ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED?
Proponents of “Once Saved Always Saved” teach that once a person has been converted, “all the sins he may commit from idolatry to murder will not make his soul in any more danger" (theologian Sam Morris), even if he never repents those sins! They say that when the rapture occurs, Christians will be raptured straight from acts of adultery into heaven! I can’t think of a more scandalous and damaging doctrine. Why?
I. MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THIS TEACHING
A. IT VIOLATES THE CHARACTER OF GOD & MAN
It over-emphasizes God's sovereignty (will and power to save) at the expense of His righteousness, justice and love. It also violates man's freedom of will.
B. LARGE PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURES MUST BE REINTERPRETED TO ACCOMMODATE THIS DOCTRINE
All the warning passages of Scripture, which warn the believer against apostasy, backsliding, lack of watchfulness, going back into the world, and sin -- which would cause them to forfeit their salvation, are reinterpreted/ twisted so as to render them “of no effect” so that they agree with this doctrine.
C. IT DENIES THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST
It allows Jesus to save you, but not to require obedience of you after you're saved.
II. SALVATION IS MORE THAN BELIEVING
A. PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE TENSE SALVATION
1. They erroneously quote texts about the inception of salvation, as applying to salvation as a whole. Scriptures like Romans 10:9, Acts 16:30-31, and John 5:24 – which all speak of the beginning of spiritual life – are quoted as proof of this doctrine, but all the scriptures speaking of the continuation of the Christian life are ignored.
2. No true Christian believes a man or woman can work themselves into a state of justification; “It is by grace you are saved, through faith” Eph. 2:8-9. But again, this speaks of the inception of spiritual life. We must take into account ALL the Scriptures: Regeneration is only the first slice in the loaf of salvation; not the entire loaf!
3. Some verses, such as Eph. 2:8–9, speak of salvation as a past-tense event. Others speak of salvation as a present-tense event, as Phip. 2:12, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." So salvation is something which must be “worked out” (unless Paul is a heretic). Still other verses speak of salvation as future-tense, as something we yet must attain; "our salvation is nearer than when we first believed" Rom. 13:11.
4. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” Mt. 24:13. Jesus here warned against apostasy. Context: “iniquity abounding” and “the love of many growing cold” (Vs 12). Mark 13:13 is like it, but the need for enduring is due to persecution. “He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” John 12:25. “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” Jude 1:21, NIV.
B. TEACHINGS ON ETERNAL LIFE
1. The same apostle Paul who wrote Rom. 10:9 & Acts 16:31 preached “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” Acts 26:20. He told Timothy “fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called” 1 Tim 6:12. (Timothy already had eternal life, but he still had to hold onto it until the end.) “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” 1 Tim. 4:16. Ultimate salvation mentioned here.
2. “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” Rom. 2:7. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” Romans 6:22. “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” 1 Tim. 6:19.
3. “…the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” John 5:28-29. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” Matt 7:21. Obeying is more important than confessing.
4. I could go on citing verses, but the point is, salvation is not a punctiliar event. Charles Spurgeon characterized it as “Holding [Christ], I am held.” Christ is our life. As we hold onto Him we have Eternal Life and complete security. But eternal life does not exist in the absence of Christ.
III. SCRIPTURES INDICATING CHRISTIANS CAN BE LOST
A. TURNING BACK WORSE THAN NEVER KNOWING CHRIST
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, ‘The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire’” 2 Pet. 2:20-22.
B. JESUS IS SALVATION; WE HAVE SALVATION AS WE HAVE JESUS
“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” 1 John 5:11-12. “If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” John 15:6. The NIV translates “abide” as “remain.” The person Christ refers to must have been in Him, but not remained in Him.
C. SOME GALATIAN CHRISTIANS FELL FROM GRACE
" You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” Gal. 5:4, NASB. If it’s impossible to fall from grace, then why is Paul warning they were doing just that? Paul says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” 1 Tim. 4:1. They must have had it, to leave it.
D. CHRISTIANS CAN GET TO A PLACE OF NO FURTHER REPENTANCE
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” Hebrews 6:4-6.
E. YOUR NAME CAN BE BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent…. He that overcomes…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” Rev. 3:3-5. The Book of Life only contains the names of the redeemed; Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Heb. 12:23; Luke 10:20; Ps. 69:28. Jesus threatens to blot out some believer’s names in R 3:5.
F. CHRISTIANS, IF “WICKED,” WILL NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD
1. “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” 1 Cor. 6:9-10, NIV. Jesus understood the word “inherit” to mean “enter”; see Mark 10:17,23,24; Luke 18:18,24.
2. Obedience comes from faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26). Christians aren’t lawless. We're not under the Old Testament law, but we're under the Law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21; 7:19; Galatians 6:2). Obedience is the OUTFLOW of new life in Christ!
IV. ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED: MODERN ANTINOMIANISM?
A. ANTINOMIANISM IN HISTORY
1. Antinomianism ("against law") was coined by Martin Luther to describe a sect in his day that took “justification by faith,” a doctrine Luther taught, to the extreme. Johannes Agricola perverted Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone to the far-reaching but logical conclusion that, “just as good works do not promote salvation, so neither do evil works hinder it… justified Christians are incapable of losing their spiritual holiness, justification, and final salvation by any act of disobedience to, or even by any direct violation of the law of God.” That sounds just like ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ teaching today! Luther rejected and refuted this teaching.
2. But this perversion of the doctrine of justification by faith didn’t originate with Johannes Agricola, it has existed in every age of Christianity. The Gnostic sect — Marcion and his followers, held antinomianistic views. The Carpoeratians were another early sect which overly focused on one such doctrine to the abrogation of the rest of the Gospel. Many more have arisen down through history. ‘Once saved always saved’ is a modern manifestation of the antinomian heresy.
B. N. T. TEACHINGS AGAINST ANTINOMIANISM
1. “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” Jude 1:4.
2. “…be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position” 2 Pet. 3:17.
C. OBEDIENCE WAS NOT OPTIONAL IN THE EARLY CHURCH
1. Paul states, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness” 2 Tim.2:19. “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” 1 Cor. 7:19. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” Heb. 5:9.
2. James says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22
3. Through John; “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandment. He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” 1 Jn. 2:3-4. “And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him” 1 Jn. 3:24. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” Rev. 22:14. Will you be so bold as to deny all these Scriptures? See Mt. 5:19.
V. SPECIFIC TEACHINGS OF OSAS REFUTED
A. ONCE A CHILD, ALWAYS A CHILD
1. The idea, "Once you're born of God, you’re a child of God. A son may be punished, jailed, etc., but he never ceases to be a son." This is a serious error based on the supposed equality between physical and spiritual birth.
2. THREE ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES:
a. Physical birth affects the inception of life of the subject ‘in toto.’ In other words, before you were physically born, you didn’t exist at all. With spiritual birth, you already had a former life physically and then became ‘born again.’
b. In physical birth, the subject has no prior knowledge and gives no consent to his/ her being born; but in spiritual birth, the subject must have a prior knowledge of the Gospel and must give consent to be ‘born again.’
c. In physical birth, the individual receives a life independent of his parents. They may die, but he lives on. But in spiritual birth, the subject receives no independent life. He is a partaker, by faith, of the divine life of God in Christ "Who is our life."
3. CONCLUSION: one cannot assume that spiritual birth is irrevocable. Physical and spiritual birth are intrinsically different.
B. ONCE SEALED, YOU CAN’T BE UN-SEALED
1. Idea: Once you’ve been joined to the Lord in regeneration, or sealed as some interpret it, you cannot be “unsealed.” “The Lord might grieve, but He won't leave.”
2. The Bible warns against "grieving the Spirit" (Ephesians 4:30), "quenching the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and ultimately "doing despite/insulting" the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29) which evidently is equivalent to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
3. A question: if a Christian commits blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t that separate him or her forever from the Lord? Mark 3:27 says, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
4. “And the Lord said, 42“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household…45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” Luke 12:42, 45-46 NKJV.
C. CHRIST PLEADS FOR THOSE IN SIN
1 Jn. 2:1. If we sin, Christ is pleading our case before the Father, so supposedly we can't be lost by sinning. This verse only speaks of Christ interceding and says nothing about the condition of the subject before God. The reference to “sin” is in the punctiliar aorist subjunctive – an isolated act. In 1 Jn 3:6 in Greek, John says, “Everyone remaining in Him sins not.” The NIV rightly translates it; doesn’t “keep on sinning.” A pattern of behavior of sin betrays that the believer is not “remaining” in Him. See III.B. above. "For if you live after the flesh, you shall die (spiritually; we’re all going to die physically) Rom. 8:13.
D. GOD IS ABLE TO KEEP HIS SHEEP
1. Jn. 10:28-29. Of course, God is able to keep His sheep. But Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep (Lk. 15:3), which, like the Lost Son, was “dead” (15:32) to his Father until he repented & came home. Jn. 10:29, like Rom. 8:35, says -- "Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ," but they never said that sin couldn't separate us from God. The Bible explicitly says it can – Isaiah 59:2, etc.
