Re: [TruthTalk] Eternal Judgment

[Bill Taylor]

This theology of yours is showing itself to be even more sinister than it first appeared.  Now the saved are those who are lost, because they repented and made Christ their Lord, because that makes them the religious hypocrites.  This seems to be the stuff of true heresy. Izzy     I'm not saying anything of the sort, Izzy. I am not talking about people who have repented and made Christ their Lord at all, quite the opposite in fact -- but I am interested in knowing how you came to this conclusion from what I've said.   Look with me at 2 Peter 2.1: "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction." This, in my opinion, is not talking about ex-Christians who have once repented and made Christ their Lord and Savior only to later slip into heresy and thereby lose their salvation. These men are very religious fellows, no doubt, but they are false teachers and false prophets, who knowingly (hence the secrecy) teach against the truth of Christ. These are men who have never "repented" and have never received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Do you agree with this? Notice what Peter says about these men: they deny the Lord who bought them. This is the same word used in 1 Cor 6.20 -- "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Literally this word means to buy or purchase something, or to do business in the marketplace. As it relates to exchange at a human level, it speaks to the buying of a slave's freedom for a price paid by a benefactor; in other words, it means to redeem, as in being no longer controlled by sin, but "set free" by the payment of another, namely, Christ Jesus. Peter here tells his readers that these false teachers have in fact been redeemed, but will nonetheless bring swift destruction upon themselves, and this specifically because in their sustained unbelief they willfully deny the Lord who redeemed them. Hence, if they keep this up, they will be damned. My point, Izzy, is this: it is not that these men are not saved -- they are saved; they have been redeemed -- the problem is that they are rejecting the one who saved them; therefore, as the preacher to the Hebrews warns, there no longer remains for them a sacrifice for sins (cf. 10.26). Their end is swift destruction.   Hence, as I said before, the "damned" are also lost, but they are lost in a different way than those who have never heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation. The damned have heard the good news of Jesus Christ and have willfully refused to believe; hence they are "lost" to a much greater degree; they are damned. We find in Scripture that these are most often highly religious people, religious leaders, in fact, who think they are saved by their own works of righteousness. These are those to whom the strongest warnings in Scripture are given.   Now, if you don't understand what I am saying, please ask me questions.   Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: ShieldsFamily To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 6:19 AM Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Eternal Judgment   The "lost" are those who have yet to hear the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation. The "damned" are also lost, but they are lost in a different way and to a much greater degree. They are religious zealots who think they are saved not by Christ but their own works of righteousness; they have cognizantly rejected Christ. These are those to whom the strongest warnings are given.   Bill   This theology of yours is showing itself to be even more sinister than it first appeared.  Now the saved are those who are lost, because they repented and made Christ their Lord, because that makes them the religious hypocrites.  This seems to be the stuff of true heresy. Izzy