Hi Gallenwalsh, this Bible study is right to the point of your question. I have posted a few excerpts.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,7047.0.html ---
CAN WE LOSE GOD’S SPIRIT AND EONIAN LIFE?
[Is “once saved always saved” - Scripturally true or false?]
[And what does it matter? Are not all saved ‘anyway’?]
Reader: 1John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
‘This verse above tells me if I believe in Jesus I have eternal life.’
Comment: (CLV) These things I write to you that you who ARE BELIEVING in the name of the son of God MAY BE PerCEIVING that you have life eonian.
Do you see how it’s all in the Greek aorist imperfect tense. It’s not past tense, period. “Are believing,” that’s a process. Well what is it when you are stopping believing, what happens? Well we’ll see what happens. Yes it’s true if you ‘are’ believing.
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1John 3:15 Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer…
Notice if one does not love his brother, then he is no longer a true brother, but rather a murderer.
I read right over this and maybe you didn’t caught it. It says, “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal (eonian or age lasting) life abiding in him.”
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
See you can not really differentiate between those two. Spirit is life, spirit doesn’t die. Flesh dies. If you have life in you, you have God’s Spirit. If you have God’s Spirit in you, you have life. It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to physically die, but at least while you’re living you have some other kind of life in you. If you don’t have that life in you, then you’re no different than an infidel that has no religion, no faith and maybe has not even any morality as to why he should live above any other citizens or criminals or whatever.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life…
Now here is the point I want to make, spirit is life and life is spirit. Now back to verse 15.
Can we lose out… well we read the Scripture that if you sin willfully - willingly there is no more sacrifice for you. Now look at this verse, many people probably never really saw it before.
1 John 3:15 Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal (eonian or age lasting) life abiding (the Greek is “staying or “REMAINING”) in him.
So the Greek is staying or remaining. Now if you just read that without all the background that I’m giving you, then you get the feeling that, well he won't be given God’s abiding life. No, he already has it. The only way something cannot stay in you or not remain in you, is if it’s in you. Do you follow that? It’s in you.
He’s not talking to Barbarians here or infidels, he’s talking to the congregation who have the spirit of God. But he says if you hate your brother the spirit of God will no longer stay with you, it will no longer be in you. If the Spirit of God is not in you, you are no longer His. Then you are going to the judgment. That’s just how simple that is. All through these Scriptures if you read carefully, maybe it doesn’t have it just like this, but this is just a poor translation. But if you read Concordant and Rotherham and all, they will tell you to ‘stay’ - ‘remain.’ It means to remain, but it won’t remain. You see it’s there, but it’s coming out.
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He says this in 1 Cor 9:27, “but I am belaboring my body and leading it into slavery…” (CLV). Well you can’t lead your body into physical slavery, this is a mental thing. You lead yourself into slavery, that’s a mental conception. “…lest somehow, when heralding to others, I myself may become disqualified."
Notice the words, carefully analyze these things. If you become disqualified, what does that mean? That means you were qualified. ‘So you can be qualified and lose the qualification?’ Excuse me, can you read, that’s what it says. ‘Did the reader really mean it?’ Oh he was just playing humble, because Paul liked to lie a lot and pretend he was humble... No, these Scriptures are true.
(Rotherham) 1 Cor 9:27 But am beating my body under, and leading it captive, lest, by any means,—unto others, having proclaimed, the contest , I myself, should be rejected.
See he was in the contest, then he could be rejected.
(YLT) 1 Cor 9:27 but I chastise my body, and bring it into servitude, lest by any means, having preached to others--I myself may become disapproved.
So while you are doing right you are approved, qualified, you're in the race. But if you give up or you turn or you just sin willfully, willingly, knowingly hate your brother, then it’s gone. It can happen. Maybe I just need to explain why is that so.
Because the flesh is weak. Know how much spiritual stuff we know, well we are still very very weak. If we knew we didn’t have to persevere, guess what? Maybe most of the time or at least some of the time… we wouldn’t. Maybe sometimes you would try to resist the temptation to go out with another woman, if you were married, but not all the time, sometimes you might give in. So He doesn’t tell us.
That’s the thing I learned a long time ago, probably at least eight years ago. The verse that set that off to me was where it says Christ knows those that are His.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own…
Well what does that mean? Christ knows those that are His. I get from that, that we don’t know, we don’t.
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So it’s all overcoming. Paul likens this to overcoming and John wrote the first three chapters of Revelation, “To him that overcomes.”
Repenting of your past sins, accepting Jesus as your Saviour and receiving God’s Spirit does not pronounce you “SAVED.” It is not the conclusion of your spiritual life, but rather the very beginning.
What Paul did is called “overcoming,” and it’s the hardest thing in life to do, but the rewards are high.
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Audios of March 2008 Bible Study Can We Lose God's Sprit and Eonian Life?
http://bible-truths.com/audio/Bible Study 03-02-08 Pt_1.mp3
http://bible-truths.com/audio/Bible Study 03-02-08 Pt_2.mp3
mercy, peace and love
Kat