Once Saved is Not Always Saved

[tizeik]

Once saved is not always saved

 

[name_is_irrelevant]

I have personally met people who were living in sin, far away from God, yet they believed they were going to heaven when they died because at one time in their life they had professed faith in Jesus Christ and were taught in their church that they could never lose their salvation. This false doctrine gave them false security.

Except that's not what OSAS is about. "Saved" in OSAS includes the idea that one is regenerated -- aka born again -- which causes that person to start living a transformed life. Basically, no transformation would mean one has not been saved anyway. That transformation is an internal change, and due to our dual spirit/flesh nature sometimes you are seeing the old self, sometimes the new self. This is why there are no sinless Christians around.

 

[GodsGrace101]

Except that's not what OSAS is about. "Saved" in OSAS includes the idea that one is regenerated -- aka born again -- which causes that person to start living a transformed life. Basically, no transformation would mean one has not been saved anyway. That transformation is an internal change, and due to our dual spirit/flesh nature sometimes you are seeing the old self, sometimes the new self. This is why there are no sinless Christians around.

In most cases you're right.
But the O.P. is correct....this doctrine is misunderstood by many and they continue to live their normal lives believing that their belief in Jesus will save them.

Jesus NEVER said to just believe in Him and we'll be saved...
He ALWAYS taught that we are to behave a certain way and listed many things that we are to do and not do.

A big question for me is this:
Does doctrine save us or does Jesus save us?
I believe that Jesus saves us and not our doctrine.

But what if the doctrine we trust goes AGAINST what Jesus taught? As does osas. THEN does our salvation come into question? Are we in danger as the O.P. says?

Jesus said that those who practice lawlessness will perish.
Mathew 7:23.

Jesus said that we will be judged by our works.
John 5:28-29

The O.P. is correct. There are posters that declare right out that even if they sin (all the time) they are still saved because the blood of Christ covers them. This is NOT what Jesus taught.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

If a person decides to continue in sin after making a profession of Christianity, then they have "got religion" but are not genuinely born again of the Spirit of God. There is a difference between a religious spirit and the Holy Spirit. Those who are truly born again know that they have to walk worthy of the calling they have received. When a person makes a genuine commitment to Christ, they receive the Holy Spirit and it is the Spirit who works in them to start developing their sanctification.

There are many who put on the religious clothes, attend church, and give the appearance of being true Christians, but God knows the heart, which is deceitful and wicked. We cannot trust our own hearts even, but to put our full trust in the finished work of Christ, and the inner working of the Holy Spirit to keep us in the will of God, which is our sanctification.

My point is that anyone who professes religion and does not turn away from the works of the flesh, at least in their hearts anyway (at first), is false, even though they appear never so religious and committed to their religious stance. Some of these can appear much more spiritual than the rest of us. They can give the air of being super spiritual, but they are like whitewashed tombs, full of dead men's bones. They love more to appear religious than for loving the Christ who died for them on the cross. They have more faith in their own religiousness than in humble faith in Christ Himself.

It is hard to tell them apart from the genuine convert. This is the principle of the wheat and the tares. This is why Jesus said not to judge people before the time, but when that time comes, the sheep will be separated from the goats and the secrets of men's hearts will be revealed, and then the falsehood of these religious fakes will be revealed to all.

But in the meantime, unless we have the ability to see into people's hearts, which we don't, we can only give those around us the benefit of the doubt and leave the judgment to God Himself. Paul said that not only will he not let any man judge him, but he would not even judge himself, but he would leave that judgment to His Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who will come one day to judge the living and the dead.

 

[name_is_irrelevant]

.will edit later

 

[name_is_irrelevant]

In most cases you're right.
But the O.P. is correct....this doctrine is misunderstood by many and they continue to live their normal lives believing that their belief in Jesus will save them.

Be careful you don't judge others just because their external sanctification, which is what we see, isn't happening according to your ideal timeframe.

Some people's observable change happens quicker than others. Sometimes it can be sped up with discipline, other times it's just a matter of growth, etc. A good pastor, including one who teaches OSAS, doesn't neglect helping in his congregation's sanctification. An OSAS preacher who's doing his job correctly also understands that our faith isn't simply about going to heaven when we die.

Jesus NEVER said to just believe in Him and we'll be saved...

God's word teaches that we're justified by faith, not by works.

God's word also teaches that without works, faith is dead.

The way these go together is by understanding that regeneration is behind both faith and works.

Once-Saved-Always-Saved means, basically, that once one is born-again, they are permanently changed at their most core level, even if that change takes a while to show up. Post-regeneration, a person's indwelling sin (which is what we see when a Christian sins) is something that belongs to a part of them that isn't, strictly speaking, them anymore.

This is why St Paul wrote that it is no longer he who sins, but rather the sin in him that does:

Romans 7:20-25

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.​

This is also why the writer of 1st John said that Christians no longer sin, while also saying in the same epistle that if we say we have no sin we're deceived. That sin is external, while the regeneration affects our "inner being."

When one is born-again, sooner or later there is going to be fruit from that. So in that sense, it is true that it's not just a matter of believing. But that shouldn't be confused with our salvation being dependent on our works. That would violate other explicit teaching in scripture.

But what if the doctrine we trust goes AGAINST what Jesus taught? As does osas. THEN does our salvation come into question? Are we in danger as the O.P. says?

If God wants you saved, then sooner or later He will set you right.

Besides, there's a difference between being mistaken and being unrepentant. The disciples and other saints in the Bible frequently misunderstood God. It was God - the "author and perfecter" (Hebrews 12) of our faith - who saved them in spite of their misunderstanding. This is also why the Bible teaches things like predestination (see Ephesians 1). It's not ultimately up to us. That's why OSAS is true.

 

[keyman]

If you see a person claiming that they were saved and is living a sinful lifestyle(that means sinning more than you are) instead of telling them that they are not saved, tell them of the love of God.
Explain to them how much there eternal life cost Jesus Christ.
Go into detail how obedience to Christ is a much better way of living than continuing to eat from the pig's trough.

And let God worry about whether they are saved or not.