Are children born as sinners? (And why or why not?)

Although physical death has entered the world, God indicates that for a time our children are sinless, and thus not spiritually dead. In fact, check out this chunk of Isa 7: "at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good..." Although just a snippet, God shows that when we are young, we don't know the difference between the two.

This is, in fact, the definition of the prelapsarian (before the fall of man) state. Adam was told, "but from the tree OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (Gen 2:17) Pay close attention to that. It was the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL l that allowed him to sin. Children DON'T have that knowledge, as God confirms:

"Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it." (Deut 1:34-39) All the Israelites that did know weren't allowed access to the promised land, but their children, being without sin at the time, were..

Does God give us any choice in salvation?

 I was talking with a man who believed in God, and thought that we have no choice about whether or not we're going to heaven or hell. "God chooses His elect and there's nothing you can do," he said. "To believe anything else makes God no longer sovereign and not all powerful!"

Look what God lamented in Luke 13: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!" (v43)

It is God's sovereign decision to let us make our own choices, whether to be with Him eternally or to be forever separated. Saying that He does not have the power to let us make our own choices is to contradict what He says.

Is mankind wholly depraved?

There is often the thought that mankind is wholly depraved, yet Jesus identified a class of people that He appreciated, saying,

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." (Luke 8:15)

Having a good and honest heart is certainly not an attribute of being totally depraved, so let's show that by holding Jesus fast and bearing fruit!

Can I fall from grace?

Once you're saved, you're always saved. That's a popular belief, but does it match up with what God says? I think not so much, although the caveat is that we are being saved—an ongoing process wherein we "grow in respect to salvation." (1 Peter 2:2) Can a person fall from grace? Let's look at some points.

1.) Gal 5:4   You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

2.) 2 Pe 1:10  Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

3.) 2 Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

4.) 1 Pe 5:8  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

5.) Heb 3:12  Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 

God gives us those admonitions so that we will live faithfully and end with a fierce finish. Let's not be like Solomon, the wisest ever, who fell away. 

Is it possible to lose your salvation?

It is a popular theory that losing one's salvation is impossible, but God says,

"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Heb 2:4-6)

So how can that be?  The Bible speaks of us who are "being saved." (1 Cor 1; 2 Cor 2)  It tells us to "grow in respect to salvation."  (1 Peter 2) And in Revelation, it threatens to remove people from that security.  We are told that we have the "down payment/earnest" (Eph 1:2 Cor 1) of the Spirit.

All these are present, progressive things which haven't yet reached completion; they aren't static/fixed. Thus we can "grow in respect to salvation," but we can also leave it. We can choose to be those who are "being saved," or we can throw God the bird. Let's make the right choice out of love! It's great that He lets us choose. :)  

Once saved, always saved?

Once we are saved, are we always saved?

Sometimes people believe that once we are saved, we are always saved, and a lot of theology can be tied up with this assumption. Since it is a foundational belief, if it is incorrect, much of the Bible must be re-interpreted in light of the truth of God's word. 

So, can a Christian fall from grace, or once we're saved, are we always saved no matter what? Let's see what God says on the matter:

1.) "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Gal 5:4)

———>If someone has been severed from Christ, they have to have been attached to Christ at one point, just as for a hand to be severed from an arm, it must have at one time been attached to the arm.  Salvation comes through Christ, so at one point these individuals were saved. And, of course, they fell from grace. 

2.) "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Heb 6:4-6)

———>Again, people were in a state of salvation which did not last. They fell from grace.

3.)  “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” (Jude 5)

———>The Old Testament contains physical representations of the spiritual reality of today. Jude mentions that some people were saved, but they were not faithful until they died. They went from believing to not believing, and thus lost that salvation.

4.) “They have forsaken the right way and gone astray.” 

———>Peter warned that false prophets would arise from among the people of God in 2 Peter 2. He did not say they would enter from the outside, but that they would come from within the family of God. You cannot forsake a path that on which you were never walked. Concerning these people and those they lead astray Peter warns (see 5),

5.) “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” (2 Peter 2:20-21).

———>Here again we see people who were saved, and later lost that. There is a reason that God says, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Rev 2:10) It is possible for a faithful spouse to abandon the one to whom he or she is married, and to lose that relationship. 

So We Have to Be Faithful? Do We Have a Choice? As it turns out, we have a huge say in this thing. In fact, God offers the gift, but we can choose to accept or reject it!

The following passages describe a need to live faithfully (obediently) from henceforth until death:

“You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:22)

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mat 24:9) 

 “If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (2Ti 2:12)

So we just saw that we have to endure—something that we can choose to do or not. We can fall away from the truth, or cling to it.

Can we turn down God's Grace?  The above discussion has a vast reach.  If a child of God can fall from grace and lose salvation, then God's grace must not be irresistible. But we can show this further!  In Matthew 23:37, Christ proclaims:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"

If grace were not resistible, then this could not be! Instead, God , "is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)

There is something else that we have to consider, though. God can tell where this whole shebang is headed. He can discern our very hearts. Even then, though, it is OUR action that leads to His response. He lets us get the first say:

“And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess 2:10-12)

God wants everyone to be saved, but will not force anyone to accept salvation. Grace, then is entirely resistible.  And if God's grace is not irresistible, then a person must be free to choose whether he will accept that grace or not. Because of this, we cannot say that we are elected to salvation sans conditions. However, we can indeed agree with God that He has predestined those who believe and are faithful to be saved!

Who'd Christ Die For? 

If a person is free to make the good choice to accept God's grace, we cannot say that Christ died only for some "elect group." Instead, we must say along with the apostle Paul that Christ, "gave Himself as a ransom for all," and died for the sins of all people. Christ did not die to atone for the sins of a limited group of people. (Luke 19:10, John 12:32, Romans 5:18, 2 Cor 5:14-15, 1 Tim 2:5-6, 1 Tim 4:10, Heb 2:9)

Are We 100% Defiled? 

If a person can make a good choice, and we've seen that he can, he must not be "wholly defiled in the all the faculties of soul and mind." Many people are thus considered anything but totally defiled. For example, God called Barnabas a, "good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord." (Acts 11:24)

Irresistible grace?

Irresistible grace?
BQ: Many doctrines boil down to Calvinism. Saved by faith alone leads to, "how much faith?" How much of the Bible that says "not faith alone" or "saved by (not faith)" is a lie? I've been reading some different websites that claim they're not Calvinist, but many of the quotes I've read go like this. "We can do nothing good of our own, but only of God. The person who is saved does not choose God, but rather irresistibly flies to Him when saved." 

Q: What does the bible say about this irresistible grace?
A:  "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Mt 23:37)
 

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did." (Acts 7:51)

God chose to provide us a chance at eternal life, but it is not irresistible. We have free will be either have obedience of faith or not. :)

(Note: John 15:16 and Eph 1:3-4 must be viewed in the context of what is going on, as must all of the Bible.) 
(PN112)