Hello, I have been reading all of I John. When, I came to Chapter 5
Verse. 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 unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
Is this speaking of once you believe, and then you would not believe anymore. You would turn your back on Christ.
I do not remember Ray talking about this, but I could be wrong.
In His Love,
Marlene
Hi Marlene,
This verse is not directly addressed here, however your answer is in this paper. I took out
a couple excerpts, but you need to read this paper completely when you have a bit of time.CAN WE LOSE GOD’S SPIRIT AND EONIAN LIFE? . . . . Biblestudy March 2008 http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,7047.msg56003.html#msg56003Excerpt #1:
[Is “once saved always saved” - Scripturally true or false?]
[And what does it matter? Are not all saved ‘anyway’?]
HOW TO BE IN THE FORMER RESURRECTION:
How to be in the former resurrection, what do we have to do?
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Damnation just mean judgment, tribunal. How is it that you come into the first resurrection? It says right there, by doing good. There it is! We read that so many times and we don’t pay attention to it. Yet there it is. Who comes up in the first? “They that have done good.” That’s not hard to understand.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death (this is talking about baptism in the sixth chapter of Rom.), we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:
Philippians 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Is there a point in time where you say no matter what I do I’m going to be in the former resurrection, because I have this and that promise and pledge? Was Paul lying when he said, “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead .” Meaning I’ll do everything that I know of or can think of to be sure that God is pleased with me. “By any means,” Why would he say that if it’s a done deal?
Notice it, how do we come up in the likeness of His resurrection? “If” at the beginning of the verse, “If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death.” We know what baptism pictures, it pictures dying to yourself, dying to the evil, carnal, lustful things that are bad about human nature. You die to that and that’s what baptism pictures. You go under the water, you can’t live under the water. So it pictures death, real death. You go under water and if somebody holds you down you will die. The water is always pictured as cleansing. Water cleans, you wash in water. God’s word is likened to water, you see. What we are teaching here today. Hopefully these words, they will wash us. They wash our minds and our conscience and all of these things.
But there’s that big ‘IF’ again. “For IF this, then that. But what if not this? Well if not this, then not that. This is really elementary stuff. But I mean somebody has got to point it out, I understand that, I’m not poking fun.
Excerpt #2I say in that paper, Peter warns against being willfully ignorant (2 Peter 3:5). But this is in reference to being homosexual, and some will say, ‘I don’t see a problem with that.’ But if we sin willfully you see, there is no more sacrifice, there is judgment, there’s indignation (Heb. 10:27). Christ warns against lusting and these are all statements and I’ll read them from the article.
--- While “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3), all sins that Jesus died for must be repented of or that person will not inherit the Kingdom of God. ---
Where did he get from that, that you are going to heaven anyway? I just said he won’t, then I gave a Scripture. And he said, ‘you (Ray) say they are all going to heaven ‘anyway.’ No, there is no ’anyway’ about it.
--- But will rather be raised up in judgment. Christ dying for the sins of the world is not the final step with the issue of sin and sinners. The final step is to GET THE SIN OUT OF THE SINNER, and that is precisely what will happened, Christ “will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31) and the ungodly “will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9). Then and only then will “God be ALL in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).
Notice next what Paul says after declaration against a list of 27 major sins. Paul’s statement that “…they which commit such things are worthy of DEATH. ---
How do you get from a statement like that, to… ‘well we’re all going to heaven anyway’ and ‘I can live whatever way I want and then I’ll die and go to heaven.’ How do you get that from all these Scriptures? I just marvel, I’m just dumbfounded.
--- “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1-2).
There is salvation available, and it is by grace, not our own personal works of righteousness, but we must first repent. If I condoned my own past sins, I never would have repented of them. ---
‘Yea but I can do whatever I want and not repent of them and it still leads to God anyway, doesn’t it Ray?’ No it doesn’t, it leads to judgment and firey indignation and the wrath of God. It’s not going to be happy happy.
--- “Where in times past you walked according to the course of this world… Among whom also we all had our conduct in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh…” (Eph. 2:2-3).
george.