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(Part 4 of 4) Here's an email from a different person, another staunch supporter of Once-Saved-Always-Saved doctrine. Also included is a dialogue on a different subject: the sacred name "Yahshua". Dear Lydia, In your article you give more credit to man and the devil than you do to God or His grace... to say one can be plucked out due to their behavior is showing no understanding of the redemptive work of Christ Jesus ... you give man and sin more credit than you do God, which is basically a worship of the devil ... please re-evaluate your thinking in this matter and stop praising sin and its power. Either Jesus has completely saved the lost soul or He has not ... either way you are left with the decision of do I have faith in Jesus or do I have faith in myself and my ability to be "good" enough for God..if you pick the latter then you are under the law and have to be perfect ... Good luck. My Response: Thank you for your email. You misunderstood my article or did not read the rest of the texts pertaining to this important subject. Here's the Once Saved, Always Saved article which contains the dialogue I had with a minister who believes this doctrine. Salvation is only through the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ. Having been saved by His blood, we are to live a life of obedience and fruitfulness, not to be saved but because we have been saved. Our life of obedience comes from Him who lives within our hearts (Galatians 2:20) and He helps us to obey Him in all things. Justification is everything; but there is also sanctification. Both are taught in scriptures. We can't have one without the other. Both are essential for salvation. Somehow, sanctification is missing in the Once-Saved-Always-Saved doctrine. The thief on the cross experienced justification, but he didn't live to grow in grace and knowledge and to experience the blessings of sanctification. In the parables of Jesus you will notice that there is a duration of time involved to prove faithfulness and integrity in the part of those depicted in the parable. Reward or punishment was meted out based on the choices that were made by the people involved. For example, in the parable of the talents, the master, after delivering his goods to his servants, went to a far country and after a very long time, he returned to his own country and reckoned with his servants. Was the master pleased with the evil servant who buried his talent in the ground? Did the evil servant get rewarded for his bad choice? No! The master was wroth with him. He was punished by being cast into outer darkness where there is gnashing of teeth (symbolic of hell fire which will destroy sin and sinners in the last day). Compare this with the faithful servant with the five talents. The faithful servant used the time allotted to him to be as fruitful and possible for his master. He worked hard by doubling the talents his master had given him. This pleased his master, and he was rewarded. In the Parable of the Sower, the seeds sown by the stony places represent those who receive the word with joy, believe John 3:16, accept the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour (justification), but yet they have no root in themselves for they choose not to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. They endure for a while, but when tribulation or persecution come, they are offended and leave God and the church. They become unfruitful. No sanctification, no works are involved, no growth whatsoever. The seeds sown in thorny places represent those who hear the word of God; again, they believe with all their hearts John 3:16, and they accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour, but they choose to allow the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches to choke the word of God, and, therefore, they become unfruitful. Again, no sanctification or growth involved. The seeds sown in good ground represent those who hear the word of God, accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour and choose to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord. They produce and continue to produce in their lives the fruits of the Spirit of God. While justification is a work of a moment, sanctification is a work of a life time. That's why Jesus said He that is faithful to the end, the same shall be saved. One of the parables depicted in Matthew 25 is the parable of the separation of the sheep from the goats. This is a very interesting parable. It involves doing/working for others (clothing and feeding the hungry, etc.) in the name of Jesus. Performers are rewarded with eternal life; non-performers are punished with eternal damnation. "Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:45-46. It is very clear from these texts that only the righteous (obedient ones, the performers) who are faithful to the end are rewarded with eternal life. Our love to God motivates us to do works of righteousness to our fellowmen. This is living faith and the end result is salvation. See 1 Pet 1:9. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10 wrote: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." It is the fragrance of the merit of Christ that makes our good works acceptable to God, and it is His grace that enables us to do the works for which He rewards us. If Christ reigns in our hearts, it is He who "hast wrought all our works in us." See Isaiah 26:12, also Galatians 2:20. I'll repeat again. Yes, we are saved by grace alone and not by our works that we should boast, but having already been saved (salvation is an on-going process), if we are not doing any works of righteousness in Jesus' name, we are not true Christians. We will not be saved. John 5:28-29 confirm this: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Did you notice that the above text says those in the grave, not heaven, shall hear His voice and shall come forth from the grave? For more on this subject click here: Where are the Dead? Don't let anyone fool you that there's nothing you can do toward your salvation. We are instructed by the Apostle Paul to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). James endorsed that when he wrote in James 2:20: ...Faith without works is dead. Even the answers to our prayers are conditioned on our being fruitful in God's vineyard. John 15:16 says Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Perhaps one of the most saddest texts in scripture is the one found in Matthew 7:21 which says "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (did you notice the condition here?) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Here you see people who are supposedly "saved" because once saved, always saved, but notice that they are not saved. They work iniquity. Iniquity means sin, and sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Can Christians be plucked out due to their behavior? If their behavior is sinful, they certainly can according to all these texts. The redemptive work of Jesus Christ transforms the character which affects the behavior. The person becomes a new creature in Christ, old things are passed away and all things are become new. (2 Cor. 5:17). 1 John 1:6 states, "If we say that we have fellowship with Jesus while we continue to walk in darkness (sin), we lie and do not act in truth." No liars will inherit the Kingdom of God. (Rev. 22:15). "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." (Romans 11:22). "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." (1 Cor 15:2 NIV). "My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins." (James 5:19-20 NLT). So who then will be saved? Only those who hold firmly to the Word of God, continue in His goodness--those who are faithful and obedient to the end. When life's battles are over, they will receive the crown of immortality from their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev 22:14. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22. Here's the lyrics of the midi you are hearing: Here's an email on the sacred name Yahshua. Hi, Reading your information concerning the Sabbath is encouraging and I thank you for it. Noticing your desires to go by the information in the Scriptures in getting the point across brought to mind something I felt compelled to share something for thought. Would you please share your thoughts on my concerns? I have run into a couple of problems with today's biblical messages and could use a little help. I find that the Creator originally communicated with mankind in the Hebrew tongue. Therefore, it seems to me that it becomes vitally important to have a good understanding of the word meanings of that tongue in order to receive the information accurately that the Creator intended to communicate to mankind? I have asked myself the question. Did the Creator speak to mankind in black and white? That is to say, did He intend for his statements to mean what He said according to the Hebrew tongue or according to any other language? When I learned it stated in Deuteronomy 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it". (KJV) And in Revelation 22:19 "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book". (KJV) It appeared to me that it becomes extremely important not to deviate from the original meanings of the words used by our Creator. This caused several more questions! One of which pertains to the name "Jesus" given to our King in our modern day translations! In the Hebrew tongue, that name was "Yahshua" and it carried one meaning while the name "Jesus" carries another. He is the savior, yet, it is the meaning change that concerns me. I realize that I am far out in my next statement, yet I hope you will bear with me. The world is being quoted the scripture found in Acts 4:10-12 which states that there is no other name by which man can be saved except through the name "Jesus". When I researched the English language I found that the "J" never existed before 1572 AD. And that before that time the Savior was called "Iesus." I found that the following translations (Wycliffe, Tyndale of 1526, Tyndale of 1534, Coverdale, Geneva, Bishops, and the King James of 1611) all record the Saviors name as "Iesus" Therefore, for 1572 years the world was told that the only name they could be saved by was "Iesus" the Christ. I had to ask myself the question! If the words starting with "J" did not exist before this time then how could it be said that Mary was told to name her child "Jesus"? And to say the angel told her to name Him "Jesus" when in fact she was told to call him "Yahshua" puts me in concern we may be not telling the truth. And to allow it to continue, is that not proof that the Scriptures had been added too? Another question is: Why did the translators have to change the name from His Hebrew name anyway? There are many Hebrew names left unchanged in the translations, So why change the names of the patriarchs and writers of old when they left many other names unchanged? Further research revealed that almost all of the names used in the Hebrew tongue carried meanings that referred to the Creator and when they were changed, the actual meanings became lost. The fear came upon me that the translators had actually (intentionally or non intentionally) violated the commandments of our Creator found in De 12:32 and Re 22:19. I questioned myself that it makes no difference what language we communicate with our Creator in (because He understands them all). But to change names to ones without the same meanings appears to be deviating from the original instructions given. This brought up the concern that ministers (and those) of today who continually tell people to depend on one who has been given a name that never existed before 1572 for their eternal life is a violation of the commandments also. And is taking away from the actual meaning He communicated to mankind while at the same time causing them to believe in another identity never given by the Creator Himself. Could this be a devastating deviation from the original instruction from our Creator? As I said in the beginning that I was far out in my statements. I ask you to help me get back in the middle for in my mind I fear the modern day instructions bring with it tremendous possibilities that the people are being (unintentionally ) led astray. Would you please give me your thoughts on this to help me in my understanding? Lenvel My Response: Hello Lenvel, I am awfully sorry that I am just now answering your email. I think it's commendable that you are searching and not just satisfied with what the majority of the people accept or not accept. I have in the past thought about the name of Jesus, too, --whether it should be Jesus, Jehovah, Yahshua, Yahweh, etc. etc. but after some thoughts and research I have come to this conclusion: God did not make salvation difficult. It does not depend upon a name, but upon a Person. There have been instances where "uncivilized" peoples have been found worshiping the true God (determined by love to Him, and love to each other) who had never heard the name Jesus. The text in Isaiah 9:6 is appropriate "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." And Mary was told to call Him Emmanuel, or God with us. She called Him Iesus. I think this shows that her understanding also was not particularly what name He should go by, but to convey who He was. If there is truly an understanding today that the Man we call Jesus was God with Us, and now is Lord of lords and King of kings, we are safe. Consider this: When the scribes and pharisees told Jesus in John 8:39-47 that they were the children of Abraham, Jesus boldly told them that they were not. If they were indeed the children of Abraham they would do the works of Abraham. At this point in time, they were plotting to kill Jesus. This, Abraham would never do. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. They would not try to kill One who was speaking the truth that was given Him from God. In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham. A mere lineal descent (name and lineage) from Abraham was of no value. Without a spiritual connection with him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not his children. Their works testified of their relationship to him (their father, the devil) who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Today, the questions to ask are: Are we doing the works of Christ? Have we surrendered our lives fully to Him and are obedient to Him? Are we growing in grace and knowledge of Him whom to know is life eternal? Are we reflecting His image daily in our lives? I believe with all my heart that salvation is dependent on knowing our Saviour personally, not in knowing exactly His Hebrew name or even knowing how to pronounce it. I hope this helps. Lydia
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