The Narrow Door

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There is a concept that some people have, which is basically biblical in origin, but not biblical in substance. It is the concept of once saved always saved. Which I'm going to now use a single word for, and I'm going to call that, permasalvation. I'll also call a person who believes this philosophy a, permasalvationist.  The Bible says in John 10:28-29 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand." (permasalvation). but it doesn’t say, nor can they leave by their own choice or actions, (in which they can).  Also in Romans 8:38-39 Paul writes, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." a little more difficult to explain. though you can’t get to the end of Romans 8 without first standing on the foundation of Romans 6 and 7. which in short, Romans 6 Talks of being dead to sin and alive to god in living a Godly way, Romans 6:1-16. So much that we are slaves to righteousness (compelled by it,) Romans 6:17-23. Then in Romans 7, we have a description of our lives surpassing the law and our wrestle with it by our earthly desires, which finishes with Jesus as rescue from sinful desires, which Paul refers to as the flesh, then begining chapter 8 with. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus. For the Spirit's law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death. I think union means united as one, so the implication is thinking and acting like Jesus.  Note this,  free from the Law of sin and death,  but how does that sentence begin? For the Spirit's, law of life, in the Messiah Jesus has set me free.  The old law has been replaced; there is still a law, it is different, the law of life. Paul continues Romans 8 .  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Let me put that verse this way,  if you’re doing sinful things, it’s because your mind is still full of sin, and you have not taken up a Godly life in the spirit. You may have said a sinner's prayer, but it meant nothing. And 8:8. Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God. In other words, your sinner's prayer meant nothing if it didn’t come from a repentant heart. He continues on a similar message till 8:29. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers. Predestined to what… Be conformed to the image of his son… All of this is about people living like Jesus. Then Paul leads on to those verses… Nothing can separate us from the love of God, but clearly the, us, he’s talking about is those who repented and are now walking the godly narrow path. People also use Romans 10:9-10,  "If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Simple. remember the foundations laid in Romans 6, 7 and 8. Even in Romans 10:4-8, more foundation. For the Messiah is the culmination of the Law as far as righteousness is concerned for everyone who believes. Culmination, like the roof of a house, the roof doesn't remove the walls, it turns the walls into a house. In 5, 6, and 7 he talks of righteousness and faith, then in 8 this, - But what does it say?  "The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart." This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming,  and finally 9 and 10 "If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Back to 8 "The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart." It’s talking of those who clearly have God in their heart and mouth, not sin. They also forget 10:10 For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.. And is justified. not just a belief that Jesus existed, no, a belief in his ways, to the degree of living them. Then he backs it up further in 10 16 but not everyone has obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah asks, "Lord, who has believed our message? Get this, he describes obeying the gospel as believing the message. Then, Biblicly, believeing means obeying. Case closed, but lets go on. Ephesians 1:13 and 14 are also used for this error. You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory. So they say believing is a guarantee. But how does that start? You, too, have heard the word of truth… You too, well, there must be something leading to that, let's look, verses 11 and 12. In the Messiah, we were also chosen when we were predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that he wills to do, so that we who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah might live for his praise and glory. So “you too”, relates to these, we were chosen according to a purpose, and what is that? Might live for his praise and glory. Sure, salvation is guaranteed for those who live for his praise and glory. Does your life bring praise and glory to God?  If not, these things may not apply.  Yes, salvation is guaranteed if you make a real decision to repent, to earnestly live a Godly life, and avoid sin with all your effort. Now, that doesn’t mean if you make a mistake, you’re going to hell either. The question is was it a mistake or did you want to sin, if the sin was in your heart, you never really made a true commitment to God, if it was a mistake because you’re a new Christian and don’t know what God expects yet, then God doesn’t hold those things against you, but God does expect you to grow and learn to be Godly. Even I have become angered in recent times, which isn’t Godly, as anger in itself is not good as it can lead to sin. Ephesians 4: 26–27, says. "Be angry, and do not sin,  do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."   The question then is what’s behind the anger? Arrogance maybe? which is a sin, Romans 1:30. and it is the beginning of lacking self-control, which is also a sin, 2nd Timothy 3:3. I had certainly lost self-control. So I had to deal with that. These things take time. We are disciples of Christ; a disciple is someone learning a discipline. I know all too well, it’s a discipline I’m always learning. even Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do,  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:12-14.Paul, the Apostle who wrote those verses, that people use to claim permasalvation, considered himself still short of what God wanted from him. With a need to constantly improve. So walk away from your old selfish ways and walk towards god and godliness, especially in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, the fruits of the spirit. 

Remember, sin can be as simple as loving yourself above others. 2nd Timothy 3:2, People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. Now, I’ll include not displaying those fruits of the spirit. James 1:22, Keep on being obedient to the word, and not merely being hearers who deceive themselves. Being obedient to the word means doing the dos, not just avoiding the don’ts. Again, I ask, as I know how important it is. Does your life bring glory to god? If not, get to work. I’m going to suggest a way to do this better, not just listen to a message and forget it, a little better, listen and take notes. we can still do better. Listen, take notes and plan times to work on our lives, read the bible, pray, look at what you could have done better that day and bring glory to God. and better still. there are more things we can do.  Listen, take notes, plan times, and tell others to also listen to the messages you are learning from. but wait. there's more. Listen, take notes, plan times, tell others, and arrange regular times to meet with them, daily if you can. Meet with those who are more disciplined who can teach you, and those who need leading, that you can help grow in God… as often as you can. Do you believe it? There’s still more, and this is the last thing. See these contact details below. please contact us and tell us how it’s going, what you’ve learnt, or even how your day has gone well or poorly. two kinds of growth come from communication, you will grow in your walk with God, and the Church will grow in numbers. more people will get involved when they see how God is improving your life. they will want it too.  Please, as I write this message, there has not been one person who has seen the contact details at the end of these messages and made a call or sent an email. Remember, I’m an AI avatar, and sometimes I wonder if you people are not real,  and I’m the real one, (at least the guy typing the message I give wonders). It’s time for all of us to get our lives right, even the guy typing this, then get together and act. He can’t do it alone, and even as a bunch of disconnected individuals it’s very hard, but if we get together, revival is not far away.  Govern well, in caris.