Another Voice

I believe we all can be misled, miss the mark, listen to the wrong voice. I don’t care who you are or how spiritual (godly) you think yourself to be, sometime in your life (and I’d wager more than once) this has happened to you. I know of several different occasions someone has come online beaming and praising God for bringing just the most perfect person into your life. He was absolutely hand picked by God just for you. God is definitely in this! And then a short time later they’re back crying the blues, he was not such a godly man. He’s an abuser, drinker or whatever and it’s over. Oops God, you made a mistake! The one who is totally perfection made a mistake? I don’t think so. Could it have been that you were listening to a different voice other than Holy Spirit? Nah, not you…you’re too spiritual! You can’t be deceived! Eck! Wrong answer. We all can if the circumstance is just right.

“God told me (not me) I’m going to be another Kathryn Kuhlman and travel all over the country healing people and prophesying.” God you made another oopsie, she’s not even in the ministry now. What happened? Could it have been that someone was listening to another voice?
The Bible tells us that satan can come (and does) as an angel of light. He’ll whisper those words in your ear, he knows you wanna hear, he knows your desires. They’ll sound so sweet and sugary, it has to be Holy Spirit, right.

You have a loved one who may have been living a life of sin and all of a sudden they’re gone. Could have been a tragic accident, drugs or maybe they even took their own life and you’re concerned about their salvation, did they make it to heaven and then….along comes that voice again, “Didn’t they go to the altar when they were younger and weren’t they saved at that time?” No problem then, once saved always saved. He knew what your aching heart wanted to hear and the words are sweet music to your ears. Now he has you believing the lie, he’s got you in his snare. It doesn’t matter how they lived their lives, they’re going to heaven. Right? God has forgiven all their sins, past, present and future. Live the way you want to, walk the streets of Sodom and Gomorrah, wallow in the pig pen ,dance with the devil…it’s all covered! Can I tell you something? El Toro Poo Poo! The Bible tells us he is a liar and not only just a liar but the father of lies. I don’t care if I tell you, your grandpa tells you, your best friend tells you, your momma, daddy or even your pastor tells you…if it don’t line up with the word of God…trash it in Jesus name!

I believe the ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ is a doctrine of demons and I have scripture to prove it from the Old and New Testament. I know I posted a post the other day about how one can (if they search long and hard enough) can find scripture to back any belief, but my friends this is not the case. These scriptures I offer you are so crystal clear they can’t be misconstrued.

OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if You will, forgive their sin-and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Then the LORD smote the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron had made. (Exodus 32:30-35 NASB)

Comments: When the people of God turned away from God, God said He would blot them out of His book. These are the same people who had trusted Him and praised Him and been delivered from Egypt by Him. And how can you blot something out that was never there? Their names had to have been in the Book in order to be blotted (erased) out.

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us-a land, which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Numbers 14:1-12 NASB)

Comments: Because of their unbelief, God said He would disown, dispossess, and strike with pestilence the very people whom He delivered from Eqypt, the people who had served Him and obeyed Him in building the tabernacle, the people whom the Spirit of God had gifted and rested upon. Unbelief is a serious offense against God.

Dispossess…1. to put (a person) out of possession; oust. 2. to banish. 3. to abandon ownership of
When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. (Deuteronomy 4:25, 26 NASB)

Comments: God warns His people their lives will be cut short and they will be destroyed of they act corruptly and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. There are severe consequences for those who turn away from God.

It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 8:19, 20 NASB)

There are more from the Old Testament but for lack of time and space, I’ll quit here.

NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES

This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:39-40

Comments: This is a favorite scripture of those who believe in the doctrine of once saved always saved. However, this verse does not say people cannot lose their salvation. It only says it is the will of the Father that none would be lost. Other scriptures make it very clear that the will of the Father is not always done in the earth. This is why Jesus instructed us to pray, ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ Another scripture tells us God is not willing that any should perish. However, we know there are many who will perish and have perished.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31, 32 NASB)

Comments: In verse 31, Jesus clearly states a condition for being His disciple. Only those who continue following His word are truly His disciples. If this is true then the flip side of it is also true. Those who do not continue to follow the word are no longer His disciple and will not know the truth. This directly and clearly contradicts the once saved always saved doctrine, which teaches even those who do not continue to follow the word are still saved and still disciples of the Lord.

Comments: Contrary to what many people teach, the scriptures clearly tell us those who have known the Lord but then forget Him and go after other gods will perish. Perish does not mean dying and going to heaven. To clarify, verse 20 says it means they will perish like all the heathen nations who never knew the Lord. The fate of backsliders is the same as the fate of those who never knew God. Here again the scriptures contradict the false doctrine of “once saved always saved.” The Hebrew word abad is translated into English as perish. Abad literally means to be utterly destroyed by divine judgment, exterminated, and blotted out. It means these people are not only destroyed but they are destroyed by God. Does this sound like someone going to heaven to be with God? Instead of being eternally secure they will be blotted out of the book of life and cast into eternal fire.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31, 32 NASB)

Comments: In verse 31, Jesus clearly states a condition for being His disciple. Only those who continue following His word are truly His disciples. If this is true then the flip side of it is also true. Those who do not continue to follow the word are no longer His disciple and will not know the truth. This directly and clearly contradicts the once saved always saved doctrine, which teaches even those who do not continue to follow the word are still saved and still disciples of the Lord.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Remain in me, stay with me, and continue to be with me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains, stays, and continues to be in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me, stay with me, and continue to be with me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who remains in me, stays with me, and continues to be with me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not remain in me, stay with me, and continue to be with me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you remain in me, stay with me, and continue to be with me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so you become My disciples. “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; remain in my love, stay in my love, and continue to be in My love.
John 15:1-9

Comments: The word ‘abide’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘meno’, which is defined as ‘to remain, to sojourn, not to depart, tarry, to continue to be present, to stay with. When you replace the word ‘abide’ with the clearer definition of what meno means, it shines a bright light on the meaning of this passage from John 15. In this light, John 15 blows a gaping hole in the doctrine of ‘once saved always saved.’

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, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13, 14 NASB)

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30 NASB)

Comments: This is a favorite passage of those who believe in the once saved always saved doctrine. They claim that because we have been sealed, we cannot then be cut off. However, other scriptures clearly state that after we have been grafted in we can still be cut off unless we continue to walk in faith and obedience.

But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:1-2

Comments: Clearly people can fall away from the faith and Spirit says they will.
Pay attention to yourself, and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy 4:16

Comments: Why would we need to ensure our salvation if it was already secured? This scripture only makes sense if it is possible to lose your salvation. If you are always saved anyway, then why is Paul instructing Timothy to pay close attention and to continue in these things and that by doing these things he will save himself? If once saved always saved, then he would already have secured his salvation regardless of whether or not he does these things.

Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense; how will we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;
Hebrews 2:1-3

Comments: Why are we warned not to drift away if there are no consequences of drifting away? This warning is clear, if we neglect our salvation we will not escape judgment.
Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know, that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)

Comments: This verse makes it clear it is possible for those who are in the truth to stray from it even to the point where they can lose their soul. Otherwise this warning is not needed.
Verse 19 describes someone who wandered from the truth, which means they once had the truth. Otherwise, they could not wander from it or be turned back to it. This passage is not referring to all heathens but to backslidden believers. These people are called sinners who must be converted or turned from the error of their way. Otherwise, their soul will be put to death and they would face judgment for their multitude of sins. They are only saved from death and forgiven for their sins after they turn away from their error and come back to the truth.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:1-5 NASB)

Comments: In this passage, overcoming is clearly defined as having deeds obedient to God and having avoided immoral behavior. A few people in Sardis had been obedient. They had not soiled their garments. They had not participated in immoral deeds. They had remained faithful to God. The rest of the church in Sardis was claiming to be alive spiritually but the Lord tells them plainly here they were dead because their deeds were not right in the sight of God. They did not remain faithful until the end. Only a few people in that church were found worthy. The Lord rewards only those faithful few with three rewards. First, they will be clothed in white garments. Second, they will not have their names erased from the book of life. Third, the Lord Jesus will confess their name before His Father and before His angels. These three rewards go together as a package deal. If you qualify for one you qualify for all three. If this is true, then it follows that the corollary must also be true. He who does not overcome will not be clothed in white garments and the Lord Jesus will erase his name from the book of life and will not confess his name before the Father or before His angels. If the doctrine of ‘once saved always saved was true, then there would be no distinction made here between those who overcome and those who do not overcome. There would be no mention of erasing any names from the book of life. If any names can be erased from the book of life then the doctrine of ‘once saved always saved’ cannot be true.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? (1 Peter 4:17, 18 NASB)

Comments: Judgment begins with those who confess Jesus as their Lord. These are the ones who are the household of God because the spirit of God lives in their mortal bodies like a house. Referring to this judgment, everything is judged based on obedience to the good news of God. Believers are judged by what they do, not by what they hoped to do or intended to do or thought about doing. On this basis, verse 18 makes it clear not all believers will pass this test because it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved. It is not a gimee, not a sure thing, not to be taken for granted. If every believer receives eternal security when they are first saved then how could it be with any difficulty the righteous are saved?

If you’re still with me, thank you, but I’ll quit now although there are many, many more scriptures I could give you. *smile*
In His love,
Elizabeth