Originally Posted by
lilymc
Hi Terry. No, I wasn't saying that we don't have to continually walk in the Spirit of the Lord, but I see this in a different way, and I'll explain that...
But first I want to say, I was responding specifically to Rifleman's comment: "There seemed to be a persistent fear among the members when it came to the security of salvation." jmdrake didn't seem to notice that I was replying to Rifleman, and he replied to me, with some anger, seemingly taking that personally, because he accused me of "misrepresenting someone else's position." How can that be a misrepresentation when I was specifically replying to Rifleman's example about the "persistent fear" of the people in that church, and I clearly said, "IF a person doesn't have the peace and joy that comes from salvation..."
But getting back to what you said... I just see this whole thing entirely differently. When a person is born again/saved, their heart and mind and nature is different than it used to be. It is new. So the good works and the obedience and the "walking in the Spirit of the Lord" is the inevitable fruit of their new life in Christ.
Where we disagree (correct me if I'm wrong) is that you think that daily good works, continually walking in the Spirit of the Lord, etc is what saves us, or is necessary before we are saved. And we have to constantly "maintain" our salvation, so we don't "lose" it.
I couldn't disagree more with that entire view of salvation. Salvation, or to be more specific, justification is not about works. Good works is the fruit, not the root!
But here is the main point I want to make. Constantly striving and "trying to be a good person" and making sure we're daily doing good works so we don't "lose our salvation" to me shows a very big misunderstanding on salvation.
We can never be good enough on our own. We need to completely surrender and put our faith and trust fully in Jesus. Our old self must die (Gal 2:20, Gal 5:24, Mark 8:35, Romans 6:1-23, Matt 16:25, etc) and we have to be born again. (John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:23, Romans 6:4, 2 Cor 5:17, etc).
As it says in this video, believing that salvation is about "daily good works" is like spraying perfume on a corpse. It's like putting a band-aid on someone who needs a heart transplant. Salvation (to be more accurate, justification) is a one time thing. Once a person is truly saved, they go from death to life. You can't go back and forth, once you are truly saved, you are saved, period.
The thing that you are talking about (daily walking with God, good works, spiritual growth, becoming more holy and more like Christ) is sanctification. But those things are not what save us. We are saved by grace, through faith, so that no one can boast.
As for your question about someone being saved and then living a life of sin... While it may be possible for someone to backslide temporarily, someone who is truly saved will always come back. For example, David committed horrible sins (adultery and murder) yet he was a man after God's own heart, and he truly loved God, and he was repentant.
On the other hand, someone who might go through the motions and profess to be a Christian, then live a life of sin, or leave God completely, is someone who almost certainly was never truly saved and regenerated in the first place.
Someone who is truly saved and born again does NOT leave God or choose a life of sin over belonging to God.
Just like you can't go through your mother's womb and be "born" (physically) twice, being born again (spiritually) is a one time thing. You can't be "born" and then "unborn."
One can be born physically, and never born spiritually. Sadly, many people fall into that category.
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