Actually there is no scripture that supports the doctrine of once saved always saved because the scriptures teach that we can choose to depart the faith at any time and return to a life of known unrepentant sin and be lost and this is what we as believers are warned against doing as shown in the scriptures provided in the OP (
here and
here linked). If there was never the possibility of being lost as a believer we would
not be warned against hardening our hear to Gods' Word and departing the faith and returning to a life of unbelief and known unrepentant sin *see *
Hebrews 3:8; 10; 12-13; 15; 17-19;
Hebrews 4:1-2; 6-7; 11; Hebrews 6:4-8 and Hebrews 10:26-31. If we choose to depart the faith of course our status has changed from a believer to an unbeliever and the scriptures very clearly show us what happens to the unbelieving wicked (
scripture support here linked)
Take Care.
Respectfully, as
@tampasteve pointed out, there is in fact scriptural evidence supporting either doctrine. There are numerous references to the elect, and we find the phrase “deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Calvinists know their Bible, and they developed the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints in its modern form (in the early church, I am not aware of this doctrine, but there was a similar doctrine called apokatastasis which we see in Origen and in St. Gregory of Nyssa, and in St. Isaac the Syrian and other fathers associated with the Church of the East, such as Mar Sh
elêmôn of Akhat, the bishop of Bassora (Basra) in Mesopotamia, which is in modern day Iraq).
Now, while I myself believe in the possibility of self-condemnation as a result of free will, since God desires our love, and we will experience His uncreated grace as wrath in the parousia owing to our proximity to Him, or as CS Lewis aptly put it, the gates of Hell are locked on the inside, I think this is chiefly the result of various forms of apostasy that are severe enough to amount to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, in which a desire to repent no longer exists, for the pious Christian, we have the example of the death of Abba Sisoes, one of the first generation of Desert Fathers, an anchorite and disciple of St. Anthony the Great:
“They would say of the venerable Sisoes that, when he was at the end of his long life of labors, as the fathers were gathered about him, his face began to shine as the sun, and he said, 'Behold, Abba Anthony is come;' then, 'Behold, the choir of the Prophets is come;' his face shone yet more bright, and he said, 'Behold, the choir of the Apostles is come.' The light of his countenance increased, and he seemed to be talking with someone. The fathers asked him of this; in his humility, he said he was asking the Angels for time to repent. The fathers told him, 'You have no need of repentance, Abba.' Abba Sisoes responded, 'I tell you the truth, I have not even began to repent .' Again his face became as bright as the sun, so that the fathers were filled with fear. He said, 'Behold, the Lord is come"' and as he gave up his soul into the hands of God, there was as it were a flash of lightning, and the whole dwelling was filled with a sweet fragrance." I, like Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, would like to die as Abba Sisoes did.
However, the epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians and to the Romans indicate that we are not to keep the Mosaic law. Of the numerous quotes on the inapplicability of the Torah to the new Covenant, two from Galatians I particularly like, although as
@Hammster demonstrated previously, Romans also contains considerable content of this sort.
So, starting with Galatians 3:10:
10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
And continuing with Galatians 4:1
1Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
From this, we can deduce with ecumenical agreement that the Mosaic Law is not binding on Christians, instead, we have a simplified version of the Noachide Law, and also the Summary of the Law given by our Lord. The simplified Noachide law was adopted at the Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15, and it imposes a very simple tequirement on Christians, “
28For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.”
The quote of St. Peter at the start of the Council of Jerusalem, and the introduction to said council in Acts 15:5, is also edifying in this regard; notably, it establishes St. Peter, who did not preside over the Council of Jerusalem (that task fell to St. James the Just) but was clearly considered
primus inter pares among the Apostles, to the extent that after the destruction of Jerusalem in 130 AD, the three most important Patriarchates in the early church became those associated with him, namely Antioch, where he presided over the church before traveling to Rome to refute the heresy of Simon Magus, and also Alexandria, the founding bishop of which was St. Mark the Evangelist, who is generally regarded as a disciple of St. Peter. The following pericope also demonstrates that the doctrine of the abolition of the Mosaic Law was not an exclusively Pauline doctrine, but was also Petrine, after St. Paul “withstood St. Peter to his face” and forcefully convinced him, and St. James and the other apostles concurred as well. But here is the pericope in question, the opening of the Council of Jerusalem:
5But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
6And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men andbrethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
From this I believe it is clear that the question of the perseverance of the saints cannot be settled on the basis of the Scriptural text alone, but is rather a matter of interpretation, however, there does seem to be an extremely compelling Scriptural argument that the Mosaic law is no longer in effect. For some time I mistakenly was annoyed by the Lutheran emphasis on the dichotomy of Law and Gospel, but now, having become more learned in the faith, I have come to appreciate it much more. I further believe an analogy can be drawn between it and the Eastern Christian hamartiology, which is medicinal rather than forensic in nature, regarding sins as the inevitable consequence of a disease we inherit, but can overcome through the grace of the Holy Spirit if not in this life, then surely in the world to come, rather than crimes against Divine law. Indeed, this is further reflected in the Koine Greek word that is translated in English as sin, “hamartia,” which literally means, “to miss the mark.”
