"Better Off Dead "
If I believed the Bible taught that a person could be lost after they are saved, I would be scared to death and this article will explain why. According to " losing Salvation" apologists, Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches that one who is saved can become lost the second time. The words "enlightened", "tasted", and "made partakers" prove that these were saved people, they affirm, and "fall away" means that they have now become lost. The Scripture, however, does not end with "fall away" as so often happens when certain people quote this passage. If the words "fall away" here mean losing salvation, then the words "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance" mean that after a saved person becomes lost it is impossible for them to ever be saved again since there is no Salvation without repentance. This is the reason that I would be trembling if I believed this doctrine. You have to accept the " impossible to repent" part if you accept the "losing Salvation" part in Hebrews 6:4-6. Here is the dilemma one inevitably finds himself in when accepting a " losing Salvation" theology.
1. ONE sin causes me to become lost the second time. Losing Salvation apologists refuse to name the amount of sin that causes one to be lost again even though the answer is found in the Word of God. The answer is the same amount that caused one to be lost the first time. In Genesis 2:17, 3:6, and Romans 5:12 we find that Adam committed one sin and became lost along with all his posterity that would follow afterward.
2. Once I become lost the SECOND time, it is impossible for me to ever be saved again ( Heb. 6:6).
3. The ONLY way that I can remain saved , then, is to remain SINLESS from the moment I am saved until the moment I die, else I become hopelessly lost.
When I realize this awful reality, it is more than I can bear and the thought inevitably occurs to me " I would have been better off if God would have taken me to Heaven the very moment He saved me". I would truly have been " better off dead". If you believe Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches "losing salvation" you are headed for despair because it is impossible for you to be sinless for one day, much less the rest of your life. Please believe the Bible when It says that you are "sealed" ( a sign of ownership and a guarantee of delivery) by the Holy Spirit unto the Day of Redemption, the day we receive our glorified bodies ( Ephesians 4:30) and live a Holy sanctified life for the Lord. No one will ever be all they can be for the Savior until this issue of assurance of Salvation is settled. I don't believe that God's will for the saved person is to go through life worrying about losing the Salvation that Jesus His son gives because it is eternal. The life I now live as a saved person is to be motivated by the love for the One who gave me this Salvation and not by fear of losing what I cannot preserve anyway. The words in the chorus of Larnell Harris' song vividly describes the despair that would come to those who are " keeping themselves saved" with the line " Forever running, but losing the race, were it not for Grace".
If I believed the Bible taught that a person could be lost after they are saved, I would be scared to death and this article will explain why. According to " losing Salvation" apologists, Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches that one who is saved can become lost the second time. The words "enlightened", "tasted", and "made partakers" prove that these were saved people, they affirm, and "fall away" means that they have now become lost. The Scripture, however, does not end with "fall away" as so often happens when certain people quote this passage. If the words "fall away" here mean losing salvation, then the words "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance" mean that after a saved person becomes lost it is impossible for them to ever be saved again since there is no Salvation without repentance. This is the reason that I would be trembling if I believed this doctrine. You have to accept the " impossible to repent" part if you accept the "losing Salvation" part in Hebrews 6:4-6. Here is the dilemma one inevitably finds himself in when accepting a " losing Salvation" theology.
1. ONE sin causes me to become lost the second time. Losing Salvation apologists refuse to name the amount of sin that causes one to be lost again even though the answer is found in the Word of God. The answer is the same amount that caused one to be lost the first time. In Genesis 2:17, 3:6, and Romans 5:12 we find that Adam committed one sin and became lost along with all his posterity that would follow afterward.
2. Once I become lost the SECOND time, it is impossible for me to ever be saved again ( Heb. 6:6).
3. The ONLY way that I can remain saved , then, is to remain SINLESS from the moment I am saved until the moment I die, else I become hopelessly lost.
When I realize this awful reality, it is more than I can bear and the thought inevitably occurs to me " I would have been better off if God would have taken me to Heaven the very moment He saved me". I would truly have been " better off dead". If you believe Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches "losing salvation" you are headed for despair because it is impossible for you to be sinless for one day, much less the rest of your life. Please believe the Bible when It says that you are "sealed" ( a sign of ownership and a guarantee of delivery) by the Holy Spirit unto the Day of Redemption, the day we receive our glorified bodies ( Ephesians 4:30) and live a Holy sanctified life for the Lord. No one will ever be all they can be for the Savior until this issue of assurance of Salvation is settled. I don't believe that God's will for the saved person is to go through life worrying about losing the Salvation that Jesus His son gives because it is eternal. The life I now live as a saved person is to be motivated by the love for the One who gave me this Salvation and not by fear of losing what I cannot preserve anyway. The words in the chorus of Larnell Harris' song vividly describes the despair that would come to those who are " keeping themselves saved" with the line " Forever running, but losing the race, were it not for Grace".
