[Jon-Marc]

By saying we are lost and saved over and over, we are saying that God is not capable of keeping us saved in spite of ourselves. Since God knows ALL things and sees the future, He knew before He saved us that we would still sin and be disobedient as children are. Children test their parents and the boundaries on how far they can go, and we as children of God are no different. Yet, God continues to love us once we are His. He has promised that He will NEVER leave us nor firsake us.

If we sin (and He knows we will), then He will chastise us until we are back in fellowship with Him. He will NOT, however, disown us. Those who turn away from Him and never return and never feel guilty NEVER knew Him in the first place. They were PLAYING Christian. As long as everything is going their way they will supposedly follow Him and act religious, but as soon as life gets hard they desert Him. They were not living by faith but by sight. Yes, I have failed Him many times and more than likely will in the future, but I cannot turn completely away from Him even if I wanted to since the Holy Spirit lives IN me and has promised never to leave.

[Jason]

Exactly.

Also, to understand why we only get saved once, we have to understand what salvation is.

When we are saved, we undergo a transformation. A renewing of our minds as Romans puts it ("Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 ). And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

To understand where I am coming from, I will show these verses in context:

Paul's thought in this section seems to me to be covered in two verses. (Romans 12:1-2)

Verse: Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

First Paul tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices which is the act of giving our lives to Jesus as our Lord.

Many prayers that are offered for those who would like to be saved have something like this in them:

Quote

I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life, I give it to you. Help me to live every day in a way that pleases you.

This is pretty much taking up our crosses and following Christ. Giving our bodies as living sacrifices.. A part of salvation.

So logically, verse 2 would be talking about salvation as well. When we are saved we should be transformed by the renewing of your mind. There should be a permanent change.

Interesting sidenote about Paul:

Paul was either so full of the Holy Spirit or he had the Old Testament so well memorized that he repeated almost word for word some of the Old Testament but in a new light or new fashion. He didn't even cite most of it. Here is possibly where he got Romans 2:12:
Ezekiel 11:12
"And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you."

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Verse: 2nd Corinthians 16-20

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

So, (correct me on this if I am wrong) we see in this section of scripture, Paul is tell us and those who are unsaved that we no longer are looking from a worldly point of view (As our minds are renewed), and are now looking with a Godly point of view (Or we ought to be...).

He goes on to say our key verse: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. (not word for word. don't treat anything I write without quotes as scripture.)


What is key in these two verses is the definite nature. The old has gone. The new has come.. And with an exclamation point to beat it all! Paul was excited about this. We are no longer conformed to this world (or we shouldn't be) but TRANSFORMED by the renewing of our minds.

We won't be untransformed. We are permanently changed from the inside out.


It is a growing process for sure. The time you ask Jesus into your heart is just the first step. Paul writes that we work out our salvation. It is a continuing process but it starts at one point in our lives and continues from that one point. That one point is the point of redemption.