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

 

Flaws in the 'Once Saved, Always Saved' Argument (Part 3)

 In the last two weeks, we covered many of the “once saved, always saved” doctrine’s favorite Scriptures. We found flaws in their interpretation. We also gave a little of the doctrine’s meaning and history. We counteracted their Scriptures that seem to contradict with other Scriptures. But it was solved by placing Scriptures in context. Today we continue to examine their “proof” Scriptures.

I Corinthians 1:8: (Jesus) will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

OSAS adherents maintain that God’s confirming us to the end, and our blamelessness, are without conditions. So, they say, once saved, always saved. My response is, you must consider contexts of Scripture. What about Paul’s words in Colossians 1:22-23, which defines blameless?

…to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 IF indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel

Seems that being blameless has a condition attached to it, “IF you continue in the faith...not moved away.” There’s the word “IF” again. Unfortunately, some people didn’t hold fast to the faith; they grew discouraged, or tests (such as persecution) overwhelmed them. And they took the easy way out, abandoning the faith.

As to the idea of "continuing in" the faith: I Timothy 6:12 says,

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

“Laying hold” suggests a drowning swimmer who stretches his last bit of strength and grasps the lifesaver, gripping it firm—knowing that if he lets go, he will die. That should be the feeling we get for God’s offer of eternal life. “Fight the good fight” is another aggressive action that you have to do. It’s a behavior, not just belief in the head.

Did you know the true Gospel includes both "belief and holding fast" in many Scriptures? In I Corinthians 15:1-2, we find:

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, IF you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Believing “in vain,” or futilely, can only mean one thing—not following belief with works that evidence the Spirit is within you, and motivating you to produce fruit—then you are “holding fast.” It means some Corinthians believed, and he's warning them, hold fast to your salvation, and don't get to where your belief is just a lazy mental assent. So it’s possible to be saved, then unsaved.

On the sower again, consider Jesus’ explanation of the seed landing on rocky ground (Luke 8:13):

¹³ But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 

The Greek word “receive” is in many Scriptures used for people as a litmus for being initially saved—if you don’t “receive” His word, you’re unsaved; if you do, you’re saved (see John 3:11, 12:48). But then it says, “they believe for a while.” The problem is, some people are unable to endure to the end. They lose their salvation (i.e., "fall away"); this means spiritual death (Matthew 10:22 and 24:13, to cite just a couple of examples). They "fall away" from a faith they were attached to.  When attached, saved; when fall away, become unsaved.

Hebrews 6:4-6: For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

OSAS adherents say to us, “this seems to be saying, a person can never get salvation back once they walked away. But doesn’t that sound like a God who is too unforgiving, for that argument to be true?" Then the OSASers would say, “we have an argument for these verses that expresses God in a kinder light—we don’t believe this person was ever saved—he was close, but never saved. Being so close, and turning away, means he will never be saved—since he missed Christ at the best opportunity. Then the hardened his heart.”

To that argument I respond by first, asserting that we believe it's possible to get re-saved.  Remember my comments in a previous blog on the prodigal son; he was a son, went away, “dead” as the father testified. then reconciled back with his father again.

Secondly, I believe Hebrews 6:4-5 says this person initially got saved. (How else would you be “partakers of the Holy Spirit?”) But we don’t have to conclude what OSASers want us to conclude. Does he lose his salvation forever? Does that make God unforgivably mean-spirited? How do we explain this phrase “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance?”  In answer, it requires a history study to understand it. At that time, if a Jew got saved, he would be thrown out of the synagogue. Let’s say, under heavy peer pressure, he wanted to abandon the Christian faith and be a synagogue-attending Jew again. The synagogue would make him confess publicly that Christ was a criminal—thus, he would be confessing that Christ was operating under Satan. Attributing to Satan the clear work of the Holy Spirit, especially for those who were a living witness of His works, was probably an unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31-32). Proof of this idea is in the dark words of Hebrews 10:29. Look at the phraseology of what evil they have done in such a confession of apostasy:

Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Thank God, such phrases don’t get said about most unsaved people. Most people have opportunity for repentance and re-obtaining salvation. So, this Hebrews example was a special narrow case for Jews during that time—it is not a universal rule.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

And Hebrews 10:14: 

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

OSAS adherents read from I Thessalonians, God will “sanctify you completely,” “preserved blameless,” and “will do it,” and figure that these are jobs up to God only. But the word “may” crept in, “may your whole spirit…be…blameless” It’s almost like the whole statement is Paul pronouncing a blessing, giving wishes on them rather than a doctrinal statement. And “may” is not a certainty. It’s not “you can be assured that.” So the verse is not “God’s job only” since He is a God of certainty, not a God of “may”-be. The believer's free will then must be an expectation.  That makes it less certain, leading to "may."

From the Hebrews verses, you also must consider the phrase “those who are being sanctified.” It’s not as strong as “those whom He sanctifies,” which OSASers would like to see. It leaves the door open for the believer’s will—who maybe doesn’t do works of sanctification. As it so happens, folks…I have a Scriptural list of things they (or we) should do for sanctification. It just “happens” to be in the verses immediately prior to the I Thessalonians verses above. I am speaking of I Thessalonians 5:11-22:

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another… recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love... Be at peace among yourselves…warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.

I counted 19 verbs for us to do for sanctification! Yes, works for us to do! While we're on the subject, let us also remember that Ephesians 2:8 and 9, supposedly all God’s grace—goes along with verse 10, things we should do.  Take a look:

For by grace you have been saved through faith… 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (takes effort on our part), which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (takes effort on our part).

Further proof on how we can’t lay back is found when we look at many Scriptures, especially by Paul, on how the saints should be ready to do battle with Satan and his minions. We’re not just talking about losing a few crowns in heaven, or losing fellowship with God. No, that’s not a powerful enough motivator. We’re talking about battling to preserve our place in heaven itself—versus hell. In Philippians 2:25 and II Timothy 2:3,4 the saints are soldiers. In Acts 20:24 and I Corinthians 9:24, saints are called runners in a marathon. In Matthew 20:1ff, we’re workers in a vineyard. In Ephesians 6:12, we’re wrestlers against the forces of darkness. In Acts 4:29, we’re slaves of God. All verses listed have to do with keeping our eternity on the line. And here’s one to memorize from Hebrews 12:3-4:

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 

This says, we must endure suffering because Jesus suffered. But let us resist sin to bloodshed if we are tested; we must kill sin; we must cleave to the noble cause of standing up with Christ. We cannot get discouraged, saying, “Well, Jesus was God, so He had no “real” temptation, so how can I try to do it?” Let us remember, He was fully Man too. Let us never forget the extremes of pain that He knew was coming, and how He sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane—which physicians tell us is only possible in supreme agony. How can we, in the face of that Example, in the face of many Scriptures telling us to fight sin with all we have, continue to believe that sanctification is all up to God to do! Such a belief, spread for deception, will erode people’s desire to work at eradicating sin. Do you see the verbs in Hebrews here? “Resisted…striving.” Clear meaning there. Don’t go blind reading too many common-taters telling you to ignore what’s clearly in print.

Lastly, in this section, consider another idea: What does Paul say about the possibility of losing his own salvation? Does that seem hard to believe? He was such a giant in the faith: How can anybody have perfect assurance if Paul didn’t? Well, read I Corinthians 9:27:

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

The word “disqualified” comes from the Greek “adokimos,” which is properly translated, per Vine’s Dictionary, as “rejected; not standing the test.” The test is salvation. The same Greek word appears in Romans 1:28; I’ve emphasized the word that translates adokimos:

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.

Reprobate means "not standing the test."  It comes from the same root as "probate," which we get "probation" (a test for the former prisoner to acclimate to society).  Since men, under test, rejected God, God had to reject them. Finally, after many such failures, "God gave them over." Man is then reprobate, and worthy of hell. Paul uses the same word about himself, as a motivator for him to stand up against the devil. He is disciplining his body (actually, the Greek word says he is beating, or buffeting his body), to kill its worldly lusts.  We're not advocating flagellating here; but Paul is actively suppressing the flesh's desires so as to be more open to the Spirit’s desires. He does this because he doesn’t want to become rejected by God. So, folks, if Paul is striving for holiness like this, if he fears God this way, if he wants to abide in Christ every day, shouldn’t we? Of course we should. He knows what he might lose if he doesn’t. Do we?

Another insightful verse section on Paul’s lack of presumption about God is Philippians 3:10-14:

…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain (doesn’t sound very self-assured) to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained (again! Paul doesn’t feel much OSAS), or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended (where’s the “we’ve got it already” that OSASers claim?); but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

You hopefully get my point. Now I ask you, what would we give to become a spiritual giant like Paul? (Or would we decline that opportunity?) But look at the watchfulness and conditionality he displays here: I suspect his striving, his humility, his lack of presumption, lack of assurance, his fear of God, actually made him more appropriate for God’s work. Or, if we don’t have those attributes worthy in God’s sight, how can we expect to do great things for Him?

Next week: Concluding verses that contradict “Once Saved, Always Saved”

Acknowledgement: Dan Corner, “Conditional Security of the Believer

 

 

FLAWS IN THE ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED PART 2 of 4

 

I hope you read part 1 last week, where I began an argument against the Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS) theology. We continue on with that. I hope you see the importance of this: It’s really often a matter of heaven or hell for a person’s ultimate destiny. We begin with my third argument of how Scripture sees problems with OSAS, namely:

PUT VERSES IN CONTEXT BEFORE YOU GET DECEIVED INTO A WRONG THEOLOGY BASED ON A SINGLE VERSE—OR “CHERRY PICKING” VERSES, KEEPING THOSE YOU LIKE AND IGNORING CONTRARY VERSES

Hebrews 13:5: Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

You can see why OSAS adherents love this verse. This verse is actually a quote from Deuteronomy 31:6 (part of Moses’ final words to the children of Israel):

….do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God… will not leave you nor forsake you.

But then for context you need to peek 10 verses ahead. In Deut 31:16-17a, in God's final words to Moses, from the same speech, no less, God is warning him of Israel’s apostasy (abandoning the faith). It’s a hard word for Moses, and with much warning for us:

And the LORD said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land…. and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured.

Read that again: God forsook them! Because they forsook Him. Evidently the word "never" (Hebrews 13:5) doesn't have the unconditional meaning we think it has. (It has more of a "til' the unforeseen future" meaning).   In that Paul was quoting Deuteronomy, he is agreeing with the idea that God will never forsake you—unless you forsake Him first. Now you can try to wriggle out of the clear meaning of these words by citing your belief is “dispensationalism:” “Well, He was a vindictive God of Law in the Old Testament; but thank God for His dispensation of grace now.” But I argue back that God is not a God of change. As James 1:17 says,

Every good gift and every perfect gift …comes down from the Father… with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

We do not have two Gods in the Bible. The Old Testament is part of Scripture, and all Scripture is profitable for reproof, for correction in righteousness (II Tim 3:16). We can learn a lot about Him in the Old Testament—and won’t have to unlearn them when we study the New! The point is this: The God who forsook His people in those days because they forsook Him, will do the same again now. The truth has to include this: He will never leave you nor forsake you—IF you abide in Him. God help us to do so—but we have free will, and can forsake Him.

Now another thing you might cite about God never leaving us is to use, as our model, “the great promises to Israel,” whereby God will do miraculous things for Israel in the End times, and those people will be redeemed, so God “never forsook them”—so evidently you think God didn’t mean what he said in Deuteronomy 31:16 or II Chronicles 15. But the national promise to Israel is different than the promise to individuals. In the End times, perhaps many Jews will see Jesus as God, accept Him and are redeemed. But in Exodus those OTHER Jews who rejected the spies’ good report rejected God’s promise, and died unbelieving in the desert. The point is, God didn’t change; different Jewish responses did.

Further in the Word along this line is II Chronicles 15:2:

Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded… and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Seems clear, does it not?

Speaking of taking words out of context, yet another abused Scripture is Hebrews 10:12,14:

But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,… 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Despite the words “He has perfected forever” sounding like assurance for the believer, "being sanctified" is not always in the passive sense, thinking that God sanctifies me with no effort on my part. Fact is, you must desire to be sanctified. If you have no such desire, you are not saved.  Just one example—proof that our behavior is involved: I Thessalonians 4:3:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

Colossians 2:13: And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses

OSAS adherents cite this verse that God makes us alive and forgives us of all sins, past and future, when we accept Jesus. It's wonderfully true that upon the point of salvation, God makes us alive, and gives us the Holy Spirit.  But don't forget context: In the Sower in Matthew 13, some seed came alive, but under shallow soil. It later died. Suggesting that salvation may, under pressure, die. So it would not be permanent. Another point is about forgiveness of sin: does the verse specifically guarantee us forgiveness for all future trespasses? Paul is, after all, focusing about a past event (“has made alive”), at initial salvation. It could be, that he meant all trespasses to that point were forgiven.  Because if we later go apostate, and deny Christ, does simply believing this verse says what we hope it says protect us? No; you have to confess and repent, and rejoin with Christ before you can be forgiven. Some people don’t do that,  as we have seen, and end up losing their salvation.  For additional light, take a look at II Pet 1:9:

But if anyone does not have them (speaking of fruits), he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins

I think if Peter knew that he could include future sins in this statement, he would’ve mentioned them—but he doesn’t. Another enlightening verse is I John 1:9:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John is writing this to people who are believers already, so why do we need to keep on confessing our sins to obtain forgiveness—if we’re already guaranteed forgiveness from future sins?

It would be safe to conclude, in context with other Scriptures, that John evidently believes we’re not initially saved from future sins, so we need to continue confessing them to continue being forgiven. Introspecting on today's sins at the end of each day in prayer, and telling the Lord that we will do better, would be a good part of abiding in Christ.  It is an important part of Communion, right? (PS:  God is not so strict that He would not forgive if we haven’t confessed because we honestly forgot some).  So I conclude the “all trespasses” in Col 2:13 is more likely referring to all trespasses up to the point of initial salvation—which was, after all, the time period of Paul’s subject matter. Future sins are not covered by the “get out of jail free card.”

I Pet. 1:3-4: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who… has begotten us again…, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you

OSAS adherents love our inheritance, as a child of the King, that will never fade away. But this great passage of Scripture doesn’t say that we cannot annul the inheritance by disbelief or unrepentant gross sin. Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 10:33:

But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Definitely wrapped up in the word “disown” is losing one’s inheritance. So it is possible.

While I’m on this subject, I need to bring up another verse that’s misinterpreted by OSAS folks. It’s II Timothy 2:13:

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

This is quoted often by OSAS teachers; their interpretation of God being “faithful” here is that “He will accept our faithlessness and save us anyway—that’s what “He cannot deny Himself” also means.”  Well, dream on, un-Scripturally. Their problem in making this assumption is not taking context into account. Take a look at the previous verse, II Timothy 2:12:

If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

Whoa, considering that "denying Him" would be "faithless," 2:12 says the result of our faithlessness is that He will deny us. And we would clearly lose the inheritance. Taking the two verses together, this means the opposite of what OSASers think 2:13 says. So, to resolve the apparent contradiction, let’s do what you seldom see teachers do—reconcile 2:12b and 2:13. First, you have to see how awful a sin being “faithless” is; it is on purpose connected to 2:12’s denying Christ—and has such a punishment of hell, if unrepentant.. God many times calls faithlessness spiritual adultery. The Jews strayed into idol-worship, took their love away from God, and were called adulterers. Now before you say, “we don’t do idols in modern society,” you need to expand the meaning of “idol.” It’s anything that we think about as #1 in practical importance to us, instead of God. Say, we spend all that time at work and not think about bringing God into that experience; then spend a lot of time with food: cooking, and eating without seriously giving thanks; then socializing with friends without raising His name (or thinking about how to do so); or raising our kids without teaching them constantly about God—then I conclude that work, eating, friends, and kids all become idols because God is not #1, or even considered, in any of them. We’ve simply substituted modern idols for the ancient wood and stone. God should be a part of our life, like breathing—and it’s still "faithless" to only worship Him on Sundays, then leaving Him out for the rest of the week. We’re just as guilty of substituting God out of our life as the Jews did. Where’s the insistence that we should “abide in Christ” in modern society? Have we watered down the meaning of “abiding?”

The second thing you do to reconcile these two verses in II Timothy is: What does God mean when it says He “cannot deny Himself?”  We assume that if God is “faithful,” it is always positive for us. Not so. Check out Deuteronomy 7:9,10:

Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.

God's curse on His enemies is included, is it not, in His being faithful--to Himself. To His integrity. He is faithful in fulfilling ALL promises He makes.  So, that means He is faithful by carrying out His promised curses on the unsaved, as well as loving the saved. If that’s hard to accept, it’s probably because we haven’t thought much about hell. Think for a moment on how bad that is--and God created it.  We’re talking about fiery torment, continual pain, continual thirst, no contact with others (read Luke 16:19ff on these). And forever and ever…for eternity. Why not just for 50 years, or 100 years? Why not probation? Why not a second chance, or purgatory? Answer: God HATES sin (and certain sinners, Psalm 5:5 and Proverbs 6:16, 19) more than we can imagine—and ultimately His wrath will be faithful to His promise and carried out on the unrepentant sinner. Look at the evidence of His anger in the Deuteronomy verse above: God will repay him “to his face.” Now that’s a God with a grudge. A whole new meaning on II Timothy 2:13, is it not? If we are faithless to God, He will be faithful to carry out His promise--i.e., the curse of our sin remains on us.  The opposite of what OSASers think.

II Timothy 1:12: … Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

OSAS adherents claim that Jesus will do the work in guarding our salvation, so we are safe. But then why does Paul urge Timothy, two verses later, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”  Guarding it is also our job. Our behavior is involved. Another verse on this is Hebrews 10:23:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Doesn’t that suggest that our righteous behavior ("holding fast," “without wavering,”) is what’s needed to bring us to heaven? I think so. A job for us to do. That’s what the verse says.

Matthew 7:21-23: 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!’

The OSAS adherent is trying to make the verses prove that you can't be saved and then unsaved.  So the OSASer says, about Matthew 7:23 above, “This is the way it is with all unbelievers; Jesus never knew them; it wasn’t that He knew them, then didn’t know them.”

My response is, first of all, yes, look at the virgins in Matthew 25:11. Jesus seemingly has the bridegroom telling the virgins, "I do not know you.”  But since all ten virgins were invited and well-known, the bridegroom must have known them. So what does he really mean by the statement "I do not know you?"  The phrase is an idiom—a phrase that is peculiar to a culture. When Jesus says "I never knew you," He is saying, "your thoughts and actions became too much like the world; you are so far removed from me, it's like I never knew you." The emphasis on oil and preparedness could mean that those that were unprepared had no Holy Spirit, a symbol of which is oil. See I Samuel 16:13. He has changed His opinion on their invite, because they lost the Holy Spirit. The Spirit left them when their choices were of the world. Thus, these verses are saying, our thoughts and actions need to be in His Spirit, so He will claim us in that day of judgement. Thus, they do not back the OSAS claim of how it's impossible to lose salvation.

In further proof, study Luke 15:11ff, the prodigal son: He was a son of his loving father, right? (Symbols of the saved person and God).  Then he became prodigal, walked away, and didn’t "abide with" his father any more. Then he sees the light, returns to his father, confesses his sin, and returns to the family and in his good graces. You see where I’m going? Now look at verse 24 of the prodigal story, the words of the happy father:

for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

So think…he was his son before, then he was dead (that’s the word Scripture uses), then he was alive again. That means, he was home at first, then became lost, then came back. Seems pretty clear here, to make the parable relevant to us, as all parables tend to do—he lost his salvation, then regained it.

A note: What additional valuable things do we learn in this prodigal parable, by the way? (1) We assume the father protected the son while he was under his care (as illustrated in John 10:28), but the son had the free will to depart of his own volition. (2) The father’s great love for his son (enough to forgive him freely after his wild life, when he repented) did not prevent the son from walking away, and becoming lost. Note also that the father did not chase after the son.  What Jesus is clearly saying is, God the Father allows free will on this, even to the point of loss of life.

NEXT WEEK: MORE ON THIS INFLUENTIAL DOCTRINE

Acknowledgement: Dan Corner, The Believer’s Conditional Security

 

The Flaws in the "Once Saved Always Saved" Argument

 

“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.

 

The Power of Fasting

 This message was delivered in New Zealand by Derek Prince, who had the interesting life of being born in India with an English citizenship, and yet died in Israel—and taught the Bible everywhere in between.  The subject, “Spiritual Secret that few people practice today,” caught my eye.  It opened a key in my heart, maybe it will in yours.  His words, not mine, are briefly shortened here. He begins:

Though this key to answered prayer is clearly presented often in the Bible, the majority of Christians are unaware that it exists.  The failure to use this key is one major source of ineffectiveness in the Body of Christ (i.e., the “Body” is the universal Church, bought by His Blood, sold out in faith to Him).  Let’s turn to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is giving instruction in how to pray, etc.  Note two parallel passages in Matthew 6:5-6 and 6:16-17:

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues…. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door...

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance… ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…

Both passages begin with a negative, then give the proper way to do it.  Dr. Prince asserts that the close parallel suggests that the two acts should be done together to increase the power of prayer.  Jesus definitely taught fasting (He said “when you fast”). Fasting is associated many times with prayer in Scripture, as we shall see.

Dr. Prince mentions two predecessors who arrived at a similar conclusion: Martin Luther and John Wesley. Wesley’s journal said “I am persuaded that if a Christian understood the need to fast, and does not fast, he will backslide just as surely as if he were convicted about prayer, and does not pray.”  Wesley would not ordain to the ministry any man who did not commit himself to fast twice a week, i.e., not to eat breakfast or lunch as a minimum on those days.  That was a basic requirement to gain close access to the Lord.

You may say, What’s the use of fasting?  To deny me pleasure?  To give me pain?  I thought it was Old Testament. No, don’t forget: Jesus commands it in Matthew above. There are doubtless many positive purposes, but Mr. Prince will only deal with one: It is a God-appointed way to humble ourselves.  The greatest single barrier to the Lord is pride; and anything that will get that barrier out of the way will facilitate getting closer to God’s heart.  Andrew Murray’s book Humility spoke to him on the subject of pride. A verse from Scripture echoes that.  See Luke 14:11:

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

The best example of that verse is Jesus and Satan.  Jesus had a humble birth and childhood; He did not demand services from His followers.  He died as a lowly criminal. And God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:9). Satan, on the other hand, though a created being, wanted equality with God.  He also wanted to be victor over Jesus. But he fell (Luke 10:18). Note also that when Jesus was preparing to confront Satan, he fasted—for 40 days, quite a feat. He suffered starvation, as any human would. But He was made closer to the Father.

Realize that God never says that He will humble us, so we should not pray that.  God always tells us to humble ourselves. Anything that enables us to humble ourselves is a priceless blessing—even if it isn’t always enjoyable at the time.  And one of the biblically appointed ways to humble ourselves is by fasting. We’ll prove that starting with Psalm 35:13:

I humbled my soul with fasting

Your soul is the arrogant part of you, the egoistic part.  It has three functions:  the will, the intellect, and the emotions. (The soul is not the same as the spirit).  You say, or think often: “I want…I think...I feel,” to satisfy those three in a worldly fashion.  God reacts to this selfness by saying, in Scripture, “What you want, think, or feel, aren’t important.  What’s important is My will; and if your habit is not thinking about my will, then you’ve got to deal with your soul; and one way to do that is by fasting.

Prince said “I heard from a lawyer who decided to fast.  The day was a miserable day of pleasant smells that he couldn’t indulge himself.  So at the end of the day, he gave his stomach a lecture: “Now, stomach, you’ve made a lot of trouble for me today, so for that I’m going to punish you; I’m going to fast tomorrow as well.” A good example of endurance.  Humbling your soul is bringing it into subjection.  Fasting gives you control over the stomach.  The stomach is a wonderful servant—but a terrible master.  Broadening that, who is the master in your life; you or your fleshly cravings?  When you choose right, you eventually come under the blessing of God.  And you don’t do hard choices once; it needs to repeat and become a habit.  If you become arrogant, God puts some distance from you—and you will feel it.  God will tell you that “I can see that you want your way.”

A relevant verse is Leviticus 16:29-31, which was written by Moses.  For background, this chapter provides the ordinances of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur—the most sacred day in the Jewish religious calendar. It’s their sacrifice to make atonement for their national sins (not to be confused with Passover).  The future of their nation depended on their participation in that sacrifice—but that does not mean they do a sacrifice individually—the priest does it on behalf of the nation.  God requires their response to be that they shall “afflict their souls,” or, really, “humble their souls.”

“This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls…. ³⁰ For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.

Note that the priest does the sacrifice; they did not arrange it, and, what’s even more important for today, it was outside their power to provide.  Atonement came from God’s grace.  BUT—they could not benefit from the sacrifice unless they met God’s condition, and humbled their souls. (Ed. Note: Now that we are in the New Covenant, with Jesus’ sacrifice, the way to gain atonement is different than the Old Testament. This change doesn’t affect fasting as useful to obtain humility. Fasting helps you sharpen your focus on sins that trouble you, which makes you less useful for our Lord’s work. An important note: I am not suggesting you carry this idea to extremes by self-flagellation or something. Luther did that until he saw another way—the way of Christ.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross opens the way to defeat selfishness and sin, appealing for the help of the Holy Spirit.  We could never add anything to it; but again, if we are to benefit from it by living a godly life, we must meet God’s condition of humility.  Note how the Jews have always defined the phrase “afflict your souls:” In Acts 27:9, this same sacred day of humbling and repentance is also called The Fast. (It could mean any fasting to do away with lusts of the flesh that hinder you.) This proves that God’s requirement for humility often involves fasting. God wants us to present, or submit, our body.

Generally, fasting means no food, but water is OK. We may experience physical weakness, but our spirits should strengthen.  How you fast is up to you to decide.

In one case, after the disobedient Jews were forced into exile or slavery by Babylon, they obtained permission to bring a remnant from Babylon to the land of Israel.  Ezra led a group on a four-month journey back to the Promised Land.  They had to travel, unarmed, through robbers and brigand territory.  Keep in mind, Ezra had women and children along—and the precious vessels of the temple, crafted of fine burnished metal.  How to get safe passage, and obtain grace from God to avoid danger?  His solution: he  proclaimed a fast in Babylon before he began, as Ezra 8:21 says:

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.

So their trip was without incident.  We find another insight if we read on to verse 22-23:

For I (Ezra) was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

Ezra’s testimony is that their fasting provoked God to act on their behalf, so he didn’t request any help from the king for safety.  God will put you in a position to see if you really believe in your testimony, too, on occasion. They did indeed go through the trip safely. Mr. Prince attributes this “luck,” in moving with a large family through war and famine and surviving--by their fasting and prayers.

Dr. Prince now speculated of the possibility of the judgment of God on his host country, New Zealand.  What should they do if that is prophesied to come down?  They should fast and humble themselves before their God. He then got back to Scripture and spoke of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel leading Israel to idolatry and wickedness. The prophet Elijah confronted him and pronounced God’s judgment on him. In I Kings 21, he told him that every male in his family would be destroyed.  So there would be no heir to the throne from his family. This was an important thing; so Ahab did some real thinking.  Read what Ahab did in I Kings 21:27-29.  It shows Ahab doing the right thing, finally, and it shows God’s mercy: The key was his fear of God made him humble himself before Him:

So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. ²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

If fasting and humbling himself could do that for wicked Ahab, what could it do for us?  We should never consider ourselves as too ashamed of our sin to still appeal to Him for help—God will always listen to the pleas of His true children.

Yet another example is in the book of Jonah.  God told him to just walk around in Ninevah and proclaim judgment on the wicked city in only 40 days.  It was another story of how Jonah didn’t feel like doing it, but in any event, Ninevah—after listening to only one sermon repeatedly preached by a stranger, actually listened and truly fasted and humbled themselves, and God once again offered grace and relief from that judgment.  The Word of God is so powerful on them in Jonah 3:6-10:

⁶ Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. ⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? ¹⁰ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Can you imagine such a thing happening today with presidents or prime ministers?  Earnest prayer and fasting could make that happen, too.  The Holy Spirit can shake off our complacency. Praise God for His mercy side, as well as for His judgment side.  I have to warn you, there are bad endings to stories, too, in Scripture, where people ignored God’s judgment—and paid the price.

Yet another great story (you should tell your children these wonderful stories) is in Esther.  Haman, an enemy of God,  had persuaded the king, Xerxes, to issue a decree, that was unalterable, to kill all Jews in all 127 provinces in his vast Persian kingdom (modern day Iran+)—which stretched from India to Ethiopia.  This would wipe out just about all Jews there were, since most everything civilized in the earth was in his kingdom, except the Far East.  Esther, the queen, was a Jewess, though the king did not know it.  When Mordecai (her cousin) told her of this upcoming tragedy, she did the right thing:  read Esther 4:16:

¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

We can expect that it was because of their fasting and humbling themselves before the Lord, that she concocted a brilliant plan.  Together with God giving the king a sleepless night and just happening to read the “Daily Events” journal on the right past date, God turned the whole thing around—and their enemies were the ones killed.  This story, with the Hitchcockian twists and turns, is exciting reading.  Without the Jews, there would be no Redeemer, Jesus the Christ.  And what was the turning point?  Their fast.  It would be impossible to exaggerate fasting as a changer of the course of history—even til’ now.

The New Testament likewise speaks of the power of fasting.  In II Corinthians 6:4-5, Paul is forced to defend himself before a skeptical people, offering his proofs of apostleship.  He cites many things to offer proof.  Note one of them:

⁴ But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, ⁵ in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

He believed in its importance. He does the same thing in II Corinthians 11:23ff.  This still has power in ministry today, Mr. Prince spoke of his own inner conviction that God laid strongly on his heart, right after he was saved, that he should fast.  This was before Wesley’s journals.  He testified that through that, that he made great spiritual progress.

The experiences related in Acts 13 have been called the beginning of a missionary program. It is the first sending forth of apostles in Acts.  Notice the prelude: what did they do to plead God for success in opening hearts to the Gospel, in conquest of the Evil One?  Fasting and prayer, of course.  As recorded in vv1-4:

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon…and Saul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. ⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit…

So, did they think out a plan for something attractive to draw the unsaved?  Maybe decided on a “seeker-friendly” church?  No, they fasted. They took their own hands and their own plans off it, and waited for Him to give the next move.  God responded to them, picked His right guys, and sent the Holy Spirit out and convicted many hearts to turn to Him.  Acts 13 is a turning point in the church.

Very seldom does the church today seek God’s strategy.  We take ‘Plans for Church Growth’ class in seminary, rather than seeking His plan.  So church growth has stopped in almost all developed nations.  The early church knew they had to take time off, even from eating, and beg to hear God. His results are always good.  Note how, after fasting to obtain God’s will, they fasted a second time, this time to commit those two men to carry out God’s will.  Then they laid on hands before sending them forth.  Note how the Holy Spirit accompanies them.  How much sweeter can you get, that you pursue your ministry accompanied by the Holy Spirit?  At that time, they were called prophets and teachers.  But in Acts 14:14, they were called apostles.  They were able to perform miracles, and they were an effective proxy for Christ.  That’s what we could do, change lives.  If we would only begin at their beginning. Dr. Prince believes we could have an apostolic ministry too.

They brought disciples to the Lord where they visited cities. Later those churches were ready to appoint elders in each local body for government.  The proper procedure is elucidated in Acts 14:21-23.  Note the necessary key:

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

So elders are fasted and prayed for, too. Thus, the two most critical offices in the early church, apostles and elders, were arrived at through fasting and prayer.

We pray, but too often do not fast and humble ourselves.  Why not use this effective plan of the fastest growing church in world history, today?  Can you beat what they did?  They turned the violent (and vast) Roman Empire into a Christian empire in under 300 years. Why not use such a successful plan again?  It’s clearly God’s plan, since it seeks His face.  Do we assume that a “modern” way is better?  Do you think God has changed, and become more “modern”?  A note here; appointing elders seems to be preferred to electing them. Hmm.

Let’s end by quoting II Chronicles 7:14, which gets back to that parallel word, humble:

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

May God help us to turn away from compliance to the world, believe in hell for the unsaved, and in no other way than Christ, seek deliverance, and may He teach us to humble ourselves before Him and fast whenever there is a decision to be made—and to do His word to us when we look for it often.  Amen.