("Once Saved Always Saved"?)
What comes to mind when you first hear the word "salvation"? Well, for most Christians it means they will not be going to Hell when they die. As for sinners, they just cannot seem to accept or comprehend that salvation is something that God must provide through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus/Yeshua. Thus continues the believer's age old struggle of trying to preach the "good news" to those who count it as "foolishness." (1-Cor 2:14). Now that is salvation for the sinner, but what about the born-again believer? Once "saved," what is expected of the child of God? It seems to me a greater understanding of what salvation should mean on this side of the experience would be a good place to start. I think most believers have the basic understanding that salvation is a "free gift," which most gifts are. Christians recognize that salvation cannot be earned and that it is the unmerited, undeserved grace of God to reconcile us back onto the Father; even some sinners can comprehend that much. But what happens to some believers as the result of the way they were first preached salvation, and or as the years wear on is that deception enters in pertaining to this free gift.
What appears to have happened in the Church is that some Christians seem to have a hard time remembering—or were never taught in the first place—one simple fact concerning God's promises: they remain conditional, always have been! That is to say, the Bible is loaded with promise after promise pertaining to this thing or that thing, which God says are ours by faith, but there are conditions attached to all of these promises, including salvation. In fact, these conditions should have been part of the very foundation upon which yours and my faith was built. They start off with words like "but...," "then will I...," "and if...," etc. Therefore, nothing comes involuntarily by the Word, not even salvation. God is looking for a free-will response to His promises.
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: IF any man hear my voice, AND open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, AND DOETH THEM, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:" Matthew 7:24
"For whosoever WILL save his life shall lose it; BUT whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." Mark 8:35
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and DO NOT the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, AND heareth my sayings, AND doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:" Luke 6:46-47
"For the WAYS OF A MAN are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings." Proverbs 5:21
Simply put, when we first accept the blood of Yeshua as payment for our sins, we do not lose our God given ability to choose for ourselves, and we most definitely did not have the sin nature eradicated within. Obviously that is why Satan can still tempt us and we can still fall into sin again and again and again of our free-will (Rom 7:17).
"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Proverbs 24:16
"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." Matthew 18:21-22
We know a Christian, even a weak one (1-Cor 11:30), can sin many times over and still be considered a child of God. We sin, we repent, we struggle and sin again, we repent again, but each time we should be getting wiser and stronger so that one day we overcome that sin and sin that sin no more; that is what the blood is for: to fully redeem us. Christians need to remember that redemption is a process that can take many years. Whereas a sinner is someone who sins as a way of life; they do not feel the least bit ashamed because they have no "light" in them for their consciences have been seared to the Word of God. Therefore, a sinner is someone who habitually sins and has learned to live with it; that is who they are. Even the good sinners who believe that they sin not still must accept the blood because the Bible says:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6
"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Philippians 3:9
Now a Christian must wrestle with the Holy Spirit if a sin is starting to overtake them again (Gal 5:17). However, there is a line that even Christians can cross where they sin what has been called the "unpardonable sin." We know it is not any one particular sin, for we understand that sin is sin and that God would have even forgiven Adolph Hitler had he truly repented and asked for the Blood to cover his sins. What is it then that can cause a Blood washed Christian to forsake the gift of salvation? Well, it's the same thing that causes one to ask for it in the first place: the free-will! What has happened is that many Christians have been brain-washed by certain ministries, denominations, doctrines and visions into thinking there is no way one can ever lose their salvation, and they're almost right—one must forsake it! Think about it brethren, where does "the fear of GOD" fit into that line of thinking? Or, once saved, do we just throw out all the verses that speak of this commandment? It would be good to look at just a few of these verses that expose to the "once saved..." doctrine for what it is; a doctrine of devils.
"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged." Deuteronomy 6:1-2
"Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt."
Hosea 7:13-16
"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. 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. 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." 2-Peter 2:20-22
"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, TWICE dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever [HELL]." Jude 1:12-13
"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, And HAVE tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away [G3895: apostatize], to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Hebrews 6:4-6
"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick [G3088: Lampstand] out of his place, except thou repent." Revelation 2:4-5
"No man, when he hath lighted a candle [G3022: Lamp], covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light." Luke 8:16
As you can see my friend, according to the Bible a Christian can "neglect" their own salvation, even to the point of "forsaking" it; you need to search this out for yourself. The Greek word "apostatize" as used in Hebrews 6 above, still means today what it meant 2000-years ago: "to abandon one's beliefs or allegiances." Brethren, there are just too many places in the Word where we are told that believers cannot only neglect their place and position in the Kingdom of God, but reject it altogether. One would have to be living in denial or be in one of the groups mentioned above not to see this.
"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples [including Judas], he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." Matthew 10:1
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition [Judas]; that the scripture might be fulfilled." John 17:12
Did that verse just say lost? "Oh Yes!" Judas was one of the twelve that went forth doing miracles as you have just read for yourself. Although some could even argue that Judas, like the other disciples, had not inwardly received the Holy Spirit before he died, yet others most certainly had.
"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day [the WTJ]." Jude 1:6
You see my friend, even the mighty angels that had at one time stood in GOD'S presences were given free-will choice. The angels were and are not some dumb robot class of creatures as many preachers like to teach; they too were given a choice with their existence. They had one shot at accepting God's plan since their accountability must have been at 100%. Our God is still the same; He will not over-ride one's decision(s) to transgress or to be blessed. And no matter what some would like you to believe, the word "apostasia" (which in the Strong's says is to "fall away") will not be removed from the KJV of the Bible no matter how many other translations try to write it out. We are told that in the end-time there shall come a falling away (from their first love) and it has already begun brethren; where has the fear of GOD gone to in our lives?
"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" Romans 2:1-3
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the day of the LORD: Armageddon] shall not come, except there come a falling away first [G646*], and that man of sin be revealed [in their souls: the abomination standing where it ought not], the son of perdition." 2-Thessalonians 2:3
*G646: apostasia ap-os-tas-ee'-ah. Feminine of the same as G647; defection from truth (properly the state, "apostasy"):—falling away, forsake.
I will close by saying that it is up to you the believer, to seek the truth in all things. It is up to you to read God's Word and let the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth. Ultimately it is up the believer to do those things, God's commandments, and not just mentally agree with them. Unfortunately, if you are one of those who still depend on someone called a Pastor, Priest, Imam, or Rabbi to tell you what God is saying to you, then you may have already silenced and or never heard the witness of God's Holy Spirit speaking to you in His "still small voice" for yourself. Pray, fast, and seek God's face, then you will know the truth of any matter as you bring it before the throne of grace. There are too many things being preached from the pulpits and from so called men and women of God that have not been based on the Word of God or given by His Spirit. Keep in mind brethren who the true "Two Witnesses" are that "stand before the LORD of the whole earth"; it's the "Word of God" and the "Holy Spirit." Both of these two must be in agreement with any doctrinal stance that you or I believe. I believe this is part of the deception ("darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people...") that Yeshua warned us would permeated the end-time Church. We must be willing to seek not only the truth, but the Truth Giver before it is too late.