Quote Originally Posted by Robert Harris
Superseding the truth of Scripture, for some, the Doctrine of Eternal Security can be an inhibiting doctrine to the growth of faith. To clarify the validity of that view, it becomes a necessity to examine exactly what biblical truth is.

"Inhibiting the grow of faith." It is the confidence in Christ that we have who are saved that we can boldly come to Him and do His will. How is that inhibiting? But even still a believer has the choice if he wants to remain a fleshly or carnal Christian he certainly will not be one of those in Jude 14,15, that return with Christ to reign during the 1000 years (Rev. 20.4). He shall be disciplined in outer darkness, outside the light of rewards of reigning with Christ. That's a very long time, before the New City and New Earth commence. You're inhibiting growth of faith because you haven't even walked through the door of salvation, since you are still trying to keep yourself, operating on your own strength, pridefully I might add. In fact your false conversion experience was a works, because you did not come to the cross repentantly to believe in God who is able to preserve you. There can only be one thing why you would worship your god, because like all other religions, you are trying to get to God on your own merit instead of allowing God to come down to you and bring you up to Him, like a loving parent, no matter what trouble you get yourself into, He will not forsake you. May you have that kind of love one day.

Eternal security? James wrote: “Brethren, if ANY OF YOU do err from ‘the truth,’ and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a SOUL from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). Principally, James zeroed in on the issue of backsliders, for both terms, “brethren” and “you,” can only apply to believers: “if any of you do err.” Here, James is specifi cally telling us that the SOUL of a brother is at stake, none other. In other words, a believer who determinedly puts aside “the truth” of Scripture, being faith that works by love (Gal. 5:6-7), jeopardizes their salvation.

In James 5.19 “converteth simply means to “turn him back” in NASB. Again we do not assume he lost salvation. We only accept that he erred from the truth. Now I do not know if the “death” pertains to the affects of the “second death” on believers burning them from works here, or if it means an early physical death, but either way the consequence is a negative one. This believer that would be so turned back will then be back on the road of overcoming and may yet receive the reward of reigning with Christ in the millennial kingdom if he can no longer be hurt by the second death. Let’s compare some verses to see this matter more clearly, “He shall never see death” (John 8.51,52) is actually “he shall not forever see death” in the original, and “he shall never taste death” is “he shall not forever taste death” in the original. “They shall never perish” (John 10.28) is “they shall not forever perish” in the original. “Shall never die” (John 11.25,26) is “shall not forever die” in the original (that is, receives death according to what is due him).

The salvation that is jeopardized is not the regeneration of one's spirit, but the saving of the soul which is the outerman so that the whole man be saved (Heb. 4.12).

The death spoken of in James 5.19 is not eternal separation from God, but a needing to be disciplined and shall lose rewards. The sinner here is a sinning saint, and the soul refers to our life. Death is severe but a possible means of judgment- but again, what's at stake here is a Christian's physical life and testimony on earth, not his or her eternal salvation. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10.28). The spirit of the saved man keeps eternal life and remains in God's protection, but the fires of Hell will burn off the dross of his false works of his outerman (soul and body). Praise the Lord!

James put it this way:

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in
peace, be you warmed and filled; notwithstanding
you give them not those things which are needful
to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if
it hath not works, is dead, being alone. . . . But wilt
thou know, O vain man, that faith without works
is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon
the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his
works, and by works was faith made perfect? And
the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness: and he was called the Friend of
God. You see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only. (James 2:15-24)

If we encounter a destitute brother or sister, and just say, “God bless you,” especially when we can help and our help is needful, our faith is in vain. Being inactive, dead faith is a non-abiding faith that doesn’t justify anyone. In retrospect, James’s “truth passage” is another confirmation to “the truth,” especially since a multitude of sins become covered by a brother who wholly converts to the truth; that is, to the truth of selfless love, stemming from laborious faith. Peter agreeably wrote, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover (hide) the multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8)!
James 2:—"What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?" (v.14) What is the motive behind these words written by James? To whom does he address himself? For some people boast that they have faith, yet there is no work displayed in their lives. If they are not refuted, the church will be evilly affected. Faith should be kept before God, not to be bragged about before men. Faith needs to be accomplished by works. All who say they have faith and yet have no works cannot be saved by their kind of faith.

"Saved" in the Scriptures has several meanings. "I know," says Paul, "that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1.19). Is not Paul already saved? This obviously does not refer to a believer’s receiving eternal life; it points to Paul’s being released from prison. "Who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us" (2 Cor. 1.10), declares Paul once more. Some think that this alludes to how the Lord died on the cross to save us from the penalty of sin and is now our Advocate in heaven saving us from the power of sin and in the future will come again to save our body. Who knows for sure, say they, that these matters are not what Paul in fact is talking about here? Well, the deliverances herein mentioned pertain to Paul’s and his friends’ physical deliverances by the Lord. For by reading the entire context we learn how they had formerly been afflicted in Asia to the point of despairing even of life but that the Lord delivered them out of such a situation. For this reason, Paul believed that the Lord would deliver him out of afflictions yet further—both now and in the future.

In like manner the word "save" used by James above has reference to being profited through environment. This is clear if we read the verses which follow: "If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?" (James 2.15,16) The "one of you" points to those who brag emptily of having faith. They do not supply food and dress to the brothers and sisters in need, but instead they vainly pronounce to the needy: Go in peace. The problem involved here is not one of going to heaven, but is one that is concerned with the warmth and the filling up of the body today. What James means to say is that you cannot simply say you have faith and yet do not supply the needs of your brothers and sisters.

"Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself" (v.17). This is a verdict given by James. He means that if you believe that those needy ones will be warmed and filled and yet you do not lend a hand to supply their needs, such kind of faith without works is not faith at all; it is dead. A living faith believes in the heart that the God of mercy would not permit those needy brethren to go cold or hungry; and at the same time this living faith causes us to distribute various physical supplies to them.

"Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by works will show thee my faith" (v.18). Those who brag vainly of their faith will be challenged by others, who will say: You say you have faith but where do you express it? You can only say with your mouth; you will not even lift a finger at the time of real need. Where then is your faith? You pretend to believe for others, though you yourself have not faith. If you have faith, why do you not give all that you have? Your brother or sister is now naked and in lack of daily food. Why do you not give what you have to him since you yourself are warmly clothed and well-fed? You say you have faith, but how are you going to prove your faith? But as a matter of fact, your faith is but empty word, your faith is dead. It does not profit the needy ones. On the other hand, though, I have works, and by my supplying the needs of brothers and sisters I prove my faith. I believe that God would not cause us to suffer cold or hunger, therefore when I see the needs of brothers and sisters around me I share all that I have with them. My works are based on my faith. My works are the expressions of my faith. By my works I show forth my faith.

"Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder" (v.19). The children of Israel believe in one God, and this is right. But the demons believe also in one God, yet they remain as demons. What James infers from this fact is that faith without works is like demons who remain demons though believing in God.

"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?" (v.20) Vain man is but another name for the one who brags emptily of his faith. It can be said that he really does not have faith in his heart. Only he who supplies others in a practical way can demonstrate his faith to people. First faith, then works. True faith produces true works. The one who boasts of his faith yet has no works is proven to have a dead faith. Since his heart errs before God, his faith is also dead.

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?" (v.21) If James had not quoted the story of Abraham, some readers of Romans and Galatians would consider outright that James is in error in what he says, for had not Paul spoken of justification by faith, and therefore faith is sufficient without the need of works? Yet what James maintains is that Abraham was indeed justified by faith but he was also justified by works. James does not overturn Abraham’s being justified by faith; he only proves by his offering up of Isaac that Abraham’s work is the expression of Abraham’s faith. So that he was not only justified by faith but also justified by works.

Instead of overturning justification by faith, James actually strengthens it with justification by works in proving what true faith is. Abraham’s offering up of Isaac is a work, and this work is reckoned to him as righteousness. But what kind of work is it? It is a work of faith. "By faith, Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back" (Heb. 11.17-19). In quoting the offering up of Isaac by Abraham, James shows us that true faith must be accompanied by works. Abraham gladly received the promises of God. He believed in what God had told him, notably that "in Isaac shall thy seed be called" (v.18). Eliezer was not the one, nor was Ishmael, nor was any son who might later be born of Sarah; Isaac alone was to be the heir of the inheritance and the promises.

Now God tested Abraham in order to see what his heart was toward God and how real was his faith. God asked him to offer up on the altar his son Isaac—the one who was divinely appointed to be his heir—and there to be slain and burnt. Yet how would God’s promise ever be fulfilled if Abraham loved God and burned Isaac? If he wanted to fulfill God’s promise he could not comply with God’s request. According to man these two, far from being unified, are contradictory to each other. Yet to a living faith they are unified and not contradictory. It is God who promises, and it is God who requires. God will never contradict himself. Between promise and request God will open a new way, that is to say, the way of resurrection: "accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead" (v.19).

Abraham’s faith is thus defined. Even though I slay Isaac and offer him as a burnt-offering, I still believe Your promised word—"in Isaac shall thy seed be called"—will be fulfilled, for you shall raise up Isaac from the dead. So when he went off to the appointed place to offer up Isaac, he went with a determined heart. He actually bound Isaac and raised high his knife. His heart toward God was absolute, there being no reservation. His faith in God was firm and void of doubt. And when the angel of the Lord called to him and said, "Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him" (Gen. 22.12), he "did also in a figure receive him back" (Heb. 11.19). Abraham’s offering up of his only begotten son was a work of faith. And this is called justification by works.

"Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect" (James 2.22). This continues on from the preceding thought. Due to the fact that by offering up Isaac on the altar Abraham was justified by works, we come to realize that faith runs parallel with works, or, to phrase it another way, that faith and works operate together. Abraham’s work is performed through his faith, and faith is perfected by his works. A faith which has not been tested is undependable. By his offering Isaac, Abraham’s faith is both proven and perfected.

"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God" (v.23). "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness"—this word is recorded in Genesis 15.6. What is the relationship between the offering up of Isaac in Genesis 22 to that word? Why should James quote it in his epistle when he suggests that the offering up of Isaac is a justification by works? And he even adds that the scripture was fulfilled. The relationship is simply this: that justification by works fulfills justification by faith. It appears as though justification by faith is a prophecy and that justification by works is the fulfillment of that prophecy. He who has faith must have works, for works explain the reality of faith. Abraham believed in God, he was reckoned as righteous, and he was also called the friend of God. Hence Abraham’s work in offering up Isaac is the fulfillment of Abraham’s faith in God. In short, his offering up of Isaac demonstrates to us his faith in God.

"Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith" (v.24). Since Genesis 22 is the fulfillment of Genesis 15, and since works are the expressions of faith because faith without works is dead and faith is made perfect by works, therefore a man is justified by works and not only by faith. Let us notice that James has not said that a man is justified by works and not by faith; he merely says that a man is justified by works and not only by faith. And by this he means to say that after a man is justified by faith he needs to prove and to be made perfect in that faith through justification by works, even as Abraham after he was justified by faith was tested by God and thus was justified by works.

"And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?" (v.25) James first cites an excellent person such as Abraham to show that he was not only justified by faith but also justified by works. Next, though, he cites a bad woman such as Rahab to show that she too was justified by works. For she received the messengers and sent them out another way. What kind of work is this work? "By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace" (Heb. 11.31). This work is also a work of faith. Faith and works are inseparable; they are the two sides of one thing. With respect to this one and same thing it is called faith in Hebrews and works in James. Works are the expressions of faith whereas faith is the source of works. To say that there is faith and yet there be no works of faith shown, that faith is dead. Consequently, after there is a justification by faith there must also be the justification by works.

"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead" (v.26). In Chapter 2, from verse 14 onward, James speaks of the relationship between faith and works. There is a kind of faith which has no works, being nothing but a vain boast; and it is dead. But there is another kind of faith which has works; and it is living. Works prove the faith, and works make perfect the faith. James uses what Abraham and Rahab did as evidences to prove his point. And finally, he uses this other illustration: "As the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead": living faith is always accompanied by works: so that just as the body without the spirit is dead, faith without works is also dead.

Now James’s text doesn’t center on unbelievers erring, again, it is the brethren (“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth.”). Thus, James’s “truth passage” only concerns believers, as Peter’s following citing of the Holy Commandment, and those who effect righteousness through it, also does:

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them. (2 Pet. 2:21)

Nonbelieivers never had to turn from the holy Commandment, because nonbelievers never learned the way of righteousness to begin with. Therefore, it remains that the Doctrine of Eternal Security is a false doctrine.

Robert Harris
The point of James 2 is to explain how a person, thou saved, who has no works, makes his faith dead of no effect, not that he then loses salvation. Not at all. You're totally missing the point!

2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog [is] turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

It would have been better for you to have never heard of Jesus to remain believing in a God who doesn't have the power to assure you He will keep you faithful even when you are faithless. You turned from the Holy Commandment because you refuse God's way of salvation. There is only one way. His way. Many people have receive the commandment of the Lord and still turn from Him-were never born-again! This is you, because of your out-clause and pride in salvation by works, your own power to keep yourself. Who has this kind of arrogance more than any other? Lucifer.

There is no confidence in faith under non-OSAS and trust in God’s all knowing ability to foreknow all that which He lets Himself know.

In 2 Peter 1.9-11 we are told that some believers will be blinded, and will forget, so you are to work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. In reading the Bible never let ourselves assume anything for the minute we fall by assuming, we are blind. Our election is fact, now it needs to be made sure. The RSV version says “confirm your call and election”. In other words strengthen that which you already have. Therefore, you shall never fall. NASB says “shall never stumble”. Fall does not mean to lose what has been given. Rather, it means to fall down. Even so, now get back up for you have the life of Christ in you. If you do not, and stay down, you most certainly will lose the rewards of the kingdom. Where do you go if you lose the rewards of the kingdom as a good many Christians will lose such reward in reigning with Christ during the millennium. It has been mentioned 3 times by name in the Scriptures. It’s name is outer darkness. We need to humble ourselves to this recognition because this is the piece of the puzzle many simply are not willing to accept, even as Christians. God has a way of putting them outside of glory – outer darkness – without any part of the kingdom. This is what Matt. 25.30 means. If you say to yourself “I will not legalize this term to be hell” then you can accept it for it no longer becomes such an monumental term.

2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Dogs and Swine, Matt. 7.6

Verse 6 is a fragment by itself. The dogs and swine mentioned here refer especially to those people cited in 2 Peter 2.21-22. Such people are fairly near the door of the church. They have received some spiritual education, yet they are never saved. The "had washed" in 2 Peter symbolizes a kind of noble ideal; it is not a cleansing through the forgiveness of sins.

The Old Testament mentions swine a great deal, and the New Testament has much to say about dogs. Both swine and dogs are unclean. Swine are cloven-footed, but they do not chew the cud; and the dog neither parts the hoof nor chews the cud. Hence both are unclean. The spiritual symbol for a Christian is the sheep.

Outwardly the swine may look better than the dog, for it is at least cloven-hoofed. This observation may be applied to churchgoers who seem to know, yet do not know, the truth. The dog has neither the appearance nor the reality of cleanness. The Letter to the Philippians warns us of dogs (3.2); and the book of Revelation (22.15; cf. 21.8) tells of the dogs which are in the lake of fire without the Holy City.

"That which is holy" (v.6) belongs to God. How do people come into possession of holy things? These holy things—possibly they are truths as revealed in the book of Revelation or are such truths as baptism, breaking of bread, and so forth—are spiritual things which come from God.

"Pearls" are "your pearls"—which denote things you personally have received from God. Thus holy things represent truths in general which come out of God, whereas pearls represent those experiences which you specifically receive from God.