"Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13 This sounds pretty permanent to me. What else could this mean ??
2007-11-21 10:22:19 · 14 answers · asked by christian_me 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
There is a SEAL
2007-11-21 10:26:24 · update #1
I tend to agree with you on this. God is not a "take backer"so once you're saved, you're always saved. Luckily for us, God doesn't take back His promises of always being there, His unconditional love and the promise of one day having a room in the "mansion with many rooms" If you still have questions about this, talk to your pastor or a deacon at your church. If you are not a member of a church, most places of worship have websites available. Just do some research and perhaps you'll find one that fits you.
Good luck and I hope this answers your question
2007-11-21 10:31:16 · answer #1 · answered by denise and family 2 · 2⤊ 5⤋
Well, it does sound pretty permanent, doesn't it? If you read the Bible and take it at its literal word, then I suppose it is.
But you don't take it at its word all the time, do you? You - and everyone else who reads the text, myself included - pick and choose what you wish to accept literally and what you want to interpret. If you accepted the Bible at face value, with no interpretation, then you would be a believer in transubstantiation, the doctrine that the Elements actually change form, that it is the true body and blood of Christ that is consumed during Communion. Jesus did say, "This is my body" and "This is my blood," didn't he? Why do you obsess about the literal meaning of parts of the Bible if you are unwilling to read the whole thing so literally?
"once saved, always saved" - This is a doctrine taught at my church, but I don't buy it - then again, I don't take much stock in any of the TULIP principles of Calvinism. How, for instance, does your passage from Ephesians jive with what the letter to the Hebrew says in 6:4-6:
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[a]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."
That passage seems to suggest that salvation can be lost. Who's right? It does no good to have an "I can quote Scripture better than you" contest, because that solves nothing.
2007-11-21 11:02:14 · answer #2 · answered by jimbob 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Remember that there are several different kinds of salvation, some you can lose, some you can't. For instance, a saved person is a child of God. We can't lose that.
Paul also talked about "being saved" in 1 Corinthians 1. That salvation is sanctification, where a Christian grows into the image of Christ. We can lose that salvation. If we lose that salvation, we will not stop being God's child, but we will lose the possibility of Christ saying to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Some aspects of our salvation can be lost while other parts can never be lost. Paul is obviously talking about the aspects that can't be lost. Other answers here, about working some more, are really referring to the salvation of sanctification.
2007-11-21 11:11:30 · answer #3 · answered by Steve Husting 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just because you get a tattoo, doesn't mean it can't be removed. If you say you believe in God, and then slip up, you are still a Christian. Ask God for forgiveness, then move on. If you choose to live a life that's not pleasing to God, then call yourself a Christian, you've removed your "seal".
What I mean is just because you believe in God, doesn't make you saved. It's the lifestyle that counts. The relationship with God itself.
Even though God will always love you and accept you back, you can't call yourself a Christian when you have turned your back on him completely.
2007-11-21 10:32:58 · answer #4 · answered by Melody L 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I do feel within the lack of salvation. There are a quantity of Biblical references to the lack of salvation, adding Romans eleven:thirteen-22, two Timothy two:eleven-thirteen, Hebrews 10:19-29 and my individual favourite, two Peter two:20-22. Anything that mentions puppy vomit will have to get your awareness!
2016-09-05 11:23:19 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before you bet the store on that one passage ask yourself this:
Why are there so many warnings in the Bible about losing your salvation?
The link below is not a complete list, just all the times the word, "blot" appears.
Pastor Art
2007-11-21 10:27:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
Of course this can always be made to work by declaring that anyone who falls away "was never truly saved, never a proper Christian" in the first place.
Such as me: by any criterion I was, but now I'm not. So therefore I never was?
2007-11-21 10:33:24 · answer #7 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
But only a deposit, holding your position. But a deposit on a house doesn't give you a free house, you still have to pay for it.
2007-11-21 10:25:15 · answer #8 · answered by czekoskwigel 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It means that even though you where stamped with the "Good Housekeeping Stamp of Approval" , if you "break" the "seal" and "expose" yourself to "atmospheric" conditions, you can still "spoil" and become "unredeemable".
2007-11-21 10:29:31 · answer #9 · answered by eagleman 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
This means that Hitler is saved. He was a devout Christian. Nice philosophy isn't it? That the biggest evil in modern history has a "seal" as you put it and is saved.
Either that or the whole Christian philosophy is flawed. So it's up to you, would you rather believe that Hitler is in heaven, or that their is a flaw?
2007-11-21 10:25:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋