₦airaland Forum

let him that standeth take heed lest he falls, so says the bible. You think you are standing but in reality you have fallen.
The first temptation of Jesus was to cause Him to doubt and get off the Word. "If you are the Son of God ... ".
The temptation of the first man and woman was again to cause them to doubt the authenticity of God's word- "Did God really say... " the serpent hissed and they bought it.
Today, the reality of d warning God cautioned them of is in our face for all men die.
In the case of peter,Jesus said satan desired to sift him like wheat but Jesus had prayed tht he,Peter's faith holds, Peter denied Jesus in the face of threat of death.
In your case,mayb u were fervent bf , vibrant burng for God (as you admitted ) and satan didnt like it, so he decided to get you off the very way he did others ,by making you doubt the authenticity of the Word.
Once you step off d word,you're building on sand and you will crumble.
Now, you're doubtng the Word, buyg into philosophies of earthly men and eating their lies all up.
You 're on d road man. One day you'll come here and declare for satan (thru atheism or somethng similar- deism )

Sincerely when I saw this post some days back while liking it, I disliked the reference to deism, because of the rate at which Frosbel was falling .

frosbel:
I want to correct some charges that have been brought against me by many religious people on this forum, suggesting that I am an atheist for debunking their myths and contradictions.

I am not an Atheist.

Of course there is God but I am sincerely beginning to doubt that he is the God of the Christian religion.

I have found out that almost 80% of what I learnt as a Christian is either an outright lie, a frabication or a heavy dose of scripture twisting.

Most of you know how fanatical I was a few years ago , fighting for the trinity , hell fire, Virgin birth etc . Well ever since I embarked on a crash course in bible history , it is only God who has prevented my faith from crashing.

No one who reads the truth will deny that there are fundamental issues with a lot of bible stories and scripture. To suggest otherwise makes one a liar and participant in the misrepresentation of God's truth.

I agree with the overall message of the bible ( for there are many truths therein ) , but I cannot agree that it is word of a God when taken as a whole. This is just plain fallacy. Yes , God through his Spirit speaks to us and agrees with the truths he has revealed without which almost everything will become suspect.

I am still learning and now reading a book titled ' The Authentic Gospel of Jesus ' by late Geza Vermes, Professor Emeritus of Jewish studies at Oxford university. He was a former catholic priest. I am also an avid reader of articles by Bart Ehrmn Professor of Religious studies at the University of North Carolina. Bart was a former Evangelical Pastor.

What I have discovered is shocking and not for the faint hearted.

To be honest , I don't know where my quest and thirst for more knowledge will take me , sometimes I am scared, but this search will continue and my results will be shared wth you my good friends and of course enemies on this forum .

In summary , I am not an atheist and can never be one , not in this life or the next.

I am now an unfundamental thinking believer of Yeshua or Jesus.

Ever learning.

frosbel:


first off, welcome back with another one of your multiple IDs

Well humour me by telling me the others. This is the first time I have heard of them.

honourhim:
You know why i dont have problem with the eternal damnation concept? Because God made a way out. I dont worry myself with any problem that has solution. Once there is a solution, its no more a problem to worry about.

Here the solution is very very simple- grace/mercy of God. Just rely on it and you are free. Even the disciples of Jesus at a point felt it was impossible to make heaven but Jesus gave them a simple answer- "with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible". Matthew 19:26.

Well, unfortunately for him (Frosbel) , he most likely did not have any assurance of salvation, if he was saved. The salvation he was used to was that which gets lost at the drop of a hat!

Adesiji77:
The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared Friday, January 2, 2015 as public holiday to mark Eid el Maloud.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, on behalf of the government.
In a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Makaji Abdulahi, Moro urged Muslim faithful and all Nigerians to pray for the peace and unity of the country.
Moro further urged all Nigerians to engage in violent free activities in the run off to the 2015 general elections and to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda to move Nigeria to the next level of development.
Moro also wished all Muslim faithful and Nigerians a very peaceful celebration.
The Federal Government had earlier declared January 1, 2015 as public holiday to mark the New Year.
http://www.channelstv.com/2014/12/30/fg-declares-friday-january-2-2015-public-holiday/

I wonder why this didn't make front page.

@Olaadegbu
Great post, as ever.
I pray the eyes of those who just can't see the sufficiency of the scriptures (in all matters of faith) will be opened by this post, in Jesus' name, amen.

italo:
So all these your Protestant leaders have not read the Bible?

Or they have read but choose to dine with the antichrist?

Hypocrites!

The Pope is anti-Christ. Please stick to the subject matter.

Hypocrites!

This is a new signature.

italo:
And your protestant leaders are probably jetting off to the Vatican to learn the Hadiths and Islam from him.

Hypocrites!

Read the Bible, you will discover he is anti-Christ.

OLAADEGBU:
Pope francis Enters Mosque bows down and prays towards mecca
http://shoebat.com/2014/11/29/pope-francis-appeases-religion-antichrist-enters-mosque-pays-toward-mecca-islamic-call-prayer/

It's a pity. He does not believe in scripture alone. Probably being guided by one of his 'hadiths'.

Great post!

Ukutsgp:
people can fall back to as when they are yet saved. so why the argument. someone can be saved today and become unsaved tomorrow.

Harping on old strings again?
How interesting!

@Olaadegbu
Great post, as ever! .

Ukutsgp:
let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous.

Let no man deceive you, we are righteous in two ways - one way, by faith in Christ , the other - because we do righteousness.
But we dare not trust the latter for our salvation.

@Olaadegbu
Great post, as ever!

Goshen360:
The same Olaadegbu that will adopt extra biblical event to justify falsehood is here talking about sola scriptura? The day he stop copying from too many sites and learn the word by himself, maybe he will agree with same sola scriptura. That's when we take him serious. ..

Do you have any disagreement with the post?
If the post is true , why not support it?

Ukutsgp:
Many people believe that, when a person
becomes a child of God, afterward it is
impossible for him to so sin as to fall from
grace and be eternally lost.
This doctrine is one of the five major
points of Calvinism. It is often called
"the eternal security of the believer,"
"perseverance of the saints,"
"impossibility of apostasy," or simply
"once saved, always saved." Several
major denominations officially believe
the doctrine, though some do not
emphasize it and as a result the
members may not be aware of it.

The Westminster Confession adopted by
most Presbyterian churches, states:
"They whom God hath accepted in his
Beloved, effectually called and sanctified
by his Spirit, can neither totally nor
finally fall away from the state of grace;
but shall certainly persevere therein to
the end, and be eternally saved …
Nevertheless they may, through the
temptations of Satan … fall into grievous
sins…" (Book of Confessions of the United
Presbyterian Church, 1967 Ed., Sec.
6.086-6.088).
The Philadelphia Confession, adopted by
many Baptist churches, is almost
identical to the above.

You testify yourself that the belief is held by,'' most Presbyterian churches''. Ask yourself why they put up with this ''heresy''. The Westminster Confession of Faith from which these churches adopted the doctrine is at least three centuries old, it is dated 1646.It is clear therefore that this is no new ''heresy''. The truth is that it is a truth we have been glossing over while we allowed errors to flourish.

You advocate these good works for salvation, we say the believer being saved already, they cannot be for salvation. Do you see the difference? We do not deny the need to do good works after salvation but insist they have their necessary uses but not for salvation .

Ukutsgp: i am only upholding good works after salvation.

And to what purpose? Good works after salvation for salvation? You have to find out the reason for those good works.

Your presentation there was balanced and not a caricature of OSAS.

Ukutsgp: pls why the commendation? are not d championing those doctrines since d beginning of this thread?

Neither have I given up on their championing. I liked your introduction. The bolded in particular, though you don't seem to see it.

Many people believe that, when a person
becomes a child of God, afterward it is
impossible for him to so sin as to fall from
grace and be eternally lost.

hisblud: what do you understand by this...




Let me give you an analogy, there are 2 flies... butterfly vs housefly,
the butterfly is by nature MADE to fly among sweet smelling roses while the
housefly will be found in ru-bbish and sh-it. Now my question, if the butterfly
falls into rubbi-sh, does its fall into the rubbis-h make it a housefly? Am sure
biologist will shudder if that were to happen... will the butterfly remain in the
sh-it...of course not, it will change its mind [repent] and acknowledge its nature
and fly off to what it always do... among the sweet smelling flowers... .
Now becos the butterfly MAY FALL into the rubbi-sh does that make it to always
WANT to fall into the rub-bish next time?

yet you are spiting grace which teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust... Bros repent...change your mind!

Wonderful analogy

Ukutsgp: Many people believe that, when a person
becomes a child of God, afterward it is
impossible for him to so sin as to fall from
grace and be eternally lost.
This doctrine is one of the five major
points of Calvinism. It is often called
"the eternal security of the believer,"
"perseverance of the saints,"
"impossibility of apostasy," or simply
"once saved, always saved."

I commend you for this excellent introduction of the matter, this belief is so unpopular these days, but so true..

Nice post as ever . Completely endorsed.

atbu1983: 1 Corinthians 5 . 1-13 .New English Translation (NET Bible) as stated below

It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among
you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among
the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s
wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply
sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from
among you? For even though I am absent physically, I am
present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did
this, just as though I were present. When you gather
together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in
spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, hand this
man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that
his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little
yeast affects the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old
yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough—you are, in
fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been
sacrificed. So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with
the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread
without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Asked to bring up a passage that shows a believer can lose salvation, you brought this up!
Is this a joke? This passage shows that the believer is not yet perfect, far from it , that there is virtually no sin the believer is not capable of falling into, if he is not wary. It does not say the man had lost his salvation even though the man's sin was not one off, it was continuous (he had her living with him or he with her). This passage does not say or teach loss of salvation which would have been so easy to do here.

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually
immoral people. In no way did I mean the immoral people
of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters,
since you would then have to go out of the world. But
now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who
calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy,
or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a
swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what
do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to
judge those inside? But God will judge those outside.
Remove the evil person from among you.

Of course Paul was angry with the man and reasonably so because his behaviour fell short of what was expected of a saved man. The character traits he mentions are those ones to be found in unbelievers, so what he was in effect saying was that the church should not fellowship with such people to be on the safe side because they could well be unbelievers.

Short Explanation: In this passage , paul is strictly referring to those who have accepted christ but are still proud of themselves living immoral life. To them he said he has passed Judgement on them already. Paul said pass d person to satan for destruction of his flesh so dat his spirit may be saved of d lord. This means that if d persons love of d flesh is not consciously destroyed the persons spirit will not be save. Note that this person was proud of his immoral life. Which means he was doing it deliberately and as such his spirit will not be save......Lost of Salvation.

The man is not the one reported as being proud, rather it was the congregation, you goofed. Why should we take your conclusion established on falsehood seriously?

Paul even said such persons should b expelled from d gathering of christians. He went further to say we are to Judge fellow christians conduct. The Judgement we judge a fellow christian is to bring to his notice his wrongs so dat he depart from it for his spirit that was save by Blood of jesus to remain save. For d bible said Faith without work is dead

It will please me if those of your persuasion hand over such ones to Satan as Paul directs instead of pronouncing them lost.

Note: I know those with satanic message can still twist dis passage with logical reasons which Apostle paul never intended when he wrote to d corinthians. We should understand that paul writing is a letter to a gathering of christian in corinthians. which means it is suppose to be easy to understand. He didn't write them to be scrutinising it with plenty logic to justify thier love for things of d flesh.


more bible passages

Matthew 7. 21 to 23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do
many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

He never knew such ones!

Hebrew 6. 4 to 6
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been
enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in
the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God
and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to
restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once
again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to
contempt.

Read this passage to the end!

9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec
.

It is assurance of salvation all the way!

atbu1983: 1corinthians 9. 24 to 27

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only
one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are
disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will
fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with
purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I
discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it
should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself
might be disqualified.



From dat passage, it means we can lose d prize of eternal life (salvation) if we don't try our best to conquer our flesh. All we need to ask is d grace of God to help our resolve. It is our decision to consciously displine our body, d grace of God only assist us to achieve.

Note: I know you can come up with satanic twisting of d message to create a meaning never intended by Apostle Paul when he was writing to Corinthians.


2Timithy 4vs 3 is as stated below
For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound
teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will
accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an
insatiable curiosity to hear new things.

So let us suppose A and B gave their lives to Christ, A fell out of the race due to sin and ends up unsaved, B endured to the end and was saved. What makes B different from A? Would you deny that B saved himself? Especially when you consider that the grace of God which was common to them could not save A?

atbu1983: Every human being will love it if your position of once save forever save is true .

But d fact is that it is not true. it is false Gospel satan had devised to take many to hell. By using charismatic sweet talking preachers to spread it, many will fall for it.

The bible told us that in d last days false teachers will be plenty. people will become lovers of themselves . Many will have itching ears always wanting to hear what is sweet.

The gospel of once save always save is delusional.


It is true as a true believer of Christ God doesn't condemn us to hell immediately when we do wrong or sin. But need to see in us d desire to be free physically from those sin.

Those of us who sin deliberately because grace of God is available will surely lose our salvation if we don't repent.

It is true, but a very bitter pill to swallow. And except the Lord opens the eyes, no one will believe it.

atbu1983: If d gospel of once save forever saved is true, it means I can
do what I like once I am born again. I can choose to be a killer, I
can choose to save others. I can choose to hate or choose to
love. I can choose to sleep with ur wife and daughters or I can
choose not to. But in either case my heaven is sure and sealed. I
can choose to bomb every body in church on sunday and commit
suicide. No matter what I do, my heaven is sure since I am
already born again b4 I did it.

Whether u call it Christianity,religion, Christ followers, those from zion, Abraham abducted children, relationship or whatever it makes no difference. All that is use of English. .

Since I am forever loved, whether I love back or not is my choice.
what matters is dat my salvation is irreversible no matter what I
do. no matter d atrocity I commit, my heaven is sure because I
was once saved.

The beauty about OSAS is that it helps you know yourself, if you are saved or not. If true, would you be inclined to maintain your good works? If yes , you are probably saved; if no, you are most probably unsaved.

As christians, we should be careful how we spread d heresy of
once save always save. Dis interpretation of the gospel of christ is
from satan. satan knowing how much we love dis world, have used
popular charismatic preacher to spread dis false doctrine. it is a
false doctrine gotten from twisting apostle paul messages. Taking
d liberty preached by apostle Paul to a limit he never intended.
because of our greed we will destroy christianity in d long run.
This message will make christianity vain and worthless in d long
wrong. WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL WITH OUR MADNESS. WE
SHOULD STOP TAKING GRACE OF GOD FOR GRANTED!!!!!!

For how long do you supposed this teaching has been around?
Since the 16th century during the reformation. One could even trace it rightfully to Augustine.
Nay, it has its origin in the Bible.

And for your information, the teaching that a believer can lose salvation came after the reformation, and was propagated by Jacobus Arminius and his followers. Google ''Arminianism'' for your enlightment.

atbu1983: dis your post is a backing for once saved, forever save.

What else did you think it was backing.

if dat is
true, once I am born again, I don't need to go to church . Spend
my money on tithe and offering. Stress myself working in d church
4 free. Since my aim of being a christian is to b save. And my
works is not needed. You can't say I rob God 4 not paying tithe as
written in Malachi 3. Since my sins have be paid for I am above
sin. so I can't rob God. Even if I sleep with my neighbours wife
and died while having
d sex of heart attack, I will still make heaven because d sin has
been paid 4 before I committed it since I am born again and
saved already.

So your good works are done to avoid hell?
So whatever happened to love for God and gratitude to Him for saving you?

Since I am already born again as stated in 2 corinthians 5. 17, my salvation is bullet proof and air tight. All I need do is to flex enjoy my life till I die. doing whatever pleases me whether bad or good in d eyes of men. But in d eyes of God I am save. I can join cult. use charm. kill who I don't like etc. it is only sin 4 those under d law. now that I under grace and have b save by d blood of Jesus, notin I do can be called sin. since I am now slave to righteousness. Whatever I do is righteous. not because d act was good but because me a righteousness of God did it.

The problem with this analogy is that the saved do not live this way!
Again you make a fundamental mistake, if we grant fear of hell to be a reason for a believer to live right, does it necessarily follow that it is the only reason?

brainpulse: We all know the devil sets various traps as temptations for our relationship with God to go sour by disobeying these ordinances and when such relationship with God is broken, the faithful christian with soberliness has to go to God for forgiviness which the Lord that sees all heart shows His love. When a believer falls into temptation of various kinds, the spirit of God ministers to him and he has a choice to either obey or grieve the Spirit of God. The believer still has that choice to look back and break his relationship and gift of salvation. With the same mouth, heart and action that salvation is received, it can be broken. "Any man that places is hands on the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God" Luke 9:62

Please in line with the bolded explain the meaning of these verses:

Matthew 11
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

It appears salvation is not a tap which we open and close at our will after all.

brainpulse: I will like us to be more practical knowing fully well at the back of my mind that it will be difficult to have a discussion with someone that does not have a genuine salvation experience. 1. What is the reason for the salvation of a man's soul?

It is to save him from going to hell. At the same time he is reconciled to God .

2. What is the role of man in salvation.

The role of man is to believe the gospel that Jesus died in their stead. But we know that not all men believe nor can believe, the difference is the grace of God. He calls those whom He has chosen to faith( (Eph.2:8,9;Phil: 1:29,1Cor.1:30).

3. Does man have a choice to receive and reject the salvation of his soul?

He has the responsibility to accept the gospel but because of his sin , he cannot, except God gives the grace- this is the difference between the saved and lost-GRACE.

4. What can be the interest of the devil against man receiving and maintaining his salvation?

Even though it is God that saves, He saves by means of the gospel . as the gospel light shines so He gathers His own and He has committed the preaching to believers, the more entangled they are in sin, the less useful they will be. The less believers know about their salvation, the more the devil is going to afflict them.

brainpulse: The OP didn't say Salvation is by Law.

He did when he split the law and said the ten commandments were still in force. In effect he said we have to keep the ten commandments to be saved/justified.

Salvation is by God's grace through Christ Jesus and it still depends on an individual to whole heartedly receive and abide in such grace by following the Words of God "you Word have I hidden in my heart so that I will not sin against you." That is the reason a christian must study and meditate on the Word of God to have a vivid and fore knowledge of the devices of the enemy. Salvation for a christian does not just stop at the stage of professing, he has to understand closely the ordinances of God for a healthy and close relationship with God.

Unfortunately, this is where most people of your persuasion miss it. When talking of justification/salvation works should be left out.When talking of what believers (who are already saved) ought to do, works should be brought in;so did the apostle Paul in his epistles.

We all know the devil sets various traps as temptations for our relationship with God to go sour by disobeying these ordinances and when such relationship with God is broken, the faithful christian with soberliness has to go to God for forgiviness which the Lord that sees all heart shows His love. When a believer falls into temptation of various kinds, the spirit of God ministers to him and he has a choice to either obey or grieve the Spirit of God. The believer still has that choice to look back and break his relationship and gift of salvation. With the same mouth, heart and action that salvation is received, it can be broken. "Any man that places is hands on the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God" Luke 9:62

When the relationship or fellowship is broken, the believer should repent of their sin and move on, they get forgiveness thereby, not a re-saving.

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

From the verses above we can see salvation cannot come by the ''deeds of the law'' (doing what the law requires/keeping the law), this is because we cannot keep the law, also supposing we can, if we fail in one, we are guilty of all! (James 2:10) . The law reveals our sin, so rather than justify/save, it condemns!
There is a way to be righteous that does not come from keeping the law. This is the way of faith. There is a righteousness that comes from faith. God will reckon anyone who believes in Jesus righteous because Jesus fulfilled the just requirements of the law (Romans 8:3,4). That salvation is by faith keeps us from being able to boast because even this faith is given by God (Eph.2:8,9;Phil: 1:29,1Cor.1:30).
So Paul concludes that salvation is entirely of grace and then says that the fact that works are excluded in salvation does not mean that he is saying the law should no longer be kept. He says we are better able to keep the law when we have faith.
Works come after our salvation and are not to be done with the intent of obtaining salvation.

Titus 3

3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

It is clear from the above verses that we are not saved by works or works of righteousness as verse 5 puts it. Whoever asserts that a believer can lose salvation cannot argue from the view point of works. Alas, that is were almost all the argument come from.