SOME THOUGHTS ON “ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED” (Part 1)

For centuries now the debate has been raging.  Once a believer is in Christ, can he lose his salvation or is he forever saved?  Tons of pages have been written on this topic, with great scholars and theologians on either side. 

One’s view of this important topic will shape his view of God and his relationship with Him.  In this three-part series I want to offer some food for thought on this topic of “Once Saved, Always Saved” (OSAS), and try to bring some clarity to the discussion.  What is meant by this phrase is usually that once a person is saved, he can never lose that salvation, no matter what he does.

To begin with, I just want to say that I do not believe in OSAS.  I do believe in eternal security for the believer, but that this security is conditional.  That is, the outcome depends upon what we choose to do with it.  Not upon our works, but simply upon our continuing in the faith.  Both sides (OSAS believers and non-OSAS believers) will use many Scripture verses to support their case, but it is extremely important to determine the context of each passage involved and to make sure the debater’s conclusion also lines up with the whole of Scripture.

So let’s begin by taking a look at some of the most common Bible passages that our OSAS friends will use to try to prove this “Once Saved, Always Saved” teaching.

·      John 10:27-30:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.  My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.” [KJV]

Ok, this passage is a wonderful picture of our relationship with Jesus and His ability to keep us.  If this were the only passage dealing with the possible destiny of the believer, then we might agree with our OSAS brothers and sisters.  But it’s not.  So, to get a fuller picture of the truth, we must look to other Scripture passages, as well.

But notice that the word “pluck” (Greek “harpagesometha” – Strong’s #726) means “to seize, snatch, obtain by robbery.”  It denotes a rather forceful, even violent, taking.  In all the other uses of this particular Greek word in the New Testament, it has this forceful meaning.  So also in this passage, Jesus is telling us that no one can take us by force out of His hand.  But it never says that the believer himself cannot ever walk away, turn away, apostatize, depart, wander from, go astray, desert, abandon, become hardened, or forsake Jesus.  These types of terms are very important and are used of believers elsewhere in the New Testament concerning their relationship to God.  We will get to these later in part 2.

·      Romans 8:38-39:

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [KJV]

Here, we have another great passage concerning our relationship and security with Jesus, as in the previous passage.  But notice that all these things that are unable to separate us from the love of God are external, that is, outside of us.  The apostle Paul didn’t mention personal sin here at all.  It may be because willful sin in our lives is the exception, it is the one thing that CAN eventually separate us from God’s love.  I’m certainly not saying that sin is stronger than God, it’s just that, according to His own Word, whoever continually yields to sin puts himself in a dangerous position (Romans 6:16).  It is our yielding to sin that so easily besets, entangles, and ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1), its wages produce [spiritual] death (Romans 6:23), whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34), and sin can gradually harden the heart of believers through deceitfulness and turn him away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12-13)!  Sin not only affects the lost person but the believer, as well.

 

So, yes, sin can ultimately keep a person who once believed, out of Heaven.  That’s why Jude says to keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 1:20-21) when he was speaking to the “beloved” (i.e., fellow believers).  The flip side of the coin implies that it is possible that these believers might not keep themselves in the love of God.  They could have moved away from, or deserted, God (Galatians 1:6).

·      John 6:39-40:

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  [KJV]

This is another encouraging passage for all believers.  OSAS believers like to focus on Jesus saying, “I should lose nothing.” But Jesus also said elsewhere, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12). [KJV]

Now, Jesus didn’t lose Judas (the son of perdition) because He wasn’t strong enough to keep him, but because Judas deserted Him.  Jesus certainly could have forced Judas into Heaven, but that’s not the way God works.  Judas exercised his free will.  He made his choice.  The rest of the apostles also used their free will to continue with Jesus.  If we want to make it to Heaven, we have to realize that there is a measure of human responsibility involved.  We have to maintain our faith and trust in Jesus’ work on the cross or we, as believers, can also end up lost.  Not because God is unable to keep us, but because sin is the opposite of what God wants and it is destructive when we willfully continue to yield to it.

·      Romans 8:29-30:

“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” [KJV]

In this passage we have what is famously called “the Golden Chain of Redemption.”  This is one of the favorites of Calvinists and OSAS believers.  They tell us that if a person is ever justified (saved), he must ultimately also be glorified (i.e., make it to Heaven).  He cannot “break” this chain by getting saved, and then losing his salvation.  He is forever saved, no matter what.

But go back up to verse 17.  There, Paul says we are joint-heirs with Christ IF we suffer with Him, (i.e., IF we endure and IF we persevere).  But this implies that we need to keep the faith and continue with Him.  This sets the stage for the “Golden Chain”:  First, God tells us that we must stay with Him / maintain the faith / continue with Him… THEN (and only then) can we be assured of having the benefits of the “Golden Chain of Redemption.”  Calvinists and other OSAS people seem to forget to mention that.

·      Philippians 1:6:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” [KJV]

Yes, if God has begun a good work in us, surely He will be faithful to complete that work that He has started.  But again, we need to abide (i.e., remain) in Him for Him to finish it (John 15:4-6).

·      Romans 8:1:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” [KJV]

This is absolutely true.  No condemnation.  But this is concerning those who are in Christ.  As long as you remain / abide in Christ (John 15:4) you are safe.  Don’t expect to avoid condemnation if you ever walk away from God.

·      Ephesians 4:30:

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” [KJV]

Our OSAS friends will say, “See, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption!  No one can break God’s seal!”

Thank God that His children are sealed unto that day.  But again, we will stress that we are sealed only as long as we abide in Him, and IF we maintain our faith in Him, and IF we continue with Him.  I certainly hope that everyone can see a pattern here.  I don’t intend to be redundant, but continued faith in Christ must be emphasized in each case.

Also, notice that this same verse that tells us we are sealed, also tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  But why worry about grieving God’s Spirit?  Aren’t believers saved, no matter what they do?  No, grieving the Spirit can eventually lead to insulting the Spirit of God, which can be disastrous to your soul (Hebrews 10:26-31). 

·      1 John 2:19:

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” [KJV]

Using this verse, our OSAS friends say that if someone falls away, then they never were really part of the body in the first place.  But looking at the context of this verse, it is clear that these people of which John was speaking were antichrists.  By definition, they were never saved.  Saying they were never saved applies in this particular case, but it does not apply in every case.  Just because these antichrists were never saved and ended up leaving the church does not mean that everyone who ever leaves was never saved.

Furthermore, a little farther down, in v. 24, the apostle John says, “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.  IF that ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” [KJV]

The “if” makes a big difference.

But this is the issue with the idea of falling away.  If someone falls away, from what did they “fall”?  If OSAS is true, rather than say that these non-believers “fell away,” wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that they just “stayed away”?  You have to have been part of something to say that you fell away from it.  You have to be at a particular place before you can depart from there.  You have to be part of something before you can defect from it.  And you have to be married before you can get a divorce.

Conclusion

These eight passages above (and others like them) are commonly used by our OSAS friends to push the doctrine of unconditional security for the believer.  It is admirable that they emphasize God’s power and sovereignty in this matter, because these are very important aspects of God’s nature.  But it is impossible to ignore all the passages in God’s Word that give warnings to the believer, even to church leaders concerning salvation!  It is this multitude of warnings in both the Old Testament and the New that serves as the “elephant in the room” that is being overlooked, ignored, or simply dismissed by our OSAS friends.

We will go over many of these warning passages in the next article (Part 2).  Please stay tuned!