Question: What is the Downward Spiral?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by shepherdbryan

What is the Downward Spiral?

The Downward Spiral is a practical, theological concept that is important for every believer. It describes the stages a person descends away from God as he chooses sin instead of faith. The Downward Spiral is a pattern the Apostle Paul describes in two passages of Scripture; one for the unbeliever and one for the believer.

Whenever a person acts independently of the Lord, he begins the Downward Spiral. As he continues to seek understanding, purpose and contentment apart from God, he will continue down the spiral until he gets to the stage called the Sin unto Death. At this point, the person stays in the Sin unto Death, until God takes him home in grace to be in heaven (the believer) or removes him from earth to torments until the Great White Throne judgment (the unbeliever).

There are seven steps of the Downward Spiral and they follow the acrostic NEBISCOS (this is no reflection on the food manufacturing company – Nabisco). Each of the letters in the word NEBISCOS refer to a step in the Downward Spiral,

N – Negative Volition

E – Emptiness of the Soul

B – Blackout of the Soul

I – Induced Ignorance

S – Separation from God

C – Callousness of the Soul

O – Occupation with Evil

S – Sin unto Death

I do not consider the final stage of Sin unto Death as a step, but as the holding pattern for the person who is living his life in rejection of God’s plan, purpose and will.

The Downward Spiral is explained in two passages: Romans 1:20-23 and Ephesians 4:17-19. Romans 1:20-32 is the passage used to explain the Downward Spiral for the unbeliever,

· ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

· ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

· ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools,

· ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man– and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

· ²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,

· ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

· ²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

· ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

· ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

· ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,

· ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

· ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

· ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Rom 1:20-32)

Ephesians 4:17-19 is the passage used to explain the Downward Spiral for the believer,

· ¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of theGentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

· ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

· ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Eph. 4:17-19)

The next two articles, posts to this blog, will describe each of these passages related to the Downward Spiral and how both passages describe the exact same steps, even though one is for the unbeliever and one is for the believer. Can a believer descend same Downward Spiral as the unbeliever? Yes he can and you can refer to that post. to understand more.

Question: What does it take to restore fellowship with God after sin?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by shepherdbryan

What does it take to restore fellowship with God after sin?

Every person sins in life. It is a reality of life that unbelievers live in sin. Paul writes regarding the condition of the unbeliever,

· And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

· ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

· ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Eph. 2:1-3)

Paul describes the unbeliever, who walks “according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.” In other words, the unbeliever does nothing but sin, because he is independent from God and does not trust God for anything.

A believer also sins, because he still has a sin nature. Every believer inherits a sin nature at birth passed down from his father (Rom. 5:12). The believer, like Paul, wants to do the right thing, but doesn’t, and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does anyway (Rom. 7:15). Even after salvation, the sin nature within still seeks to control the believer. He will have that sin nature until he dies. Therefore, he will continue to sin in time. When he does, what does he do? Let us be specific in the mechanics of restoring fellowship.

First, awareness of sin will come from the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11). The whole world has guilt because of sin.¹ Paul writes, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19) The world may not respond to its guilt, but it is guilty. The world suppresses the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). The world of unbelievers rejects the truth and becomes callused before the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry because their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom. 1:21-22).God is holy and sin makes us guilty before holy God regardless of how we feel.

The same is true for the believer.The Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin. That conviction produces guilt in the heart of the believer. For example, Paul writes, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:27) The “whoever” includes any believer who approaches the communion table with sin in his life and he does not deal with it in a godly way. That person is guilty. In fact, James records for us the standard of life and the horrendous predicament of what sin does to his relationship with the Lord. James writes, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (Jam. 2:10) James is writing to believers who did not take sin seriously. He clearly states that even if a believer keeps all of God’s Word and he sins in one way, it is as if he is guilty of the whole thing. He still has eternal life (John 17:3). He is still God’s child (John 1:12), but he has objective guilt and fellowship with God is broken.

Secondly, the believer will turn to God in repentance from His sin (cf. 1 Thes. 1:9). That turning is called repentance. Paul writes,

⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

The godly sorrow is from the objective guilt. It is God’s real reason He designed feelings in humanity. God designed the feelings to draw us closer to Himself. Feelings are like the red lights on the car dashboard. The light tells you something is urgently wrong and you need to act quickly before more trouble develops. Those feelings cause godly sorrow, which God designed to produce repentance.

Repentance comes from a word (metanoia) meaning “change of thinking.” Repentance means you change your thinking about God and begin to pursue Him, instead of the independence of sin. Note the clear actions in 2 Corinthians 7:11 (above) that result from true repentance in life.²

Thirdly, restoration of fellowship requires confession. John tells the believer to confess his sins to the Father. John writes, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:9) We would not know our sin, unless the Holy Spirit convicted us. We would not confess if we did not change our thinking through repentance. God wants us to confess the sin. The word for confess (homologeo) means “say the same thing.” God wants us to say the same thing He says about sin. He wants us to agree with Him that we did not live by faith, that we did not depend on Him and that we did not humbly submit to His will. We do that by acknowledging that what we did (like get angry or cheat on a test) is sin against God.

When we confess (acknowledge that we sinned), then He promises to forgive us from the sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The “all unrighteousness” is the reality that we are not even aware of all of our sin, but God, in His mercy, does not overload us with guilt. He merely makes us aware of sin that we have learned about at our point of spiritual growth in life. When we confess, He forgives and cleanses.

Fourthly, depend on His control of your life. Paul writes, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Eph. 5:18) Although, the believer is always indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9), the only way a believer is filled with the Spirit is when he has confessed his sins and he is humbly choosing to be dependent on the Holy Spirit’s control of his life and he does what is pleasing to the Father. Jesus said, “”For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38) Paul writes, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (2 Cor. 5:9)

Fifthly, press on in His power. God wants every believer to live in the same resurrection power that Jesus lives in now. That can only be done in a pure and holy life dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit under the rulership of Jesus Christ. Paul states it well,

¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (Eph. 1:18-20)

This may seem complicated, but it all can happen simultaneously through confession of sin. I have broken it down, just like teaching a person how to get behind the steering wheel of a car and the steps of learning how to drive. In the beginning, it seems like a lot of steps, but eventually, it becomes natural. Sometimes everything is complicated to children and children only want things simple.

Growing believers want to learn the spiritual life and will think through Scripture until they can clearly understand. They will wrestle with the text, but not wrangle with believers. They will humbly learn, rather than get huffy that someone had a different view from them. May you be blessed as you grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!

¹There is a difference between objective and subjective guilt. Objective guilt is that awareness of doing wrong before God. It is true guilt. It comes from the conviction of the Holy Spirit of sin against holy God. Subjective guilt is the feelings that something is wrong, but there is not awareness of what it is. It may be feeling bad because of being caught doing wrong (caught with the hand in the cookie jar). This is the subjective guilt that Judas felt after betraying the Lord Jesus. He “felt” guilty (which included the fact of objective guilt), and his feelings overcame him and he took his life rather than repent before the Lord (Matt. 27:3-5). There is also the assembly of feelings, because of lost opportunity. This is what Esau felt when he realized his lost opportunity for the blessing that would have been his (Heb. 12:16-17). Objective guilt is dealt with through repentance, confession and dependency on the Lord.

²There will be an article on the “Results of Repentance” in a few short days on this blog.

Question: Can a Christian not sin?

Posted on June 8, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Can a Christian not sin?

Jesus did not sin. John writes, “ And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.” (1 Jn. 3:5) Peter is more specific,

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
²² “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; (1 Pet 2:21-22)

The Lord Jesus Christ did not sin in His humanity, or any other time, but what about you and me? Can a Christian not sin?

An interesting passage is the second account of sin. Abel and Cain made offerings to God and God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. The purpose of this article is not to analyze why God did not accept Cain’s offering, but to note that He did not accept it and to look at the Lord’s counsel to Cain.

⁶ So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
⁷ “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:6-7)

Notice that God does not rebuke Cain on the specifics of the offering, but challenges him to reflect on what he should now do.

Cain had not repented or realized he was thinking independently from God. So God asks Cain the questions, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” not because God does not know the answers, but to help Cain consider his actions. God did not accept his offering, but Cain also did not approach God and ask God why he did not accept the offering. Cain was acting independently from God and God’s questions were designed to reveal to Cain his failure to humble himself and submit to the Lord.

Then God changes the course of the questions. God asks, “If you do well…” That is the key in life – to do well. To do well is to please God. It doesn’t matter what we do or not in our own eyes, but doing well in God’s eyes does matter. Then God explains what must happen for Cain to do well – to be accepted by God. In order to do well, you must recognize there is an enemy. God says, “Sin lies at the door.” The door is Cain’s heart. Sin is personified as having a desire to control Cain. That is always the desire of sin. It wants to control and not just a little or in just a few areas, but all the time and in every area.

Sin has one focus – it wants to control you. It will look for your weaknesses and start out small. It will often gain a foothold in your life in small things, for example in doubt or worry, or about whether you will be accepted or rejected. It may start in small secret areas of life like pornography or material lusts in desiring more clothes or maybe in seeking the status of having a boyfriend. It starts small and then seeks to gain ground. Sin is like a fire, it is never satisfied, until it controls every area. Sin is like a grave that is always looking for its next victim. Sin is like a parched desert that never gets enough water. It’s stated best in Proverbs,

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters– Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶ The grave, The barren womb, The earth that is not satisfied with water– And the fire never says, “Enough!” (Pro. 30:15-16)

Sin desires to control, so God clarifies to Cain, “…but you must rule over it.” With that admonishment and challenge, Cain leaves the presence of the Lord. The question is, “Will he rule over his sin, so that sin does not control him?” What does the next verse say? “Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” (Gen. 4:8) Can you believe it? In the very next verse, God shows that Cain does not control sin. In the very next verse, Cain is not just tempted, but he falls headlong into sin and murders his brother. Maybe Cain thinks he needs to remove the competition, so that God would “have” to accept what Cain did.

Cain cannot control sin, because he was not completely dependent on the Lord. Cain does not control sin, because God never intended that we could control sin apart from His presence in our lives. Cain does not control sin, because only God’s work in our lives through His power, the Holy Spirit, can a believer successfully rule over sin.

Can a believer not sin? NO and YES. A believer cannot control sin in his own power. He will succumb to temptation every time and reveal the ineptness of his flesh to function in dependency upon the Lord. He will fail just as Cain failed. Yet, the believer can control sin, when he is dependent on the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Is that important to understand? Absolutely, because it reveals that a believer will be fleshly, except when he is dependent on the Lord.

Question: Can a Christian be a carnal Christian?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Can a Christian be a carnal Christian?

Recently, I had a discussion with a fellow-believer, who said that Christians cannot be carnal Christians. Said in another way, a Christian cannot be considered carnal or act carnal, because he is spiritual. He said that a carnal person is really just an unbeliever. A Christian is one who may sin, but would not live in carnality. Is he right?

Unfortunately, while this believer knows the Scriptures well, he doesn’t interpret them well. He imposes his theology on the Scripture and interprets it according to his theology rather than according to correct rules of interpretation. If you approach Scripture with presuppositions (statements that imply a truth taken for granted), you will tend to read meaning into the Scripture. For example, if I say, “I no longer drive Chevy trucks.” The presupposition is that I used to drive Chevy trucks. That is a true statement. If I approach Scripture with presuppositions, I will work the Scriptures to mean what I want them to mean.

When someone says that a Christian cannot be carnal, they try to explain away a very easy-to-understand passage of Scripture. The passage is 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 where Paul writes,

· And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

· ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

· ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3)

Some try to explain this away by taking the culture of the church today and inserting that back into the culture of the church in Corinth. That is called eisegesis, which means to “read the interpretation into Scripture.” Today, there are unbelievers who attend church. In Paul’s day, those who were not believers did not identify or attend church. What does Paul say in his letter to Corinth?

· To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Cor. 1:2)

Paul is writing to the believers in Corinth and they were saints. The culture in Paul’s day was far different than today. Churches were house churches, because Christians were not welcomed. They were hated because they did not give allegiance to Caesar. They were used by Nero as torches for his garden parties. They eventually hid and met in catacombs, because they were so despised. Those who were not believers did not identify or attend church. Christians didn’t invite friends to church to hear the gospel. They gave the gospel to their friends and those who believed looked for a church family to identify with for nurture and growth. Paul’s letter was intended to be delivered to those were “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” and therefore believers.

Then notice in the first passage of 1 Corinthians 3 how Paul describes them. What does he say? He calls them “brethren.” In other words, they were believers. Now in that context, what follows describes Paul’s audience of believers.

Paul writes he could not speak to them as spiritual people. That phrase does not define a Christian, but rather one who is filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul uses similar phraseology in Galatians 6:1,

· Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. (Gal. 6:1)

Paul is writing to those who are “spiritual” that is those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, not merely Christians. If you are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, you will create more division in your admonishment and correction, because you will not examine yourself. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul describes them as not “spiritual,” but rather “carnal.” Both words, “spiritual” and “carnal” are adjectives. The word for “carnal” means one who is characterized by the flesh. He is a fleshly-like person. At that moment, he is living according to the flesh instead of the Spirit. He is a carnal person.

Paul continues by writing, they are babes in Christ. This is a common expression for someone who is a new Christian and has not grown up. A spiritual baby does not know how to fulfill God’s plan and is concerned more for self, than for others. He is a Christian, but he acts very fleshly or carnal. He has not learned spiritual disciplines. He is not very concerned about others. He is focused on himself. God doesn’t condemn spiritual babes for being fleshly. They just need to be discipled so they can grow up to be a spiritual child, a spiritual young adult and then a spiritual parent.

Can a Christian be carnal? Of course, he can act very fleshly. He can and is carnal, that is, he acts according to the flesh, rather than according to the Spirit. He is fleshly, because he has a sin nature inside of him, which he acquired at birth from his father (Rom. 5:12). That sin nature stays with the believer until it is removed at death. Paul says it best,

· ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

· ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:23-24)

Paul is describing the sin nature that still can control him, if he chooses to let it. As long as he remains filled, or controlled by the Holy Spirit, He will not be acting according to the sin nature. The challenge is that in this lifetime, it is impossible apart from humble submission to the sovereign will of God.

Always take the natural interpretation and develop your theology from that, rather than choose a theology and then interpret Scripture. That can easily result in spiritual pride.

Question: Is suicide the unpardonable sin?

Posted on May 18, 2013 by shepherdbryan

Can a person lose their salvation because of suicide based on 1 Cor. 3:17?

Is suicide the unpardonable sin?

A person who is a genuine believer cannot lose his salvation. Salvation is a free gift of God. Every person who received salvation received it by faith without the accompaniment of any good works or moral standing before God (Eph. 2:8-9). Because we could do nothing for salvation, we can do nothing to lose our salvation.

In 1 Corinthians 3:17, Paul has just described rewards and then focuses on the church. Paul writes, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?(1 Cor. 3:16) When Paul says, “you are the temple of God,” he uses the plural pronoun for “you all” referring to the entire church. Then in the next verse Paul writes, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor. 3:17) Again, Paul uses the plural pronoun at the end of verse 17 to indicate he is addressing the church. The word for destroy is phtheiro- which means “destroy,” “corrupt,” or “defile.”

Paul is addressing someone who defiles, corrupts, or even destroys a local church. When someone acts wickedly toward a local church in a divisive, manipulative or deceitful way, he crosses the line with God and God will impose divine discipline on the person. The context is not a context for an individual person. Suicide is not part of the context or to be read into the context.

A genuine believer, who chooses suicide for any number of reasons, retains his relationship with God (see the approaches to eternal security below). However, a person, who is a genuine believer and who commits suicide, will lose any rewards they could have earned from that time forward in the life he was were meant to have. However, he does not lose his eternal security or his salvation. What is suicide?

Suicide is a sin, but not the unpardonable sin. David writes, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit…” (Ps. 31:5) Our lives are in God’s hands. Only God has the right to take our spirit at death. We do not have that option. The unpardonable sin is described in Matthew 12,

²⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub¹, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶ “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷ “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

²⁸ “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹ “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰ “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

³¹ “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

³²“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matt. 12:24-32)

The unpardonable sin could only be committed during the First Advent of Jesus. The unpardonable sin is ascribing Jesus’ works to Satan instead of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:24). The Pharisees were so hardened and would not respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that they said Jesus’ work, which was done by the power of the Holy Spirit was done by Satan. That accusation is against Jesus and against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32). That accusation against the Holy Spirit is the only sin that is unpardonable. It is saying that Jesus was not God’s representative empowered by the Holy Spirit sent to provide salvation.

How do we know that a Christian has eternal life at the moment of salvation? Below are eight approaches to that question and I use the acrostic FISHLEGS in order to remember each of the headings:

· Family Approach John 1:12; Hebrews 2:11-13

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:(John 1:12)

¹¹For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ¹² saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” ¹³ And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” (Heb 2:11-13)

Once a believer is in the family of God, he cannot lose his salvation.

· Inheritance Approach 1 Peter 1:4

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,(1Pet. 1:3-4)

Once God promises an incorruptible inheritance, it will not be taken away.

· Sealing Approach Ephesians 1:13

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Eph 1:13)

Once sealed by the Holy Spirit, a genuine believer cannot lose his salvation.

· Hands Approach John 10:28-30

²⁸And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰“I and My Father are one.”(John 10:28-30)

Once a genuine believer is in the hands of God, no one can snatch him out and he cannot slip or jump out!

· Logical Approach Romans 8:38-39

³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

Once a genuine believer experiences the love of God in salvation, he is eternally secure. There is nothing a genuine believer can do or become that can separate him from the love of God.

· Election Approach Ephesians 1:4

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Eph 1:4)

Once a genuine believer is chosen in Christ, he cannot lose his salvation.

· Grammar Approach Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)

The Greek grammar requires a salvation that is eternal. The word for “saved” is a perfect periphrastic grammatically, and is the strongest way you can say that an action took place (being saved) and the results CONTINUE forever and ever.

· Sovereign Approach Romans 8:28-30

²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Rom 8:28-30)

Once God foreknows, predestines, calls and justifies, He will also glorify. The verbs in these verses all indicate action accomplished. So the genuine believer is seen by God in glorified state. Therefore, there is nothing the genuine believer can do, including suicide, that can hinder that glorification.

In all, God in no way allows suicide as an option for life. Suicide is a sin and there is loss of intended rewards.

Question: What does hate mean in the Bible?

Posted on January 24, 2013 by shepherdbryan

What does hate mean in Scripture?

Here are a few thoughts.

Most people think of hate as the opposite of love and it is.¹ Hate is often expressed by opposition, or the actions of detesting and despising toward another with whom you have no desire for contact. Love draws in, while hate separates. Amnon hated Tamar with a greater hate than the phony love he expressed to her and drove her away from him (2 Sam. 13:15).

We read of how God hated Israel’s festivals, because they were mixed with sin and human glory. God hates any action of worship from sinful, unholy people (Is. 1:13-15; cf. Zech 8:17). God hates the wicked (Ps. 11:5). God hated idols (Deut. 16:22) and those who love God will also hate idolators (Ps. 31:6). That hatred is acceptable to God.

However it is not always a violent separation or opposition. It can be a passive action as when David hated his friends who stood with him against his rebellious son Absalom. Joab rebuked David, “…you love your enemies and hate your friends” (2 Sam 19:6) when he showed mournful love toward his rebellious son Absalom. That kind of hate is a passive indifference of not caring about those who loyally stood with him.

We can hate someone by not loving the one to whom love is expected (Gen. 29:31-33). Jacob was not showing love to Leah (unloved, saneh, i.e. hated) and God blessed her in spite of his indifference.

If a man had two wives, and one was unloved (saneh, hated), the man could not give firstborn status on the son of the loved wife. He must give firstborn status to the firstborn, even if the son was from the unloved (hated) wife (Deut. 21:15-16).

The word, therefore, expressed a choice of one over the other. How that choice is manifested can be expressed in different ways.

¹Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. by Harris, Arch and Waltke, Vol. 2, p. 880

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