Once Saved Always Saved?

Once Saved Always Saved?

I am going to tackle another controversial topic today. This one is probably equally balanced for those that believe “once saved always saved” vs those that do not subscribe to this doctrine. You already know my position on how we determine who is right and who is wrong. Let’s look at the Scriptures and see what The WORD Says.

First, how does a person get saved? What part does man play in attaining salvation? According to John, Jesus said this:

John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Right from the Word we can deduce that God Himself first must call a person to Jesus. Well, that doesn’t seem quite fair. That seems like it contradicts “free will." What if God doesn’t call a person to salvation in Christ? Is it fair that that person should spend eternity in the lake of fire? That would make God unjust, and we know that is not the case. This is why we always use other passages to verify the validity of what we deduce from a verse or passage. So, let’s find another passage that gives us clarity.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

This passage states that God wants everyone to be saved. Since we know that the Bible cannot contradict the Bible, we can rationalize that the passage we read in John 6:44 is NOT exclusive of any person, only an indication that without God’s intervention, no man would be inclined to receive Jesus. How does God call man to repentance? We determined that He uses the Holy Spirit to “…convict the world of their sins…”.

John 16:7-11; 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

According to the Word, God must first call man to repentance so we can assume that God initiates the relationship. We can say it this way, God offers salvation through His Son. Now how does one become “saved”? The WORD Says:

Romans 10:8-10; 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

According to the Word, man’s part is to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that God raised Him from the dead. That seems easy enough. We have ears so we can easily hear a person confess. But how do we know what is in a man’s heart? Can you see into my heart? Neither can I see into yours. So, it cannot just be confessed with the mouth which we could all verify. Can anyone see what is in a man’s heart? God can. The Scriptures verify this:

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

John 2:24-25; 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

So, God, and only God, can see into a man’s heart. I know what is coming next… “but Alex, doesn’t the Bible also say that ‘…you will know a tree by its fruit…’”? Yes, it does. And we should expect that our walk with Jesus is so evidently profound that everyone we contact will know that we are different, uncommon. However, can nonbelievers bear good fruit? Absolutely! So, good works is not always an indication of what is in a person’s heart. Some people do good deeds simply to gain something in return. But God sees motives, actions, attitudes, and behaviors. He sees everything. Not only does He see everything, but He knows everything. We say and believe that God is omniscient, and the Word verifies this:

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

The above passage states that God knows our hearts so well that even when our own hearts are wrong, He knows about it and the verse ends with stating that God knows ALL things. It does not get much clearer than that. Let’s look at another.

Isaiah 46:9-10; 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'

And another:

Psalm 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

This last verse we read says that God knows what we are going to say even before we say it. The two requirements for salvation, confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts, are both known to God even before we speak. And we also discovered in Scripture that God knows man’s motives. Can man fool God? What does the Word say?

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

God knows what you are going to say before you say it and He knows all your motives according to the Word. Now let’s look at what happens to a person that receives Jesus as her/his Savior.

Ephesians 1:13-14; 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Let’s break down this passage together. We will start with the Greek word for salvation. It is “sōtēria“ and it means: deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation; deliverance from the molestation of enemies; in an ethical sense, that which concludes to the soul's safety or salvation; of Messianic salvation; salvation as the present possession of all true Christians: future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God. There are a couple of things to pay attention to in the original definition of the Greek word for salvation. You see “preservation”, “future salvation”, and “true Christians.” (…TRUE Christians…)

Now let’s look at the word for “sealed.” The Greek word is sphragizō and it means: to set a seal upon, mark with a seal, to seal; for security from Satan; since things sealed up are concealed (as the contents of a letter), to hide, keep in silence, keep secret; in order to mark a person or a thing; to set a mark upon by the impress of a seal or a stamp; angels are said to be sealed by God; in order to prove, confirm, or attest a thing; to confirm, authenticate, place beyond doubt; of a written document; to prove one's testimony to a person that he is what he professes to be. Key words to pay attention to are “place beyond doubt” and “confirm.”

Now let’s look at “guarantee.” In Greek it is arrabōn and it means: an earnest; money which in purchases is given as a pledge or down payment that the full amount will subsequently be paid.

Now let’s put it all together. When we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, then we are saved. When we are saved, we are sealed with an unbreakable pledge from God that guarantees our eternal inheritance. I know the next challenge you are going to bring up. “But what if a person that is saved gets angry at God and walks away from his/her beliefs?”. Then my response is this. That person was never saved. The WORD Says:

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Let’s bring this full circle. God makes the offer. Man has free will to accept the offer or deny the offer. Only God can give salvation. God is omniscient, even to knowing what is in man’s heart. When a person receives Jesus as Savior, that person is sealed with a guarantee. That seal is the down payment of the Holy Spirit Himself. God cannot lie nor can He break covenant, only man can.

Romans 3:3-4; 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged."

The original challenge was, “can a person lose their salvation or walk away from salvation?". The answer is no, according to the Scriptures. God knows all things from the beginning; even knowing who will receive Jesus and who will reject Him.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,

God, knowing all things, will not give His Holy Spirit to any person, knowing that person one day will reject Jesus. God knows who will truly “believe” in his heart. God cannot be mocked, nor can He lie. Jesus addressed all the scenarios of “professing” Christians in the parable of the sower. “Professing” Christians do not make it into heaven. Only “possessing” Christians do; the ones that have the eternal (not temporal) seal (guarantee) of the Holy Spirit. God will not take away His Spirit from any man once that man is sealed. God said so and He cannot lie. If God is the One that offers it, the One who gives it, says it is eternal, and says He will never take it away, then the answer is an emphatic “no.” A person cannot lose their salvation. If that person spends eternity in the lake of fire, it is because that person was never truly saved. That person was never sealed with the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”.

I hope this helps. Jesus loves you!