Did Paul Know For Certain...?

Short answer, he did so under inspiration of Holy Spirit.

That said, Paul looked at their behavior (they were his "fellow workers") and concluded that their actions were consistant with their profession of faith.

peace to youraying:

 

Did Demas defect the faith or did he defect Paul?

 

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Demas was not saved, just worked with Paul. There are many unsaved people in churches all over the world. today.

 

My policy?

Assume no one is saved until I get to know them.

"Know them that labor among your"

If you assume someone is saved, and they are not, you will not be the witness that they need. Oh sure, you will speak of faith and unity in the body, but the witness will not be that which that lost soul needs.

You can assume someone is saved because they know Scripture, or attend Church faithfully and all the time, they are loving the world.

Yes, it is possible to 'know them,' to know if they are saved or not. Their life will reflect their hearts eventually.

 

I agree, I just know some use him as an argument against OSAS. I think you and SFIC said it well.

 

Strong yes, but so is the smell of dung. Based in doctrinal ignorance, yes.

Simpletons generally make rash conclusions, and within Christianity particularly about whether someone is saved or not, they are eager to make such declarations based on very limited information.

As well they misunderstand even the most simple passages in Scripture and subsequently misapplied them in their confusion as STIC has done.

Believers are commanded to "love not the world" which reveals it is possible for a believer to love the world or else it would not be commanded.

Hence, when the theologically confused get a hold of a single passage and disregard its context or use such as "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" they, in their eagerness to wield this new found weapon of apparent righteousness, misuse it and foolishly claim someone can't be saved because they are said to have "loved this world". Of course in the midst of their claims and declarations they are totally oblivious to any other passages related to the issue at hand such as the reality that believers can love the world as revealed in the command for believers to NOT love the world.

 

One can be a believer and not be saved. Shocked? Judas knew who he had betrayed... yet he was not saved.

My oldest brother would tell you he believed that Jesus was the Son of God. And yet, my oldest brother died a drunkard 6 months ago. He is now in a devil's hell. And yet, he believed.

The fact that John said that if they loved the world, the love of the Father was not in them, showed that their love for the world was proof that their belief or profession was not possession.

 

I did not relegate my brother to hell. He chose that path himself. Even on his deathbed, he refused to talk with members of his family who were saved.

God's Word declares that no drunkard will inherit the kingdom of God.

No, God's Word is truth. Melvin chose to serve a different god than the one who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for mankind that mankind might live for Him.

I have another brother who I try to witness to, but alas, a prophet is without honor in his own country. This brother is so full of hatred for all that is God. He drinks, he curses. He is not below beating up his younger sister who 2 days before had surgery both on her back and other areas of her body. And still carries that same hatred.

Yet, he served in a church as an usher for over a year.

No, I cannot lie and say Melvin is in heaven, nor can I lie and say Mike is saved. Their fruits paint an entirely different picture.

 

Acts 16

Hmmmm...

 

If believing is all that is needed, why is there a command for man to 'sin not'?

Salvation is more than believing. The devils themselves believe Jesus is the Son of God... yet they can never be saved.

Believing is an action word. Else the Spirit was lying when He inspired John on the Isle of Patmos to write that all idolators, whoremongers, sorcerers, liars, and such would have their part in the lake of fire.


No, believing is much more than profession, it is possession. It is walking in Christ. It is being led by the Spirit.

 

I agree, even Satan knows who Jesus is but I don't think he's saved.