you see what the issue really is here? Does the gospel of our salvation say "Do this and this and never sin again, and you will be saved?"
God actually DID something with those sins He paid for at the Cross! He put them out of His sight FOREVER...that is what the BURIAL of Christ signifies. If there was ONE action or attitude that was NOT paid for on the Cross...Jesus would NEVER have risen from the grave.
Paul also says in 2 Thess 2 about those who reject the gospel, God will send a strong delusion that they will believe the lie. Who are these people? Are they the one's who heard the gospel and right away rejected it, or are they the one's who believed at some point, then rejected it, or both?
The people who reject Pauls gospel are those trusting in anything else to save them other than what God has given as the gospel of OUR salvation. The problem with believing a lie is that everything is built on a wrong premise....therefore all conclusions are incorrect.
There are those who have believed the gospel of reconciliation but who have then become entangled in RELIGION and the traditions of MEN. 2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.They are those that scripture tells us have been "taken captive ", or who are POW's so to speak in this age of GRACE. They have not studied to KNOW that which God has provided FOR them thru the Cross and are believing the lies provided by modern day religion and denominational party line philosophy.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
You see, being saved is only the beginning....a very important beginning , but a beginning nonetheless.
Look at what Gods will is for all of us:
1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the (epignosis:full knowledge) knowledge of the truth.
We are meant to grow in grace and to allow God to live His resurrected LIFE in and thru us. Some never do...and they will have a loss of reward, but not of their position in the Body of Christ.
Does this help?
Grace Teacher Ministries
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