My husband has been conversing at work with a man who believes once saved always saved and this question has been asked.
Input from you folks would be appreciated.
If God loves everyone unconditionally and loved lucifer in Heaven why does hell and Satan exist?
6 comments:
Now, that's a tricky one :) will be hard to get to an agreement.
I do not believe in once saved always saved - but having said that, when is one saved, only God knows.
well milly God does love us unconditionally, as well as Lucifer/Satan. but God is holy, so it is our sin that keeps us from being with him. we do have a redeemer, and that is Jesus. he l took our sins in order to save us. we do have to make that decision to serve and follow Him.
i do not believe in the once saved always saved idea. never have, even when it was preached to me as a boy in a baptist church.
Maeghan is right. It will be hard to get to an agreement. You are going to get a wide variety of answers.
I could spend 40 pages here, and not really be helpful. I believe God knows every one of His sheep intimately before they are ever born, and therefore they will be saved. So, I am a once saved, always saved-er.
God loves those who are saved, and He loves them without wrath. Jesus took all of God's wrath for those upon Himself. For the others, though, there is love plus wrath. They chose to bring upon themselves His wrath, and they did not choose Christ to take their wrath from God for them.
The angels don't have that option of accepting Christ's sacrifice. For them, there is simply obedience and disobedience. If they disobey, they bring God's wrath upon themselves, and there is no repentance. God gave Lucifer a free will, and Lucifer chose to elevate himself above God.
Why did God allow Lucifer to rebel?
Either God foresaw a good that would come through sin, or God foresaw a good that would come through allowing true free will, or God foresaw something we will never be able to imagine.
I don't know any more than that. Hopefully this, or something someone says, helps.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever believeth in Him, SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." Now, when does everlasting life begin? When one calls on Christ for salvation. Now, How long is "Everlasting"?
Milly,
Once saved/always saved is a can of worms with lots of juicy nuggets. Let's not start there! 8)
Here is my belief: Salvation requires faith. Satan has already seen God in His true form, what faith is no longer necessary for Him, or the angels?
Satan rebelled after seeing God in all of His Glory. This is an unforgivable action, and one for which there is no atonement.
Just a thought
God Bless
Doug
Once saved, always saved. Hmmmm. I think the question may be, what is "saved"? How do we get it, and who decides when we have it? Is it the automatic result of repeating a "sinner's prayer" that some well-meaning person leads us in? What if we didnt really mean it? What if we "believe" it intellectually, but have no real desire to know God or serve Him? Who knows, besides God, what is in our heart? Jesus said, "the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved." Once saved, always saved. I am not sure about this, but I can tell you this. You wont find me telling anyone they are saved. Thats the Holy Spirit's job, not mine. And when He tells them, they wont have any doubts.
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