Category Archives: Doctrine

10 questions for those not accepting “once saved always”

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(I send this forth in all sincerity and with the kindness of Christ. If you disagree, please respond graciously also. God’s people should be able to have a serious and Christ-honoring discussion about this hotly debated subject.  Thank you.)

Let me set the table with something the Lord Jesus said.  When the disciples returned from preaching with glowing reports of amazing victories over the devil, our Lord called them back to earth, so to speak, with this:

“Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you. But rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Now, look at what He did there.  The Lord changed the basis of their joy and thanksgiving from something that fluctuates–like the outward results of missions, which can be good or bad, up and down–to something permanent and unchanging, our salvation.

The Lord Jesus clearly thought our salvation was secure. And He should know, right?

Otherwise, wouldn’t He have chosen some other basis for our joy?

No other conclusion is possible. Jesus clearly thought salvation was a once-and-done proposition. Something permanent, solid, irreversible.

As far as I am able to tell, you will not find one place in the utterances of the Lord Jesus that say otherwise.

For those who find they cannot accept the teaching of “once saved always saved” (aka, the security of the believer), we have a few questions….

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People who teach salvation can be lost are missing something…

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I was raised in a church of the Arminian persuasion that holds a person can be saved multiple times.

As a teen, I recall my mother mentioning some in our large family who were Southern Baptist–“missionary Baptists” she called them–who believed in the doctrine familiarly known as “once saved, always saved.”  Mom would say, “They believe you can go out tonight and get drunk and still be saved tomorrow.” Which is true, of course. We do believe that, although that’s not our favorite way to express it. Smiley face, please. (And most definitely not something we encourage. But a person’s salvation has to be stronger than Jack Daniels or we are all in big trouble!)

Now, to be fair, I never once heard a pastor of our home church teach that people may lose their salvation.  The pastors have always seemed certain of our security in Christ. But losing-one’s-salvation-and-getting-it-back was part of their doctrine.

Some random thoughts on this subject….

ONE.

Those who believe in the possibility of losing their salvation will quote scriptures which speak of “falling from grace” and “making shipwreck.”

They will emphasize that this refers to losing one’s salvation.

My response:   Anyone who believes in the possibility of losing salvation must answer a thousand statements to the contrary that are found throughout the Word. And they can start with John 3:16 where Jesus says “Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish but have everlasting life.” What does “shall not perish” mean, and what does “everlasting life” mean?

When they finish, they can stay in the same chapter and look at verse 36. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”

Why in the world would the Lord say such a thing if it could be reversed by something we do?

We’re not proof-texting here (that comes later!), but simply pointing out that there are hundreds of references in the New Testament to eternal life, never die, shall not perish, and such.

Does the Bible mean what it says?

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