Once Saved Always Saved Verses You Must Endure Till The End.
^ From Scriptures

I started reading a book called Controversial Issues In Social Policy. The title of the book increased my awareness of controversial issues in bible doctrine. An example of a controversial issue in bible doctrine is, once saved always saved, verses, you must endure til the end. I will address this issue now. 

Other controversial issues in bible doctrine are:
-	There is but one God Verses. There are many gods.
-	Women should be silent in the church Verses. There were women prophets, judges and other speaking offices in the church.
-	The gifts of the Holy Spirit have passed away with the death of the last apostle Verses. Fully preaching the gospel is followed by signs and wonders.
-	Everything in life is predestined Verses. We are predestined to be declared sons and daughters of God.
-	God knows everything Verses. God said I came down to see.
Etc.

The bible says to ^study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In order to accomplish that goal I would highly recommend that:

Before arriving at the whole truth, be sure that all the scriptures on a subject are collected in one place, to be read together at one time.  

One great fault with many people is the acceptance of only part of the Scriptures on a subject and the rejection of other passages that contradict their theory.

Before I attempt to address the controversial issue of once saved always saved, verses, you must endure until the end; let me introduce you to how I think when I am reading scripture. 

The bible asks the question. ?Why was this child born blind? Now we could expect an answer that responds to a phenomenon which pertains to this child and her situation singularly, or we could expect an answer that responds to a principal that pertains to people in general. Which answer does the most good for the Kingdom of Heaven? Is it an answer that is a phenomenon or an answer that is a principle. I make an on purpose and deliberate effort to look for a principle. On a level of principles, Jesus could have said, that this woman was born blind because, sin is in the world. ^Adam sinned, and Adam's sin was imputed to this child. Jesus did not respond that way.

Nevertheless, I submit to you that Jesus did respond to the principle of why are people born blind. Based on Jesus's answer, I see the question could just as well have been why are people born blind instead of why was this child born blind. ^So that the glory of God could be revealed. So that Jesus, being a man, could heal this woman and God could get the Glory. The reason why children are born sick is so that men can heal them and God can get the glory. ^The things that I do you will do also. ^As he is so are you in this world. ^Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ^Yes some are given the gift of faith, nevertheless everyman is given the measure of faith. That those who believe may lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Those who believe what. Those who believe that Jesus is God.

^^^The bible says in ^Romans 3:23 that the righteousness of God comes by the faith of Jesus Christ. Not by our faith, but by his faith. ^For our faith was as dirty rags. So Jesus gave, or made available to, ^every man the measure of his faith. Everything that Jesus did he did using his faith. Therefore, if we have his faith then surely we can do the things that he did. We had ^the imputation of sin, ^the imputation of righteousness, and now we have ^the imputation of faith, his faith. This is the next ^great awakening^. Just as in the last great awakening we came to the acknowledgement of ^salvation by grace instead of by works. The idea was always there in the scripture, but we were not always aware of it. We resisted it. Even now we still resist the fact that we have access to Jesus's  faith. When we truly are awakened by this realization, and stop saying that Jesus was God, and because he was God he had the full anointing of the holy spirit. Yet, we are not God, therefore we only have a partial access to his faith. Our understanding that we have access to the faith of Jesus Christ will be the next great awakening.

Now let's get back to the controversial issue of once saved always saved, verses, you must endure until the end. Again, the bible says ^to study to show thyself  approved, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In order to accomplish that goal I would highly recommend that: Before arriving at the whole truth, be sure that all the scriptures on a subject are collected in one place, to be read together at one time. 

^^Again, one great fault with many people is the acceptance of only part of the Scriptures on a subject and the rejection of other passages that contradict their theory. To that end the bible also says, ^ I tell you these things that you might know that you have eternal life. So it is possible to know that you have eternal life, before the end comes. This begs the question, what is knowledge? I submit to you that knowledge is a level of confidence supported by facts.  I submit to you that you know something because you can make a claim and defend that claim, because you have ^studied to show yourself approved, because you have participated in the behavior of ^come let us reason together, because you have participated in the exercise of critical analysis, because you have gathered all the information about a subject and put all that information in one place to be read at the same time, because you have done your due diligence. I submit to you that an exception to the rule does not negate the rule, nor is the rule based on the exception.

^ John 15:6 says If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as branch, and withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
^Then 1 Corinthians 3:15 says; If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

I submit to you that the works of the saints are tested. If our works stand up to the test then we are rewarded. If our works fail the test, then our gifts are burned and we lose the reward that we would have gotten if our works had passed that test. Nevertheless, we do not lose our salvation, because our salvation is already declared. This seems to approach a baby Christian who is simply concerned with just meeting the minimum criteria of salvation, whatever that is. At the very least, this seems to suggest that once saved it is very hard to loose our salvation.

On the other hand, the bible also says in ^Matthew 7:23; And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, yee that work iniquity.  So there is a level of disobedience which results in God declaring that he never knew you or it is not a question of whether or not you fell from grace, rather God says that you were never saved in the first place. Therefore, if you are content, with meeting the minimum criteria, then you run the risk of never being confident that you ever met the criteria of salvation, you run the risk of being a victim of ^the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. I submit to you that my desire is to receive all the gifts that God has available to me.

Here is a note on abiding and not abiding. Elijah was God's right hand man, so much so that ^God sent a chariot to pick Elijah up (just as God took Enoch). Nevertheless, God gave Elijah three tasks to perform. Elijah performed one of those three tasks and left the other two tasks undone on purpose, which cost Elijah his ministry, and he was caught up or died in that state. That was an extreme example of not abiding. It is also an extreme example of the mercies of God. I am sure that Elijah did not come close to loosing his salvation, nevertheless this is an example of not abiding. I am sure that Elijah lost some reward that he could have received no matter how small. For the bible says that ^every since the beginning of time until now there was none greater than John the Baptist. Not withstanding even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he (John the Baptist). Thus, in some way even the least of us in the Kingdom of Heaven are, or have the ability to be, greater than John the Baptist or Elijah. For the word says, ^that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, but the violent take it by force. The violent or the passionate take the blessings that God already has prepared for them by force. So let it be. Amen.