So you are a Christian, does that guarantee you a space in heaven? You asked Christ into your heart and you have been a disciple of Christ; so are you then saved forever? Or can you lose that salvation and become part of the lost again. Is salvation permanent and are you part of the once saved, always saved? Some say yes and some say no. I am about to delve into a subject that has often been heatedly debated. I have found myself debating this subject once in awhile among the brothers and sisters I worship with. Depending on your background and the theology you were exposed to, you may have a view leaning to one side or the other. It is commonly known that if you have been one of most protestant backgrounds you do have a foundation that once you are saved you are always saved and will go to heaven. When you come to know Jesus Christ as your savior you then believe you will end up in heaven with Christ and not burning in Hell for eternity with the evil. If you have a background of most Pentecostal denominations then you may hold the belief that you can lose your salvation and in the end face getting cast to the lake of fire. I plan on sharing my belief regarding this subject, however, I am not taking the position that my belief is the absolute and I am not taking a dogmatic position that what I believe is the proven way it is and if you don’t believe as I do you are lost. You see, there are enough scriptures on each side of the coin which are presented from both groups that lend us to say, “Maybe”. I am very well in touch and in tune with scriptures that form my conclusion and I am not as well versed on the opposing side. So if you are on the other side I welcome your comments in the spirit of learning through sharing in the spirit of love.
I look at this way: If you believe you can lose your salvation and you are backing that up by the word then hey, you are going to work very hard to be sure to keep your salvation. I see nothing wrong with that. If you believe as I do, that once saved we are always saved and it is a matter of answering to God for all our actions in the end at the judgment that works too and I hope you come along with me. I don’t look at this minor difference as a deal-breaker for any of us. So let’s stick our toe in the water and have a look at verses that I lean on.
The very first place I can reference in the Bible that will point to a salvation you can never lose is in the gospel of John. When I came to know Jesus Christ as my savior at a very young age the only exposure I had to God’s written word was the Gospel of John. It was given to me on that first day by the pastor that helped me to understand. If you are a new believer I highly recommend you get intimately involved with the gospel of John. You can read the synoptic gospels but none will reveal Christ’s love more than John. John has been called “The Apostle of Love’. As a side note, please pay attention to the word “believe” because it will show up 98 times. Believe and live! Once you finish John you should read Genesis and see the parallels and how Christ is revealed and evidence is shown that He always was, always is and always will be the great “I AM”. After that you might want to read Romans and get familiar with our friend Paul. He has a lot to say about the life of a believer in Christ.
In part of the passage about the “Bread of Life”, (John 6: 36-47) is revealed an important statement about once saved, if you are truly saved, you are always saved. I am referring to verses 36 and 37, “But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” That section should give some encouragement and comfort to many hearts. Satan is always trying to get you to not believe. Satan wants you to think there is no sense in turning to God in the first place because you’re so bad he isn’t going to let you in anyway. That is pure nonsense and trickery by the evil one. If he can get you to think that way and you allow unbelief to rule your heart then you will never be received by God because you won’t go to Him. So if Satan is trying to get you to believe you are not worthy and God doesn’t want you don’t listen to it. Just come to Jesus with belief and He will not cast you out.
In verse 38 we read, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me”. This is the covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son. As noted in the Matthew Henry commentary it means. “This is the charge I am entrusted with, that I shall lose none. Those whom God chose to be the objects of His special love he lodged as a trust in the hands of Christ. Jesus Christ has undertaken that he will lose none of those that were thus given him of the Father.” Verse 40 shows us we have an offer of eternal life and happiness if we accept the terms of the gospel and those given to Christ would be brought to the Father. “This is the will, the revealed will, of him that sent me,that every one, Jew or Gentile, that sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up.” Isn’t that great news? It is the “good news”. Everyone can have it. You can have it. The gospel is preached, you hear it, the offer is made, the offer comes to all of us and none can say it is not meant for us. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”, (Rev. 22:17)
Salvation you can never lose is yours if only you believe. As none of the fragments of barley was lost, (John 6:12) so none of those the father gave Jesus will be lost.
Join me on the next post as we continue by looking at more evidence for the jury. Will the verdict be “Once saved, always saved” or “Once saved, watch it, or you will lose it”? CLICK HERE TO MOVE TO NEXT POST!
Believe and live!
“The Tubthumper”
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My dear Brother Frank, I’ve read your recent post on “Finders Keepers,…”, and would only ask you to read Pastor’s Daily Devotional 2/1/13 and note the Scriptures he proposes in 1John 1,2, and 3. I do believe, as you, that satan really wants us to think if we sin we’re lost. I thank you for your “toe in the water” subject of salvation, which too many of us just take for granted without knowledge and lots of prayer. Although we sometimes can be too ‘spiritually minded and no earthly good’.
Love in Christ, pam
Hi Pam, I am aware of those scriptures and read each of Pastors devotions. My future posts will address my position to them as we go along but here is my answer in short . In my next post I cover an area that points out that true salvation, through saving faith, is measured or indicated by visible fruit. The purpose behind all the scriptural warnings about salvation is that following Jesus is much more than saying you are a “Christian”. It takes work and is not easy. As Pastor often points out. So regarding the scripture you mentioned, 1 John 2:19 indicates to me that those that apostatize are demonstrating they were never true believers to begin with. Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-29 give warning to those that pretend to believe. Here is a question for you: Is apostasy a loss of salvation or is apostasy a proof that salvation was never truly possessed? I have only just begun writing posts for this subject and some of my answers to your position will likely show up. I will cite many, many more verses of scripture before I come to the concluding post. I am surprised you didn’t come with more verses as I can think of at least 20 I expect. I appreciate your reply and do hope others will join in. Please note that I don’t regard this as a dividing issue and don’t want to make it one. Let us continue exploring the subject with Christ’s love. Who knows, you might be able to change my mind. But I doubt it.