Once Saved Always Saved, Or Not

I want to talk about something today that is another contorversial topic, Once saved always saved, or not. This is a topic that I hear people discuss in church and out of church. Some say even though grace is free, we must still live a holy life and act like we are citazens of heaven. Others say we live in this world and there is really nothing we can do about our lives and we have no real control over our salvation once we say we believe, we are saved no matter what. I prayed about this for a long time and I believe God has shown me that beyond a shadow of a doubt that the freewill that He gave us determines our eternal destiny. God has given us choices to make and he has given us gifts but we can ultimately reject those gifts and make the wrong choices. Let's see what God's word has to say about this.

Mat 13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

Mat 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Mat 13:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

Mat 13:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Mat 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Mat 13:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Mat 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Mat 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Mat 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

This is a passage that many preachers will preach on. Many will talk about how the word is stolen and the poor people lose the word. I see in verses 20-21 that these people give the word back. Through their own will they give up what some say you cannot give up. I am talking about salvation. This passage talks about people who hear and ACCEPT the Word of God. It says they endureth for a while. What happens after they endureth for a while? Let's go to John 3

Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 is the verse that many Christians find comfort in. They believe that this means that anyone who believes that Jesus is the son of God is going to Heaven. Let's see if this is true by seeing what believing means.

Believe

BELIE'VE, v.t. To credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of something upon the declaration of another, or upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by other circumstances, than personal knowledge. When we believe upon the authority of another, we always put confidence in his veracity.

When we believe upon the authority of reasoning, arguments, or a concurrence of facts and circumstances, we rest our conclusions upon their strength or probability, their agreement with our own experience, &c.

2. To expect or hope with confidence; to trust.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psa 27.

BELIE'VE, v.i. To have a firm persuasion of any thing. In some cases, to have full persuasion, approaching to certainty; in others, more doubt is implied. It is often followed by in or on, especially in the scriptures. To believe in, is to hold as the object of faith. "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14. To believe on, is to trust, to place full confidence in, to rest upon with faith. "To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 1. Johnson. But there is no ground for much distinction.

In theology, to believe sometimes expresses a mere assent of the understanding to the truths of the gospel; as in the case of Simon. Acts 8. In others, the word implies, with this assent of the mind, a yielding of the will and affections, accompanied with a humble reliance on Christ for salvation. John 1:12. 3.15.

In popular use and familiar discourse, to believe often expresses an opinion in a vague manner, without a very exact estimate of evidence, noting a mere preponderance of opinion, and is nearly equivalent to think or suppose.

This definition seems to cover everything about believing. Through this definition someone could come to the conclusion that once saved always saved is possible. All they have to do is believe, right. Let's look at the original Greek and see what this word means.

G4100

πιστεύω

pisteuō

pist-yoo'-o

From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ): - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

Again this seems that all we have to do is believe and we will be saved. This is true because this is what God's word says. There is still one thing we are missing here. Both definitions use words to define believe as a present thing. It also sounds to me like this is an ongoing thing, not a once in a lifetime decision.

Mar 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

He that endures to the end will be saved. To endure means

G5278

ὑπομένω

hupomenō

hoop-om-en'-o

From G5259 and G3306; to stay under (behind), that is, remain; figuratively to undergo, that is, bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere: - abide, endure, (take) patient (-ly), suffer, tarry behind.

So what happens to those that do not endure until the end?This is definitely something that takes an active responsibility on our part. This surely does not sound like our comfortable, fun loving, feel good churches today. When do the professed Christians of today bear trials, persevere, suffer or tarry behind? Most of them don't because they think they are saved no matter what they do because they are told lies and they do not take it upon themselves to learn the truth. That's too bad. God loves us and He gives us freewill. With this freewill we can bless him or we can curse him. We can choose to follow him or we can choose to follow something else. One of the biggest arguments of people concerning once saved always saved is John 10

Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

No one can take us away from God but we do not have to follow him. We can choose to not follow Jesus after we have once chose to follow him. Just because we use the name of Jesus does not mean we are saved. Turn to Mathew 7

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

These are people who use the name of the Lord to do good and are not going to heaven. These people were saved because they had the Holy Spirit. That is the only way they could have done these things. What happened then? They give up their salvation and Jesus knows them not. I say give up, because Jesus says he WILL profess to these people who work iniquity. Iniquity is unrighteousness, violation of the law or wickedness. I know we will all sin even after we are saved, but if we think it is ok to sin because we are sinners anyway we are those that work iniquity. If we decide that we will be forgiven for something so we might as well do it, we are in danger of giving our free gift back. The New Testament commands us over and over to live a holy and pure life. This can only be done through obedience to Christ's commands.

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Do you see the Ifs here? We must keep his commandments and do what he tells us to do. If we don't we are not of him. Grace may be free, but being a Christian comes with a dedication that must follow through to the end.

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Notice the phrases, those who were once enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. These are people who have obtained salvation. They have the truth or they could not have any of these things. This is talking about Christians, yes in the book of Hebrews. The word says, " It is impossible, if they fall away, to renew them to repentance. Jesus will not be crucified for you again.

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

From the sounds of this, I belive this passage is talking about Christians also. Verse 26 says, after we have received the knowledge of the truth. This sounds like someone that has accepted Christ as savior.

2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Does this not say it is worse for someone who becomes saved and then returns from where they came from. It is better that they were never saved than to turn from what they know is right. Let's look at one more verse. Revelations 3

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Jesus said, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME out of the book of life. This must mean that the name must have been written in the book to begin with. Some of these verses are scary. Especially to those who have always been taught that once you are saved you can never lose your salvation. I say you can give up your salvation. If we say we believe that Jesus is coming for us, and we believe the we are going to live eternily with him, then why don't we live like it? The hope that we have should be enough to make us want to live a pure, holy, unspotted life for God. We should have the desire in us to do away with all things that are not of God in this world. We are talking about enternity, FOREVER WITH GOD. Let's live the lives God would want us to live now. Let's live by Christ's commands and at least act like we appreciate our salvation. Maybe if we thought about it more we might realize the great gift that we have received. If someone gave us a 300 year old family heirloom we would sure treasure it, but when God gives us something for eternity we just abuse it. Remember we do not deserve anything but Hell. Maybe we are not able to lose our salvation but maybe we are. Is it worth risking eternity? Get your oil ready, Jesus is Coming. Amen