Mike, you said:______________________________It is not possible for man to save himself or to keep himself saved. He has given us a time period where we do not have to prove our faith. That time period is coming to a close. After the rapture happens it will be much more painful to be saved...(emphasis is mine, Barry)______________________________I gather that what you are referring to is the big difference between us currently not having to die for our faith vs. during the trib when Christians will have to die for their faith. In that extreme way, I would agree that we here in most of our home places are not being called upon to die for our faith. However to go all the way to the suggestion that we do not have to prove our faith at all, I would disagree. I'm not sure if you meant it that way or not but in case you did I would offer this opposite view.There are many scriptures that say that our faith is tested and tried by God in order to bring forth praise and honor and glory at His appearing and I may quote some at the end of this but first I would like to focus on the scripture that you quoted, that in my opinion contradicts your statement. You said that it is not possible for man to save himself and in that I would agree but then you said that man cannot keep himself saved.If you believe that is true then I would be interested to know what you think Paul meant when he said2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.To me, it sounds like Paul is saying that there is the condition on your salvation that you keep in memory what he preached and the obvious opposite or consequence of not keeping it in memory is that you can believe in vain meaning that the belief you had at the beginning has not been sustained unto fruitfulness and has therefore become for nothing. All because you chose to let go of the gospel for whatever reason.God does not tempt ever but He does test us to see whether we will believe Him or not.Deuteronomy 8:2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.1 Peter 1:5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:1 Timothy 1:19...which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:2 Peter 1:8. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.Does that mean that if you do not do these things that you can fall?Remember Paul says in our scripture above that you are saved if you remember his gospel and here Peter says you can forget that gospel and become blind and charges us to make our calling (nomination) and election sure. Many are called (nominated) but few are actually chosen (elected) so make sure you are in that chosen group.Two last scriptures:Hebrews 12:5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.In light of such scriptures I wonder how you can say that our faith is not tested or does not have to be proved. Maybe not by us having to die physically but in other ways we must die to self and trust God every day as at the beginning of our faith firm unto the end in order to be saved. At least that is how I see it.Hebrews 3:6. But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.