Once Saved Always Saved? Scriptural or not?

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Once Saved Always Saved?

Several scriptures are used by some in an attempt to prove this false doctrine. Look at just one section that is often misunderstood this way, and then see the many verses that show this to be an erroneous conclusion.

John 10:27-29 are pivotal verses of this teaching, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them new age life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 my Father's hand.”

Jesus made this statement at the Temple during the Feast of Dedication. It was in response to some who had questioned Him as to whether He was the promised Messiah (John 10:23-24). So the very occasion His words here seems unfitting for teaching “eternal - age upon age lasting security.” Jesus was simply affirming that He was the Messiah and that the Father gave Him the authority and the sheep.

The verbs “hear” and “follow” are in the present tense in the Greek so Jesus was speaking of the present and not specifically about the future. He did state that “no one is able to snatch them [the sheep] out of My Father's hand.” This means no external power (i.e. Satan) could take them away. Jesus definitely did not say they couldn't fail due to some fault of their own. Other verses clearly show it is possible to be once enlightened and then fail to continue in the path of righteousness.

Other scriptures used to establish this “once saved, always saved” doctrine follow the same pattern. So we will not cover them all. If we find just one clear scripture that contradicts this teaching then we are sure it is false. In fact, we can find many that teach just the opposite—that one must continue to meet certain conditions to receive God's gift of salvation. We are assured that God will never leave us or forsake us as Messianic believers (Hebrews 13:5). But the Bible never says it is impossible for us to leave or forsake God and lose out on salvation!

We find many scriptures proving this is possible.

Here are just a few examples:

• “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

• “By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:2).

• “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away . For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation…?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).

• “But God's anointed is a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6).

• “For we have become partakers of God's anointed if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end ” (Hebrews 3:14).

• “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God , you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36).

• “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for , but that we may receive a full reward” (2 John 1:8).

• “And he who overcomes, and keeps my works/words until the end , to him I will give power over the nations” (Revelation 2:26).

• “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown ” (Revelation 3:11).

• “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance , since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Note: We cannot renew them as believers, but nothing is impossible with our God and Father if one repent with a humble and contrite heart.

• “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins , but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Note: Again, if one repents with a contrite - broken heart over what he/she has done in a humble attitude of mind then our God and our Father will always respond to that attitude of mind and heart.

These are just a few examples of verses that say we must continue in the faith to the very end to be saved. Notice some verses say, “if we hold fast.” It is conditional on one continuing to the end. Even the apostle Paul did not say he was assured of salvation. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Age upon age lasting security is not to be found in the pages of the New Testament. All who have made a commitment to follow the lord Messiah have to endure to the end in order to be saved.