once saved always saved?

I have been asked to address the important and controversial question involving the subject of "eternal security," as that is often called.  It is also commonly referred to as "Once Saved Always Saved" (OSAS) ~ which, acronym, I will use throughout this essay.  The fact that this subject has long remained a controversial one amongst professing Christians, should serve as a caution to those ~ on either side of the debate ~ who may be tempted to treat the subject with less than the utmost care.  Whole books have been written on this subject; whereas, I must condense my arguments to a blog-length essay.

last generation

The above image of someone holding in their hand something which looks very much like a tree made in the form of an electronic printed-circuit board, is highly symbolic.  It means that man now holds in his hands the ability to manipulate living things, by means of computer technology.  Moreover, by "manipulate" I do not mean merely to "tweak" things here and there.  But the intersection (coming together) of computer technology and biological sciences has brought mankind to the point of being capable of creating entirely new and living entities designed according to human engineering principles.  And, yes, you are free to let your imagination run wild to conceive of any possible outcome of that ~ and still be within the realm of possibility.  That rapidly emerging field of knowledge is commonly called "Synthetic Biology".

thinking out of the box

If you want something badly enough, I suppose, you will find a way to it.  Orville and his brother Wilbur wanted to fly.  Of course, that was impossible: 6,000 years of human history had proved that man is just not made to fly.  But fly they did.  And I am flabbergasted at how simple the answer really was.  The whole secret lay in the cross-sectional shape of the wing: flat on the bottom and curved on top; simple in the extreme!  For six-thousand years, that secret stared man right in the face, as it were, being displayed by every flying bird.  But Orville and Wilbur discovered the secret of flight, in order as they were willing to think "out of the box".  Because they tenaciously pursued their dream ~ and the secret things of God, so, they changed the world.

transitioning to a New Order (part 2)

Samson did not have the physique of a world-class body-builder; else, the Philistines would not then have sought, with Delilah's help, to discover the secret of Samson's great strength.  But it was the Anointing of the Spirit of God which gave Samson his supernatural abilities.  That must also have been the case with David and his band of "mighty men" ~ whose unparalleled exploits are recorded in Scripture.  In searching for an image to represent king David's small but mighty army, I found a number of images which looked as if they came (in fact, some of them did come) straight out of Hollywood.  Then, I found the image shown above.  David's warrior-companions were just regular men, real men ~ in the hands of the Almighty God.

transitioning to a New Order (part 1)

The Holy Ghost has directed my mind to the fact that this is not merely the "terminal" generation (the last generation before the return of Christ), but ours is also a transitional one.  God is going to bring in a new and radically different dispensation ~ within the lifetime of this present generation!  Although we have in Bible prophecy a broad outline of future events, still there remains much mystery concerning the role of Believers, from this time until the Rapture of the Church.

blasphemy in the churches

Noah Webster wrote the book ~ literally ~ on the meaning of words in the English language.  Here's what the original 1828 edition of Noah Webster's "An American Dictionary of the English Language" says about the word "blasphemer":

Shiloh is forsaken

"When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand."   Psalm 78:59-61

the battle in the pits

I searched and searched for an image of the prophet Jeremiah in the slime pits, but I found nothing which spoke to me of his suffering there ~ until, I came across the one shown above.  Images have a way, oftentimes, of bringing out something deeper than words alone can say.  The above image speaks volumes to my soul about "the battle in the pits", which every true soldier of Christ must face sooner or later.

how close is judgment?

According to Scripture, we, in whom dwells the Spirit of God, the very Spirit of Truth, are given by God to KNOW the approaching time of the day of the Lord:

collapse of civilization

The above image is from the futuristic, post-Apocalyptic movie titled "Mad Max".  Post-Apocalyptic means "after the destruction of the world-as-we-know-it".  Though I have not seen that movie, yet, I do know (from having seen snippets in ads) that it portrays human survivors of the Apocalypse (nuclear holocaust?) as beasts, in terms of what they do to survive, including the way they treat other humans.  "Mad Max" is Hollywood's version of what the collapse of civilization looks like.  But that is a wicked deception.

the Resurrection

Lazarus was very ill.  His two sisters--with whom he lived--did everything they possibly could to restore him to health.  Finally, realizing the seriousness of their brother's condition, they sent a messenger to Jesus, asking him to come, and quickly.  Jesus was a very close friend of theirs.  Though the situation looked very bad, yet they believed that Jesus--whose healing power they were well aware of, would come to them and everything would be alright.  Or, so they hoped.

church mice

"Secularization—that is, the gradual conformity of our thinking, beliefs, commitments, and practices to the pattern of this fading age—is not just something that happens to the church; it is something that happens in the church. In fact, it’s difficult to think of secularism as anything other than a Christian heresy." (Michael S. Horton, The Gospel Commission: Recovering God's Strategy for Making Disciples)

“I may err but I am not a heretic, for the first has to do with the mind [the understanding] and the second with the will!”  (Meister Eckhart)

after the tribulation

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. . . ."  (Matthew 24:29)

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. . . ." (Revelation 6:12)

what is "spirit" ?

What is a person's "spirit"?  And why does it matter?  The answers to both of those supremely important questions are almost universally unknown and misunderstood--even among religious, or supposedly spiritually-minded persons, including Christians.

The image at right purports to show a person's "spirit" leaving his body.  The image on the left is supposed to be an actual photograph of a person's spirit (the white, wispy thing near the ceiling), caught on film at the moment of death.  The image on the right is obviously a dramatized representation of the "spirit" leaving a woman's body.  The similarity between what is supposed to be the "spirit", in both of the above images, is remarkable.

But does a person's "spirit" actually appear anything like what is shown in the above images?  And, if so, what does that mean?  For, even if a "spirit" does look like what is shown, above: So, what?  What does that tell us about the actual nature of "spirit"?  In fact, it tells us nothing at all, except, perhaps (if those images were true), that "spirit" is something "smoke-like".  Big deal.  Then, we still don't know what "spirit" is.

faith: and one old man

Yes, I know, the old man pictured above isn't dressed like how I imagine old Father Abraham would have dressed.  But, then, there are no actual photos of anyone in ancient times.  And I want to see someone real.  The man, above, looks to me to be about the same age that Abraham was -- 100 years old, when Abraham fathered Isaac.  God had by that time already been dealing with Abraham for at least a quarter-century and more, raising him up in faith.  And Abraham was a willing student; though he didn't always get an 'A' on every test along the way.  But God knows what He's doing -- all the time.

the DAY of the LORD

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.   (2 Peter 3:10)

a heartbeat away from eternity

Everyone needs to watch this video.  It confronts us with eternal reality.  "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment."  Life in this world is short.  And hell is real.  So is heaven.  The choice is yours - by God's grace.

Thanks for all of your excellent work: SEVENTHVIAL213 (YouTube channel)

lepers -- in Revival

As I searched for a suitable image for this essay, I felt more and more moved by the Holy Ghost, with the message of God.  As I examined scores of pictures of lepers, my heart was so touched with their plight and their need.  The lepers pictured above, do not appear nearly as disfigured as many others I saw in other photos (some of which were gruesome by any standard).  Leprosy remains a plague the like of which is practically unknown amongst modern societies.  Nevertheless, it is estimated that there may be as many as 2 million lepers in the world today (mostly in Asia, Africa, and Latin America).  Even with modern medical science, leprosy is difficult to treat.  Throughout history (until 1941 and later), leprosy was a death sentence; thus, lepers have ever been outcasts from society.  Unable to work or to live among the general population, victims of leprosy typically are reduced to a beggarly existence.  Who can imagine their suffering?

Yet, I want you to consider the utterly hopeless condition of four particular lepers who lived long ago.  For, theirs is a story that entails a miraculous deliverance, and important insights regarding the mind of God.