As posted above "
his own" are only in reference to those who
hear his Voice (the Word) and
follow him *
JOHN 10:26-27.
Which is
descriptive of
genuine believers and
not make believers.
If they continue to the end "
believing and following" God's Word they will never perish *
JAMES 1:12.
Only those who are truly saved endure. You confuse descriptive passages of scripture with prescriptive passages of scripture because you teach salvation by works (grace plus law, faith plus works) to be exact. What did Jesus say about those who do not continue in His Word? They were
NOT TRULY His disciples. John 8:31 - So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you
continue in My word, then you are
TRULY disciples of Mine.
If they do not endure temptation to the end believing and following God's Word they will indeed perish *
HEBREWS 10:26-39;
HEBREWS 6:4-8.
Descriptive of unbelievers and not believers who lost their salvation. In Hebrews 10:26, To "sin willfully" in the Greek carries the idea of deliberate intention that is habitual, which stems from rejecting Christ deliberately. This is continuous action, a matter of PRACTICE. Now we don't walk along our daily life and "accidentally" fall into a pit called sin. We exercise our will but, the use of the participle clearly shows a CONTINUOUS ACTION. The
unrighteous practice sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21);
not the righteous, who are born of God (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 John 3:9). *You need to properly harmonize scripture with scripture before reaching your conclusion on doctrine.*
In verse 39, the writer of Hebrews sets up the
CONTRAST that makes it clear to me that he was referring to unbelievers, not saved people: But
we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but
of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Those who
draw back to perdition do not believe to the saving of the soul and those who
believe to the saving of the soul do not draw back to perdition.
So after considering the
CONTEXT, it seems most likely that "he was sanctified" in verse 29 should be understood in the sense of someone who had been "set apart" or identified as an active participant in the Hebrew Christian community of believers, but then renounces his identification with other believers, by rejecting the "knowledge of the truth" that he had received, and trampling under foot the work and the person of Christ himself. This gives evidence that his identification with the Hebrew Christian community of believers was superficial and that he was
not a genuine believer.
I've heard three different interpretations for Hebrews 6:4-6 (hypothetical view, lost salvation view, never truly saved view) but am not convinced that it teaches a really "saved" person actually "lost their salvation." In the portion that addresses those who were ‘enlightened’, have ‘tasted of the heavenly gift’, and were ‘made partakers of the Holy Ghost.’ The writer of Hebrews the writer does not state that these individuals were "indwelled by the Holy Spirit" or "sealed by the Holy Spirit" or "or received the Spirit's pledge (guarantee) of future inheritance." Verse 9 sums it up for me. The writer is speaking to those truly saved (BELOVED). He says that
even though he speaks like this concerning THOSE types of people, He is convinced of better things concerning YOU. Things that ACCOMPANY SALVATION. Thorns and briars and falling away do not accompany salvation.
That is why we are warned all through the old and new testament scriptures not to
fall away and
depart the faith *
LUKE 8:13;
HEBREWS 6:4-6;
2 PETER 3:16-17;
1 TIMOTHY 4:1. Our salvation is "
CONDITIONAL" on believing and following God's Word always
present tense.
In regards to Luke 8:13, even though this rocky ground hearer is said to have "believed," yet he is never said to have been "saved." How do we know that the shallow ground hearer was never actually "saved"?
First, his
heart condition is
contrasted with that of the
"good ground" hearer in the 4th soil, who's heart was
"good" and "honest." Thus, his heart was not "good," being like the soil to which it corresponds, being
"shallow" or "rocky," lacking sufficient depth. Such soil represents a person who is not properly prepared in heart. People who "believe" and "rejoice" at the preaching of the gospel without a prepared heart, and without a good and honest heart, and without having "root" in themselves, do not experience real salvation.
IN CONTRAST TO - Mark 4:8 - But other seed fell on
good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. Luke 8:15 says, But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having
heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. So the rocky soil represents a person not properly prepared in heart so the seed planted ends up with a
lack of "root" (lack of being firmly planted, or established) and good soil represents a person properly prepared in heart who having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keeps it and bears fruit with patience.
*Unlike saving belief, temporary, shallow belief is not rooted in a regenerate heart. How can
no depth of earth, no root, no moisture, no fruit, represent saving belief? Also the same Greek word for believe "pisteuo" is used in James 2:19, in which we read that the demons believe "mental assent" that "there is one God," but they are not saved.
John has portrayed people who "believe" (at least to some extent) but are clearly not saved. There is a stage in the progress of belief in Jesus that
"falls short of firmly rooted and consummated belief that results in salvation." As we see in John 2:23-25, in which their
belief was superficial in nature and Jesus would not entrust/commit Himself to them. Also, in John 8:31-59, where the Jews who were said to have "believed in him" turn out to be
slaves to sin, indifferent to the words of Jesus’, children of the devil, liars, accused Jesus of having a demon and were guilty of setting out to stone and kill the one they have professed to believe in. We can see at best, these Jews believed in Him (based on their own misconceptions and expectations) of Jesus, yet upon gaining further knowledge about Jesus through His words, we see they did not truly "believe unto salvation" and become children of God (John 1:12; 3:15,16,18)
but were instead children of the devil.
Proverbs 24:16 - For a
righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
In 1 Timothy 4:1 - Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
I presume that you believe "depart from the faith" means that born again believers depart from saving faith in Christ and lose their salvation. The words "the faith" (Greek tês pisteôs) in this context means the apostolic faith, the New Testament apostolic body of doctrines. Some who are in a state of
professing adherence to the apostolic faith, nevertheless will in both doctrine and practice depart from it, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
Some "nominal" Christians will abandon the Christian faith, the New Testament apostolic body of doctrines for cults or false religions. That does not prove they were previously born again. In 1 John 2:19, we read - They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
Works-salvationists do not have this "certain hope" because they expect to receive eternal life based on the merits of their performance/works. They could never know for sure if they "measured up" to whatever standards they are trying to meet.
