A More Balanced View of OSAS
If
OSAS were “true”, then the MANY of Matt. 7:21-23 could not be true because they CALL Him, “Lord,
Lord”!! (they OBVIOUSLY believe in Him!! Nonbelievers would not refer to Him as “Lord”~ nor would they
have spent their earthly lives casting our demons in Jesus’ name or prophesying
in His name!!) Soooo why does Jesus
tell these people on Judgment
Day to depart from Him? The REASON
that these believers are told this on Judgment Day: even though they “believed in Jesus”, they refused to “depart from iniquity”.
Matt
7:23 from diff. Translations explains WHY Jesus tells them to depart from Him:
·
AMP And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never
knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].
·
NLT: But I
will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
·
KJV: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.
·
YLT: and then I will acknowledge
to them, that -- I never knew you, depart from me ye who are working
lawlessness.
Scripture
does not contradict itself, but rather supports itself & Matt. 7 is
certainly true as well. So, some may
say: but we are FREE from the law!! YES!! We ARE!! From keeping the Mosaic law!! (Look at Leviticus & be glad we are not
obligated to keep that long list!) However, even under NT direction, we are obliged to OBEY the Lord and to
keep the commandments of God. If we call ourselves Christian, we would do well
to heed these Scriptures: Matthew 19:17 John 14:15 John 14:21 John 15:10 1 John 2:3 1 John 2:4
The
Word is clear that everyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from
iniquity.
2 Timothy 2:19 (to STOP purposely sinning
against Him!) We are to not only “be
sorry” for our sins, but we are to turn FROM them by our behavior as well (also
called the “new birth”)
There are
many people going around today believing in Jesus & practicing what I call
“the sin of the month club”, thinking they can live just any way they please
& walk right past the Lord through the pearly gates & on into Paradise. Just because they believe in Him, their
lives do not reflect that they BELONG to Him. The Bible says: “Such people claim they know
God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient,
worthless for doing anything good.” Titus 1:16
I realize that, for those committed Christians
whose lives manifest the fruit of the Spirit and who continue to abide in
Christ "until the end", OSAS is not even an issue.
As the question is often asked, and yes, even
those of us who do not believe in OSAS CAN have assurance of our salvation (even
though we believe, as the Bible teaches, that it IS possible to stray away,
wander away, fall away, DEPART FROM the faith and/or shipwreck our faith).
·
1 John 2:5 ** But whoever keeps His word, truly the love
of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
And then, conversely, if we do not obey the
commandments of God but continue to practice sin, we have no such assurance of
eternal salvation. Please read I John 3:3-10
Notice: “Keeps His word” in 1 John 2:5** ~ &
see the same phrase used in Revelation 3:8 “I know your works. See, I have set before
you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Thus,
the rapture is for those who have “kept His Word”
Generally,
those who do not believe in OSAS are accused of being "legalists" or
"works-based salvation" believers. However, we maintain that
easy-believism does not take the place of holy living – which comes only by the
grace & power of the Holy Spirit. We can never trust in our own
righteousness (which is filthy rags in the sight of God) to deliver us in the
Day of Judgment. However, we also mustn't be deceived into thinking we can live
a casual lifestyle of carnality & be flippant to what He expects of us, and
still be accepted by God.
I know many here really appreciate Perry Stone ~ well, he has
a very balanced & biblical teaching tape on Eternal Security! . He explains it’s too easy for some people from one side to think
they can do anything ~ “get away with murder” and still make it into heaven;
and then, on the opposite side of the coin are those people who, every time
they fall & skin their knees think ~ “ah man! That’s it! I’ve
lost my salvation”…. But he goes on to explain it doesn’t just happen like that
either. I can highly, fully recommend Perry’s teaching
tapes!! http://www.voiceofevangelism.org/store/store.cfm?CFID=104925&CFTOKEN=61575335&fxn=search&qu=unconditional+eternal+security
For those who believe in OSNAS but also views God
as up there with a great big fly swatter & a red ink pen, like He just
can’t wait to blot our names out of His books, that’s wrong thinking as well.
It is NOT HIS WILL that any perish!! He is the God of 2nd chances. Some churches teach that if your car
breaks down on railroad tracks & you say a “bad word” then don’t have time
to repent of it before the train runs you over then you’re doomed to hell. Nope, that’s simply not the case. While it is true that we should not let any
unwholesome word proceed from our mouth (Ephesians 4:29) doing so
will not condemn us to hell.
There are
certain lifestyles though, that for those who continually practice them &
do not turn from them, are sentenced to
hell. These are found in Gal 5:19-21; 1
Cor 6:9; and Rev 21:8
So, I
know you’ll say with me: Let’s love Jesus & continue abiding in
the Vine till He comes!
Reva