Once Saved, Conditionally Saved?
In a debate group that I am part of, the topic recently surfaced, if we are once saved, are we always saved. This immediately became a hot topic, with many members weighing in.
At first, while I had my leanings, I was undecided which side of the debate I adhered to. After all, why does it matter ultimately? We do well to live as though we could lose our salvation, according to Philippians 2:12, which says, "Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
But for the sake of argument, I spent the next several days pouring over scripture, trying to find any and all patterns of rejection and redemption. Do we have examples of known saved people rejecting and thus losing their salvation?
The reality is, we don't. We simply do not know the state of a man's heart. Only God knows. So if a person looks saved but then does a total flip and starts proclaiming their rejection of the faith, we have no way of proving whether they had salvation and lost it, or whether they were never saved to begin with.
Nonetheless, we profess to believe an omniscient God, who knew all history since the creation. A person walking away from the faith would not surprise him. He knows exactly who believes and who lives in unbelief. Therefore, my studies have led me to reason that he is not going to temporarily grant eternal salvation to a person he knows in advance is going to die in unbelief. no matter how earnest and passionate that person's alleged conversion to the faith might be in the beginning. Yahweh knows how it ends.
Thus I began my quest to write out a dissertation on the subject. At the time of writing this blog post, it has only just been shared to the discussion group and nobody has weighed in on it yet. So here it is, in it's original and unedited nature:
My Dissertation
What constitutes a “true” believer? Once they are saved, are they always saved? Or can a true believer fall away from the faith? If they fall away, is it impossible for them to come back into the faith? If it is possible to return, is it rare, or is it an absolute certainty?
The topic of ‘once saved, always saved’ and even the topic of the assurance of salvation are difficult things to tackle, because at the end of the day, we are living by faith, not sight. To an extent, we can know a person by their fruit. Yet even a wicked man knows how to give good gifts to his children, because Adonai’s law is written on our hearts. And even the best disciple of Christ can occasionally act worldly, because we are mortal and flawed humans. I cannot judge the condition of another’s heart any more than they can judge mine. All we can do is stack our own selves up next to Scripture, to determine where we stand.
But that being said, to explore the concept of salvation and its temporal-ness or permanence, one does not do well to find an answer in a single verse or single paragraph. For all too easily, mankind has twisted individual segments to make the Bible say almost anything they want it to. Rather, we must look at Scripture as one continuous and complete big picture.
The themes, then, that we shall explore throughout scripture constitute as such:
~Patterns of mankind rejecting God
~Patterns of mankind’s repentance
~Patterns of God’s forgiveness
~Patterns of God’s condemnation
This journey begins in the most natural of places, the beginning. In Genesis, the first act of rejection we find is that of Adam and Eve disobeying Adonai and eating of the forbidden tree. They fancied that they could be equals to Adonai. That they could be his peers.
They were immediately ashamed, but evidently not immediately repentant. Rather than admitting their wrong to Adonai immediately, they hid. And as a consequence, they were cast out of the garden.
Genesis does not explicitly show Adonai implementing animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, nor are sin offerings really demonstrated anywhere until Moses implements them during the Exodus. All through Genesis, animal sacrifices seem to be a gift rather than something done every time someone sins. Nonetheless, Adam and Eve bore sons, Cain and Abel, who at some point each brought sacrifices to Adonai. Abel’s offering, a lamb, was accepted. Cain’s offering, the product of his crop farming, was rejected. Cain’s response was anger and pouting. Adonai said, “why are you angry? If you do what pleases me, won’t I accept your offering? But if you don’t do what pleases me, sin lies at the door. Take dominion over it lest it overcome you.”
We know how that ended. Cain killed his brother, Adonai cursed him, and he went out, married his sister, and started a city. We are not told that he ever repented.
A few verses later, Eve gives birth to Seth, Seth has a son Enos, and many translations say “men began to call upon the name of the Lord”. However, Strong’s Concordance says that this verse uses the word ‘chalal’ instead of ‘halal’. In Hebrew, the difference is one single letter, and because of one letter, the difference is profaning or praising. Not that I am a Hebrew expert, but to the best of my understanding, this seems to be saying that men began profaning the name of the Lord.
Which makes sense. Cain disobeyed Adonai, but was cursed. I don’t think he would profane the deity that cursed him. Though unrepentant, he would likely live in terror. But by the time Enos was born to Seth, Cain’s descendants would have separated themselves enough apart that profaning the name of Yahweh at this point would be likely. So that by Noah’s time, he (Noah) was the last righteous man on the earth.
Continuing through Genesis, we see plenty of times various people sinned, but no further explicit acts of open rebellion against a command of God, up until Judah, son of Jacob, bears a son named Er, who is apparently unrepentant, because he is slain by Adonai for wickedness.
Er’s brother, Onan, is commanded to have intercourse with Er’s wife, Tamar, so that Er might have a descendant. Onan goes through the actions, but dumps his seed on the ground and is killed for his disobedience. Thus setting the stage for Tamar eventually sleeping with her own father.
This ends the notable instances of open rebellion within Genesis.
Exodus and Numbers, of course, contain open rebellion after open rebellion. The Hebrews that left Egypt were hard-hearted and faithless people. Yahweh ultimately lets them all die off, so their children can possess the promised land.
In the time of the Judges, the people rebelled and repented over and over. Every rebellion, Yahweh allowed them to be conquered by enemy nations. Then he would raise a judge to deliver them, and they would repent. And the cycle continued, till the people demanded a king and the prophet Samuel anointed Saul.
Saul rejected God’s commands several times, and was rejected as king, to be replaced by David, a man after Yahweh’s heart. King David coveted Bathsheba and murdered Uriah to get her. But when confronted with his sin, he repented.
David was followed by Solomon, who strayed far from the Lord, but came back in the end. He was followed by a long line of kings, some were righteous, some were not, some fell away but repented later.
There are a lot of kings, and sometimes we are not given extensive details of their lives. But the pattern remains consistent, some who did right, some who did evil. And the prophets speak many times, warning the people over and over that Yahweh was not pleased with the way the nation was playing the harlot, being unfaithful to her God.
Isaiah 30:9, “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord;”
Now, let us turn to the New Testament, where we will initially have fewer specific examples of rebellious individuals, but we can dive into the words of Jesus on the matter.
Matthew 7:15-23, Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Isaiah speaks of false sons. Jesus says he will tell many people that he never knew them. So what constitutes a false son that thinks they know Jesus but they really don’t?
Matthew 10:32-33, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.”
But wait! Didn’t Jesus just say that many will say to him, “Lord, we did prophecy and miracles in your name”? And he told them “I never knew you.” So what’s the deal? Weren’t they confessing Jesus before men? Yes. But it was lip service, not heart service. They never loved him, they never put themselves under his submission. They confessed with their mouths, but did not believe in their hearts.
Matthew 12:43-45, “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
Note that the unclean spirit finds the house vacant. Not filled with the Holy Spirit. Vacant.
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”
This is a suitable nod to Jesus’ parable of the wineskins. You pour new wine into new wineskins so that both are preserved. Salvation through believing in Jesus is the new wine. The transformed man, a new creation, is the new wineskin.
Now, let us examine the well-known parable of the sower, found in Matthew 13. And we are presented with the following examples:
-The seeds scattered on the untilled road, eaten by birds. These are those that hear the Gospel and don’t understand it. It sounds illogical. It seems like foolish nonsense. They never believed it.
-The seeds which fall on rocky ground, quickly springing up, but dying in the sun because their roots are shallow. These are those who hear the Gospel and get excited about it at first, but at the first sign of trouble, they abandon it because they have no roots.
“Lord, we called on you when things weren’t going our way, and you didn’t help us, so we decided you weren’t real.”
“You never trusted me when I said my plan was better than yours. I wasn’t a God to you, I was fire insurance. You didn’t love me. You just wanted to use me as a tool.”
-The seeds which fall among thorns, and are choked out by weeds. These are they which receive the Gospel, but are too caught up in secular, worldly matters and they fail to bear fruit.
“Lord, we preached your name all over national television!”
“No, you used my name to make yourself rich and popular. You weren’t trying to win souls. You were trying to win donors.”
-The seed which falls on good soil, and produces a bountiful crop. Those that hear the word and do it, and bear fruit.
Matthew 15:7-9, “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.”
Matthew 24:11-13, “and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:24, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.”
Closing out the book of Matthew, we have two people who denied Christ. Peter, who denied Christ three times, but repented and was forgiven. Judas, who betrayed Christ to the Pharisees, and was ashamed, yet repented not. He chose to take his own life. What is the difference between these two men? Judas followed Jesus basically as long as Peter did. Judas saw the same miracles, probably performed some as well. What caused him to sell his rabbi to the Pharisees?
We can’t know with certainty how he lived his life. But if you sell a human for money, I feel fairly confident in saying that you never loved them to begin with.
Mark 16:15-18, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
Whoever believes will be saved. Whoever believes not will be condemned.
Luke 5:20, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Say what? The paralyzed man didn’t even ask Jesus to forgive his sins. All he wanted was to be healed of his paralysis. But Jesus forgave his sins, just to show off to the Pharisees, “Hey, I have the authority to forgive whoever I want, even if they didn’t ask for it, because I know their hearts are ready to receive it and become fruitful.”
Luke 9:62, “Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I’d like to pair the above verse with Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’”
Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Romans 8:29-30, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Remember Lot’s wife? Fleeing Sodom, she looked back and became a pillar of salt. She did escape out of Sodom, yes. Lot assumed she was saved. She assumed she was saved. But the Lord knew she was going to look back. He knew where her heart truly rested. He knew she was a walking dead. Yet he still allowed her and Lot to believe they were both going to survive the judgment, up until she turned around.
Likewise, I propose therefore that Yahweh, knowing the hearts of man, knowing who truly believes and who does not, knowing who will fall away for a short time and who will walk away from the faith permanently, only gives salvation to those he already knows are going to be faithful till death.
Romans 10:1-11, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes. For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
Indeed, it is possible for a person to appear to have zeal for the Lord. Even possible for them to truly have zeal. And yet not actually be saved because their zeal is in ignorance and/or unbelief. For there are those which confess the Lord with their mouths, but are either rejecting him in their hearts or living a religion of works. And there are those who believe in their hearts yet do not confess with their mouths. Their final fate is in his hands.
John 8:30-36, “As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him. So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
John 10:27-30, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will 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."
John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.”
John 15 is the sermon of the vine and the branches. Jesus is saying unfruitful branches will be cut out and burned. But then in verse 16, he says “I picked you and decided that you are going to bear fruit.” So again, it seems as though he, knowing in advance exactly who will and will not be fruitful, gives eternal life only to those he foreknew were going to be true. He knows who will be cut off and cast away. They might be within his church for a time, but as per Matthew 7, he never knew them, they were never saved.
Romans 8:28-39, “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Whilst not particularly having the energy to dive into the predestination rabbit hole and whether Yahweh chooses us or we have the free will to choose him, either way, it is an inarguable fact that he knows who will be saved. He knows who will be condemned. Their future is already written out, exactly the way it will happen. And thus their eternal destination is already known.
Romans 11:17-23, “Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will perhaps not spare you either. Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”
It seems pretty clear. They were part of the tree, then they were cut out of the tree, but they can come back into the tree if they turn away from their unbelief. Therefore saved, then unsaved, but can be saved again. Nonetheless, I would like to point out that Paul is speaking to the gentiles about Israel, who had received a very specific covenant as a chosen people. They, as a collective nation, had been set apart as the original branches. Whereas the wild branches, the gentiles, did not pre-exist. They were grafted in. Now, if a grafted branch fails to produce fruit, guess what that means? It may have been attached to the tree, but it never truly bonded to the tree. There is no energy exchange happening. It looks outwardly like it is attached, but the lack of fruit is the condemning evidence that the graft was unsuccessful and the branch never became one with the tree.
But if a saved and truly grafted person can’t lose their salvation and be cut off, why warn about it?
2 Corinthians 11:12-15, “But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.”
2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test? And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.”
Even if someone who is saved can not lose it, the reality is that the church is full of false teachers, teaching false salvation. The church is full of people who think they are saved, but may not actually be. Paul is saying, “Make sure you actually believe what you think you believe, because if you are hanging your salvation on something that turns out to be a lie, then you are not actually saved.”
Philippians 3:17-21, “Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you. For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.”
Brothers, carefully observe those who look like believers according to the way they live, because tragically, many of them live with unbelief in their hearts. The word “belly” comes from the Greek “koilia”, which may be a reference to literal gluttony, but can also be used to reference a person’s inner self. Their heart/feelings. So Paul may be warning of alleged believers with an unhealthy addiction for material things (either literal overeating or just worldly obsessions in general, like binging on drugs, or TV, or shopping, or fancy jewelry, or whatever else), or he may be warning of alleged believers who follow the whole “whatever feels right to you, live your own truth” kind of religion. Both are legitimate dangers. As well as “their glory is in their shame”, which relates to Romans 1:32. “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.”
Now, let us re-examine Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:3, “Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’ And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.”
Hebrews 6:4-10, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so."
Two things tie into this. Firstly, the parable of the sower. Some seeds fell among thorns, and were choked out by weeds. These are those which hear the Gospel, but are too caught up in secular, worldly matters and they fail to bear fruit.
Secondly, the Israelites who came out of the Exodus. They were enlightened. They tasted Yahweh’s miracles. They tasted his manna. They saw his power and might, and benefited from the power of his spirit. They received him with joy while he tormented the Egyptians. Yet the instant they were out of Egypt, they switched to, “You’ve brought us out here to die!” Which is ironically true. Not because it was his purpose, but because Yahweh knew they were stubborn and hard-hearted people. They never believed. They were never truly worshiping him. They were worshiping the things he did for them. The instant they decided he wasn’t doing enough miracles for them, they rejected him, seeds choked out by weeds and thorned. And thus the nation was purged of this thorny people, metaphorically burned off, while the faithful and true soil, like Joshua and Caleb, took root and produced a bountiful crop.
Jude 5, “Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.”
Yahweh allowed the unbelieving Hebrews to experience his power. He delivered them from Egypt, even though he knew all along they were never going to enter the promised land. From their limited perspective, they lost it. From his omniscient perspective, they never had it, because his works, including their condemnation to wander and die in the wilderness, have been finished since the foundation of the world.
They were enlightened. They were given knowledge of salvation.
They tasted of the heavenly gift and were participants in the work of the Lord.
They tasted the word of God and his power.
But tasting salvation is a different thing from being saved. They were brought out of Egyptian bondage, but never brought into the promised land. Though they tasted the benefits of salvation for a time, they didn’t truly possess it. They only sampled it, and the sample did not bring them out of their unbelief.
And as witness to this, Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”
One might counter this with Hebrews 10:26-27, “If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.”
But let us consider what “deliberately go on sinning” infers. There is a great difference between the one who says “I want to steal, but I refrain most of the time because I think it’s wrong. Even though I really want to do it,” and the one who says “I don’t want to steal, but sometimes my old habits sneak up on me, and I hate it.”
Paul said “that which I want to do, I don’t do. That which I don’t want to do, I end up doing.” This is the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, that even if we stumble and fall into sin, it will become a repulse to us. It will be sickening to us. The one who sins deliberately, whose sin is not repulsive to him, his faith was never in Christ, but in works. The sins he avoids, he does so out of trying to make himself holy, even while he continues to desire them. But Christ is not in him, and his desires to sin do not diminish.
James 1:26, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.”
2 Peter 1:1-12, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.”
1 John 2:4-6, “If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.”
2 John 9, “Anyone who turns away without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.”
In closing to this proposition, I hold that those who are once saved remain in their salvation always.
I hold that faith without works is dead, even as works without faith is dead. There are those who receive knowledge of the way of righteousness, and for a time appear to walk in it, but the Lord, knowing the condition of their hearts, and knowing that their faith is one of works--shallow and fated to fail under stones, thorns, and weeds—withholds salvation from them. They were never truly saved to begin with.
I hold that we are commanded to do good works, and produce good fruit, and keep the commandments of Christ, not because failure to do so will lose salvation, but because failure to do so is a strong sign that salvation has not occurred to begin with. There is no renewal, no sanctification, no growth, because fruit and good works are a natural outflowing of the redemptive work within. To say otherwise is to make our faith one of works and not of grace.
I hold that although it is possible for a true believer to fall away, it is predestined that they will return into repentance. Their unbelief is a stumbling and not a total rejection of the truth. For more than merely tasting the goodness of the Lord, more than simply tasting in the work of the Holy Spirit, they have been filled with the Holy Spirit and can be turned again to the way of righteousness, whether through the spirit’s conviction, or by the counsel of a fellow believer. Even as Peter denied his Lord thrice, yet was immediately overcome with guilt for his sin, and his restoration was shortly thereafter confirmed by Christ.
I hold that there are many who have tasted righteousness, and who may even confess with their mouths that they believe, yet their hearts are still full of unbelief and the truth of their deceit will be laid bare in due time. These are they which fall away from repentance without hope of restoration, because their repentance and any alleged fruit of good works was not the fruit of belief and not accompanied by submission to the authority of Christ. Whereby, recognizing the truth of Christ’s authority, but failing to submit to it, they condemn themselves as enemies of the cross.
I hold that we were warned of these things, not in the way that we can fall away from salvation, but as a warning to watch for those who appear to walk in the light but are ministers of darkness. Likewise, we were warned so that we might examine ourselves, working out our own salvation in fear and trembling, examining if our faith and love is in Christ and him alone, or if we have given our beliefs over to other things.
I hold that those who fall away, whether they never believed, or whether they are believers stumbling, it is upon the true believers to strive to correct them. In the words of Jude, “And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.” For we who see the outward appearances cannot see the heart. We don’t know whether they are false sons or whether they are true believers who are merely struggling for a time. At least until after we have strived to point them to correction. One who is blatantly in undeniable and inarguable opposition to scripture and will not be corrected, no longer belongs among the brethren.
Notwithstanding, I hold that this dissertation is my opinion, as one who has searched the scriptures and sought the Lord for His wisdom as to its interpretation. They, therefore, do well, who search the scriptures as the Bereans did, and examine my words, deciding for themselves whether or not Scripture confirms my position.
I hold that in the end, an opinion is ultimately an opinion. There are scriptures which can be interpreted as evidence counter to my dissertation. I do believe that they actually fit within my dissertation, but I have declined to bring them up, because I do not seek to persuade or dissuade either way, simply to say that this is the position I take and these are the reasons why I lean that way. For the conclusions which we reach, on one side or the other, are in many cases formulated off of interpretation.
And finally, I hold that the reason I am not compelled to be more persuasive, is because the debate is one which is not necessary for the work of the Gospel to be carried out. The important takeaway is that whether a person can lose salvation or not, we do well to live as though we can lose it, lest we discover we were never saved to begin with. And certainly, I can see how ‘once saved, always saved’ could readily bring complacency. Yet even so, I argue that if it brings a person to complacency, their salvation is in question. For the miracle of salvation is so wondrous that one who truly possessed it could not bear to be complacent.
1 Samuel 16:7, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”
Footnotes:
Most verses taken from the Berean Study Bible, a few verses taken from other translations. I have been cross-referencing the language with KJV and then using Strong’s Concordance to weigh how the Greek and Hebrew were interpreted in the various translations, to ensure nothing got way too off track.
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