TCGreek said:
All that I see in Paul, in my years of studying his writings, are two group of people in respect to the cross, those who are perishing and those who are being saved (1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 4:3-6).
Absolutely. But, if you look at the beginning of the letters that Paul wrote, to whom is he writing?
1 Corinthians is written to the called out ones (church) in Corinth, who are called saints (based upon their lifestyles),
and those in every place who are invoking the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Not unsaved people. These warnings are written to saved people.
2 Corinthians is written to the called out ones (church) in Corinth, and the saints in Achaia. Also, written to saved people.
So, what are they in danger of losing?
TCGreek said:
"Those who are perishing" translates the articular present middle participle tois apollumenois, and the use of this participle is substantive, describing a class, namely, "those who are perishing." I am going to take Paul at his word unless Scripture elsewhere teaches otherwise.
Middle voice: to cause for one's self. They are perishing; they are losing their lives.
Tell me, how do you lose something that you don't have?
Can you lose your everlasting salvation?
TCGreek said:
I take Paul to mean a class of people, namely, "those who are perishing" over against "those who are being saved." Call me a simple, but that is how I see it.
And that's exactly what it says. But, it doesn't say those who have never been saved, against those who are being saved.
Remember, in Acts 16:31, we're told that if we believe (punctiliar; mental assent), we
will be saved, with no doubts about it, unless God is a liar.
Yet, in many other places, pointed out to by Lacy (among others), salvation is conditional.
If they are one and the same, then there's a major contradiction, and the Bible is worthless.
TCGreek said:
I fail to see that "soul" refers to a person's rewards. I see no clear Scripture to back such an assertion. In Genesis 2:7, man becomes a "living soul", nephesh chayyah, while the LXX has psyche zosan. All with others, I think "living being", referring to the whole person is a better rendition. I have never seen any serious bible student take "soul" to refer to Adam's rewards.
The soul is the life. Even the animals have souls.
The saving of the soul, or the saving of the life, is in the instances we are talking about, the saving of the life in the age to come.
You, a saved person, can also perish, just as the children of Israel, already in the Promised Land, perished in the wilderness.
Matthew 16:25-26: For whosoever will save his life [soul] shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life [soul] for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
The word "soul" is used four times in these two verses, although it's translated two different ways. "Soul" and "life" are interchangeable. If you save your life now, you will lose it in the age to come. (Not forever; "age" is limited in duration.)
Although "perish" is found twice in verse 25 (translated as "lose" both times), the word "lose" in verse 26 is not the word "perish". It’s the same word as found in 1 Corinthians 3:15, which says, "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." "Loss" is the same word; suffer loss. And, that’s what will happen. If a man gains the whole world; the world system; everything the world offers, he will lose; he will have no profit; his p&l will be lacking at the Judgment Seat of Christ; it will not be in the black, it will be in the red.
TCGreek said:
Besides, when Jesus refers to a person "forfeiting his soul", like so many others I do not think he is referring to a person's rewards. Rather, being in the company of DA Carson and many others, "soul" here refers to one's life or self. And I rather be wrong in the company of men like Dr. Carson than fall for your position.
I highlighted the pertinent part. That's exactly what it says. "Soul" is "life".
That's what you lose.
How can you lose it if you don't have it?
TCGreek said:
I cannot believe what I have read that "hell" and the "lake of fire" are two different places.
Then show me in Scriptures where they are synonymous.
I can tell you this, if you're using the KJV, there are four completely different words that are translated as "hell", and none of them are "lake of fire". Two of them are synonymous, in that one is the Hebrew "sheol" and one is the Greek "hades", which is nothing more than the unseen world of the dead. Another one is Tartarus, which is found once in the NT and once in the Apocrypha, and in both instances used in reference to angels who are being bound for chastisement.
The fourth word is "gehenna". The gehenna warnings are aimed at saved people.
Do you think a saved person has to worry about going to the lake of fire forever and ever?
TCGreek said:
I always thought that the fire of hell that Jesus spoke so freely about in the Gospel narratives was a reference to the lake of fire.
Then show it.
I will tell you that it refers to fire, but so does the Judgment Seat of Christ. Is the Judgment Seat the same thing as the lake of fire?
TCGreek said:
I rather be wrong with them.
That's a very telling statement.
Reminds me of an elder who recently stated to me, "I don't care what the Bible says, this is what we believe."