Featured Salvation question

There are those who are saved , but who are acting as in still in the flesh, as mere babes in Christ, and there are indeed carnal Christians, but the truth is that they cannot stay forever in that state, as one really saved will eventually repent and come back to God, just as the prodigal son did!

 

He also said, “I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Why do you suppose He said this?

Also, Peter was apostle to the circumcision, his audience was Jewish. Peter preached to those on whom the end of the age with great wrath was coming. There was a very serious time line involved for every Jew of 'that generation' alive on the planet. The urgency of the message to 'the Jew first' was 'Save yourselves from this crooked generation' (Acts 2), and 'Every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people' (Acts 3).

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Pet 3

“You-ward” is Jews, Peter’s audience. And God did not wish for any of His sheep to be caught up in the wrath and destruction about to be poured out upon ‘that generation’. Consider what was coming upon 'that generation':

upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Mt 23:35,36

(compare with: And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. Rev 18:24 )

23 Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished. Lk 21

God made sure that every Jew on earth was given the chance to 'hearken to that prophet' before the wrath came. All the Jews of that generation on earth heard the gospel, and were given the chance to repent and escape the wrath that was to come upon 'that generation', and for their progeny to avoid the curses of the OT [Lev 26; Dt 28 & 31,32] that were to come upon the race. God gave her time to repent (a full forty year generation), but she would not. Only a remnant was saved.

Again, this is addressed to ‘that generation’ on whom the end of the age was coming.

1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.

What do you imagine Pilate did there? You know he didn't 'mingle their blood' himself , he sent soldiers to do the deed. 'In like manner' they were all to die in the wrath to come if they did not repent.

4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Josephus actually records this event that happened in the 'berg' of Siloam. Roman soldiers, again by Pilate's orders, disguised themselves and mingled with the crowd and fell upon them with clubs and beat them to death to quell an uprising of the Galileans over Pilate misappropriating temple funds to extend an aqueduct from the spring at Siloam. They were all to 'likewise' perish in the wrath to come upon that generation if they did not repent.

 

The Christianity of some is mere identity, while for others it is conviction.

If this legalistic one is unsure of God's existence, he might merely have Christian identity. And I would venture to say that their definition of "saved" would be vastly different from scripture

 

Two things:

1) In my readings from bygone days (around Spurgeon's time), Christians being brought into church membership were questioned as to their battles with doubt because this was considered a mark of maturity. Your friend may be going through this battle with satan and it may be for a protracted time.

I'm not bragging myself up but for several years in my 30's (I'm now in my 70's)I was ravished with doubt, lost quite a bit of weight and ended up in the hospital in the psych ward.

Folks in the church were astonished that someone like myself had fallen into such a state of doubt and depression. I came out of it slowly.

Psalm 88 was my walk in life.

As I came out of it I found that others had had similar experiences even the famous like John Bunyan who for several years was plagued with doubts. His many books came after his recovery.

Your friend needs to be in the scripture DAILY for as much time as possible, especially the Psalms, they will heal the wounded spirit.

2) Repentance. Semantically this word means "change of mind" and in its raw semantic meaning it can be a change of mind to any degree. It is not a purely theological usage word.

However, in the NT flavor-nuance I believe it refers to this kind of a change of mind :
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

We go from the use of the adamic way of thinking to Christ's way of thinking

It can be a slow process and I think that is the meaning of

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The koine root word for "changed" is metamorphoo.

HankD