Security of the Believer?

Security of the Believer?
Once saved always saved?

First of all, who is a believer?

It has been my experience in the different churches I have attended in search of the Truth, that most churches say you are a “believer” if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God……but, “…the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:18-20

What does scripture say a believer is?

Mark 16:16-18 (King James Version)
16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

After the church began in Acts 2:38, the Apostles went out doing exactly what Jesus said “believers” would do…..and nothing has changed, there’s been no new covenant……so, it still applies, today….but, people don’t believe it, so they don’t practice it…..

1 Timothy 4:11-13 (King James Version)
11These things command and teach. 12Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers,
in word,
in conversation,
in charity,
in spirit,
in faith,
in purity.
13Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Now, What does “security” mean?

Again, it has been my experience that “security” in most churches means “going to heaven”. But what does the scripture say “security” means?

Job 11:17-19 (King James Version)
17And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. 18And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. 19Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee
Judges 18: NIRV
9 They answered, "Come on! Let's attack them! We've seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't wait any longer. Go there and take it over. 10 When you get there, you will find people who aren't expecting anything bad to happen to them. (“A PEOPLE SECURE” in the KJV) Their land has plenty of room. God has handed it over to you. It's a land that has everything you will ever need."

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So we see what “security” and “believer” mean in the Word of God…….why then has it come to mean something very different in the church? It is because some “scholars” could not tolerate what the Word said because it did not accommodate their pet sins, so they rebelled against it and refused to submit to it…..but rather shook their fists in God’s face and said “I won’t believe You unless You conform to my spiritual comfort…”
Here’s a good example of that:

Eternal Security
http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/eternalsecurity.htm

By I Gordon

‘…nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor. If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance… If I did not believe the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, I think I should be of all men the most miserable, because I should lack any ground of comfort.’ What it is:: That once a lost sinner has put his/her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and has been justified from every charge, being made a partaker of the divine nature, then it is impossible for that person to ever be lost again…Charles Spurgeon.
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Here’s another example – a friend of mine, an older man, told me that he’d been a tither and a deacon and always been a good husband and father, but that he was not going to give up his smoking for anyone, not even God…..and he believed that he and God would just have to come to a compromise over it…..
It has been my experience that God does not change for me or anyone else…..no matter how uncomfortable it is……I must do it His way, or take the highway……many was the time for me (and now for loved one’s of mine) that I wish(ed) God would relax His commandment to accommodate my discomfort or fear…..but it was not to be. Instead, He taught me that I could trust His judgement and I could be confident or His being just in all Hiw ways….therefore, I could pray within His will and abide by His answer, no matter what it was…..knowing that anything He decides is right…..no matter how it feels to me.

Hebrews 10:26-30 (King James Version)
26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
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According to scripture the security of the believer cannot lie in belief only, but in obedience and endurance in that obedience….
Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 24:13
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mark 13:13And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
2 Timothy 4:3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Hebrews 12:5 (King James Version)
5And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Even Paul didn’t consider himself “secure” until he was “there”… Hebrews 12: 12Not 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.

As for me, my only security is that God’s Word is true and He has given me breath to live and choice to choose Him or reject Him, and as long as I
(1) repent (turn away from) of my sin,
(2) receive His Holy Spirit like the Apostles and every other Christian in the New Testament did, with the manifestation of speaking in other tongues, and
(3) obey Him and follow Him, He will lead me right to Him……
and that, is all the security I need……in Jesus Name, amen.

The "church" today is full of people who use the Grace of God as if it were a magic potion which covers up secret and obvious unrepented of sin.....I challenge anyone to prove to me through the scriptures that a person can get to heaven while in sin.....

In reading Galatians 2, I was impressed with Paul's speaking of "the life I now live"......being by faith of Jesus. We all know that the life he led was holy until his death, and that he died for his faith......how can we try to compare our stinking lives to his when we live in compromise with the world and only run to God when we need something....or have a crisis.???
How can we live convinced that we are following the Apostle's Doctrine when we refuse to take on the responsibility for living the Word of God for others to see in us???

Something about human nature - I'm always learning about us. If you just read God's Word and obey it, there's no reason for secrecy. It's out in the open. However, if you pick and choose what you will and will not obey - you place yourself in a position of having to either defend your position with intimidation (because scripture won't help you) or, you will have to keep your sin a secret from those who love the Lord and love you. Or, there is always the other alternative.....making sure you don't "run in to" those who would question your actions based upon the knowledge that you call yourself a Christian.

Accountability. The Apostles made sure to warn us that we need to be accountable to the Body of Christ.......and, we are not in this modern world - we each have our "own" religion - our "own" relationship with God......but the truth is none of that is found anywhere in scripture.

Matthew 12:36But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.Matthew 12:35-37 (in Context) Matthew 12 (Whole Chapter)
Romans 14:12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.Romans 14:11-13 (in Context) Romans 14 (Whole Chapter)
Hebrews 13:17Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.Hebrews 13:16-18 (in Context) Hebrews 13 (Whole Chapter)
Who has the "rule over you"? To whom are you accountable? What's that? You don't answer to anybody? How so? With what authority do you do this? Do you have a special arrangement with God over your salvation which allows you to ignore His counsel and do as you please?

It's really heavy today especially, since we have gotten so far away from how we are supposed to live, and since we feel we are "special" just because we are "Americans" living in this rich land. But, all of that is fixing to dissappear from sight, and we will be in worse conditiion than the 3rd World countries soon. We feel like if we can "afford" it, then it's no one's business what we do or where we go......that's not what God said.

1 Thessalonians 5:10-12 (King James Version)
10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
12And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
I know this sounds foreign to you.....because we don't believe that anyone is over us in the Lord, and can admonish us.....we have our "own" relationships with Jesus, afforded to us by our denominations, and we don't have to follow the rules everyone else follows to get in. But, there it is in the scripture, proof positive that we are under those who are over us in the Lord, and they are qualified and ordered to admonish us when we disobey.....amen. What we do here in this place is, when a preacher or someone from the church comes to us to "admonish" us - we just quit going to that church and ignore that person, or those persons......it's that simple. And, since lightning doesn't strike us, we believe God is allright with it, too.
I pity the souls who preach "once-saved-always-saved" because they cannot back it up, and in the day of adversity, they will be let down, even themselves. They have taken scripture and twisted it and maneuvered it to say what they want it to say, instead doing what God said to do in the first place.
Proverbs 28:13He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
As we start this new week, we must understand that it's what God says that counts, not what we perceive of what He says, or what we accept of what He says, or what we understand of what He says.........because He will gladly come to whomever seeks Him with their whole heart and He will give them His Word with their understanding opened.......He is faithful. No excuses.

In Jesus Name, amen.

Matthew 5:27Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:Matthew 5:26-28 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 5:28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.Matthew 5:27-29 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 5:32But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.Matthew 5:31-33 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter)
Matthew 19:9And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.Matthew 19:8-10 (in Context) Matthew 19 (Whole Chapter)
Tiger Woods....spotlighted .just because he has attained such a high status in the world's eyes........

The world loves adultery. From cartoons on up to the top Hollywood productions - adultery and fornication are the favorite themes.......yet, when one of their sacred cows - who give them pages of media feed and lots of dollars in their pockets.....falls from grace to the point of getting careless and going public....THEN it's wrong.

Think about it people - this is not a godly nation - it is a nation full of sin and selfishness......it is a nation that won't even let prayer in schools and gives more allegiance to pagan religions than to Jesus Christ. Yet, when it will pay for them - they get on a stump and shout "morals....morals".

The truth is that Tiger Woods messed up - he went outside of his marriage to dally and got caught. "Everyone" else on the tour "does it", but he, got caught. That's the rule of law with adulterers and womanizers......"don't get caught".

Who in the media or on the Golf Tour or anywhere else in the world....can cast the first stone?

There's really only one answer for Tiger Woods and for any other "lowlier" man or woman
on the face of this earth.....if he has committed adultery -
2 Chronicles 7:14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:13-15 (in Context) 2 Chronicles 7 (Whole Chapter)
Note that the verse says "which are called by my name",...so step one is to find out how to be a person "called by His name:". People who are "called by His name" will be those who come in the "Door" and don't try to get in any other way....
John 10:1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.John 10:1-3 (in Context) John 10 (Whole Chapter)
John 10:2But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.John 10:1-3 (in Context) John 10 (Whole Chapter)
John 10:9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.John 10:8-10 (in Context) John 10 (Whole Chapter)
Result pages:
1 Adultery is a sin like any other sin - except for that Proverbs 6 says:
32But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
33A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
Therefore, the sinner must repent before God and be delivered from the sin - and must live holy after that. It's very simple. Now, Mr. Tiger has said that he is going to do his very best to be a good husband and father like his family deserves him to be. If he follows the Acts 2:38 salvation formula by which the first church entered into covenant with Jesus, and if he repents and obeys God from now on, he has a chance......but if he tries to do it on his own with his own understanding of things.....he will fall again and again till he loses everything.
I choose to pray for Mr. Tiger Woods - because I love people who have committed adultery, and I know how devastating it can be for the family - and how hard it is to forgive it. I also know how hard it is to trust a person after they have committed adultery - especially in a relationship that is not centered in Jesus Christ. I also choose to believe the Bible and I understand that what God has said is Truth - and that anyone who entertains sin for a moment can wind up entertaining and committing adultery and a whole host of other sins with it.....and distancing themselves from God and the only help they have.
Remember, the church is compared to a great whore who has committed adultery with satan - read the Book of Revelation - He makes it very clear how He feels about that sin - yet , He is true to His Word....
2 Chronicles 7:14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:13-15 (in Context) 2 Chronicles 7 (Whole Chapter)
amen and amen......
Revelation 19:1-3 (King James Version)
Revelation 19
1And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
2For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

This news story is fresh - but it caught my eye because I am being dealt with by God about how impossible it is to "do right" without the power of the Holy Ghost in us.....I was taught in my religion as a child that the Holy Ghost was something I received when I was baptized in the titles I was left with my disappointment that I was capable of still doing the things that were supposed to have gone under that water.....forever. I wanted to be holy - but my flesh warred with me constantly to not be holy. I was taught at church that if I went up and "rededicated" my life to Christ then things would be better - but they were not. I would do the accursed thing - then cry my eyes out from shame and disgust and longing to erase it altogether.....but, it lingered there, always being Satan's tool to whip me with - to make me believe that the reason I did it was because God had rejected me because I couldn't obey. When I looked to my church for a solution - I was assured that I was "all right" and shouldn't worry about it - that "no one is perfect"......and that God forgives ALL my sin because I was baptized.......never, ever did they tell me that I had to live holy of I could lose my salvation----they left that out of it completely - they just told me to "try" to do good, but that I was saved and safe even if I was sinning..
Some people are not as fortunate as me - to be able to see their sin and discern that it IS sin.....some people are plagued by subtle sin - so subtle that they don't even know they are committing it....till it's too late. For instance - have you ever been lonely? Did you watch t.v. shows about relationships, read romantic novels, entertain the loneliness? Did you find yourself looking for "love" in all the wrong places instead of throwing yourself into the Word of God and being of service to Him? Did you find that the relationship(s) you gained through this method were not lasting relationships which edified you and helped you walk closer with God? or, did you find that the relationship(s) you formed were godly and to the building up of your spirit and your service to God? 'Nuff said. A girlfriend of mine was single and longing to be married. She went to her pastor's wife crying and saying God had abandoned her and was not answering her prayers for a husband. The wife asked her what was she watching. She told her the names of the Soap Operas and shows she was watching - and the wife told her "there's your problem- those relationships are nothing godly - and they make you think that if you don't have that kind of relationship then something is wrong - when the truth is that if you shut off the t.v. and got into God's Word, things would change for you.....she did, they did....she's now married happily to a very godly man and God gave her a little girl to raise as her own - and gave her back a daughter she lost when she went to prison years before she knew Jesus.....God answers prayer - God does not tolerate disobedience.

Here's a man who obviously, out rightly hated - and if you will read the highlights I have noted here, you will see that the "law" itself is responsible for the deaths of the 4 officers - the "law" had this criminal where he belonged, but they let him go time and time again because of their confusion - that's what we do when we entertain sin and don't put aside our flesh and put in under submission to God's commands.....we bring confusion into our lives and we let the demons have their way when we go by the law of our flesh...- and it leads to our own spiritual death.....our own assassination
Proverbs 14:12There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.Proverbs 14:11-13 (in Context) Proverbs 14 (Whole Chapter)
Proverbs 16:25There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.Proverbs 16:24-26 (in Context) Proverbs 16 (Whole Chapter)
SEATTLE — A man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed police officers was shot and killed by the police early Tuesday, after a manhunt that fanned out through Seattle and beyond, according to news reports.
In 2000, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
· granted clemency to Mr. Clemmons after he had served 11 years of a 95-year sentence for robbery and burglary convictions on charges prosecuted when he was 17. That history continued to play a role in his prosecution in Washington this year, Pierce County prosecutors said.
After Mr. Clemmons was arrested in Pierce County in May on charges of assaulting officers who were investigating claims that he had broken neighbors’ windows with rocks,
· Arkansas issued a warrant for his arrest for violating conditions of his parole, said Stephen Penner, a deputy prosecuting attorney in Pierce County.
Mr. Clemmons was initially held without bail on the Arkansas warrant. In July, an Arkansas
· corrections official sent a letter revoking the hold and saying “appropriate action will be taken once the pending charges have been adjudicated.”
Without the hold from Arkansas, Mr. Penner said, the State Constitution
· allowed Mr. Clemmons the right to bail while the rape and assault charges were pending. He was released on $190,000 bail on Nov. 23, Mr. Penner said.
The officers who were killed were
Tina Griswold, 40;
Ronald Owens, 37;
Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and
Greg Richards, 42.
All left behind children and families, and they were mourned at makeshift memorials at the Lakewood Police Department, at a church vigil in Tacoma and on various Web sites, including Facebook.
We must wake up from our complacency and put our flesh under control to God - we must turn our backs on "Egypt" and walk away from it - run as fast as our little legs can carry us.....NOT LOOKING BACK.....lest we wind up like Lot's wife.....amen.

praise?

May the praise be His......

as I read this,blessing it came to me that God is going to get the praise - even if the rocks have to do it for us.
I see so many people still living in their little bubbles - believing that their little cushy self-padded ways of praise and worship atuned to their own little quirks and opinions and untouchable and unaccountable to any authority here on earth ..... letting no man near enough to reveal to them their flawed perception of God's demands on our time and our devotion.....always afraid that someone might upset the delicate balance between what they believe and what really is.........
then there in Africa in a town of sixteen million people - one whole million of them drop whatever they are doing and run to one place just because someone said a "man of God was going to speak".....and they arrive there with no food, no shelter, no comfort, no complaining.........and praise God till they literally drop......
and I wonder that there are still any "bubbles" left at all.......How can a person in this plush, spoiled, gluttonous country even believe that God hears them when they wimp out a little "praise Jesus" between their trips to "lunch out" and "movies" and "marathon t.v." and other pamperings and personal preferences?????? How? Yet, each Sunday and at least one midweek service......trillions of churches preach this watered-down, unbiblical, "good" doctrine.......and the "bubblers" swallow it down like pablum.............to their destruction. Singing "I did it my way.........it reminds me of the people in the movie "Wall-E" as they waited out in space for earth to flower again......
Some of us are fortunate enough to have to deal with our own mortality along the way. and in doing so we learn to give ourselves a "check up from the neck up" and see ourselves for what we really are. I have just been thusly fortunate, and learned during this time of reflection that God is not pleased or interested in anything mediocre.....anything "personal"........that He is a God who will be worshipped and praised whether we do it or not.
Yet, there are still those who believe in the hype.....instead of the Word. The Word says Luke 19:
37And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
38Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
the hype says "Just make Jesus your Personal Savior....and you will be saved."

SEPTEMBER 11

Dear Loved One's -
8 years ago today - our "world" was shaken. You will all remember where you were - I had taken Willie to school and was going to have coffee when Marty called me from Oklahoma to tell me to turn on the t.v. and I saw both towers burning....then watched them fall down in perfect demolition pattern.
It was like the beginning of the end. No one I knew of then could believe it had happened to us.....If we could have known then where we would be now........would we have believed that?????
"Christian America" elected George Bush then went to sleep - content. When it woke up from it's long nap - it found that during his watch somehow our country was deflated and stuffed with cotton so as to appear that it was alright....THEN those who call themselves "christian" were furious, and wanted "change".....and didn't trust anyone who agreed with Bush.....now, we have a new president - duly elected by the American People - and those same "christians" are shaking in their boots realizing that we have given away our rights and privileges......and soon, our democracy.
God warned us with 911.....He did, but we didn't listen - we only heard what we wanted to hear - and now we will live with the end results of our willful ignorance.
What are you going to do when you realize that the true architects of the destruction of the World Trade Centers were the power brokers of our own U.S.A.? Don't worry, by the time you realize it - it will already be too late.
God is faithful. He never does anything without warning first His prophets......and those prophets are faithful to tell the people what He has said.....but the people - don't listen. We. the people, are constantly trying to get more for ourselves and protecting our own precious "privacy". We just want to do what we want to do and we don't want anyone telling us we cannot. Meanwhile - in the other countries, people just like us are suffering hunger, devastation, communism, abuse, no privacy at all.....and needing our help.....in our OWN country, right beside our churches.....we have people who are suffering the very same things......they are bereft.
The church? Where is the church????? Instead of "church: we have social organizations which "play" church on Sundays and Wednesdays then hide behind their tax exempt status to wheel and deal....someone gets rich - that's for sure. The "church" today doesn't preach the Bible - it teaches whatever the people need to hear to get them to continue in their sin and leave the "pastoring" to the "church".
What did we learn from 911????? Really!!! What did we learn????
God's church is still alive, but people don't want to go there because it teaches Truth, Responsibility, Sinlessness, Righteousness,......all the things the people want to avoid in order to feel good about their sin and comfortable in their privacy.........that's okay - only 8 people survived the great flood in Noah's time.....and only 2 people of the original tribe of Israel were permitted to enter the Promised Land.....God is not impressed with numbers......He even said that if we don't praise Him, the rocks will cry out.
In Jesus Name I pray that we all hear His voice by humbling ourselves before Him and allowing Him to create in us clean new hearts that will obey Him......amen.
p.s. unforgiveness will keep you out of heaven.