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Nicely characterised by Xeno's comment; "I'm referring to those who have never accepted Christ, have not obeyed the Gospel, and are eternally lost." (my emphasis)

The term 'lost' often carries connotations of doom. As if God has resigned to 'losing' much of His created humanity to hell (whatever that is) and eternal damnation/punishment etc. Examples in the links below.

Is there a biblical basis for the lost being a permanent status or just a group on their way to mercy and a judgement that leads to life through the grace of Jesus' sacrifice?

The 'lost's' resurrection to judgement

Will the lost be saved?

The lost in hell

steveowen
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1 Answers1

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Short answer

No. "lost" defines a group abandoned by the bad shepherds, the group that Jesus (who is the Good shepherd) came to find.

Longer answer

In the Bible, the term "lost" is usually used to refer to those that are temporarily lost due to bad shepherds (Ez 34:1-10). Thus Jesus came to be a Good Shepherd who looks for those scattered sheep and gathers them to His Kingdom to fulfill the prophecy in Ez 34:11-24, as described in @curiousdannii's answer to your other question.

These are some other OT references to "lost sheep", which also means the "temporarily lost", which Jesus will seek and save:

  • Ps 119:176:

    I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

  • Jer 50:6:

    “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.

But the group that is eternally lost (separated from the good sheep on the Day of Judgment) is usually called by a different term:

  • The wicked or the sinners (Ps 1:5):

    "Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;"

  • The evil as in the Parable of the Net (Matt 13:47-50):

    49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous.

  • The weeds as in the Parable of the Weeds (Matt 13:36-43):

    40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

  • The goats as in the Final Judgment passage in Matt 25:31-46:

    32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ... 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

rhetorician
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GratefulDisciple
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  • I think you are mixing judgement with execution. Judgement has no correlation with fire. Maybe the 'final judgement does, but that is at the end of the age, not at Christ's return. – steveowen Aug 11 '21 at 02:47
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    @user47952 Yes, judgement (courtroom scene) is different than execution (hell scene), which happens after judgment. The label for the group that is judged guilty on the Day of Judgment (courtroom scene) is the same with the label for the group that is executed (hell scene) after they have been pronounced guilty in the courtroom scene. What is the problem here? In either case (judgment or execution) the label used was not "lost". – GratefulDisciple Aug 11 '21 at 02:50
  • no problem, thx for yr answer. We'll see how it pans out. +1 – steveowen Aug 11 '21 at 02:52
  • I was going to make an edit to the question to make it ask who defines "the lost" as Xeno does, but that would then invalidate this answer. I think this answer does fit the first question BTW. – curiousdannii Aug 11 '21 at 02:55
  • @curiousdannii Do what you think best, I don't mind revising the answer accordingly. – GratefulDisciple Aug 11 '21 at 02:59
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    @curiousdannii What came to mind when I was writing the answer is this: in the way that the parables and other passages use the term "lost", is it implied that once found they all respond positively to Jesus, or will some of them were found but then rejected Jesus and then became permanently "lost" (i.e. called wicked/goats/weed/etc.)? – GratefulDisciple Aug 11 '21 at 03:02
  • @curious, I'm not much interested in 'who', rather how and why. – steveowen Aug 11 '21 at 03:03
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    @user47952 Biblical Basis questions have to establish that there actually is a group which teaches the thing in question. This question as it's currently phrased is technically a Truth Question/opinion based. You can always just ask Xeno to explain their own position if that's all you're interested in. – curiousdannii Aug 11 '21 at 03:11
  • who then are the group that Xeno most closely represents? You say 'technically', but it's not closed yet... – steveowen Aug 11 '21 at 03:17
  • @user47952 You asked "who then are the group that Xeno most closely represents?" I think the way Xeno used the term "lost" is not the Biblical language, so I wouldn't label that group "lost" at all. That group probably wasn't "lost" (in Biblical sense) in the first place, and would join the group labelled goat/wicked/etc. in my answer. – GratefulDisciple Aug 11 '21 at 03:24
  • @user47952 I'm not sure if there is a group, it could be his/her personal definition. That's why I'd suggested asking if there is anyone else who uses it that way. :) – curiousdannii Aug 11 '21 at 03:54
  • Hence the question! There are so many doomers and gloomers here I wondered how widespread it was and what it was based on – steveowen Aug 11 '21 at 04:11