Evangelicals: How do you know you have "Saving Faith"?

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One other point I would like to make with reference to the scripture you cited earlier…

1 John 3:9 KJV 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

This is not referring to any old sin…this is referring to mortal sin as you would call it. Which, scripturally, is utter apostasy…a permanent state of unbelief after being enlightened, tasting (Heb 6), partaking, knowing…of the truth. This can be confirmed by he context of 1 John 5:16…

1 John 5:16-18 KJV 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. 18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Those that fall in to this, we can only conclude…

3 John 1:11 KJV 11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

2 John 1:9 KJV 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth (remains) not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

1 John 3:6 KJV 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

A TRUE elect/believer CANNOT fall away. And I have given plenty of scripture on that.
Interesting how you can take one scripture at face value (1 John 5:3), but other you do not. The verse does not say that those born of God cannot mortally sin. It says they cannot sin. The verses that you gave on the inability of the true believer from falling away have been contradicted by other verses in Scripture.

God Bless,
Michael
 
You are correct…

Romans 9:10-23 KJV 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth😉 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I** will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion**. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Saying that God predestines to Hell without consideration of sins committed makes God into a hypocrite.

Ezekiel 18:23

23Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

If God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but provides not a single opportunity - and the means - for the wicked to repent, then that would make Him into a liar and God never lies.

God Bless,
Michael
 
Did you really say that “some people are ordained to condemnation” BY GOD! Very dangerous beliefs.

Either your understanding is incorrect or your not understanding correctly! You pick which one!

The underlying truth that you are contradicting with your handful of scriptures, BUT, I can explain your passages in light of the immediate context as well as the overall context. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL LISTEN TO SUCH AN EXPLAINATION.
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Ex 4:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I** will harden his heart**, that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
Ex 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

You also find scriptures where it says this…

For Example…

Ex 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Ex 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

And, Mikeledes…I again will tell you…God ordains the end and the means…I will be saved - I will persevere and bear fruit - the end and means of my salvation are ordained of God. The non-elect will not be saved - God ordains the means and the end there as well.

This may help you as well…God tells Moses that Pharaoh WILL NOT let the people go…YET…he says to go to Pharaoh and ask that Israel be let go. God also calls those to repent who HE KNOWS will not.

Is there unrighteousness with God!!! God forbid. WHO ARE YOU to reply against God!!!
 
Continuation… Part II

This sounds like a Bill Clinton moment to me. 😃 God describes someone as being righteous but they are in fact *not *righteous? How can you be righteous in the sight of God and not righteous in His sight at the same time?

These verses have been taken out of their context:

Luke 5:30-32

30The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?"
31And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
** 32"I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” **

The point Jesus is making is that he is not going to use his time to “preach to the choir.” In other words, when you evangelize, Linkowski, do you evangelize people that have repented and believed or do you evangelize people who have not believed. There were righteous people when Jesus walked the earth and before he incarnated.

God Bless,
Michael
Sir…WHO IS THE AUDIENCE IN LUKE 5:31-32???

The Pharisees and scribes!!!
 
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Ex 4:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I** will harden his heart**, that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
Ex 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

You also find scriptures where it says this…

For Example…

Ex 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Ex 8:32 And **Pharaoh hardened his heart **at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

And, Mikeledes…I again will tell you…God ordains the end and the means…I will be saved - I will persevere and bear fruit - the end and means of my salvation are ordained of God. The non-elect will not be saved - God ordains the means and the end there as well.

This may help you as well…God tells Moses that Pharaoh WILL NOT let the people go…YET…he says to go to Pharaoh and ask that Israel be let go. God also calls those to repent who HE KNOWS will not.

Is there unrighteousness with God!!! God forbid. WHO ARE YOU to reply against God!!!
 
Sir…WHO IS THE AUDIENCE IN LUKE 5:31-32???

The Pharisees and scribes!!!
But who is he talking about and what is the question he is answering? The question is why is he eating with sinners? The answer is that they are the ones that need to hear the message of repentance. A person who thinks they’re righteous but are not most definitely needs a physician because they are not whole. They may refuse the physician’s services because they are in denial, but they are not whole. Jesus clearly says those who are WHOLE (healthy) have no need of a physician. Those who have already been made righteous do not need to be spiritually healed. Those who are unrighteous need it and that is why He focuses on them. That is the point Jesus was making.

God bless,
Michael
 
May the Lord God open the eyes of all His sheep and may His will be done!!

Lord, show us the way. Guide us and direct us and may your glory be known among all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. Help us to go and to tell of the great gospel of Jesus Christ - the gospel of grace. And may many come and fall on the rock of Christ and be broken in repentant faith in Christ as Lord and Savior…perceiving Him as the pearl of great price! This is my prayer and I will go and tell as many as I can - Repent and believe the gospel!
 
May the Lord God open the eyes of all His sheep and may His will be done!!

Lord, show us the way. Guide us and direct us and may your glory be known among all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. Help us to go and to tell of the great gospel of Jesus Christ - the gospel of grace. And may many come and fall on the rock of Christ and be broken in repentant faith in Christ as Lord and Savior…perceiving Him as the pearl of great price! This is my prayer and I will go and tell as many as I can - Repent and believe the gospel!
And you’re doing this in a Catholic website, not in a Calvinist webiste. That is the point I’m trying to make and Jesus is making. The righteous have no need of repentance because they have already been healed. You are not going to spend your energy on people who you know are of the elect.

God Bless,
Michael
 
Sir…WHO IS THE AUDIENCE IN LUKE 5:31-32???

The Pharisees and scribes!!!
Let me just add, Linkowski, that he is talking to the Pharisees and Scribes, but not about them. They are not whole and are in need of a physician. They may be in denial, but they are not whole. The only ones that have no need of repentance are those who have repented (i.e the righteous).

God Bless,
Michael
 
And you’re doing this in a Catholic website, not in a Calvinist webiste. That is the point I’m trying to make and Jesus is making. The righteous have no need of repentance because they have already been healed. You are not going to spend your energy on people who you know are of the elect.

God Bless,
Michael
The Pharisees were those who justified themselves - RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR OWN EYES…Jesus was explaining why he was not hanging out with them…they simply had no need of Him (AGAIN - IN THEIR EYES). How many people think they are okay - they are good - they don’t need the gospel - or so they believe. That is the point of this text. Why go to the doctor if you do not think that you are sick? Mike, you have to be seeing this. You’re losing your credibility here.
 
The Pharisees were those who justified themselves - RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR OWN EYES…Jesus was explaining why he was not hanging out with them…they simply had no need of Him (AGAIN - IN THEIR EYES). How many people think they are okay - they are good - they don’t need the gospel - or so they believe. That is the point of this text. Why go to the doctor if you do not think that you are sick? Mike, you have to be seeing this. You’re losing your credibility here.
Actually, you are losing your credibility here. What did Jesus say? “Those who are** whole **have no need of a physician.” This is the key to understanding what Jesus is trying to say. The Pharisees are obvioulsy not whole and do need a physician, though they are in denial. The Pharisees are not asking Him “why aren’t you haging out with us?” They are asking why are you hanging out with sinners. Jesus responds that sinners are the ones that need His message of repentance, not the righteous (those who have already repented and have been spiritually healed).

God bless,
Michael
 
Have you looked at posting 242 yet. Quite convincing!
Yes I read it. I do not have the time to answer it the way I would like to. God “hardens” a person’s heart by withholding or withdrawing His grace. But the argument you are trying to build using this passage is contradicted by other passages.

God Bless,
Michael
 
And, Mikeledes…I again will tell you…God ordains the end and the means…I will be saved - I will persevere and bear fruit - the end and means of my salvation are ordained of God. The non-elect will not be saved - God ordains the means and the end there as well.
So God is directly responsible for the sins of the non-elect? Just as he causes the elect to have faith and bear fruit in order to be saved, he causes the non-elect to sin in order to be damned?

God Bless,
Michael
 
So God is directly responsible for the sins of the non-elect? Just as he causes the elect to have faith and bear fruit in order to be saved, he causes the non-elect to sin in order to be damned?

God Bless,
Michael
The answer to this question should be very interesting. You’ve summed up what it that they seem to be preaching here.
 
The answer to this question should be very interesting. You’ve summed up what it that they seem to be preaching here.
Hopefully this person can come up with more than some out of context scriptural passages that defy all logic, reason and grammar.
 
Luke 15:7 KJV 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Let’s look at this verse in its context:

**3And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. **

The ninety nine sheep represent the ninety nine righteous who are in the fold and are not lost and thus have no need of repentance. The shepherd has no need to look for the ninety nine sheep because they are not lost. Rather, the shepherd is going to spend time searching for the one that has been lost. Just as the shepherd does not look for the ninety nine sheep that are already in his fold and hence are not lost, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will look for the lost sheep, not the ninety nine righteous who have no need of repentance because they are already in His flock. That is why Jesus eats with sinners. They need His message more than those who have already been justified and are in His flock.

God Bless,
Michael
 
Actually, you are losing your credibility here. What did Jesus say? “Those who are** whole **have no need of a physician.” This is the key to understanding what Jesus is trying to say. The Pharisees are obvioulsy not whole and do need a physician, though they are in denial. The Pharisees are not asking Him “why aren’t you haging out with us?” They are asking why are you hanging out with sinners. Jesus responds that sinners are the ones that need His message of repentance, not the righteous (those who have already repented and have been spiritually healed).

God bless,
Michael
I respectfully disagree.
 
Let’s look at this verse in its context:

3And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4What man of you, having an hundred sheep
, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
7I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

The ninety nine sheep represent the ninety nine righteous who are in the fold and are not lost and thus have no need of repentance. The shepherd has no need to look for the ninety nine sheep because they are not lost. Rather, the shepherd is going to spend time searching for the one that has been lost. Just as the shepherd does not look for the ninety nine sheep that are already in his fold and hence are not lost, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will look for the lost sheep, not the ninety nine righteous who have no need of repentance because they are already in His flock. That is why Jesus eats with sinners. They need His message more than those who have already been justified and are in His flock.

God Bless,
Michael
Jesus does not mean to say that the Pharisees and the scribes do not need repentance or are perfect. He for the sake of argument accepts their claims about themselves and by their own words condemns them for their criticism of his efforts to save the lost sheep. It is the same point that he made against them when they criticized Jesus and the disciples for being at Levi’s feast ( as we mentioned in Luke 5:31-32). They posed as “righteous.” Very well, then. That shuts their mouths on the point of Christ’s saving the publicans and sinners.
 
The answer to this question should be very interesting. You’ve summed up what it that they seem to be preaching here.
The answer to this is complicated…He does not CAUSE them to sin and is not responsible for it. But, he does not effectually call them to salvation but allows them to go on in sin. The elect, however, are the called…

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

It is only by God’s grace that they are saved at all…none of us deserve salvation…

KJV
Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

NASB
Romans 11:5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.

I hope that you can see the strange paradox (or what seems to be) going on in scripture. Again, the infinite God speaking to the finite man…it is difficult to completely comprehend. But, it is explained in scripture for us - but our minds have difficulty with it. Like it or not, it is there…if you expect to fully understand the mind of God before accepting this purely biblical teaching…then you will never accept it.

Once condemned, now justified!! Praise God!

You are trusting in your own ability to COOPERATE with God’s grace…boast, my friend in this great ability you have to do so. Justification is in my past and I am being conformed to the image of Christ - being sanctified…

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering **he hath perfected for ever **them that are sanctified.

🙂
 
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