Once saved, always saved? Untrue...?

Question

As a play on the rapist/victim scenario down the list a bit...

Once saved, always saved, according to fundies. Yet, faith without works is DEAD FAITH. Dead faith, equals a hypocrite, equals not saved.

So, if a rapist is "saved", then goes out and rapes someone, is he still "saved" because he believed Jesus died for his sins?

For those of you who say "yes"... how can you say this when...
But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
James 2:17-19

Saved by faith, justified by works! If you do not have the works, you have no faith, and therefore, a hypocrite, and unsaved. Once cannot call themselves a faithful believer and then go and do against what Jesus Christ says (ie. rape, murder, etc) and be saved still.

So no, once saved, not always saved. One can renounce their salvation by doing a work that is against what Jesus Christ Himself said to do...

Answer 1

Once someone is saved, if they decide to go back out and make some unwise choices, they are actually walking away from their salvation.

So yes, our salvation does depend on what we do.

Answer 2

"Has God indeed said...Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away."? (Luke 8:13)

the scripture clearly teaches BOTH the sovereignty of God AND the free will of men. To deny this is irrational, and must be caused by something other than reason based on scriptural precepts.

The scriptural position is that a person who is saved can forfeit that salvation. The bible teaches those at highest risk of forfeiting their salvation are those who are newly saved, and those who continue on in known disobedience, after being born again.

The elect are those whom God chose, whom God foresaw would both trust in His Son AND who would endure or persevere in the faith given them until the end of their physical life, or the return of Jesus.

Those whose hearts are seeking the Lord with all that is in them, should have no concern about "losing" their salvation. Nor should they have any concern about forfeiting their salvation.

Salvation cannot be lost, but it can be forfeited - this is the nature of covenants in the bible. The bible no where guarantee's someone that salvation once received cannot be turned away from or forfeited by the individual that possesses it.

Receiving salvation involves man's will, and not works. Forfeiting salvation involves man's will, and not works. In the same way the Lord did not force His salvation on anyone, He neither forces anyone to remain in the covenant.

Answer 3

If you believe we have the ability to look to God for salvation, then you are correct, once saved, not always saved, but then again this can be extrapolated into saved today, not saved tomorrow, saved again the next day, and so on. It also allows only "snapshots" in time when you can be saved, i.e. when you are thinking about it, not when you are asleep, unconscious, etc.

If God must do the saving, then He CAN keep us in the palm of his hand, through sleep, unconsciousness, etc. no snapshots in time at all, in fact better than that, saved from eternity to eternity, some of us just don't know it yet. And it also means that salvation is not just today's decision. It means a complete change of heart, given by God and kept in eternal security by God. The rapist will not want to rape, the murderer will not want to murder, and the credit for this does not go to man for his actions, but to God for HIS actions.

"Once saved, always saved" is to me far more logical -- and comforting -- than believing that salvation can be lost. The OSAS crowd does not approach this concept from a position of pride.

Answer 4

Not all nondenominational churches teach once saved--always saved. It came from the teachings of Martin Luther who first coined the phrase--faith only. He was coming from a works only doctrine.
There is a passage in Romans 6--"should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more & more of his wonderful grace?" And read the rest of that chapter{Colossians 2:12} Alot of those that believe once saved-always saved --have a hard time with someone like Bill Clinton and others.

Answer 5

I am not sure you understand what being saved means; just because a person says they believe Jesus died for their sins does not mean they are saved. Lots of people believe that and are not saved nor do they claim to be. You are picking and choosing sins. Rape is a sin but, so is committing adultery, gossip, pride, and self righteousness. God does not separate sins into categories; we do. If a person is truly saved they have been born again spiritually and no one can be unborn anymore than we can be unborn naturally. Saved people are still human and they still commit acts of sin. Jesus says no one can pluck a saved person out of his hands or the Father's hands and he meant no one including the saved person or they would be stronger than God. Salvation is eternal and that means forever. It is referred to as eternal security. How can a person enjoy their salvation if they think they can lose it. That is not trusting God or His Word. A person does not work to keep themselves saved, they work out the salvation that is in them by the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ in them.

Answer 6

You are right. The fundamentalist Christians teach the once saved always saved doctrine. CJ, Brian and Suzi claim that they are saved and the rest of the world who disagree with them are going to hell. Stay away from these wolves in sheep's clothing. They are actually agents of Satan (they may or may not be aware of it) with a mission of spreading lies, confusion and hatred.

Answer 7

Once saved always saved is NOT a Biblical teaching. However, for someone to be condemned forever is also not correct. Have you heard of forgiveness? This is what Jesus died for...to forgive us our sins if we are truly repentant.

Answer 8

Once a person is saved are they always saved? When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their salvation as eternally secure. Numerous passages of Scripture declare this fact. (a) Romans 8:30 declares, "And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." This verse tells us that from the moment God chooses us, it is as if we are glorified in His presence in heaven. There is nothing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is justified, his salvation is guaranteed - he is as secure as if he is already glorified in heaven.

(b) Paul asks two crucial questions in Romans 8:33-34 "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Who will bring a charge against God's elect? No one will, because Christ is our advocate. Who will condemn us? No one will, because Christ, the One who died for us, is the one who condemns. We have both the advocate and judge as our Savior.

(c) Believers are born again (regenerated) when they believe (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). For a Christian to lose his salvation, he would have to be un-regenerated. The Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away. (d) The Holy Spirit indwells all believers (John 14:17; Romans 8:9) and baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). For a believer to become unsaved, he would have to be "un-indwelt" and detached from the Body of Christ.

(e) John 3:15 states that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will "have eternal life." If you believe in Christ today and have eternal life, but lose it tomorrow, then it was never "eternal" at all. Hence if you lose your salvation, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error. (f) For the most conclusive argument, I think Scripture says it best itself, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Remember the same God who saved you is the same God who will keep you. Once we are saved we are always saved. Our salvation is most definitely eternally secure

Answer 9

You are right - there is no such thing as once saved always saved. That is something that these non-denominational churches started preaching about and they are leading people straight to hell.

Answer 10

You can be saved and then make some unwise choices and then you kinda walk away from God the father.