“Once saved, always saved” (OSAS) is a doctrine that a majority of Protestant church pastors believe in, so their congregations tend to believe in it too. It says: Once you accept Christ, and put your faith in Him for salvation from sin, you’re saved—permanently. Nothing you can do will break that bond. The doctrine began with Augustine (354-430), a Catholic theologian, but really got propagated under John Calvin (1509-64) in his famous treatise, Institutes. He asserted that all mankind is corrupted by Adam’s sin from their birth, and are totally depraved, i.e., totally unable to reach for God. But God, before anyone was born, since He knew then every person that would be born, chose certain people—without regard to their works—in other words, He chose arbitrarily-- to be saved, to lift their blind eyes. They are known as the “elect.” Others, though, which He did not choose, become damned forever because of their sins. Calvin’s theology was opposed by many theologians at the time. It is still controversial.
Once a person “chosen” by God’s election is born, God regenerates that
person by opening their eyes and their reasoning power—together with events in
their lives--so they will see that Christ died for them, and they will be saved.
You can see the connection to predestination (which Calvin is also
noted for), the idea that God has eternally ordained who will be saved and who
will not. Their destiny—heaven or hell—has
been predetermined, Calvin said.
Once a person realizes that his salvation
was chosen, he or she presumably realizes there is nothing he or she can do to
thwart that destiny. Presumably, his thankfulness for being chosen will cause
him to live a godly life. That motivation is presumably helped by his feeling
of security; he or she knows they are bound for heaven. If he doesn’t live a
godly life—then we (his friends and family) will presumably conclude that he
wasn’t saved to begin with, and not initially chosen by God in the first place.
You can see that his works have nothing whatever
to do with his salvation in the eyes of God, but how do we know if he or
she is saved—it is by looking at his works. Good works is a way that his
friends and family can determine if he or she is more than likely to reach
heaven. If he behaves as we think a chosen person should behave, the rest of us
will conclude that he is saved. We might conclude his salvation is based
on his works, but God does not. He had him or her picked before he or she was
ever born.
You have to notice my excessive use of
the word “presumably.” Let me state some problem areas that I hope will give us
pause in accepting that theology. People, because of their sinful natures (and
I am not disputing that), are deceitful—and can be deceived. They may “put on a
front,” which “works” for them in that people will assume they are saved. They
wanted to be “in the group.” This more successfully is done in a large church
with many choices of how someone could help the church. They might volunteer
for many things: Working with the youth pastor might involve chauffeuring to
youth events, teaching youth on Sunday morning, or they might lend musical
talents. Or they might, as expertly trained, help adults with their finances, or
help in therapy for youth or adults, or maintaining the grounds, helping repair
or improvements, etc, etc. But what if someone’s main reason for helping is to not
only be “in the group,” but also to gain status and respect (if they do that,
they are thinking of status before men, but not before God). Or perhaps they
“worship” the pastor or youth director, or their real purpose is to establish a
network where they can sell their own product or service? Or what if they have
a serious sin problem on the side, and they never tried much to get it out of
their life? So they “work” to hopefully say to God that the good is greater
than the evil. If that’s what they do to obtain heaven, that is not God’s
gospel.
Or, what if their idea of OSAS means they
can relax about their sin problems, and continue doing them as before, or
reduce them slightly for conscience’ sake? They feel OSAS means their sins are
covered, their destiny in heaven is certain. This warped feeling about sin is totally
unbiblical, and I call it “complacency.”
So I’m saying that people can be
deceitful, and people can be deceived about getting to heaven. Because God
demands a godly life, struggling (with the help of Scripture and the Holy
Spirit) against sin--as we will see. Consider Matthew 7:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say
to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from
Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Jesus suggests people are shocked that they were denied heaven. Were
they deceived? Of course. From doctrines like OSAS, I say. The requirement to do
God’s will definitely demand a serious approach to conquering sin and doing
good, as God measures doing good. Otherwise, they are “lawless” people. Frankly, most people who call themselves “Christian” don’t
even read their Bible much. Which is a problem, because how can you know God’s
will without reading it? Also, people who accept the OSAS theology have a
tendency to “warp” it to suit their own “needs.” Just for instance, Jesus has
strict restrictions for divorce. But “Christians” divorce at the same rate as
pagans. The Bible is clearly against abortion—but “Christians” line up for it,
as pagans do. We all would love to believe that God loves us, despite our
desire not to change, or not sacrifice and put away sin. Some sins are truly
“addictive,” and I don’t just mean drugs. Sex, gambling, manipulating people
for selfish ends—whatever allows us to make our own decisions, and not let God do
that, as He should.
There is a further problem with how they
have misunderstood the gravity of their own sin. Perhaps the pastor never
talked about specific sins, or he didn’t emphasize sin a lot (he wants everyone
feeling good when they leave the service). So it’s possible that people get no
help from the pastor about conquering a sin that is serious in God’s eyes. This
wrong idea is helped if you already “knew” you were “elected.” So it could be
argued that the “elect” assumption for yourself makes you complacent. You don’t
know of the dangers that could still be ahead because of your sin. Perhaps OSAS
has deceived people as to how they look before God.
So let’s say, if a person is wealthy, he
might say that God has blessed him. That proves, he concludes, that God loves him—therefore
he must be of the elect and bound for heaven. But he has not looked at his sin.
Or repented of it. Or vowed to give his life to God, or has a relationship with
God. So this casual attitude to sin is wicked in the eyes of God. He should
take a personal inventory of himself—and try to be objective (not easy). The
culture doesn’t help, since the culture in the U.S., for instance, thinks
little about even some serious sins. Like fornication. The idea persists that
young people have to “sow their wild oats,” nothing you can do about their sex
hormones. Or, if someone is older, the stupid idea remains that you’ve “got to”
get “laid” so you’ll be “one of the guys,” or else you’re maybe gay or a nerd.
Maybe if you’re shy, you’ll feel “tortured” because of your personality. Or
perhaps, if you’re a guy, you’ve heard the lie that being with one woman for 40
or 50 years is boring; men’s hormones are not built that way. And so it goes,
in a corrupt world. So you commit the sin of fornication and have become callous
to it because you’re listening to culture, not God’s laws.
Then there’s the idea of evangelism, or
how you treat someone who expresses to his Calvinist church friends, that he is
uncertain about his salvation. (that’s a “no-no” among Calvinists). OSAS
adherents and new converts are reassured many times of their salvation once
they make that leap of faith. If the Holy Spirit is trying to warn someone
about his sin dangerously leading him to hell, he might confess. But this is
the wrong group to confess to. They will remind him that he was saved, and, in
case he was unsure of his certainty of heaven, they will remind him that all is
OK, he’s just anxiety prone.
He is now frozen and confused. He thought God was telling him something, but
the “wise” church friends have dismissed it. Was he wrong, or were they wrong?
Talk about insecurity. It’s an
unavoidable theory that many of them unconsciously gradually assume that
sinning, even serious sinning, is not a thing to be worried a lot about. They
may say, yes, I may lose temporary fellowship with God, and I may lose some
rewards in heaven—but I will still go to heaven, which is the big thing I get
to keep--because God in His Word (as it has been “cherry-picked”) has promised,
that once I was saved, I’m always saved. No sinning that I do will keep me from
heaven. Doesn’t that promote deceiving ourselves? And complacency?
There's also the matter of sins of omission. Complacency means these
same people don't read Christ's commands enough, wherein are many sins of
omission are cited (for instance, not offering forgiveness to our enemies, or not
giving to the poor, which are commanded in Scripture).
But, besides generating complacency, the whole doctrine of OSAS is wrong
Scripturally as well. The Bible speaks clearly that you must abide in Christ
and pursue righteous behavior, or you will lose your salvation. Look at John
15:1-6:
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear
fruit He takes away; and
every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word
which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine,
you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he
is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and
throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Well, what does it say? First, it says,
you are a branch attached to the Vine. Jesus is the Vine. You, if you put your
faith in Jesus as salvation, become a branch. That sounds like we are on the
way to heaven, but wrong! There is another requirement: We must bear much fruit.
Now Galatians 5:22ff says, about fruit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness 23 gentleness,
self-control.
Pray
for guidance, and then look at Each of those qualities seriously and ask
yourself: do I have that “muchly?” What it’s really saying, is that you MUST
grow to a godly life. If you do not “abide,” ie, do not bear fruit, you are
“cast out as a branch…and are “gathered…into the fire, and….are burned.
Well, that’s hell. That means that a godly life is required. Thus, don’t listen
to those Calvinists who, essentially, make a mockery of sin.
Let’s cover some other favorite OSAS verses, their “cherry-picking texts”
that are numbered below—and explain how they don’t quite say what some people
think. Then we’ll look at the other side of this argument, at other verses,
which clearly say what a lot of people don’t want to hear. Keep one thing in
mind Calvinists have a doctrine centered on the idea that God does everything;
we do nothing. So if a Scripture insists that we have a responsibility, well,
Calvinists have learned to ignore it.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO FALL AWAY FROM SALVATION TO BECOMING UNSAVED AND
BOUND FOR HELL
Jude 24: Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, And to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy
Because God is able to keep us from falling, does that mean we could never
fall, as OSASers say this verse claims? Don’t make the phrase about how He is “able
to keep you from falling” say more than it’s saying. Consider Isaiah 26:3,
which says:
You (God) will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.
Thus God is able to keep us in perfect peace. But are we always in perfect
peace? No, because our behavior betrays us; sometimes we aren’t thinking about
God, and we are less than peaceful. So God has the capability (“is able”) to
“keep us” in perfect peace (or to keep us from falling); but His success
is dependent on our behavior! The simple fact is, we can reject God, fail to
think about God, and fall on our own. Along those lines, what does it say only
3 verses earlier, Jude 21:
Keep yourselves in God's love…to bring you to eternal life.
This “keeping” involves our activity. Something for us to do—or fail
to do. You therefore cannot argue that directing people to “keep” in His will
is all God’s responsibility.
Take a look at I Timothy 4:1:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart
from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
The Greek word for “depart from” is “apostasia” which means leaving
the faith (we get the word "apostasy" from the same root). In Acts
21:21, the same Greek word is translated “forsake.” Now I maintain that it’s
impossible to depart from or forsake something unless you were attached to it
in the first place. And it is impossible to apostatize unless you were a
believer in the first place. Then you made a series of bad choices; it might
have taken time, little by little. You fell away. What does Hebrews
10:38-39 say to this?
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him.39 But we are not of them who draw back unto
perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary says about the Greek for “draw back:” to
quote him, it’s “shrink back into unbelief.” Thus, from the two verses above, from
belief to unbelief is possible. The result of that is “perdition,” from
Greek “apoleia,” a spiritual ruin. Perdition is hell. Again, you don’t draw
back from something unless you were with it at first. Lastly, "we
are not of them" is an exhortation to optimism; Paul was not affirming an
OSAS doctrine thereby.
Some people fall because they gain power and are not ready for it; they fill
up with pride. Consider I Timothy 3:1,6:
If a man desires the position of a bishop…not a novice, lest being
puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
The Greek word for “novice” is a new convert, but I emphasize he is a
convert, per Vine’s dictionary. So he was recently saved. But he could, with
pride, fall into “the same condemnation as the devil.” The word “condemnation,”
in Greek, is “verdict, resulting from an investigation.” It’s a final judgment.
So he clearly has moved from being saved to being unsaved and bound for
hell--unless he repents.
A GODLY LIFE IS REQUIRED
2. I Corinthians 5:1-5: It is actually reported that there is
sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named
among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2 And you are puffed up,
and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away
from among you. 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have
already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with
my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in
the day of the Lord Jesus.
OSAS adherents love to cite “that his spirit may be saved” in verse 5 to
prove that this man has in the past been eternally saved, and even his adultery
will not unsave him. My response is, don’t make the word “may” mean more than
it does in verse 5. How do you think this man is saved now when verse 13 says:
“Expel the wicked man from among you.” The same Greek word for
“wicked” is used in Jesus’ quote in Matthew 13:49-50:
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and
separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery
furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The word “wicked” is clearly an adjective for an unsaved person, which is
what this adulterer is now, and needs to be expelled. Expelled is what “…deliver
such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” means. Why expelled?—church discipline is another
blog. Basically, it's to keep the Church pure--we must remove those who claim
to be saved, yet are in gross sin. When Paul says, “may be saved?” It
doesn’t say “will remain saved,” does it—which would back OSASers claim. It’s
really “maybe he’ll get saved once he sees how Satan, the god of his flesh,
that he is presently worshipping, treats him.” He could be like the prodigal
son (Luke 15), who saw the misery of his life under Satan’s control; he had a
final choice, and made the right move. He turned around, and then got saved. So
perhaps, in I Corinthians, allowing Satan to have his way with him for a while
(as with the prodigal) may wake him up (or it may not)—he might turn
around and get saved before he dies (or he might not). At least he won’t have
any well-meaning Christians around him, deceiving him by “assuring” him that
he’s OK--and not speaking clearly about the possible results of continuing his
unsaved behavior!
John 10:27-29: My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My
Father’s hand.
Clearly “my sheep” are the beneficiary of this gracious treatment. But what
are the required characteristics to be one of His sheep? Belief? Getting born
again? While those are necessary, that is not the focus of what Jesus says
here. You have to hear His voice, and you have to follow Him. And those
verbs (hear, follow) are expressed in present, continuous tense—which means, an
ongoing hearing and following. Not a one-time deal, as OSAS claims. That
means reading Scripture to find out what exactly Jesus says about His
commandments on how to follow. And then we do what He wants—every time we make
a decision. If you’re not in the habit of hearing Him and not purposely
following Him in your daily walk, then you can’t say you are His sheep and you
can't say you’ll “never perish.” I’m saying, that’s what the verses said. They
are conditional on our behavior, not ignoring our behavior.
John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
Here again, the word “believes” is in present, continuous tense. You must
continue believing to have everlasting life. And the word “believes” is more
than just “yes, I believe in my head that Jesus died for me and that’s all I
have to show of our relationship.” Let's quote Vine’s again, which is an
excellent expository dictionary of Greek words; it says about the word believe,
“to trust…reliance upon, not mere credence.” The words “reliance upon” suggest
action. In life situations, let’s say, we have to decide whether to be
dishonest on our taxes, or will I decide to rely on God to keep me afloat
financially if I decline this opportunity to make some extra (dishonest)
cash. If we have real belief, our hearts will be moved to make the right decision.
Do we really contemplate the hell that our sins truly deserve; and then, in
gratitude for deliverance, repeatedly ask Him what He wants us to do as His
servants, how to keep from sinning, and to build treasures in heaven? Do we
regularly seek a real relationship with Him? Maybe some of us, after that
initial emotion of getting saved, say "no" to these requirements--and
thereby put our salvation in danger.
I John really delves a lot into the real meaning of “believe.” Here’s just
one example, I John 3:23-24a:
And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His
Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now
he who keeps His commandments abides in Him.
Two things are a result of belief: loving one another, and obeying His
commandments. Have you sincerely tried to obey all the commandments in, for
example, the Sermon on the Mount? It has a few things to say about not
giving in with anger, divorce, and lust. That’s how we abide in Him. But what
happens to those who don’t abide in Him and choose to not obey Jesus’ commands?
John 15:6 has the answer:
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is
withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are
burned.
God knows you can’t be sinless. But He knows what righteous effort is, AND if
we are growing in godliness. Since loving Him and abiding in Him are not
automatic, and require effort--not just emotion--real belief is thus
conditional on our behavior, not unconditional.
NEXT WEEK How to take OSAS favorite verses into context, and reconcile the
true meanings. Surprises are in store.
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