Is Sinning on Purpose Willful Sin ?

[MoKan Baptist]

Yes, salvation is the work of God. But that's not what they were asking. They wanted to know what THEY had to do.

They asked Him specifically, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" They wanted to know what was required of them to do God's work. He was letting them know they couldn't. God's work is the belief that saves. I stand by my previous comment.

What does it matter whether Calvinists withhold wrath or not? Doesn't matter.

You're right, it doesn't. It was tongue-in-cheek.

 

[FreeGrace]

They asked Him specifically, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" They wanted to know what was required of them to do God's work. He was letting them know they couldn't. God's work is the belief that saves. I stand by my previous comment.You're right, it doesn't. It was tongue-in-cheek.

I'm in full agreement.

 

[gr8grace3]

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

It is very interesting that one just can't get away from eternal security in the Bible.
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

saved/sozo is in the perfect tense......the action of being saved continues on forever. the perfect tense emphasizes the continuation of the action(saved.)

Let me get this straight then, you believe our actual faith saves us? It is not by Grace? It is by faith?

What's to debate?

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31 NASB)

When one believes they are saved. This is not in contention. I think it's hard for you to grasp that we're saying that because you instantly hear 'forever and irreversible' when you hear the word 'saved' and have no capacity to see that being saved now, the moment you believe, does not have to mean forever and irreversibly. Your salvation is conditioned on believing, start to finish.

I agree with you. The moment we believe we are saved.

Luke 7:50 that you posted above shows it is forever. And you have never provided a verse that clearly demonstrates that eternal life(salvation) is not forever and is reversible.

This is not the faithlessness of no longer trusting in the blood of Christ. How do we know that? Because immediately before that he talks about no longer trusting in the blood of Christ:

"If we deny Him, He also will deny us" (2 Timothy 2:12 NASB)

So, pay attention carefully to what I'm saying: It's impossible that the 'being faithless' in vs. 13 can be the 'denying him' he just spoke about in vs. 12.

When we deny him, he denies us (vs.12). When we are faithless, he cannot deny us. So you can see it's IMPOSSIBLE that 'denying him' and 'being faithless' are the same thing--the outcome of the one is different than the other. Understand? So we need to repent immediately of saying that 'being faithless' is the same as 'denying him'. Immediately. .

I disagree with you. Are you implying that this is yet another way of losing salvation?!? And what version are you using? Where does 2 Tim 2:12 say," If we no longer trust in the blood of Christ?"

So lets use your "rule" on this one and go to the immediate verse above yours and get back to the truth of the verses.....2 Tim 2:12~~12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
He will deny us reign with Him.

2 Tim 2:11~~11It is a trustworthy statement:
For if(First class conditional clause/And we HAVE died with him!) we died with Him, we will also live with Him;.....Our union with Christ.

We are in union with Christ, verse 11 says we are identified with Him in His death and Life.

So your interpretation does not fit. Verse 11 says we have died with Him and WILL live with Him.

Yes, that's what they say. If you have to continue to believe to be saved then they say that makes salvation by your own work, not Christ's..

I think your stretching that one a bit. How about leaving that idea out of the debate? No one here is advocating that silly belief.

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

Saved in this verse is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense stresses the continuing action of being saved......saved forever.

As long as that one shot freewill decision that saves continues, we are in agreement about this.

This reasoning is similar to the hegalian fallacy. Every thesis must have an antithesis. The Bible must have the antithesis clearly stated.

We agree on the idea that salvation is a one shot, freewill decision to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31 clearly and unambiguously gives us this idea. We differ on the idea that that belief MUST continue in order to be saved.

What verse clearly and unambiguously states that, "But if you do not continue in this belief you will lose your salvation." And I would suggest to you that a truth of this magnitude would of been put in Acts 16:31 or 16:32.

Are you afraid that my freewill decision is somehow the works that Paul said can not justify? Paul said believing is in fact the very thing that justifies. If I'm mistaken about what he said, show me in his teaching that he does not say this but says something else.

I have no idea what you are talking about here? Faith is not a work, it is a system that has no merit in and of itself.

Again, you believe that your belief saves you? The Jews believe in one God. Are they saved?

You see a red car and believe that it is red. Did your belief make it red? If you stop believing it is red, does it stop being red? Your belief has no merit and does not change the fact that the car is red, the car continues to be red.

You see Jesus Christ and believe on Him. Did your belief make Jesus Christ a savior? If you stop believing, does he stop being a savior? Your belief has no merit and does not change the fact of who He is...a savior.

 

[jonahmano]

You lay hold of the free gift of salvation by believing In the Lord Jesus Christ. Your believing did not save you,Christ saved you. The instant you believed, Christ saved you.Acts 16:31 points it out. Would you care to give us your interpretation of Acts 16:31?

So your doctrine has established that it's the responsibility of Christ to save us because if my believing has not saved me then if Christ was not interested in saving me then it's waste even believing in Christ. The fact is Christ saved me already but my salvation got secured only when I acknowledged that his sacrifice on cross was atonement for my sins.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

If we are faithless then He will remain faithful to his Word and not to our disobedience.

I have yet to see that one! Going to hell for continued belief?!?! It is about as ridiculous as the idea that my own belief saves me and not Christ. Grace saves us through our one shot freewill decision. My freewill decision is not the basis of my salvation. It is the way to get to the object(Christ) that actually does the saving.

It is as simple as that. The presidential pardon is already earned by Christ by dying for us on a cross and that's grace the unmerited favour of God. Christ does have to do any saving because the atonement of sins was already done on the cross when he said it's finish. A soul gets saved only when he/she become a bride of Christ.

 

[gr8grace3]

So your doctrine has established that it's the responsibility of Christ to save us because if my believing has not saved me then if Christ was not interested in saving me then it's waste even believing in Christ. The fact is Christ saved me already but my salvation got secured only when I acknowledged that his sacrifice on cross was atonement for my sins..

No. It is the Promise of Christ. He asks us to believe what He did on the Cross for us and He Graciously saves us. Your salvation was secured the moment you believed on Christ alone for your salvation. Do you rely on Christ alone?

If we are faithless then He will remain faithful to his Word and not to our disobedience.

I agree.
New American Standard Bible Eph 1:13
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

2 Cor 1:20~~New American Standard Bible
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.
~~~~~~~~
Romans 6:23~~New American Standard Bible
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 11:29~~New American Standard Bible
for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

It is as simple as that. The presidential pardon is already earned by Christ by dying for us on a cross and that's grace the unmerited favour of God. Christ does have to do any saving because the atonement of sins was already done on the cross when he said it's finish. A soul gets saved only when he/she become a bride of Christ.

A person is saved the moment they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They HAVE eternal life.
1 John 5:13~~New American Standard Bible
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Every believer is a bride the moment they believe.

2 Cor 11:2~~New American Standard Bible
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

 

[Deborah13]

On the contrary, He was being quite literal. He contradicted their concept of them having to work with the concept that salvation is "the work of God ... "

God enables our belief. We have no hope of believing in Christ without the overriding influence of the Holy Spirit. Truly, "There is none righteous not even one,"
as Paul writes in Romans 3:10, quoting (or perhaps paraphrasing) Psalm 14:1-3. But through God's divine intervention, we can believe, though I do believe that we have some small part in either accepting or rejecting His invitation ...

... may the Calvinists withhold their wrath.

I'll just added to that .....
Without God's work being done in our hearts by Him, accepting Christ, we will never do the works of God, righteous work that He approves of, works of faith.

 

[Deborah13]

One “creative way” anti-OSAS so often “makes the plan words go away” (in their minds) is the frequent and highly specific use of ellipses (...) or even the omission of them when necessary to complete a verse/sentence. You didn't quote the entire verse 2 nor the entire sentence of Paul's (verse1-2)

Let's look into what's in theses particular ellipses of yours here (and there one on the front end and the trailing end of Paul’s point:

1. From your first … what do we find? (Now I make known to you, …
Paul’s switching subjects (moving on from the gifts and orderly worship topic of Chapter 14) to a ‘new’ topic (a now topic) within his letter to them. I say ‘new’ in scare quotes because his new topic is that he’s reminding the church of the Gospel that he preached to them earlier. (not that the topic switch means OSAS = yes or no). But the other portion of the first ellipses is important. Very important. Paul’s speaking to saved “Brethren” unless they are not saved in the first place. And some there were NOT saved in the first place.

2. From your second … (which you failed to even include the ellipses as if you were quoting a complete ending to verse 2) what do we find? (brethren, … UNLESS YOU BLIEVED IN VAIN.
Paul knows full well that there are people in this church that had “believed in vain”. How do we know this? Read on:

Verses 3-11 is said by scholars to be one of the earliest Christian Creeds. The “first importance” Creed that Paul himself received from others. It is one of the very definitions of what it takes to become a Christian. Unless you believe this Creed, you ain’t a saved Christian! And some there didn't believe it.

How do we know that there were people there that were never saved in the first place? See V34…for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame and Paul even tells us so in another … verse that you omit from this passage’s proper understanding:

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?​

Good question. Answer is they “believed in vain” and had a worthless faith. Obviously and were therefore never holding fast to his Creed in the first place. You don't understand Paul's logical flow of his sentence (verse 1-2) or either you do and just don't care about it.

You cannot believe in the resurrection of Christ, if you don’t believe in any resurrection of the dead, was his point! if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless;

What else is obvious from the …’s in/around your partial verse quotation (that you so plainly quote so often)? The very definition of what it takes to have a non-vain belief, in the first place:

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain. ...
so also in Christ all will be made alive.​

Paul’s telling them that just as sure as “all will be made alive”, God given grace will not prove vain. Why? Because it leads to God given faith, to include belief in the death/resurrection of the Lord (Rom 10:9), that leads to their salvation. UNLESS that didn’t have this grace, this faith, this salvation in the first place that is. (see how God saved Saul for an example of how this works)

Plus, these are just some of the points that have been presented to you concerning your error on what this passage teaches in it’s ellipses in the past, which you continue to ignore : (http://christianforums.net/Fellowsh...reason-you-cant-lose-your-salvation-is.54780/)

1. “they would not have had salvation without acknowledging Christ's Resurrection (Rom 10:9)”
2. “If the Corinthian Christians had believed from the beginning that there was no Resurrection [as some of the non-Christians there did not believe in any ressurection, Paul says so in verse 12], then they were not saved in the first place - because salvation depends upon Christ's Resurrection.”
3. “3 For I passed on to you as of first importance[a] what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised up on the third day according to the scriptures” [Obviously if they didn’t believe in any resurrection, then they didn’t believe one of Paul’s “first importance” salvation Creedal points.]
4. “Where does the text say that every person in the Corinth church was saved? It doesn’t. Anywhere. Anti-OSAS assumes the entire Corithin church was saved to begin with even after OSAS points out “But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is empty; you are still in your sins and your faith is in vain.”
5. “1 Cor 15 does not tell us how to become un-saved. It tells unsaved people how to become saved. “unless you believed in vain” does not say ‘unless you once believed and were saved and then later develop a vain belief, you become de-saved’. But that’s how the poster interprets this passage.”
6. “Some in Corinth said there was no resurrection from the dead (1Cor 15:12). If there is no resurrection, then they “believed in vain”. Those who denied a resurrection did not "hold fast the word which" Paul "preached." They believed only part of the Gospel, and ignored the rest.”
Sorry for the length of this post. But there’s so much evidence against your view of 1 Cor 15, that it’s hard to keep it short.

Well said.

 

[Ricko]

I have some questions. Who can help?

What is Paul telling the Galatians in Galatians 5:19-22?

The Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32]
The Prodigal Pig. [2 Peter 2:22]

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the son left his father to live it up. He found he wasn't happy living in sin so he went back home. He was a true son of God. Contrast that with the Prodigal pig of 2 Peter 2:22 who cleaned himself up but was happier wallowing in the mire. Even though the pig got himself cleaned up he was never a true son of God.

Help me to find the truth.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Let me get this straight then, you believe our actual faith saves us? It is not by Grace? It is by faith?

It is by grace through faith. Take away 'faith' and you no longer have the way through to the grace of God.

My faith saved me in exactly the way Jesus means the sinful woman's faith saved her:

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

Try laying your 'faith doesn't save' message on Jesus.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

They asked Him specifically, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" They wanted to know what was required of them to do God's work. He was letting them know they couldn't. God's work is the belief that saves. I stand by my previous comment.You're right, it doesn't. It was tongue-in-cheek.

The point of the passage is that believing is something you do. But many are convinced that if you 'do' anything toward justification that you are guilty of trying to earn your own declaration of righteousness. How silly. Paul makes it clear what 'doing' justifies. And he makes it clear what 'doing'--what works--can not justify, and that the believing that we do, not God, surely is not among them.

 

[dadof10]

In my opinion, that person may never have been saved if he never committed to those acts first.

Romans 10:9 ESV
"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
"For by grace you have been saved through Faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

As I have also heard, it is much more than just believing in Jesus and the Word. There is your relationship with Him which of all matters the most.

1 John 1:9 ESV
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I agree that our ONGOING relationship with Him matters most. Note that two of the three verses you posted have conditions attached for salvation. "IF you confess...and believe..." and "IF we confess..." Would you consider "confessing" and "belief" are "works"? If not, what do you think Paul means by the word "works"?

 

[gr8grace3]

It is by grace through faith. Take away 'faith' and you no longer have the way through to the grace of God.

Acts 16:31 takes away your argument on this one. We both agreed on this one. The moment we believe we are saved. We received Grace at that moment.

My faith saved me in exactly the way Jesus means the sinful woman's faith saved her:

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50 NASB)

Try laying your 'faith doesn't save' message on Jesus.

So you don't believe it is by grace. It is by the merit of your faith.......Your Grace doesn't save, it is my merit it my faith.
New American Standard Bible Rom 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Try laying your, " It is not by your grace that I am saved, It is by the actual meritorious faith that I have."

And Luke 7:50 has "saved" in the perfect tense. The perfect tense says that the action of being saved is forever.

 

[gr8grace3]

I have some questions. Who can help?

What is Paul telling the Galatians in Galatians 5:19-22?

The Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32]
The Prodigal Pig. [2 Peter 2:22]

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the son left his father to live it up. He found he wasn't happy living in sin so he went back home. He was a true son of God. Contrast that with the Prodigal pig of 2 Peter 2:22 who cleaned himself up but was happier wallowing in the mire. Even though the pig got himself cleaned up he was never a true son of God.

Help me to find the truth.

Lets stick to the prodigal son. At what point was He no longer a son?

 

[FreeGrace]

I have some questions. Who can help?

What is Paul telling the Galatians in Galatians 5:19-22?

The Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32]
The Prodigal Pig. [2 Peter 2:22]

In the parable of the Prodigal Son the son left his father to live it up. He found he wasn't happy living in sin so he went back home. He was a true son of God. Contrast that with the Prodigal pig of 2 Peter 2:22 who cleaned himself up but was happier wallowing in the mire. Even though the pig got himself cleaned up he was never a true son of God.

Help me to find the truth.

In Gal 5:19-22, which parallels 1 Cor 6:9-10 and Eph 5:5, is a warning of loss of the reward of co-reigning with Christ for those believers who are faithless and disobedient. To co-reign with Christ is earned, per Rom 8:17b and 2 Tim 2:12. Those believers will be in the kingdom, but on the sidelines, rather than actively participating with Christ's kingdom.

Luke 15:11-32 is about restoration of fellowship through confession of sin and repentance of lifestyle. The parable begins with the prodigal as a son, and ends with him as a son. He was always a son. Instead of OSAS, how about "once a son, always a son".

2 Pet 2:22 is about believers who return to their former lifestyles. How is it "worse at the end"? This isn't about loss of salvation, but worse in their present life. It is worse because they lose out on God's blessings in their lives, and the discipline that God dishes out to those children who are disobedient (Heb 12). Let's not forget; God knows perfectly how to spank His children.

 

[FreeGrace]

It is by grace through faith. Take away 'faith' and you no longer have the way through to the grace of God.

You keep ignoring all the verses about being a new creature, born again, regenerated, a child of God. None of these things can be reversed, or the Bible would say so. And it doesn't say so. Only you say so.

Paul tells us in Rom 6:23 that eternal life is a gift, and Rom 11:29 says that God's gifts are irrevocable. Your argument is with Paul, who wrote Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Try laying your 'faith doesn't save' message on Jesus.

No one is doing that.

Please response to these 6 Biblical principles:
1. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would be with each believer forever. Jn 14:16
2. Paul said the indwelling Holy Spirit is a pledge or guarantee for the day of redemption.
3. Paul said that even if we (believers) are unfaithful (lack faith), God remains faithful. 2 Tim 2:13
4. God cannot deny Himself. 2 Tim 2:13
5. The Holy Spirit indwells everyone who has believed and seals them for the day of redemption.
6. Eternal life is a gift (Rom 6:23) and God's gifts are irrevocable (Rom 11:29).

If one follows each point here, there is no other conclusion than when one believes they are guaranteed salvation on the day of redemption.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Acts 16:31 takes away your argument on this one. We both agreed on this one. The moment we believe we are saved. We received Grace at that moment.

What we agreed on--and which I've been saying all along--is that the person who believes is saved in that moment. What we don't agree on is the OSAS bias that you instantly place on the word 'saved'. You see 'saved' as meaning 'forever and irreversible', as if that's what the word, by definition, means.

So you don't believe it is by grace. It is by the merit of your faith.......Your Grace doesn't save, it is my merit it my faith.

I believe I am saved by grace in exactly the way Jesus himself said the sinful woman was saved by her faith. No less, no more. If you want to twist it into something Jesus did not mean for the sake of an argument that is between you and him, not me.

New American Standard Bible Rom 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Try laying your, " It is not by your grace that I am saved, It is by the actual meritorious faith that I have."

My believing is the conduit through which I received the grace of God. But so many in the church have been conditioned to think that if I do ANYTHING towards salvation I'm trying to justify myself by my own works. But Paul is very, very clear what things you do can't justify, and which things you do can, and do justify.

This ridiculous fear of doing ANYTHING in regard to salvation, even confessing and believing, is what has given rise to these distorted grace/works doctrines of the Protestant church. Obviously, 'believing', and 'continuing in that exact same believing' are NOT among the works that Paul says can not justify. OBVIOUSLY.

And Luke 7:50 has "saved" in the perfect tense. The perfect tense says that the action of being saved is forever.

That is NOT what the perfect tense means. It means 'presently done', which non-OSAS does not argue with. What 'presently done' does not mean is 'irreversible', Only the context the 'presently completed' verb is used in can determine if what is 'presently done' can be reversed, or not (obviously, 'getting dirty now' is not irreversible, while 'cutting off your head now' is). And in this case it is the context that is the very thing in debate. And we both know you can not use your own answer to a debate to answer the debate. You're in effect saying, "saved means forever and irreversible, therefore, we know that 'being saved' means forever and irreversible." Circular reasoning is the sin of the OSAS argument.

 

[FreeGrace]

What we agreed on--and which I've been saying all along--is that the person who believes is saved in that moment. What we don't agree on is the OSAS bias that you instantly place on the word 'saved'. You see 'saved' as meaning 'forever and irreversible', as if that's what the word, by definition, means.

The Greek for "will be saved" is FUTURE tense, all from a point in time (aorist tense) belief. That's where the forever and irreversible comes from.

btw, sincd you bring up irreversible, please deal with Rom 6:23 and 11:29. Eternal life is a gift and God's gifts are irrevocable, which is the same as irreversible.

That is NOT what the perfect tense means. It means 'presently done', which non-OSAS does not argue with.

That's not all. It includes the fact of results that go on.

From: http://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/inter-tense.htm

Perfect Tense
The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.

Keep in mind that in Acts 16:31, Paul used the aorist tense for "believe", meaning a point in time, and NOT about continuing action, which you keep inserting which isn't found in Scripture.

What 'presently done' does not mean is 'irreversible'

What IS irreversible/irrevocable are God's gifts, per Rom 11:29. And eternal life is a gift, per Rom 6:23.

Again, these 6 principles prove that salvation is guaranteed, and eternal security is Biblical:

1. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would be with each believer forever. Jn 14:16
2. Paul said the indwelling Holy Spirit is a pledge or guarantee for the day of redemption.
3. Paul said that even if we (believers) are unfaithful (lack faith), God remains faithful. 2 Tim 2:13
4. God cannot deny Himself. 2 Tim 2:13
5. The Holy Spirit indwells everyone who has believed and seals them for the day of redemption.
6. Eternal life is a gift (Rom 6:23) and God's gifts are irrevocable (Rom 11:29).

If one follows each point here, there is no other conclusion than when one believes they are guaranteed salvation on the day of redemption.

 

[Ricko]

Lets stick to the prodigal son. At what point was He no longer a son?

The prodigal son always was a son. He didn't enjoy living in sin so he returned to his Father. The prodigal pig never was a son. He cleaned his act up and started acting like a son, but realized he enjoyed sin more. The pig never was a son.

 

[Ricko]

In Gal 5:19-22, which parallels 1 Cor 6:9-10 and Eph 5:5, is a warning of loss of the reward of co-reigning with Christ for those believers who are faithless and disobedient. To co-reign with Christ is earned, per Rom 8:17b and 2 Tim 2:12. Those believers will be in the kingdom, but on the sidelines, rather than actively participating with Christ's kingdom.

I don't recall reading that in my bible.

Luke 15:11-32 is about restoration of fellowship through confession of sin and repentance of lifestyle. The parable begins with the prodigal as a son, and ends with him as a son. He was always a son. Instead of OSAS, how about "once a son, always a son".

I agree.

2 Pet 2:22 is about believers who return to their former lifestyles. How is it "worse at the end"? This isn't about loss of salvation, but worse in their present life. It is worse because they lose out on God's blessings in their lives, and the discipline that God dishes out to those children who are disobedient (Heb 12). Let's not forget; God knows perfectly how to spank His children.

He is speaking to unbelievers who have heard but haven't yet believed. He tells them in the prior verse they'd be better off never even hearing the gospel.

 

[FreeGrace]

I don't recall reading that in my bible.

I gave you the verses:
In Gal 5:19-22, which parallels 1 Cor 6:9-10 and Eph 5:5, is a warning of loss of the reward of co-reigning with Christ for those believers who are faithless and disobedient. To co-reign with Christ is earned, per Rom 8:17b and 2 Tim 2:12. Those believers will be in the kingdom, but on the sidelines, rather than actively participating with Christ's kingdom.

I said this:
2 Pet 2:22 is about believers who return to their former lifestyles. How is it "worse at the end"? This isn't about loss of salvation, but worse in their present life. It is worse because they lose out on God's blessings in their lives, and the discipline that God dishes out to those children who are disobedient (Heb 12). Let's not forget; God knows perfectly how to spank His children.

He is speaking to unbelievers who have heard but haven't yet believed. He tells them in the prior verse they'd be better off never even hearing the gospel.

Let's see what Scripture says about who he was addressing in 2 Peter:
1Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

I disagree with your opinion, given 1:1.