Once saved, always saved?

[dollarsbill]

After reading the many comments for and against OSAS it seems to me that OSAS is merely wishful thinking, without Scriptural basis. If I'm wrong I can't lose. Can OSASers say the same?

 

[Hospes]

...if the Christian God truly exists, and Christ really was resurrected and all that is true, am I still technically "saved" because of my prayer for salvation? Even if I never "turn back," so to speak? My prayer was whole hearted and, at the time, I was very much in love with God.

I believe that if God graciously (i.e. undesrvedly) brings a person to new life, it's eternal. I also believe there are a lot of false conversions. Time will eventually give you your answers. If you never turn back, you never were "born of God".

There are people that have been assured they have been "saved", found that it was lame, and left their "salvation", convinced that Jesus has nothing to offer. Sadly, they never recognize the error. Kinda like feeding a guy liver, telling him it was filet mignon, and him then walking away swearing to never eat filet mignon again. (My apologies to the liver lovers and non-carnivores.)

 

[Whisper of Hope]

This thread is not for Christians to debate over the doctrine of eternal security nor is it a soapbox for those who do not believe in eternal security to berate, demean, and mock those who do (and vice versa), since it is not only against site rules, but such behavior has no place in the life of someone who professes Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Doubt3312. We don`t know your innermost thoughts, but God does. It all depends, what your true thoughts were. I would make sure that God knows my true feelings, and if you are not sure: ask God in sincere prayer. I say this with love. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ. P. S. To be saved is not automatic, you must ask for it.

 

[GrayAngel]

Once you are saved, you are always saved. But the question is were you saved in the first place? If you were, you will come back. If you don't, then you were never saved. The Bible teaches that you can only be saved once. If you fall away and come back, you're not saved a second time because you never lost your salvation in the first place. Jesus died for us once, so our fate is decided once.

Hebrews 6:4-8 - 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 who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not condemning you to Hell. Only God knows your future. But according to the Bible, we are saved by God's choice, not by our speaking a prayer. If we are saved, we will remain saved. If we are not, then we will fall away and not return. Only time will tell.

 

[Nails74]

We change our own hearts. God doesn't do that for us

You will need to show that from scripture.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification —and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 6:20-23]

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word,you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered Him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will become free ’?” Jesus responded, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. [John 8:31-36]

Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil. [Jeremiah 13:23]

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. [Ezekiel 36:26-27]

 

[God's Word]

Once saved, always saved?

There's no such thing...scripturally speaking.

I currently consider myself a former Christian. When I was 14 I prayed for salvation, accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit and all that, and I was ardently religious for the next 4-5 years. In the year I spent working between high school and college my faith slackened. By the time I was a sophomore in college, it was gone. I did not let it slip away, though, I turned against it. Now I consider myself an agnostic and a humanist, and maybe an existentialist (I've begun studying existentialism on my own, and so far I like it).

I'd like to challenge your definition/understanding of the term "Christian". The word "Christ" comes from the Greek word "khristos" and basically means "anointed":

Christ

title given to Jesus of Nazareth, O.E. crist, from L. Christus, from Gk. khristos "the anointed" (translation of Heb. mashiah; see messiah), verbal adj. of khriein "to rub, anoint" (see chrism). The L. term drove out O.E. hæland "healer" as the preferred descriptive term for Jesus. A title, treated as a proper name in O.E., but not regularly capitalized until 17c. Pronunciation with long -i- is result of Irish missionary work in England, 7c.-8c. The ch- form, regular since c.1500, was rare before. Capitalization of the word begins 14c. but is not fixed until 17c.

A "Christian", therefore, is one who has been "anointed" by the very Holy Spirit of God.

II Corinthians 1:21-22

"Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."

Would this accurately describe the condition from which you fell? The reason that I ask is because a lot of your comments cause me to at least consider that your "Christianity" was more MENTAL in capacity as opposed to one who was truly "born again" of the indwelling Spirit of God. Anyhow, you certainly know yourself better than I do, so I'm really just asking. Thanks.

 

[dollarsbill]

Once you are saved, you are always saved.

And that's your opinion.

 

[ldelporte]

First of all, understand that it is not my place, nor anyone else's place in this forum (or on earth for that matter) - to dictate whether or not you're saved.

Romans 10:6-7
"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 deep?’”(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."

That being said, without making such declarations about your eternal destination, I can share with you some doctrinal principals that should be taken into consideration regarding your situation.

First of all. The doctrine of salvation according to which you were supposedly "saved" is not consistent with the Bible's teaching. The notion that you simply pray and ask Jesus to come in your life and then your saved - is not accurate according to the scriptures.

Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That's just one scripture of many that tell us that in addition to believing, we must repent of our sins (which is to turn away from sin) and be Baptized. There are many other scriptures that support this. I wrote a long post in another thread about Baptism. You can find it in the Christian Apologetics section if you'd like to know more about where I get to this position (aside from the above scripture). I just don't want to make this post any longer than needed.

Now.. in regards to the primary question of "once saved always saved?"... No. Once we've received salvation, we don't get a free pass to live however we want to live.

2 Timothy 2:11-13
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
13 If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.



Don't misunderstand verse 13. Just because God will remain faithful in spite of our disowning him and faithlessness, that isn't saying that God will still give us salvation anyways. It just means he'll be faithful. He'll be faithful to follow through with what he said he'd do. That includes judging those who turn away from Jesus.


Hebrews 10:26-31
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God"



So, it is in fact possible to turn away from God and lose your salvation. However, in your case (according to the Bible), I would question whether or not you've ever received it. I'm not dictating if you have or haven't, but I think you need to study the scriptures with someone and find the truth on the matter.


Be sure that you're answers are clear. If something your being taught doesn't add up with the scriptures you read.. then seek understanding and always side with the Bible.


While I think you need to read and discover the answers for yourself, I encourage you to consider the scriptures I've mentioned above and explore the Bible's teachings on salvation as it relates to how you are to live and what needs to take place.


Personally, I believe you need to

Believe
Repent of Sin
Be Baptized
And finally continue living the remainder of your life as a disciple and follower of Jesus.
This means you need to deny your own desires on a regular basis as you strive to be like Jesus.

But you'll definitely want to read the Bible and get help. The forums are good for that, but I'd also talk to some others in person if you can. I'll pray that God leads you to the people you need to learn from.

There are a lot of popular, but nevertheless, false teachings about the Bible out there.

 

[Whisper of Hope]

Once you are saved, you are always saved. But the question is were you saved in the first place? If you were, you will come back. If you don't, then you were never saved. The Bible teaches that you can only be saved once. If you fall away and come back, you're not saved a second time because you never lost your salvation in the first place. Jesus died for us once, so our fate is decided once.

Hebrews 6:4-8 - 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 who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not condemning you to Hell. Only God knows your future. But according to the Bible, we are saved by God's choice, not by our speaking a prayer. If we are saved, we will remain saved. If we are not, then we will fall away and not return. Only time will tell.

Well said, brother.

To be honest, I think the OP will be more confused now than he was before he made his post and asked his questions.

 

[God's Word]

Once you are saved, you are always saved. But the question is were you saved in the first place? If you were, you will come back. If you don't, then you were never saved. The Bible teaches that you can only be saved once. If you fall away and come back, you're not saved a second time because you never lost your salvation in the first place. Jesus died for us once, so our fate is decided once.

Hebrews 6:4-8 - 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 who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not condemning you to Hell. Only God knows your future. But according to the Bible, we are saved by God's choice, not by our speaking a prayer. If we are saved, we will remain saved. If we are not, then we will fall away and not return. Only time will tell.

Well said, brother.

To be honest, I think the OP will be more confused now than he was before he made his post and asked his questions.

Doubt3312:

No, to be honest, it was both horribly and erroneously said. The very text that he cited REFUTES HIS OWN POSITION.

1. Have once been enlightened...
2. Have tasted the heavenly gift...
3. Have shared in the Holy Spirit...
4. Have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age...
5. Have fallen away...
6. Be BROUGHT BACK TO REPENTANCE...
7. Crucifying the Son of God all over again...

And some people think that this means that such individuals were never saved to begin with? Don't let them fool you. Their own opinions, as strong as they may be, will never trump the Word of God.

 

[FreeinChrist]

MOD HAT


Closing this for review. This is NOT a debate forum!

 

[JCFantasy23]

MOD HAT ON

Staff has reached consensus to leave this thread permanently closed, as it is debating. Please remember Exploring Christianity is about questions and answers, but no debates are allowed amongst members in this section. Please only respond the OP. Thank you.
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