Holy Hormones Bible Study: If your book isn’t a buzz, it’s not the Bible.
CAN CHRISTIANS FORFEIT THEIR ETERNAL LIFE?
Eternal Security #1
Preamble
A recent post by a Medium Buddy, Cheryl Watson, The Biblical Perspective You Need To Know Today, was balm for a sore that has been festering in the Church forever. It dealt with erroneous misreading of Hebrews 6 &10 as being a condemnation from the Holy Spirit leading to Loss of Salvation.
It is well worth a read and has prompted response from me in the form of a series of articles that will gradually ease the NT Saint to rejoice and break into Dancing before the Lord at the very thought of those verses because they get such an undeserved bad press.
The gradual easing has been caused due to the progressively increasing use of Greek Grammar as the series lumbers forward (it may not be an easy read). That may make a lot of Righteous people shy away because that topic is often regarded as a waste of time; “We get everything we need in the English.”
There will be comments made on that comment, too. So ample opportunity will arise for many people — all of which are no less Righteous, no less Justified, no less Spiritual, no less Loved, no less cleaver, no less Redeemed, no less you name it, than I am — to be offended.
Also, In case I’m projecting the wrong image, and someone gets the wrong idea, I don’t know enough about Greek to read, let alone translate — only to criticise. That means I’m always open to correction. I have a very tasty recipe for Humble Pie if you need one.
Introduction
“Can Christians lose their Salvation?” is a recurring question that has festered in the Church as long as I have been in it.
“For every verse that says I can’t there is another one that says I can,” echos from both Pulpit and Pew. If you haven’t encountered this, perhaps I’ve been mixing in the wrong circles.
It is noticeable that Christendom asks the correct questions but often in the wrong order. When I was given the revelation that it was ALL God’s actions that counted, not mine, things started to become clearer. Now knowing that He has declared me Justified by imputing me with the Righteousness of Christ turns, “Can a Saint lose salvation?” into a trick question, to which the answer is, “What an absurd suggestion!”
THE QUESTION IS REDUNDANT.
A) IF YOU’RE NOT A SAINT YOU HAVEN’T GOT IT TO LOSE.
B) IF YOU ARE A SAINT YOU DID NOTHING TO GET IT SO YOU CAN’T GIVE IT AWAY.
But there are things that Saints can lose. That will be covered later in the series.
It is easy to see why there is so much confusion
Within the last five years, two absolutely outstanding Bible Teachers of international renown have passed into Glory in ripe old age. There is no way that either of them could be claimed to suffer from Bible Illiteracy. For reasons about to become obvious, they will not be named. But trust me. I’m a Christian. The following episodes were on YouTube before Deep Fake. They may still be there unless someone got offended and complained.
One of the teachers categorically believed that Saints could lose their Salvation and the other just as adamantly believed they couldn’t.
Not only did both of these maestros base their argument on English, they also appealed to their interpretation of the same two English words in the same two verses (John 10:28–29) to come to the opposite conclusion.
Random Comment: The flavour around John 10:28–29 is savage conversation between Jesus speaking to non-believing, rebellious, Jewish men about believing Jewish men. Even though the genders are masculine, it can be taken that women are included. This seems like a dumb thing to emphasise but it has been used, by some, to contend that women are inferior in the Church.
But it is written in Galatians 3:26–29 || For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
This text also scuttles any credence claimed by the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas.
Sayings of Jesus 114:-
(1) Simon Peter said to them: “Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.”
(2) (small ‘j’)jesus said: “Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you.”
(3) [But I (small ‘j’)jesus say to you]: “Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
But I digress, back to John 10:28–29|| And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
This is an emphatic Hebraism that obviously becomes cumbersome in both Greek and English.
One doyen was positive that eternal life could not be lost because both any man and no man included the Saint, as that doyen understood the English.
The opposing view was just as adamant that both any man and no man excluded the Saint, as that elder understood the same English.
Each champion believed along the lines of how they understood the English.
THESE ARE TWO OPPOSING OPINIONS BASED ON ENGLISH — THE EXACT SAME ENGLISH.
Opinion is the most democratic process in making all group decisions — everyone has equal opportunity to be wrong.
This is Probability 101. One says, yae, the other, nay. 50/50. Let’s toss a coin.
My predicament
Having the guy [whatever you take that to mean in these times] in whom I have placed the responsibility for my eternity, sprout, “I believe . . . ,” is useless to me!
I desperately need someone who can say, confidently, “It is written!” (just like Jesus did) and know the meaning of what is written (just like Jesus did.)
When I confront a Senior Pastor with the question, “Are you secure in Jesus Christ?” and get a feeble, “I hope so.” — or another Senior Pastor to ask, “Do you actually believe the Bible,” and by about three minutes into the answer to a YES/NO type question, it becomes obvious that we are sort of meandering toward a soft-landing, “No.” — something is missing.
Both of these people claimed that they had a heart for the Lost, and I had no reason to believe they didn’t — except they were selling a lie.
Why evangelize for something you don’t trust yourself?
But it gets worse
I rely on these Theological Heavyweights so it makes me wobbly to encounter such a contradiction on this vitally critical aspect. Dare I say just a modicum of lexicon could clear up the confusion.
ANY man: “Man,” isn’t in the text. It is inferred from any, G5100 — tis, an indefinite masculine pronoun (there would probably be a corresponding indefinite feminine pronoun but, if this doesn’t convince you, you won’t be convinced) which is a general description of all men/women.
NO man: “Man,” isn’t in the text. It is inferred from the masculine adjective G3762 — oudeis = no one, nothing.
So these two verses show that EVERY Saint is clasped in TWO Hands — The Father and the Son, and nothing nor anything is strong enough to jerk anyone free of that. Not even the Saint can escape if he tries.
TWO TINGLING POINTS
Point 1.
The figure at the introduction is a famous sculpture by Rodin. It is called Trinity Hands, and is inspired by John 10:28–29. You may have missed the nuance I did. There are two right hands, Father and Son. How can you possibly slip out?
Point 2.
The Greek for pluck is G726 — harpazō → Latin = rapture. So no Saints will be dropped on the way up.
SO IS AN ENGLISH BIBLE USELESS?
OF COURSE NOT!!! BUT USED ALONE GETS THE SAINT FAR ENOUGH TO BE SAVED WITH CONFIDENCE.
AFTER THAT WE ARE COMMANDED TO BE DILIGENT AND STUDY (2 Timothy 2:15).
AND WE ARE GIVEN THE CURRICULUM (2 Peter 1:5–8).
BUT SURELY THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER THAN JUST READING OVER AND OVER AND OVER TO THE POINT WHERE YOU SKIP OVER THE BIT YOU DIDN’T UNDERSTAND LAST TIME AND THE TIME BEFORE THAT AND THE TIME BEFORE THAT?
THERE IS!
IT’S CALLED GREEK GRAMMAR.
(And you can get it at a cost of $100–00, about 10 hours, and a [sizeable?] donation to Blue Letter Bible.)
A NORMAL WELL ADJUSTED PERSON, WHO DOESN’T PRETEND TO BE A SCHOLAR, CAN GO AS DEEP AS YOU ARE PREPARED TO SHOW INTEREST.
WHY DID THE HOLY SPIRIT PRESERVE HIS WORD IN DEAD LANGUAGES SET IN STONE SO LONG AGO?
Have you noticed what has happened to English lately?
Conclusion
It is hoped that every Saint reading this now has Eternal Security oozing out of the pores of their skin.
You could easily stop here.
But there is so much depth in the Written Word of God just waiting to be found. It is not hidden — just waiting.
This series will gradually ramp up, easing into the comforting story that is written in Hebrews 6 and 10.
(To be continued . . . )
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime. If you have seen something you like, I encourage plagiarism. So, always check everything I say first, then please re-cycle, re-brand, re-structure, re-issue, re-label, or re-gurgitate in any manner you please. No need to acknowledge me because the Holy Spirit Who holds the Intellectual Rights.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
