Some Say “Once saved Always Saved” True or False? Part 2
July 28, 2010 at 8:22 AM 2 comments
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By Deryl S. Lampkin
Spiritual concepts are not always easy to grasp. Humans have the tendency to understand things that can be seen or perceived with the five senses. When Jesus conveyed spiritual concepts to people, he related them to physical concepts that they were familiar with.
For example, when he talked about the kingdom of God, he repeatedly said, “the kingdom of God is like unto…this or that”. He used different parables to explain and describe different aspects of the kingdom. In order to visualize, understand, and get a vivid picture of what the kingdom is and how to recognize it, you have to take all the various parables and other statements communicated about the kingdom and correctly piece it together to get a clear understanding of what it is and what it is not.
I said all that, to say this. As I continue to share my thoughts and understanding of spiritual concepts, many times I may use a story, a scenario, or physical world example or illustration, to help bring clarity and better understanding of a spiritual concept forth. Sometimes the example is to shed light on a particular aspect of the spiritual concept or it may be an attempt to offer a general analogy of the spiritual concept.
In the previous article, I began to explore the spiritual concept of salvation. The title of that article was “Some say, ”Once saved always saved: true or false”. In that article, one of my main points was:
Once the rescuer delivers the victim from the clear and present danger, it becomes necessary for the victim to re-program her mind with empowering information that will enable her to stay free of ever being in an abusive situation again. If the victim fails to re-program her mind and arm herself with the necessary weapons to combat this evil, the victim will again find herself in the same or similar abusive situation.
Now, to transfer the principles of this example and point to how it applies to salvation or rescuing your soul I will revise the statement to read as follow:
“Once God through Christ delivers you from the clear and present danger of sin, it becomes necessary for you to re-program your mind with the applicable laws and principles of the Word of God that will enable you to stay free of ever being a helpless slave to sin again; and it will free you and allow you to serve God in spirit and in truth. If you fail to re-program your mind and arm yourself with the spiritual weapons necessary to combat the evil forces that war against you daily, you will again find yourself living in and returning to being an habitual slave to sin by default”.
From the moment you accept Christ as your lord and savior and reject sin, you are saved and being saved by grace through faith in the Word of God. But be not deceived, the Word says that you must not be a hearer of the word only but you must do what the Word tells you to do. Just hearing, reading, confessing, and believing that the Word is true will not save you if you do not do what it tells you to do. It only can save you if you apply it.
It is like being sick and the doctor gives you a prescription that is proven to cure your ailment. You may believe that it can cure you and you may go ahead and get the medicine, but if you never take the medicine, it will not be able to help you at all. It has to get on the inside. So likewise, the Word of God is the spiritual medicine God has provided to deliver us from sin, heal our mind and body and to save our soul. But if we do not act on and obey the Word, then by default, we will perish. Not because God was not able to save us, but because we failed to follow His instructions.
Entry filed under: Article. Tags: Deryl S. Lampkin, God, Human, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, Salvation, Sin, Soul, Word of God.
Renewal of Your Mind 
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judy mercadal | September 6, 2010 at 3:12 PM
The terms are not being explained to people, that’s why they are confused as to whether or not they are saved. Just because you get baptized and confess Christ, you can’t continue to live the old life, in the flesh. There must be a transformation. We can’t continue to live in sin and think that God forgives us everyday when we are living the life of sin. The names that are put in the Book Of Life are the ones God knows belongs to him. Jesus made all kinds of sacrifices for us, so we must make sacrafices to hold on to what he has given to us.Everyone thought Judas was a true deciple, but God already knew what he was going to do. He was letting us know that others may walk side by side with us, but it doesn’t mean they’re a true child of God. We have a free will to walk in the flesh or walk in the spirit. Why would Jesus say depart from me, workers of iniquiity, i don’t know you. They thought because they worked in the church and did other things they were saved. Why don’t we say, you must walk the walk and talk the talk.
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Deryl S. Lampkin | September 7, 2010 at 2:17 PM
Judy,
This was an excellent on point comment. I appreciate you taking the time to contribute to this discussion.
Your point about “there must be a transformation” is the heart of this blog. We must be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Another great point you made was, “We have a free will to walk in the flesh or walk in the spirit. The scripture clearly bears witness to this in
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.