Once Saved Always Saved???

As I begin part 2 of this blog series, I want to take just a moment to address something that I briefly mentioned in last weeks blog; and that is the “cute little Baptist saying” of “once saved always saved” (O.S.A.S.).  Though I wouldn’t say that I disagree with the true meaning behind the phrase, I believe that the flippant use of it has done more harm than good.  The reason that I say that is because often times people mistakenly come to the conclusion that once an individual is saved they can then do whatever they want (cheat on their wife, get drunk every weekend, steal from the local grocery store, lie to your parents or your boss, etc.).  Reportedly, one baptist preacher even said this: “If I killed my wife and mother and debauched a thousand women, I couldn’t go to hell — in fact, I couldn’t go to hell if I wanted to. If on the judgment day, I should find that my loved ones are lost and should lose all desire to be saved, and should beg God to send me to hell with them, He couldn’t do it” (Bill Foster, The Weekly Worker, March 12, 1959).  This is absolutely atrocious!  This pastor needs to repent of his sin and read his Bible!

In the book of Romans, Paul addresses this faulty reasoning.  In Romans 5:20-21 Paul says this:

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What Paul is saying here, is that as we continue to look at the law, we continue to see our sin and how it is impossible to keep the law.  But as we do that, we see that the grace of God through Christ continues to save.  So at first glance, someone might say, well that means I can just sin all the more!  Not so fast… Let’s continue reading Paul as he writes in Romans 6:1-4:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

So basically Paul rhetorically asks, if God’s grace is so great then we can just keep sinning, right? And his answer is a resounding NO!  How can we continue to sin if we have died to sin?  If we have truly believed in Christ, then we are now a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and we are called to “walk in newness of life” and reject the old sinful lifestyle.

So I would like to change the phrase, “once saved, always saved,” to a phrase that does a little better job of explaining this position.  I would much prefer this: “once saved, forever changed.”  By this I mean, that a person who truly accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior, is changed forever!  They are a new creation, and they now have a desire to walk in obedience to Christ.  If someone claims to be saved, but their life does not appear to have changed and they have no desire to walk in obedience to Christ, then they were never truly saved in the first place!  I hope that clears things up a little bit!!

Now I would like to turn your attention to 1 Peter 1:3-5, and consider three propositions concerning the passage.

God is the Author of Salvation

In 1 Peter 1:3 we read this:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…

To understand Peters argument we must understand this point; that God is the author and founder of our salvation.  He is why we are born again!  God, who is eternal, unchanging, all-loving, all-forgiving, and all-gracious, is the cause of our salvation!  Which means that salvation begins with God, it doesn’t begin with man!  And that’s good news!!  You see, all other religions lack the certainty of eternal salvation.  If you’re a Muslim, then you are dependent upon your good works (following the five pillars of Islam); if you are Mormon, then you are dependent upon your good works (baptism, church membership, adhering to the laws of the prophet and the church); if you are Buddhist, then you are dependent upon your good works (“following the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment); I think you get the picture.  The biblical Christian faith is the only “religion” that begins with the work that God has done through Christ, rather than the works of men and women.

Jesus is the Hope of Our Inheritance

Peter continues on in verse three:

…to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

You see, the reason that Christians can have such incredible hope in their salvation is because God showed us our hope through the resurrection of Christ.  If our salvation was dependent upon some dude that is now buried in a tomb, then there would not be much reason to hope.  In fact Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 15:14,

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

If Christ did not resurrect from the dead, then we would have no hope, and everything that a Christian does would be pointless.  But the fact of the matter is that our salvation is NOT dependent upon some dude in a tomb!  Our faith is dependent upon God’s Son, who died on a cross for our sins, and then three days later he rose again, defeating sin and death, and offering that same salvation from sin and death to all who would believe in His name!  And the Bible refers to us as heirs of Christ.  In Romans 8:16-17 Paul writes,

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children heirs—heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ…

If we have faith in Christ and follow him in complete obedience, then we will inherit everything that Jesus inherits!

That is who our hope rests in!!

Our Inheritance is Protected by God

Verses 4-5 say this:

…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

I love the adjectives that Paul uses to describe our inheritance!  Imperishable.  That means that our inheritance is not subject to decay; it is indestructible.  Undefiled.  It means free from stain or blemish; there is nothing that can corrupt our inheritance!  And finally unfading, which means that our inheritance is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going, and going, and going…  It will never lose its strength!  So this is how the Bible describes my inheritance.  That’s a pretty awesome thought!  But you know what?  It gets better!  Because next Peter says that this inheritance is being guarded  by the power of God!  Wow!  And remember who God is?  All-powerful?  So God, who is the most powerful being in all of eternity, is the one who is protecting our inheritance!  God’s got it on lock-down and there is nothing that anyone can do to take that inheritance away from Him!

This is what Jesus means when he says in John 10:27-29,

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 

How encouraging does that sound?  That those who follow Christ are given eternal life and will never perish, and can never be taken from the hand of Christ!  And this is what is echoed in that wonderful hymn, In Christ Alone, ”

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

So to those asking the question, “can a Christian lose their salvation?”  I would like to ask this question, “can an almighty, all-powerful God, lose something that he has promised to protect?”  I don’t think so.

Sola Deo Gloria