Hi Mark,
Obviously there is too much here to cover at one time, so I will make a few general comments.
1) It may surprise you to know that, apart from the types and shadows, there are only four scriptures in the entire Old Testament that speak of salvation. They are: 1) "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). 2) "I know that my Redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25). 3) "The just shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4). 4) Ezekiel chapter 37 which speaks of the resurrection.
My point is that the OT and Gospels EMPHASIZE works, but that emphasis does not negate the fact that "the just shall live BY FAITH"
2) Many make the same mistake in believing that repentance was for salvation, it is not and never was. The paper on my web-site lists every occurrence in the Bible BEGINNING WITH THE OT in which Israel is called on to repent. In every case it is either to lay hold of earthly blessings (including the millennial blessings), or to avoid earthly punishments. It is never for salvation unto resurrection life.
3) As for turning back: my paper on whether a person can lose thier salvation proves from Scripture that the passages you quoted from Heb. do not teach a loss of salvation.
4) As for confessing their sins, you have asked what happens if they don't. The question implying that they will ?????? lose their salvaiton???? there is no Scriptural evidence for that and that conclusion contradicts scores of other scriptures.
In short, if we are going to understand the NT we must first understand the OT. Why? Because those who wrote the NT under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit were, primarily addressing those who knew the OT and the writers spoke to them with that in mind. Too many studies of this nature begin with the NT and that is why, in my opinion, there is so much confusion.
If you would like to continue this discussion by picking just one group of scriptures, I will be happy to do so.
In Christ,
Joyce |
