IF
As I begin this writing I very well understand that this is a very controversial subject. I know we have brother and sisters who are of the mind that once saved you are always saved. As I write this article I do so not with the intent to cause more confusion but, that we may help someone, who is living in willful sin to see what sayeth the word of God. My prayer is that we will be like the Bereans that we will study the word of God to see if these things are so. Now into the word, those who believe once saved always saved say that once an individual has been genuinely saved he cannot, under any circumstances, lose his salvation. That is he is eternally secure because all of his sins, both past and future, have been forgiven. They say that once saved, even if they enter into a sinful lifestyle then they won’t lose their salvation but, simply lose fellowship with Jesus. This is despite the fact that Heb. 12:14 says that without holiness no one will see the Lord. The once saved doctrine makes holiness (sanctification) nothing more than an optional extra. Now moving along let’s look at Matt. 7:21 the word of Jesus. Not everyone 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. What is God’s will? I Thess. 4:3 tells us that it is God’s will that you should be sanctified. 2 Thess. 2:13 links salvation to believing and sanctification where it says that God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the spirit and through belief in the truth. The following examples are among many which can be used to clearly show that a believer can lose his salvation. We come now to the little word if and it has a large meaning.
Jesus Christ brought us the New Covenant and like all covenants, conditions must be met if the benefits are to be received. Throughout the New Testament the word if is used many times in association with Salvation. When the conditions God sets by these if’s are not met then an individual can’t expect to receive the rewards as God never makes idle claims. Rom. 8:12-14 clearly states that Christians have an obligation to keep from a sinful lifestyle, through the power of the Holy Ghost and the penalty for not doing so is death. Listen therefore Brethren; we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Jesus also made it clear that obedience is the condition for salvation. In John 15:10 He said 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.
Plainly, if we are not obedient to the spirits leading then we will not remain in Jesus, love but we will be cut out of the vine., just as it says in John 15:6 Now let’s look at Luke 12:42-46 Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom is Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due seasons? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men servants and maidens, and to eat and drink and to be drunken. The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Looking at the verses we have the faithful and wise manager (obviously a saved man) is put in charge while the master (Jesus) is away. In LV. 12:43-44 He will be put in charge of all the Master’s possessions if the master returns and finds him faithful. But the same servant will be assigned a place with the unbelievers if the master returns and finds that he has fallen into sin and mistreated the other servants. So saying that the servant will be assigned a place with unbelievers makes it abundantly clear that he was a believer initially. This parable clearly shows that a saved soul can lose his salvation.
Now we come to Jon chapter 15 the vine and the branches in John 15:1 there is only one vine mentioned, which is Jesus and God is the gardener. John 15:2-3 God cuts out the fruitless branches and prunes (cleans) the fruit bearing branches. John 15:4-5 the branches (Apostles) are told that they must remain in the vine in order to bear fruit. John 15:6 a branch that fails to abide is thrown away, withers, picked up and burned in the fire.
Only saved souls can be branches in the vine Jesus and from this parable we can readily see that a saved soul can be cut out of the vine and end up in Hell. Now we come to reconciled, sanctified and in grace. In Col. 1:21-23 the word of God reads and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in hi sight. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister. Here we are told of ex-enemies of God. Who are reconciled, born again believers and will be presented to God only if they continue in their faith. These individuals are clearly saved. A false profession of faith cannot bring about reconciliation with the Lord. Once reconciled, believers must continue in the faith in order to get to Heaven.
Now moving right along we come to Hebrews 10:26-29 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, where with he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of Grace? In these verses we see that a saved man (sanctified by the blood) will face judgment if he continues to deliberately sin. If a believer fails to repent of his ongoing sin then his heart will harden against the spirits conviction. Overtime it gets more and more difficult to repent and may lead to eventual salvation loss. Read Hebrews 3:7-14. In Gal 5:4 we read Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. The Jews spoken of here, having reverted to the Law of Moses, have been alienated from the Lord, they have fallen from Grace. Obviously they were once in grace, that is they were once saved.
James 5:19-20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Christian brothers are urged to restore fallen brothers in order to save them from Hell. I Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them. For in doing this shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. Obviously, had Timothy failed to persevere then he would have lost his salvation. Now as we wrap this up we come to perseverance. There is a clear distinction between occasional sin and a willfully sinful lifestyle. I John 2:1 Tells us that Christians may sin occasionally and this sin is to be addressed as I John 1:9 tells us if the sinner confesses then he is forgiven. However living a lifestyle of habitual sin puts a believer’s salvation at stake. Some believers struggle with sin, even for a long period. The fact that they are struggling shows that they have a repentant heart but don’t yet have the self-control to stop because they don’t hate the sin enough. God will strengthen them to resist when they hate their sin like he does. This struggle can’t be compared with having s sinful lifestyle and saying well, that’s me I’m just human.
Persevering is not salvation by works. To be saved in the first place, a person must believe and repent of their sin and this is not considered to be works, it is an internal act of their will. Perseverance is nothing more than ongoing confession, repentance and believing in Jesus. If perseverance is considered to be works then our initial confession and repentance to be saved must also be works, and it is not. The Bible continually urges us to repent of all sin and to walk in the spirit in order to remain in Jesus. We are saved as we remain in Christ (note John 15:1-6) God’s spirit works within s to convict, bring about repentance and empower us to resist sin. In order to walk in holiness we must strive to persevere and abide in Jesus. Romans 8:35-39 says that nothing in creation can separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword? As it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
These things are all external to us and things over which we have no control. God promises to keep us through these trials as clearly stated in Heb. 13:5-6 however these verses don’t speak of internal perseverance (our control of our will) required to walk in holiness through the spirit. We have freedom of will to do this. God never controls our will, he wills us to act according to his good purpose Php. 2:13
Finally I come to my closing remarks. The if’s in many verses and the simplicity of passages such as John 15:1-6 and Luke 12:42-46 cannot simply be ignored. Like the Israelites of old, obedience (following God’s laws) is required to reap the benefits of a promise as stated in Isa. 1:19-20. Note the clear warning to the righteous in Ezek 33:12-13 we are saved by grace through faith and to remain saved we must persevere in that faith and be kept from a lifestyle of deliberate, ongoing sin or face a Christ less eternity.
No one can li e a sinless life. We all sin occasionally but we will be condemned if we continue to habitually sin. I John 2:1-2 says that Christians should not sin but if we do we are to take it to Jesus in repentance and he will forgive us and cleanse us of it as stated in John 1:9 The word if in this verse is critical if we don’t confess, we won’t be forgiven. The choice is ours. If anyone reading this has asked Jesus to save them but has unconfessed sin then please get on your knees and take it to him in heartfelt repentance. He loves you and is waiting to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. In Mark 14:14 Jesus said he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. There are many other verses which can be used to disprove the once saved doctrine but this is the writing is only meant to be a limited discussion.
Grace be with you Amen
Elder Terry L. Harmon