Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS): Can a Person Lose His or Her Salvation?

I think the question above should be divided into two parts. As in, the question assumes too much and makes a type of category mistake. The first question should be, “Can a person walk away from his or her salvation?” The second question should be, “Will God ever take away a person’s salvation?”

Can a person walk away from his or her salvation?

The first question, “Can a person walk away from his or her salvation?” has been a strong point of contention for hundreds of years. I have heard someone tell me once that “if someone is truly” saved, they would never walk away from their salvation.” I really liked that because it answered a lot of questions that I had concerning such. The word “truly” seemed to settle things in my mind. If one did walk away from Christianity, then it seems that they were never “truly” saved.

But the problem is that we see our own family and friends through the years doing exactly this... They had a true, heart and mind moment where they knew that they failed morally (sinned) before God. They started out well, and ran for a while, but something happened, and now they do not live a Christian life, they do not follow Jesus, they no longer go to church, and they never talk about theology or religion at all, unless it is in a very broad, almost pantheistic, sense. Perhaps, if they lived long enough, they might turn back around, but there are even issues with this. Hebrews tells us that coming back from something like this would be like Jesus being crucified all over again, which is impossible:

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

I think the thing to think about here is the only unforgivable sin. Walking away from Jesus is obviously a sin (how would one conform to the likeness of God’s Son if he or she were not following Jesus? See Romans 8:29), but is it impossible to be forgiven again, and is it simply an unforgivable sin? I do not think so, because there is only one unforgivable sin as one can discover in the underlined link above.

With this aside, I think we should look at the Parable of the Sower. To save time, let’s look at Jesus’ explanation of the parable:

Mark 4:14-20: “The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Doesn’t this seem to teach that there are people who have the Word for a short time and then lose it? Consider what is said here: “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word at once and receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they only last for a short time…” How long is a short time? What exactly did that look like? “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful…” They have enough time to grow, but not be fruitful? It seems like the word fruit could have a correlation with the understanding of “truly,” above. If there were never fruit, then it would be easy to think of someone as never having been “truly” saved. But again, the problem is, we see this cropping up, more and more. People who have been Christians for so long and they even became Christian band members or even pastors, or professors of theology (with seemingly “much fruit”) who have walked away from a relationship with Jesus.

The point in all of this is to show that it is possible to walk away from your faith. The question is, why is it possible? Because we have libertarian free will (LFW). We had it going in, and we have it going out. Why would God say to His free creatures that “You can come to me, but I won’t let you go, even if you wanted to?” Wouldn’t this mean that we are then not free?! God created us as free creatures because this is the most loving thing to do. If God created robots, or if we are ultimately determined creatures, then how would that be more loving, in comparison to having the ability to create free creatures but not doing it? Obviously, it would not be more loving.

Will God ever take away a person’s salvation?

I think that everyone across the board would agree that the answer to this is a resounding “No!” (Even Supralapsarian Monergists!). Once a person is saved, God would never change His mind and take it away. I think that when one reads the Bible, and find the author writing from the perspective of either of these two questions, which, if we have these in mind, then it will make a lot more sense in considering where the author is coming from. Why is there such a huge disagreement about this topic (OSAS)? Because there is more than one perspective. It seems then that we should be asking of a specific text, “Which perspective is this coming from?” when we are thinking about the issue of OSAS. “Can we lose our salvation?” is the wrong question. The questions are, “Will God ever take away my salvation?” Or, “can I ever walk away from salvation?” The answers are, “No!” or “Yes.”

Why will God never take away our salvation? Because God is love (1 John 4:8). He does not want us to perish! 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God does not want to see anyone perish! Why then wouldn’t He do everything He can to see our salvation through? The answer is that He does do everything He can without violating our LFW. He placed us in the best possible world (Acts 17:26-27). He loves us so much that He wants to give us our own free will. This is to what Genesis 1:26 is referring: “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth…” “Let them have dominion over…” He made His beloved creatures rulers. Having dominion requires LFW. God gave us LFW partially because it is more loving than not giving us LFW.

Not only will God never take away a person’s salvation, but neither can anyone else, not even Satan. How could they if God Himself will not? In John 10:27-30, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

In Romans 8:38-39, Paul says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God will never take away our salvation. But He will step aside when we want our will to be done.

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

― C.S. Lewis, the Great Divorce

Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

Comments

How to Show a Mormon the Difference Between the Mormon Jesus and the Biblical Jesus

I find that Mormons frequently claim they are Christians, and that they want to be referred to as Christians, and they have even recently sought to distance themselves from the word “Mormon.” The problem is, they worship another Jesus, and here is how to show them the difference between the Mormon Jesus and the Biblical Jesus. Before we get to that, some clarifications are necessary. The Mormon President Russell Nelson said, “What’s in a name or, in this case, a nickname? When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the “LDS Church,” the “Mormon Church,” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints,” the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement.” [1] So, according to Nelson, to call Mormons, Mormons , is a victory for Satan. So, this also means that to call

Joseph Smith had the same Demon that influenced Muhammad

What does Islam have in common with Mormonism? Seriously, the similarities are uncanny. Like human beings, demons are creatures of habit . The Bible does not tell us much about them, but from what it does tell us, we can learn a lot. Jesus reveals to us some things about their behavior: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first… [1] Jesus clearly knows that demons have typical behaviors. He has seen it many times before. He lets us know that a typical behavior for a demon is that home is where the heart is . When your house crumbles to the ground, you move to a new one. Likewise, when a person dies, the demon is f

The Two Systems: A Confused Definition of Love

A couple years ago I wrote an article called the Jehovah’s Witness training videos . The article was meant to be humorous in a sense, because there are likely not any actual training videos, but it seems that they have all watched them. We can suspect this because they all often have the same points of conversation. When you talk about the Trinity, they will use the Bible like a machine gun and shoot you with verses. The verses are always the same: Colossians 1:15, Mark 10:18… So, there is an implication that they all have the same information. There is one source from where they gather their patterns and behaviors. Similarly, I think we can see the power behind the system of the world as well. We can see what this power is like by the tracks he leaves behind. The contrast of the two systems is really seen in Revelation 14:8. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” John is using the word Babylon here for

How and Where to Make Divisions

Sometimes, I get asked “Why do you get so up at arms about other religions?” or, “Why do you pick on other religions so much?” I think the following will help you see where I’m coming from, before I spill the beans on such. We have difficulty sometimes in discovering where to make divisions when considering where to spend our money, and who to support, where to make purchases, and where not to do such. We also often have difficulty on how to know if a church or a congregation is a place where someone can actually become saved. Like, how can we know that a Mormon is likely not saved but we can know that a regular church attender at a gospel sound church is likely saved? What is it that would make my church attendance at a specific body no longer appropriate? Both answers to these questions deal with doctrine. If a company is pushing false doctrine using their influence and power to push a heretical doctrine or teaching, this is often when the red flags fly. “Non-essentials” aside for

The Highest Virtue

A virtue is a trait of excellence. What is the highest virtue? It seems that based on the nature of truth, that truth itself is perhaps the highest virtue. For instance, I could say that love is the highest virtue, but then I could ask the question of whether that is true or not. If it is or isn’t true, this places truth virtuously higher than love, at least in some sense. The fact that I can question love through the lens of truth seems to place truth above love in height of virtue. On the other hand, if I said that truth is the highest virtue, then it seems that it would be loving to tell others the truth! Perhaps truth and love go hand in hand, but this also concerns the nature of what truth is. Truth is a requirement for love, which I argue here , but is love a requirement for truth? Love must contain truth in order to be true love. But truth does not have to contain love in order to be true truth. Take for instance, mathematics, or numbers in general… Sometimes, the truth hurts

Defending Christianity against Mormonism

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect ” (NIV 1 Peter 3:15). In other words, LOVE THEM . Mormons Biblical Truths Mormons are monolaters, meaning, they believe in many gods, yet worship only one. LDS believe that “As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become.” LDS do not believe in Hell. LDS believe God is flesh and bones. LDS believe in baptism for the dead. LDS believe Jesus and Satan are created brothers. LDS do not believe in the Trinity. LDS believe that “it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do” (Nephi 25:23). Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (See also Isaiah 43:11; Acts 5:4; 1 Timothy 2:5; Exodus 20:3; et. al.). God kn

Objectivity is the Language of Heaven

NDErs (i. e. people who have claimed to have had a Near Death Experience ) often report that when they go to Heaven, they frequently see and recognize people such as friends and family members. It is often also reported that when they were communicating with friends and relatives, they realized that they weren’t speaking English, but that they were telepathically speaking to one another. It seems it would be impossible to have communication with others without learning every language that has ever existed under the sun, but since heaven is a perfect place, [1] then communication should be perfect as well. In other words, it seems unlikely that there are barriers to communication. So, I should be able to communicate with the Apostles, upon my arrival for instance, but how? I personally only really know how to speak English fluently. My Spanish, Japanese, German, Russian, Chinese, and Latin is like that of a child, and my Greek is only in reading and writing. If communication is me

Argument from Beauty: Evangelical Christians have Neglected a Favorable Catalyst for the Gospel

It seems to me that some Evangelical Christians have taken a biblical passage in the wrong direction. Perhaps I, considering myself to be an Evangelical Christian, am guilty of such as well. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Verse 2 is where we get the phrase, be in the world, but don’t be of the world . What this means is that we should know our place. Our place is in heaven. The Bible says that we are citizens of heaven, and that we should think and act as if we are. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the po

Does Baptism Save People from Sin?

There is a lot of confusion, and I would go as far to say that there is a perversion, of baptism in the world today. Some people, such as those in the Church of Christ, teach that baptism is a requirement for salvation. Others say that baptism is something we can do for the dead . But what does the Bible teach about baptism? Those who say that baptism is a requirement for salvation use verses like 1 Peter 3:21 which says, baptism which corresponds to this now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Christ Jesus… This is not talking about soul salvation but being saved from one’s own bad conscience. In other words, by obeying Jesus in getting baptized, we have a good conscience in doing so. Other times some people may use Acts 2:37-38 to show that baptism is a requirement for salvation. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers,

The Evidence and Power of Testimony

What to say to People who Demand more Evidence for God. Why is there something rather than nothing? Glacier National Park. © Nace Howell, 2018. The question is, how much evidence do you require? Would Jesus have to come back and slap you in the face with evidence that He is God? It seems to me that there is a line we must draw. We do this in all other areas of our lives, so why would we treat theism any different? When a court convicts, they do so “beyond a reasonable doubt.” I would like to take a few moments to explore this a bit. But before we get to that, I want to pose a question, which is… why are you the standard? What makes you think He has to prove His existence to everyone individually? He already created the universe from nothing. In the beginning, there was a big bang. Seriously… do you believe your mom when she tells you a story about her day? Did you believe the reports of 9/11 when they were happening? Do you accept the testimony of anything you hear on social

Apologetics and Evidence

Search This Blog