Does the Church of Christ believe that they have to be saved more than once?

Question

I am Southern Baptist, and I mentioned to a family member that I was invited to go to the Church of Christ w/ a friend on Sunday to visit her church, and have lunch afterwards, and they had a fit, and even called me back and told me how upset they were that I was going??

( I told them that isn't it better then not going to church at all? and "they" said, " Well,

"I just do not believe that the Lord would turn his back on us..like the CoC does. "He" said that they feel that once they leave the church and come back that they have to be saved again@@@!!!
Is this true?
Please tell me..so I can understand why they were so upset.

thanks .

Thanks for the comments so far:
but note: I am not going to convert to any other religion,,,lol.. but I never knew this about the coc and was wondering if this is really true and anything else about that religion.
I know too many good people that are C of C..and can't believe they are so upset.?

Answer 1

I am 29 and have been with the CoC all of my life. My parents were CoC. I went to a CoC-based university, and I have taught CoC Bible classes. (Since we recently moved to a new area, we have been visiting other churches and we actually went to a Southern Baptist church with a friend last Sunday.)

The short answer to your question is: no, the CoC does not teach that you have to be re-baptized if you leave the church. But, if someone desires to be re-baptized for whatever reason, that is allowed.

Now, reading further into your question and some other responses, I'd like to say the following.

First, you have to understand that the CoC is very different in some respects from the Southern Baptists. We do not have any formal leadership above the level of church elders. We do not have a "convention," or a heirarchy (such as bishops, presidents, etc.) above the individual congregation. Therefore, what a CoC preacher says at a rural congregation with 50 members who average 60-years-old is going to be much more "old-world" from what a metropolitan, young, progressive preacher will talk about on Sunday mornings. Worship styles may vary accordingly. In general, though, we share the same core beliefs and emphases in our worship. As was mentioned in other responses, there are other churches with the name "Church of Christ" in the title, such as the Unified or International Church of Christ (aka "the Boston movement"), which are very extreme and different from the mainstream CoC.

Another difference between the CoC and the Southern Baptists is our APPROACH to the subject of "once saved always saved." Yes, we in the CoC believe that if a person is saved by grace, they are saved by God's grace. There is no question or hesitation on anyone I've ever met to agree on that.

But here is the delimma: how do you know when that happens? Here is an example. Let's say a 16 year-old boy decides to get baptized. After a couple of months, though, he gets involved with a bad crowd and stops going to church. He renounces his faith. He gets involved in drugs and lives a life of crime. He continues a lifestyle as a bold, unrepenting sinner for 50 more years, cursing God the whole time. He finally converts to Islam; he burns churches and helps terrorists plan attacks. His last words on earth are a cursing of Christ and all Christians with the most foul language.

Now, is he still saved because of the act he did as a 16 year old? Or was he ever saved in the first place? Here is the logical delimma: he is now either 100% saved or 100% not saved.

"Once saved, always saved" is a very bold, absolute, and uncompromising statement. It expresses a confidence that I'm not sure I can apply well based on reading the New Testament.

The guy above MUST be one of the following:
a) saved at 16 and still saved
b) saved at 16, but no longer saved
c) never saved.

You could say that YOU KNOW for a fact that he was 100% saved when he was 16 and is still 100% saved. I just don't think I can say that. That's for God to decide. He acted like the opposite of a Christian for all of his adult life. He never repented for any of those sins. He never kept the greatest commands of loving God or loving his neighbor. Nobody grew closer to Christ because of him. Was his baptism and confession at 16 a sincere one? Sometimes people just say things. So, I don't think that's for me to say, but up to God to decide.

If you say he was saved but is no longer saved, then you do not truly believe "once saved, always saved."

If you say he was never saved in the first place, then does that mean his baptism was meaningless? So, how do we humans know when anyone is saved? What does it say about my baptism and confession? Maybe I'm not saved, then?

The point is that when you use the phrase, "Once saved, always saved" that you are focusing on one time in your life, one moment, one confession of faith in Christ. The past tense, the "saved," emphasizes the thing you did in the past. If "once saved, always saved" is literally true, then I COULD live the life of the guy describe above without any fear or guilt. I confessed my belief in the past, so I don't have to any more. "I was saved and am saved by my past actions. I do not need to do anything further. I can blastpheme God and do whatever I want that satisfies my needs. Once saved...always saved.

So, why not just use the phrase, "We are saved by God's grace"? Why even make the statement, "Once saved always saved"??? Why use a phrase that is going to be the topic of dispute and divide the church?

So, basically, that is the reasons we don't make that statement. It's not that we don't have faith in God's power, it's just that some things are above our understanding.

(Also, how would you apply "Once Saved always saved" if a guy like the one above came to you at the last moment of his life and said his first baptism and confession was not sincere and he wanted another one? Would you allow him that? If so, then are you REALLY following the principle of once saved always saved?)

Answer 2

I've been going to a Church of Christ for about 10 years. I've never heard anything like that. We have several ministers from other Churches of Christ come in and teach every year. i've travelled and been to other CoCs in my area and in other towns, and still I have never heard anything like that. Churches of Christ are independent of each other. By that I mean that there is not a central authority like the vatican, or Archbishop of Cantebury. Each congregation (indeed each person)is responsible for interpreting the bible accurately and living their life accordingly. It makes us better students. So it may be possible that it was taught somewhere at some time. But I doubt it. More than likely it was a misunderstanding somehwere. Now there is also a Unified Church of Christ and an International Church of Christ. Both of these, I would recommend staying away from. It is too bad that their names are so close to ours. Their practices are very different. I have had friends ask me if we do this or think that because of the confusion.
As for being saved we teach that your are saved when you have heard the gospel, believed in it, repent of your sins, confess that you believe Christ is the son of God, and are baptised in the name of the Father ,Son , and the Holy Spirit. You are saved once. If someone has left the church and then came back. I think it would be for them to decide if their baptism was real or if they just got wet. Did they have a proper understanding or not. I think sometimes parents can push their kids into baptism too early. It may be that the child is obeying the parents instead of Christ. Sort of a delayed version of infant baptism. I can't tell someone that their baptism was not genuine. That is for them to decide. I really cannot think of any other times that I have seen some one baptised a second time, only when they didn't really know what it was about.
Hope that helps. If you care to email me, I will look forward to it.

Edit: Reply to Don: Herbert Armstrong was with the Worldwide Church of God not the Church of Christ. Another unfortunate example of the names being confused. At least I assume you meant Herbert Armstrong and his WWCG.

Answer 3

The tricky thing about this doctrine is that "Once Saved, Always Saved" is wonderfully true as the Bible teaches it; and a false delusion as taught in many mainline churches. In the first case, the Bible plainly says that one’s salvation can’t be lost once it is a reality (Jn.10:27-29; Rom.8:35-39; Eph.1:13,14; 4:30; Heb.9:12; etc.). In the second case, many churches teach that eternal salvation is secured simply by public acknowledgement of Christ as savior, repeating a "sinner’s prayer", avowing support for a church, etc. Repentance & works are minimized or ignored. The point is this: A person can acknowledge Christ, repeat the prayer, etc. with a heartfelt conviction, being eager to repent, renew his mind, and prayerfully serve the Lord. This person is truly convicted and saved eternally. Another person can do all the above in a perfunctory way for one reason or another, count himself /herself saved because the preacher declares it, and then proceed to live any way he/she wants...disregarding the Scriptures which demand obedience and change and attending to the good works they were ordained to do (Eph.2:10). For too long many preachers and churches have built up their numbers and influence based on luring people with this easy believism and grace on demand. They have almost worn out Ephesians 2:8,9 and have inveighed against "works" as being a requirement of salvation. They thus ignore and have been strangely quiet about verse 10 which says plainly they aren’t saved unless they are walking in the good works they were created to perform! This contra-Scriptural "feel good Churchianity" has deceived many into thinking they are saved when they are not, and that all in "their church" are Heaven bound, When the prepositional phrase "at the house of God" is repeated throughout these verses--as it is grammatically understood to be--a great revelation for churches today leaps out! These verses say that God’s Final Judgement on the world begins at the churches! The buck stops at the churches! It is the churches that God blames for the Devil’s success in the world! It is the churches that are guilty of diluting His Word, allowing it to fit with the world’s false science idol (Copernicanism, Darwinism), and with natural, worldly concepts about what is good and acceptable in politics, finance, sex, art, family, etc., and religion. As for those who are merely playing church, and counting themselves good and saved...even though they don't try to be obedient to the Word (v.17), and even if they are ungodly sinners (v.18), God says No Way!

Answer 4

Some one is feeding you the wrong information - a true Church of Christ will not preach this.

Now there are several churches that claim to be COC - but they are really the "Church of What's Happening Now".

My web site talks about this:

Answer 5

Do not worry,

You do not need to be saved again!

When we are saved and repent and confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we are brought into a full and enternal relationship with God.

It is a once for all loving relationship. This is the promise of God's assurance of salvation.

Some churches (maybe Churches of Christ) teach an added or extra teaching that you must be in membership of their church or performing some particular ritual to be "saved".

Its simply not true.

You are saved into a relationship with the Father through your confesion of your faith in Jesus.

Enjoy your salvation! No church or person can take it from you.

Peter

Answer 6

I am a Southern Baptist also - and I believe as long as you do not embrace that faith and did nothing wrong but to visit - I have visited other churches of other faiths and I did not once hear something like that - I visited a Jehnovah Witness church/Methodist church/Pentocostal church and on several occasions - I did not need to be saved AGAIN for I was never lost!@

Answer 7

Churches of Christ and the now defunct church that Armstrong ran for many years have and had some unique ideas and practices.

Baptists, and most Main Line Christian Churches, believe
""Once Saved Always Saved!""

see source below for more info.

You were advised not attend the church in question for, possibly, good reason.

The ""be saved again"" is not biblical AT ALL!

Answer 8

I have several friends that are CoC and they visit different churches when they want.

Answer 9

The Church of Christ does not believe in eternal salvation.They believe you can lose your salvation through "back sliding" back into sin and regression of sorts.It does make sense because if I had been saved and I got drunk and went out and killed several other human beings and myself,could I go to heaven.No one can answer these questions only God knows and our human minds were not designed by him to be able to comprehend his nature.His ways are not our ways and he surpasses all our understanding.A lot of time is wasted by all denominations arguing about who is right and who is wrong.By the way, denominations are man made and never mentioned in the bible

Answer 10

What a load of rubbish!!
You are saved because (I hope) you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It doesn't matter what brand of Church you go to provided the teaching is Biblically sound.
I look forward to meeting you all, in Heaven if not before
B