Calvin was right????

[Pastor Eric]

Shalom,

Hard as it is for me to believe this but I have found that John Calvin was right. That Once you are "saved" you are always saved! That there is Eternal Security for the Believer. Moreover that this has been "predestined" by GOD for all that will accept it and to them that HE has "elected".
Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed. - KJV

As a bit of support for this scripture let me save you from having to look this up in other versions by placing some 'literal' or at least more so 'literal' version here of the same scripture;
{Do} this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. - NASB
And this, knowing the time, that for us, the hour already [is] to be aroused out of sleep, for now nearer [is] our salvation than when we did believe; - YLT
Even in the Holman CHRISTian Standard Bible which is written by those who call themselves Calvinist we read;
11 Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. -HCSB

Do you see what Paul is saying? Salvation is nearer!It is NOTyet here but it is nearer. Thus we must all agree that Paul did "NOT" believe that a person is saved just because they are a "believer". Being a "believer" is not salvation! Being "baptized" is not salvation! Being "both" is not salvation! Dying, physically in that belief is salvation! Thus Calvin was right when he stated that it is, "eternal security of the believer"! What he didn't state is that it is not obtained however until one dies in that belief! If we understand this then we can understand him to be right in that we are "Once Saved, Always Saved" (OSAS). Why, because we cannot die physically twice!

Jhn 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Jhn 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.
Jhn 10:29 My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand.
We can see through this that it is also true that once we receive "eternal life" then we cannot be removed from the hand of our SAVIOR or our GOD! The problem is that we do not have more than the "promise" of eternal life until we physically die!

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [the same] in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].
When was Y'SHUA glorified? Was it while HE was here? While HE was on the cross? Was it when HE was raised to HIS position as HEIR to GOD's throne? Or will it be when we are all raised to our positions as HEIR and joint heirs? Essencially you could possibly make an argument for the both of the last two statements. Y'SHUA has been glorified to a degree now but HE will not receive the fulness of HIS glory until we have been raised in victory over the devil as well.

In anticipation of the future GOD set this world into motion. HE placed everything here. HE knew all of us while we were still in our mother's womb and actually even before this. In knowing us and the things of this world HE placed into being that ALL of us should be conformed into the image of HIS Son and then HE slayed HIS own Son before the foundation of the earth. At this time HE then created and placed Adam on the earth and allowed him the choice to follow HIS leading and to be conformed into the image of HIS Son or to follow his own way and to live for himself. When HE had made Adam HE had walked with him and had declared before all of the Heavenly host that what HE had made in Adam was "very good"! Adam, in walking with GOD in the Garden knew the voice of GOD. HE had called or elected Adam to follow HIS will but Adam choose not to. Even in this sin Adam knew or recognized the vioce of GOD as it called to him in the Garden!

Adam was predestined to be the father of 'mankind', to be the first 'JESUS' (type of JESUS in his perfection). He was called or elected to follow GOD's leading and way. He knew GOD's voice even in sin. He was everything Calvin says that we are but he still choose to sin! HE choose the here and now over the future. He choose what he could see over what was yet to come. He choose to follow his 'will' over what he was predestined to be; over being conformed into the image of GOD's Son.

Don't settle for what is here and now! Don't look for your salvation on this earth! Don't expect to be "Once Saved and Always Saved" while you are still physically alive.! Don't accept that which is being held out before you on this earth but keep your eyes looking forward to the day and the time when you will inherit your portion of things to come! Keep your eyes on the life that Y'SHUA demonstrated and held out before you so that you do not sink into the waters of this lifestyle as Peter did on the Sea of Galilee. Don't allow others to lead you to become asleep in Zion but be on your guard for it does not yet appear what we shall be!
1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
It does not yet appear what we shall be nor will it until we are again with HIM! Not until we ... see him as he is.

ALL is in place and in order for you to be like HIM "IF" you will follow the leading and the example of CHRIST, Y'SHUA!
Hbr 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Run and not be weary but run the race before you unto it's appointed completion. Then and only then will you prove Calvin to be right that you will forever be "saved, once and for always"!

 

[Pastor Eric]

Phl 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,
Phl 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Phl 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Phl 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Phl 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Notice how much of this is either written in or implies the future!

Paul continues after the verses you quoted and leads his readers to look toward him as a living example of how to live toward this future which is still before them. In concluding this chapter he states;
Phl 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phl 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

On another but related subject this then leads us to read differently the following;
Jhn 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Speaking of Judas, Y'SHUA is stating that HE has kept alive all of the Disciples that HIS FATHER had given HIM except Judas who died after serving satan or sin. With the above understanding we can then reread;
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we reread this we can now see that as in the physical case of Judas that nothing can take us from CHRIST but our own choice! Nothing can separate us but us! We are our own worst enemy!

2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
Now we can see and understand what Peter is meaning when he wrote the above quote! We can see that it is possible to be "Born again" and yet to turn from this and not be saved when you lay this physical body down. It is possible to walk with, talk with and see the fulness of YHVH's glory and yet to turn to your own ways rather than to follow after HIS righteousness.

This also takes us to the concept of "election".
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.
Who are they who are called? Who are elected? Those who endure in CHRIST until the end!
Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few [are] chosen.
In this parable we see that only those who come to the Great Wedding Feast of the LORD and who are clothed in HIS righteousness will be "chosen" or "elected" to stay. It is not predetermined or some form of predestination that excludes some. "For GOD so loved the world, that HE gave ... that whosoever" ...." GOD so loved the world; all of us, not just some arbitrarily "elected" group.

This understanding was a true revelation to Peter when he stated;
Act 10:34 Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Thus we need to see and understand that YHVH is calling to "the world" but only those who will continue in the faith that HE has given a measure of (which HE has given the measure of faith to all men [mankind]) will be elected or chosen! Thus NO ONE has been pre-chosen or predetermined to be a child of GOD but ALL have been called for GOD is not a respecter of men. HE has laid out a banquet, a feast for any and all who will come. HE has sent you and me and everyone who knows of HIM to the highways and hedges;
Luk 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled.
That we might do HIS bidding and lead all men to HIM via us following in the footsteps of Y'SHUA and laying our lives down for others while they are still sinners. HE has not called us to judge but to offer HIM to everyone and let HIM be the judge. HE has not called us to be exclusive but to be like HIM and to invite everyone to HIS banquet.

When we follow in the path of righteousness. When we follow the example of Paul and/or Peter. When we follow after the lifestyle of Y'SHUA we will keep our focus on YHVH and we will not sink into the waters, the troubles, the ways of this world but rather we will walk on top of them. Not because we are something. Not because we have been "elected or chosen" but because we have clothed our "self" in HIS righteousness! Not because we live but because HE lives in and through us! It is not because of "who" we are, ... for we are or the things that represent who we are, are but "dung" (Phil 3:8) before the LORD. It is because of "whose" we are and we are "overcomers" or "elected" only if we continue in CHRIST until the very end and are then resurrected in HIM!

Thus Calvin was right but only if you consider that HE was talking or that his understanding was of a time to come. It is not a time while we are on this earth! From what I have studied of Calvin he did not understand this himself but we have the advantage of further revelation in the SPIRIT (more closely, 20/20 vision).

 

[Pastor Eric]

Shalom,

1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jo 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Becoming like Y'SHUA is a process! It is not an instant change. Being "Born Again" does not instantly make one "saved"!

The words used in the Greek for saved and salvation are; saved- "sozo" and for salvation - "soteria". These are continuing action words. By the use of these words it is to be understood that this is a process much like sanctification is. It is not "supposed" to be considered a one time event that one can look back upon and point to.

This process is most evident when we look at the life of Y'SHUA. Even into the Garden, just before HE was arrested and sent toward HIS crucifixtion, HE was wrestling with HIS FATHER, YHVH, about if there was another way? If HE had to go to the cross? HIS conclusion shows us that this was HIS dilemma when HE states;
Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Even though HE had stated that no one could take HIS life but that HE would be laying it down, I believe that Y'SHUA was in HIS right mind and no one in there "right" mind would willing want to die on a cross of crucifixtion!

This point is further borne out in the verse;
Hbr 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
In this verse not only do we see into the life and dilemma of Y'SHUA but we also see into the question of "Why CHRISTians suffer"? In our suffering we become like HIM!

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The image of the cross brings us to see, in CHRIST, that we are to bear the sins of the world, just as HE did, even though we do not deserve it! Beyond the cross we are to see the glory! The victory over the grave, over sin and over this present world! Notice however, the victory does not come until after the grave! HE is a help in this present age and HE has sent another, a COMFORTER but victory or glory is not to come until we are risen by the power of The SPIRIT from the grave. Then we can say;
1Cr 15:55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
Then we will be saved!
1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
and
Hbr 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

What will you do?
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.

When you stand before YHVH what will be said of you?
Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
or
Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.


Will you prove Calvin to be right and be saved by continuing to be a believer and therby receive "Eternal Security" or will you be destroyed?
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

The choice is yours!
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Choose this day!
Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Choose!