Seabass
Active Member
"Each person is serving one of 2 masters, one is either serving;You stated :
"Each person is serving one of 2 masters, one is either serving;
1) sin unto death - condemnation
or
2) obedience unto righteousness"
Agreed, there are only two groups or "classifications" of people on this planet ... the regenerated [saved] and the unregenerated [un-saved]. (1) The saved individual will seek to do the will of their heavenly Father, (2) while the unsaved person does the will of their Father - Satan [although the overwhelming majority of these people tell me that they don't even believe what the scriptures declare concerning the 'personage' and nature of Satan; that is, they don't even actually believe in his existence or influence upon their lives or in the world whatsoever].
The real contention here between the OSAS and LOS camps involves the following foundational question :
Will there be some re-generated individuals who will later become "un-regenerated"?
If a person believes the answer to that question is "yes", as a necessary consequence, a 3rd classification is created = those who at one time were serving God the father, but in the course of time stopped serving Him [and by default, began serving Satan once again = "hellbound"].
The false assumption or claim that is usually made by the LOS camp looks like this : Since all those who were regenerated where, at one time ... unregenerated, then, it must **necessarily** follow the the inverse must be true ... that there will also be some regenerated persons who will become unregenerated persons. Now, although on the surface they appear to present a logical assertion [at least a coherent one], the bigger question here is, "do the scriptures back up their truth claim?"
It's my firm conviction that the [below] following portions of scripture decidedly destroys any such notion of the existence of this [imaginary] 3rd classification of people. Every child of God has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, resulting in the forgiveness of all of their sins [past, present, future]. They become His possession eternally at that point in time [as a result of a free will decision that they have made]. I hope and pray that that truth doesn't frighten you ... we are now 'stuck' with the dilemma of Heaven being our eternal dwelling place. No genuine child of God will regret making that irreversible decision. As the by-product of receiving a new nature at the point of their regeneration, they will be sickened and repulsed by the very thought of rescinding their initial decision to place their faith in Christ.
1 John 3:9 and the Permanent Nature of the New Birth :
English Standard Version - 1 John 3:9 :
"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed [abides] in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God."
English Standard Version - 1 John 3:6 :
"No one who [abides] in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him."
The Matter of Abiding in God :
Greek Interlinear - 1 John 3:9 - "for God's seed abides in him" :
seed of Him [sperma autou] in [en] him [autō] abides [menei]
Greek Interlinear 1 John 3:6 - "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning" :
Anyone [pas ho] in [en] Him [autō] abiding [menōn] not [ouch] sins [hamartanei]
In both 1 John 3:9 and 1 John 3:6 the root word used for abide/abiding is menó - Strong's Concordance #3306 :
menó: to stay, abide, remain
Original Word: μένω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: menó
Phonetic Spelling: (men'-o)
Definition: to stay, abide, remain
Usage: I remain, abide, stay, wait; with acc: I wait for, await.
1 John 3:9 [as well as 1 John 3:6,7] tells us that all those born of God will not characteristically and habitually live in sin [this reality will be explained in more depth in my next post - "1 John 3:9 and the Permanent Nature of the New Birth - Part 2"].This certainly does not hold true for any person who has not been born of God. The clear implication contained in 1 John 3:6 is that those who are not born of God do not know [and have never known] Him, they have never been implanted with [i.e. - regenerated by] God's seed ... the seed of Him ... the "sperma autou."
"no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." [1 John 3:6(b) - ESV].
"anyone [pas ho] sinning [hamartanōn] not [ouch] has seen [heōraken] him [auton] nor [oude] has he known [egnōken] him [auoton]." [1 John 3:6(b) - Greek Interlinear].
The vital truth here, as it concerns the eternal security of the believer, is that only two groups of people are in view here ... [1] those who are born of God, and [2] those who are not born of God. All those counted among the first group will abide in God until the end of their earthly journeys [1 John 3:9]. It simply does not logically follow that any among the second group were at one time members of the first group - but then proceed to abandon their faith [thereby once again being counted among the second group] ... it is a logical fallacy.
Conflicting Perspectives :
So, once again we have come full circle to a recurring issue that is of paramount importance to realize and comprehend concerning the eternal security of the believer. Should we view an individual's abiding in God as a necessary condition in order to receive their Heavenly inheritance? ... or should we view their abiding as the inevitable effect or by-product of the implantation of God's seed into an individual's very nature?
It appears to me that this is not an [absolute] case of "either/or", but rather an "both/and" scenario. I would add that it is also perhaps the leading contributing source pertaining to the confusion and disagreements that abound between the two opposing camps.
The solution and perspective that I offer is that of a OJAJ [Once Justified Always Justified] Molinist Arminian; it's simply the one that I believe best reconciles all of the scriptural data on the issue.
(1) Abiding in God/Christ as being an essential condition for a future entrance into Heaven should not be denied.
(2) Abiding in God/Christ as the inevitable effect or end result of being born of God should not be denied.
So, how are these two truths harmonized? ... simply do not deny either of those truth claims. In other words, since abiding in God is the inevitable result of all those having been born of God, the essential condition of continuance in Him will at the same time [inevitably] be fulfilled by those persons. A person does not abide in God in order to retain or "maintain" the implanted seed of God within them ... rather, they abide in God due to, and because of, the reality that God's seed abides in them ... permanently.
1) sin unto death - condemnation
or
2) obedience unto righteousness" - salvation
My purpose in posting the above was to get a response as to which of the two does the idea of faith onlyism fall under...#1 or #2. It was not about OSAS.
change that.
