Flaws in the Once Saved Always Saved Doctrine (Part 4)

 

Flaws in the Once Saved Always Saved Doctrine (Part 4)

This is our wrap-up on this flawed doctrine that has pervaded the world. We’ll continue trying to take apart “once saved always saved” (or OSAS) proof texts. Many flaws are in my first three parts.  Please continue to read and pray.

Romans 4:6-8: just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

OSAS adherents maintain that for the saved sinner, God does not impute (or “charge”) sins they commit. They further maintain that this non-imputation of sin is automatic and continuous, so we don’t have to worry about sins any more.

Yes, God imputes righteousness at initial salvation apart from works, but we must persist in godliness.  To prove that, we turn once again to Paul, who only two chapters later (Romans 6), spends a lot of time debunking the OSAS perversion. In Romans 6:6-13:

 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

 

 He insists that the purpose of joining in a relationship with Christ is that “the old man was crucified with Him,” so that “the body of sin might be done away with.” He asserts that we have “been freed from sin.” That does NOT mean “freed from punishment, even if I continually sin as before.” What that should mean to you, is how you were trapped in sin behavior when unsaved, but now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can escape the trap of sinning. So it means free from the continuation of sinful behaviors. Through the Spirit that He gives you, if you listen and obey; you can “present yourselves to God…and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” and not to “present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.” Avoiding sin is one of the essences of worship! We should be continually presenting ourselves to God for holiness, and that job is on us. And, unlike what OSAS espouses, God’s purpose was to free us from sinning, not giving us a tool for not worrying about our sin.

Romans 8:35, 38-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

OSAS adherents say nothing can separate us from the love of God, so His love is unconditional. Well, these are great verses, that nothing outside of us can keep us from God. But the verses say nothing about how WE can forcibly remove ourselves from God. Also, I didn’t notice “persistence in sinning” on the list that can’t separate us. Read Isaiah 59:2:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Will sins eternally separate us from God? Yes, if we disobey as before, treating your “salvation experience” as an insurance policy. Remember John 15, says that we must show fruit. You are a “new creation…old things have been passed away.” If you don’t change your life and repent of sin on a regular basis, and show change, then were you really “saved”—as in saved from sin, first of all. fact, New Testament Scripture has several lists of certain sins that are hell-bound, if we don’t repent. Revelation 21:8, for instance:

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcnnerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Colossians 1:21-22 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight…

OSAS adherents report that God is doing all the reconciling through Jesus to present us holy, blameless, and above reproach. Well, they forget the last part of v. 22, as well as the next verse completing the thought.  Verse 23 says you are above reproach IF:

…IF indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard.

There’s that important “if” that says we must continue in the faith, not allowing ourselves to be moved away from the hope of the gospel. This can be connected to another verse that should be considered as well, II Peter 3:14:

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.

Certainly, if no effort is required on our part to be without spot and blameless, as OSASers claim earlier, why are we urged to “be diligent” to become without spot and blameless? It just seems that over and over, Jesus has done His part to give it, and we are to do our part to keep it. Consider Luke 13:24:

Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

The Greek word for “strive,” agonizomai, is the word from which we get “agonize.” Have you agonized to maintain your faith and behavior, to keep it pure? Now compare that to Matthew 7:14:

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

OSAS is so easy a method for salvation, many will think they "find" heaven.  But the fact is, as Jesus asserts, FEW will find heaven. Now let’s conclude this item with one more verse: Colossians 1:24—which is even more controversial:

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church

Now let me say, first, that this is not saying that Jesus’ sufferings lacked in providing us atonement to His Father for our past sins, as “fill up” might suggest. But a little study on the Greek for “fill up” (antanapleroo) was interesting. The word suggests doing what we need to do “in our turn,” or doing it “corresponding to” another (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). Here’s the meaning: Jesus was afflicted by His enemies. Now we, His body, will do our part in correspondence—suffering at the hands of His enemies. If, then, suffering is a necessary part of the gospel, and if Jesus did His part, then we must do our part so that nothing is lacking in the presentation of the gospel to the public. Let us not allow the mistaken belief in “eternal security” to lead us into spiritual complacency or shrinking away from taking a stand and suffering as a result.

Let’s turn now to another segment of discussion. There are other favorite phrases OSAS adherents say, that are not based on a particular Scripture but are worth commenting on. One is: “eternal life is eternal. If you could lose it, it isn’t eternal life.” To that I argue, “eternal life will always remain eternal, but the persons who possesses it can change their destination.” After all, eternal life existed before you ever “got on board.” And it will continue to exist if you happen to “get off the track.” So eternal life can’t change, but your possession of it can change.

OSAS adherents also like to say, “Scripture promises 'eternal salvation;' so I’m eternally secure.” But the only place that the phrase “eternal salvation” is used in Scripture is Hebrews 5:9, where it says:

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

There it is again, we must obey His commandments for eternal salvation.

Another favorite OSAS argument is “once a son, always a son; a child cannot be unborn.” Thus they argue that once you’re a child of God (a phrase used in Gal. 3:26), you will always be a child of God. But this is “reasoning from the natural to the spiritual,” which is dangerous. My response on their level is, did you know that an unsaved person (which is how we all start out our lives from the day that we become responsible for our sin) is a child of the devil? That’s proven in Matthew 13:38 and John 8:44. If then, “once a son, always a son,” then we’re stuck being a child of the devil forever! That’s how their logic follows, is it not? But, praise God, we can change eternal parentage —and, sadly, we can change it back.

OSAS believers also have a specific belief about the “seal of the Holy Spirit,” that it can’t be broken. But look at II Timothy 2:19 (ESV):

But God's firm foundation stands (this speaks of the church), bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

If the seal can’t be broken, why is there a warning to “depart from iniquity” attached to it? Because if we ignore the warning, and resume a wicked life, we have broken the seal, and are no longer saved, that’s why. Why attach a warning—if you assume there is no danger?

Most OSASers, whether they know it or not, are Calvinists, and believe that our “perseverance” to the end (the letter "P" in Calvin's "TULIP" myth) is solely up to God, so it’s a guaranteed deal that once we’ve expressed faith, we’ll make it. But think with me a minute: If perseverance is solely up to God, no one would ever fall away--because Scripture says God doesn’t want any to perish. As II Peter 3:9 says:

The Lord is not…. willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

But as we’ve already read (see my previous blog), many do fall away (I Tim. 4:1). Plus, many wander from the faith, I Timothy 6:10:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

And check Matthew 24:10:

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.

And read carefully I Corinthians 8:10-11, where a weaker brother (a saved person) has his faith destroyed by a person that he looked up to, doing something that is offensive to his conscience:

For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

The word “perish” there is the same Greek word that we quoted in II Peter 3:9; it has eternal ramifications. As all these verses are saying, many people, for various reasons, do not persevere to the end, to their ultimate grief. So, again, Scripture is not what Mr. Calvin says.

Many OSASers are Calvinists in another way: They are “elected” by God, which to them means that even before they were born, God selected them to be saved. His irresistible grace, through His Spirit, wooed only His elected people into the fold. And since there was nothing they did by works to get in, there’s nothing they can do, even by “bad works,” to get out. Now the huge question is: Is Mr. Calvin’s definition of the Scriptural term “election” correct? The reason I’m questioning this is, it forces us to consider something really bad: what about the people that God doesn’t elect? According to this doctrine, supposedly His Spirit only woos the elect, there is nothing the “non-elect” can do to get in (since every person is totally depraved, we can only recognize salvation by the wooing of His Spirit). You have to conclude that, according to Calvinism, some people (the “non-elected”) are therefore guaranteed for hell! But doesn't that make God capricious and callous?  Sorry, but I’d rather believe II Peter 3:9. I conclude that since a capricious God results from Calvin's definition of election, it must be wrong—but a lot of people are taking too much confidence in his definition of the word “elected.” They should consider the words in II Peter 1:5-10:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble

Note that our effort for godly character makes our “election sure.” Again, this not a God-guarantee; it requires diligence, as this Scripture says, to make your calling sure. Note also that our election is NOT "sure" (or certain) without deeds like those indicated.  And note that perseverance is a character trait that we need to develop. Yep, takes works and being yielded to the Holy Spirit.

If we love God, and want to see Him in heaven, we have to have holiness. Obviously the right attitude for holiness is hating evil. But in order to really hate evil enough to do something about it, it is necessary to have the fear of God. (It is possible to love God and to fear Him--these ideas are not opposite-- a love of God is not inhibited by a fear of God--see my blog on the subject; the idea is Scriptural). Some, however, who call themselves Christians, do not have fear of God. Not having such fear, they feel free to practice sin and, by their activity, effectively deny God.  It's also true that if we love God, we won’t sin thoughtlessly. Instead, we will, in advance of a questionable activity, coldly study the devastating effects of what would happen if we perform a particular sin. First and most important, we need to ask ourselves, does it dishonor God? Also, what it does to our relationships, including our relationship to God. If we have coveted our time together with Him, and experienced the good feelings the Spirit gives us, and the reward of doing His will, we will want to keep that, no matter what. We also want to think about how killing the sin-desire defeats Satan, God's enemy and our enemy--who arrogantly assumes he can beat us every time, and make us sin. Then we proactively avoid anything in our lives that might stimulate us toward that sin. If your sin is sexual, you would be willing to cut off some premium cable channels, a lot of movies not to attrnd, certain old friends, block the computer, possibly quit a job for another, not attend certain places to eat, go to the beach hardly at all. Extreme, right? But you haven’t come close to lopping off a limb (per Matthew 5:29-30). How much do you hate sin? We need to learn, over time, to hate sin. Look at the devastating effects of adultery in Proverbs 7:21-23:

With her enticing speech she caused him to yield; with her flattering lips she seduced him. 22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, 23 Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life. (Unrepentant, that could be eternal life).

If we read (and memorize) that verse enough til’ we really believe it, till it really sinks in, we will train our mind to hate the sin even more. If we see how it ruins the lives of those around us, we learn to hate the sin more yet. We vow over and over after such examples never to participate in it; we daily dedicate our bodies to the Lord. We discipline our thought life, too; why make our mind a toilet for God to look at? By hating evil, we show God we are loyal and want to be pure like Him; we want to hate sin like Him; we just want to be like Him. Remember what Hebrews 12:14 says:

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

We do want to see the Lord, right? Speaking of seeing the Lord, you know how He describes Himself? We all like to think it would be how He is a God of love. Well, as He shows Moses Himself in Exodus 34:6-7, He describes Himself thusly:

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation

That last phrase makes Him look like the God of Grudges, doesn’t it? (He repeats the threat in Exodus 20:5). Yet that’s what He wants us to remember Him by. Mercy and judgment. Well, yes, and by explanation, I just use one word, “holy.” That’s what God is, along with loving us. His big issue in His loving heart is, how does He keep people from sinning (and ruining their lives that He loves)? Here’s an answer He came up with: He knows that everybody wants to protect their children from life’s hard knocks; what better fear motivator to right living than to threaten people that if you sin, God will carry out the punishment you caused on your children (who will follow you into sinning the same way), and your children’s children. That’s what the verse is saying.

Now people, if you don’t like seeing God this way, then you haven’t been hearing what this paper is trying to say. Yes, God is love. I don’t have to give you any verses on that; you hear them many Sundays. But you probably don’t hear that God hates some people, do you? So it says in Psalm 11:5:

The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

None of the phrase “hates the sin and loves the sinner” here. Unless you repent, God not only hates your sin, but He has to carry out judgment on you. What I’m trying to say is, if we don’t get a balanced view of God, we’ll develop a fatal case of complacency. Read this last set of verses below (where complacency about sin is taken as lukewarmness) from Revelation 3:14-19:

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

May God sink this deep in our hearts. We need to be zealous and hate sin, repenting from it—not just once, but regularly through our lives. For our eternity’s sake!

Acknowledgment: Dan Corner, Conditional Security of the Believer