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Sep 01, 2015 / Bible Study / 1 COMMENTS
Today’s Scripture: September 1
“The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin” (Ezekiel 33:12).
Today we read the seventh prophecy of Ezekiel wherein he describes the coming fate of Egypt. Immediately following, Ezekiel begins to describe blessings on Israel, which continue through chapter 39.
In those days, people liked to listen to Ezekiel, but they rarely followed what he said. How about you? Is your preference to enjoy entertaining sermons and commentaries, or are you listening to seek God with your whole heart, willing to do what He says?
Thank you again for your wonderful teaching and clarification of the scriptures.
About the “once saved, always saved” belief: I wonder if the difference is whether they were ever saved to begin with. I know in my own life, I thought I was saved because I had walked the aisle when I was 9yo, but I had never lived for the Lord, never considered or studied His word, other than what was said in Sunday School. In that case, even though I thought I was saved back then, I realized as an adult, that I wasn’t. Once I got into the Word, I realized that I had done an action of walking down the aisle, but my heart wasn’t affected at all. It wasn’t changed to reflect or even to strive to reflect Christ. So, even though I had been taught “once saved, always saved,” I see now that I wasn’t truly saved in the beginning.
I believe that if we’re truly saved, we shouldn’t be able to continue in sin without being comvicted by the Holy Spirit and prompted to stop doing it. If we continue in our sin, we may be taken away to stop our living for the evil one while we’re proclaiming to live for the Lord.
After all, we know we can’t depend on our righteousness. But if we could lose REAL salvation, that would mean that Jesus’ death wasn’t enough, it would be depending on our goodness, which will never be enough.
Even Paul confessed in Romans 7 that he didn’t know why he did what he knew he shouldn’t do and didn’t do what he knew he should do.
As I continue to strive and fail to live a perfect life, I’m praising God this morning for His grace, even in the face of my sin.