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SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE
Saving Faith is Not...
Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, he/she is forever saved. Accordingly, this belief is a doctrine that stands for several reasons why it confidently considers salvation “eternally secured.” First and foremost is the Scripture in John 3:15-18 that says about Christ: “The Son of Man must be lifted, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
Saving Faith is...
But can anyone say what happens if someone accepts Christ as Savior but then lives in apostasy? Or one still lives in sin throughout his supposed Christian life. What if he did something very, very wrong? What if he has been secretly cheating his spouse, or is engaged in sexual immorality, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a drug user and the like? The funny thing is whenever someone, makes an acceptance prayer, he is automatically said to be a son of God or a born-again Christian. Only God knows for He sees the heart. Have you ever considered why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 5?
View: Shocking details of Steve Lawson's (Pastor - Trinity Bible Church) adultery scandal
Given the above, I believe that to get Jesus’ thoughts on John 3:15-18 above, we ought to include the next three verses that go along with it. John 3:19-21 --- 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
From the above, we can only be saved through repentance, through faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, he/she is saved if he abides by the truth until death.
Saving Faith is Not...
Salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is eternal, meaning cannot be lost once received.
In John 10:28-30, Jesus says: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." So the forgiveness of God through Christ is sufficient to cover all of our sins -- past, present, and future. There is nothing a person can do that God cannot forgive. They back up this doctrine with verses in Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 4:30, and Jude 24; among others.
Saving Faith is...
We say salvation in Christ is eternal because, in Revelation 21:1, Jesus tells us we will live with Him through eternity in a new heaven and a new earth. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:10-12 that this world will be destroyed.
About their point of view, some Christians use John 10:28 short-handedly. Whereby, they consider the words, “I give them ETERNAL life; they shall NEVER perish, and NO ONE CAN snatch them out, ” strong words to live by that declare a person saved forever. On that basis, it is believed a saved person is eternally secured upon acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior. Well, is it true? Let's check that out. In grammar, there is what is called a dependent statement to the other that completes it, e.g. as subject or object. In determining to whom John 10:28 pertains, we'll find its subject or object. Let's check out the verse before that, see John 10:27--- “27 My sheep HEARS me; I know them, and they FOLLOW ME." Take note of the phrases; 'they listen to my voice,' and 'they follow me.' Now, for clarity, let's align it to the dependent statement that is John 10:28, which says and I quote: "28 I give them eternal life. They will never perish and they will not rob me of anyone. Putting them together gives us this: To those who listen and follow his voice He will give eternal life, they will not perish and shall never be lost. And unless you suppose Jesus' voice would lead anyone to DISOBEDIENCE, can one only say they have a point?
Treating verse 27 as an adjoining statement that completes verse 28 gives us a different perspective; quite different from what some who take verse 28 alone, is it not?
As has been observed above, always remember to consider verses in scriptures holistically not independently ... don’t cherry-pick. With that in mind, let's look at the other supporting verse, Romans 8:38-39. As has been done earlier, let us back up a bit in our reading to Romans 8:29. With that together with the former, would give us the understanding that those being referred to in Romans 8:38-39 are those who had been transformed or conformed to His image, as in Ephesians 4:24.
Moving on to the other supporting verse in Ephesians 4:30, let us do the same by considering the next verse Ephesians 4:31. Those verses together tell us how we will be living to be like Him in this world, being transformed in all righteousness and godliness.
Lastly, Jude 24 tells us that Jesus may prevent us from falling---backing up a bit to Jude 18-19---as we are sternly warned of those who may dissuade us from God's plan.
LOGICAL EVIDENCE
Saving Faith is Not...
Accordingly, the Bible teaches that man is inherently sinful -- that sinful nature is a part of all of us (Romans 3:10). Hence, this means that even after being saved, every single believer is going to sin from time to time. Saying, to think that we can live a perfect, sinless life after our salvation is not only unscriptural but arrogant (James 2:10). Hence, they say that if we are not eternally secure, this sinning will cause us to lose our salvation, for how much sin is too much? Seemingly, they don’t see any scriptural “yardstick” given to tell us how many or what kind of sins are enough to void our salvation. To them, without eternal security, the Bible would describe a situation where Christianity is a perpetual game of Russian Roulette; a life in which condemnation and salvation alternate every time we sin and confess, and we never know if we’re saved or not.
Saving Faith is...
Oh, isn’t holiness the yardstick? Be holy for I am holy, says the Lord. True! All men are inherently sinful, due to the works done by the devil in the beginning, (Genesis 3) that brought about their sinful nature. (Genesis 5:1-3) The reason why He came in the flesh is to destroy this work of the devil in us, (1 John 3:8). Now Jesus’ work is shown in us through the works of the Spirit. (Romans 8:8-9) It is the Spirit who He sent to dwell in the believer to serve as an advocate that teaches and reminds him of the spoken word. (John 14:26) Hence, we bear the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) That is why Paul tells us we have an obligation--not to live by our sinful nature (indulging the flesh), but to live by the Spirit. Whereby we put to death the misdeeds of the body. (Romans 8:12-14) Thus Paul declares, that it is those who have been set free by the Spirit; not by the works of the law, (James 2:10) that are no longer slaves to sin, and thereby free from condemnation. (Romans 8:1,2) We are therefore told to be diligent from beginning to end to make our hope sure. (Hebrews 6:11, 12)
Saving Faith is Not...
Further, they say that Scriptural passages (Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 64:6) indicate that our attempts at good deeds will never earn us a place in heaven. As it is, we cannot make up for our past, present, or future sins by doing good works. A true believer, as a natural outcome of faith, shuns evil, and practices good works (James 2:18). Hence they say if “once saved, always saved” is not true, then by necessity, we are saved both by our faith and our works. Further, if we can do sinful things, or not do good things (James 4:17) and lose our security, then our good deeds are a part of our salvation. The concept is contradictory to Scripture, creating an unlivable scenario where we have to try to do enough good to outweigh our sinful natures. The doctrine of “eternal security” goes hand in hand with the doctrine of "saved by faith alone.” To deny eternal security is to endorse a “faith plus works” salvation system.
Saving Faith is...
Indeed, no good deeds/works will ever cleanse us from sin, for the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) does that. It is a gift/grace to us from God, hence not earned, but is received only through faith. (Romans 1:16) Hence we are forgiven. But the Holy Spirit makes us understand that receiving this grace, results to transformation. For it teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. (Titus 2:11-14) The very opposite of our old self that He had set free from sin, (Romans 6:18) and thus we are able to do good works that the Father himself planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore we adhere to scripture, which teaches faith without works is dead. (James 2:17). Contrary to the slogan ‘faith alone,’ which can only be found in James 2:24 contradictoraly.
Saving Faith is Not...
Accordingly, they seem to think that Christ set an unreachable bar of holiness for all Christians to aspire to. For example, most religions are satisfied to condemn the physical act of adultery, but Christ said: “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mathew 5:28); which no one can ever fully live up to, because of sin nature. Just as the law of Moses was meant, in part, to demonstrate to Israel how impossible it was for mortal man to obtain the moral perfection of God, the standards of Christ also remind us of how shallow our best efforts at goodness are. Thus we should be thankful to God for providing a way to be forgiven for our shortcomings. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross served the same purpose for all mankind that the sacrificial lambs did for specific families before His ministry. Christ was a sinless, blameless substitute for our sins. The Bible tells us what Christ’s moral expectations are for us. If we lost our salvation every time we fell short of those ideals, then none of us would be saved for more than a few minutes at a time. If that were true, what purpose was there in His death?
Saving Faith is...
But scripture reckons; there is nothing impossible for one who believes. (Mark 9:23) Scripture tells us ‘With man this is impossible, but with God everything is possible.’ (Mathew 19:26) It is God that works in us that we should ‘will and do His pleasure. (Philippians 2:11-13) Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is not like the sacrificial lambs, nor that of bulls and goats, for they are only a foreshadowing, the reason why they had to be offered repeatedly. Hence, those worshipping God never reached holiness for they do it cyclically. (Hebrews 10:1-4) On the other hand, in essence, the gospel says, that since the death he died is once for all--making perfect those being made holy, Hebrews 10:14--and the life He lived is for the Father, in the same way, we ought to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Being made holy, we should not allow our bodies to be used for sin, nor let sin reign in our mortal flesh; the act of offering oneself, like one dedicated to Him as implements for righteousness. (Romans 6:8-13)
This is the purpose of His death, to set us free from slavery to sin that we may be slaves to righteousness, (Romans 6:18) dedicated to the father as He was. Incidentally, how can any Christian be caught unaware of Christ’s circumcision done in the heart of man that had put off the sinful nature? (Colossians 2:11-12)
Saving Faith is Not...
They say that according to the Bible, if we could lose our salvation, then it would be lost forever because Christ only died once. Accordingly, Hebrews 6:4-6 is an often misunderstood passage, which strongly supports the doctrine of eternal security.
Saving Faith is...
Sadly for them, it does not support that doctrine because Hebrews 6:4-6 teaches that indeed, salvation can be lost, here is why. First and foremost, traditionally, the very point of the writings, even letters/epistles of the apostles in the New Testament is for the nurturing of the faith. Hence, never was any letter addressed to non-believers, e.g. book of Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Colossians., Ephesians, etc; and so with the book of Hebrews. The author was addressing the converted Jewish congregation in Jerusalem who had to make an optimal decision on their future. For though some in the party of the pharisees had been converted, they still stick to their traditional religion, causing problems for Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles. (See Acts 15:5; 21:20-21) This is best explained in this video, click on it. On that basis, Hebrews 6:4-6 is completely warning the Jewish believers to keep the Christian faith, otherwise, lose salvation. The passage addresses Jewish Converts and not [Judaistic religionist] Jews. Notice how Hebrews 6:1-6 pleads the addressee: how can Jews have any elementary/basic teachings about Christ, when they do not accept him as their messiah? They considered Him an enemy of God because He represents himself God, which is why they crucified him; talking about the unbelief of the Jews. Why would repentance be concerning faith in Christ when their religion provides for repetitious animal offerings as the atoning sacrifice for sins? Much more mention to them about baptism, the laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead; except for Pharisees, these make no sense to them. Even today, in modern Israel, share with any rabbi or Jewish devotee about salvation through faith in Christ and see if they’ll accept it. The Jews are even planning to put up a third temple in Jerusalem wherein they can worship and make animal offerings to God based on the Mosaic Law. (see this video) Judaism only adheres mainly to the first five books of the OT; they only accept the OT as Scripture and none of the NT writings. Hence they do not know anything about salvation through Christ, except for what they would consider as idle talk from people like us.
That being said, Christ’s sacrifice, though sufficient for all sins, becomes nil for would-be Jewish Christians who, though had accepted Grace, were alienating themselves by observing the Mosaic Law at the same time, i.e., Galatians 3:9-11. Sadly, in death, Christ cannot be sacrificed again for him should they remain under the Old Covenant after receiving Christ. (Hebrews 6:4-6) Accordingly, if a dead person did something that cost him his salvation without repentance, then he is cut off. (Romans 11:22, Revelation 3:14-16)
Conclusion
As we can see from the foregoing, the idea of “once saved, always saved” is not scripturally supported, even logically. The doctrine is inconsistent with everything else the Bible teaches about mankind and God. Examining the doctrine with the rest of Scripture demonstrates that it does not go along with all other biblically sound teachings. The idea of not losing our salvation is not only unscriptural, but it creates monumental problems with other doctrines, including salvation by faith with good deeds, the putting-off of the sinful nature of man, and the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice.
Video resource: Bema and the White Throne
For further reading, choose Making a Stand on Faith from the posts on display below, (Tap... "See All")
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