Once saved always saved.

[William_Pitts]

“Once saved always saved” is biblical. Once saved always saved means that once you are saved you are always saved and can not lose salvation. But the “once saved” must occur.

The bible tells us that when we believe we are born again which enables us to go to heaven (John 3:3, Titus 3:5). To lose your savlation you would have to be un-regenerated. The bible does not give any evidence that bieng un-regenerated is possible. The bible says that when we accept Christ, we have eternal life when we accept him (John 3:5). If we lose our salvation, we lose eternal life,which means eternal life was never eternal. Therefore if losing salvation is possible there would be an error in the Bible. We can not lose salvation because we can not be seprated from God. Romans 8:38–39 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”. Also, how can we lose salvation if God’s power can keep us from falling away (Jude 24)? Even Jesus said we can not fall away. John 10:28-29 says “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 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”. What can seprate us from the Father or Son? Ephesians 4:30 says"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." If a follower of Christ does not have eternal security,then being sealed to the day of redemption is not possible.

You have been led astray by an incorrect interpretation of scripture.

You quoted John 10:28-29. The promise of verse 28 is contingent on verse 27.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
Joh 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.

Eternal security for the believer only occurs when we are believing in Christ and following Him…

Part of the confusion with this OSAS doctrine is the differences in the languages involved. English does not has the same nuances in the verbs as the Greek. Let me illustrate using a very familiar verse.

Joh 3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
Joh 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

In verse 16 there are 3 verbs underlined. The first two are aorist. The third is present tense. I are very rusty on my Greek, because it has been a long time ago, but I remember this: aorist usually is translated as a past tense. God loved (past tense).
God gave (past tense). Present tense in the Greek however indicates an action that may or may not have started in the past but continues from its inception. The third verb “believes” could be better translated as “is believing”. Not as I believed sometime in the past so I am saved. It is I am believing therefore I have eternal life.

Another example of scripture illustrates this is 1 John 5:18

1Jn 5:18 We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them

Those who are born of God cease from sin? Logic and experience tells us otherwise. So is scripture incorrect in this instance?

The same verse in the Douay-Rheimes version says,

1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not: but the generation of God preserveth him and the wicked one toucheth him not.

Two present tense verbs. “Is not continuing in sin” is a much better translation of “sinneth”, and “is preserving” is a good translation. Anytime you see the -eth ending on verbs in the DR and KJV it indicates a present tense verb with continuous action.

Here are some verses that indicate OSAS is a flawed doctrine
1 Cor 9:27 … after preaching … I myself disqualified.
1 Cor 10:12 … thinks that he stands … lest he fall.
Phil 2:12 … work out salvation with fear and trembling.
Heb 4:1 … fear of failing to reach salvation.
1 Jn 5:16-17 … some sins are mortal, some not.
Rom 11:21-22 … spare branches, continue or be cut off.
Heb 6:4-8 … believers can apostasize, be damned.
Heb 10:26-29 … those sanctified who sin can still be damned.
2 Pet 2:20-21; 1 Cor 8:10-13; Gal 5:4 … righteous can fall.

 

[William_Pitts]

There is one other indication that OSAS is incorrect, Judas Iscariot.

 

[fred_conty]

“Once saved always saved” is biblical. Once saved always saved means that once you are saved you are always saved and can not lose salvation. But the “once saved” must occur.

Hi, me again,
I am really curious about you statement when you are a Catholic??? How is that???
How did you become Catholic? I am floored. To me it is like saying I am water and oil.
I know you are familiar with the Bible so I know you know all the standard Biblical answers. But I am overwhelmed with curiousity why you think this, not from the Bible, but from your Catholic teaching which you received. How and where did you hear this? I am missing something here. Thank you for listening.

 

[fred_conty]

Maybe you are “OLD” Catholic??? They are different from “THE” Catholic Church.

 

[onenow1]

“Understanding this first: That no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation.
For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.”
2Peter 1:20-21

So the key here is to be inspired by GOD and not by your own individual insight. But then, anyone could claim that
he or she was inspired by GOD. So the question is to find the truth of who is and who is not inspired by GOD.
Again, we must not rely on our individual insight, but by the inspiration of GOD through His Holy Scriptures to enlighten us in the truth.

Peace

 

[Philthy]

“Once saved always saved” is biblical.(it) means that once you are saved you are always saved and can not lose salvation.

It is neither stated nor implied in Scripture.

The bible tells us that when we believe we are born again which enables us to go to heaven (John 3:3, Titus 3:5).

Actually both of those verses deal with being “washed”, as in with water, as in with Baptism.

To lose your savlation you would have to be un-regenerated.

Stop!!! You were talking about going “to Heaven” and now you are talking about “salvation” as if the terms are interchangeable. They are not.

The bible does not give any evidence that bieng un-regenerated is possible. The bible says that when we accept Christ, we have eternal life when we accept him (John 3:5). If we lose our salvation, we lose eternal life,which means eternal life was never eternal.

The eternal nature of eternal life is independent of our participation in it. Therefore it remains ‘eternal life’ even though our participation in it may not be eternal.

Therefore if losing salvation is possible there would be an error in the Bible.

False.

We can not lose salvation because we can not be seprated from God. Romans 8:38–39 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”.

God’s love and salvation are also not interchangeable terms. You are confusing the two in your comments above. God does indeed love every one - including those in Hell, but that love does not equate to everyone spending eternity in Heaven.

What can seprate us from the Father or Son?

Unrepentant sin, trying to be justified by works, failing to persevere in faith, hope and love, and of course blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Here’s some of Ch 5 from Galatians - the very letter you quote below and it speaks of being, and I quote, “separated” from God.
v1 For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
Please note that this tells us that the Ephesians were once under the yoke of slavery (to the law) and that it was possible, through failing to “stand firm” to return to that yoke.
v2 It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Please take note: these are “saved” Christians he is talking to, and he says that by their action of wishing to be circumcised that Christ will be of no benefit to them. Going to Heaven is entirely contingent upon Christ being a benefit to them.
v3-4Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised that he is bound to observe the entire law. You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Their desire to be justified by circumcision (the Jewish law), rather than through the law of Christ (love of God and neighbor) results in them being “separated from Christ” and to “fall from grace”. I can assure you that there is no salvation, nor is there the prospect of going to Heaven if one remains “separated from Christ” and outside of “grace”. So here we have a very clear admonishment that certain actions jeopardize the eternal destiny of “saved” Christians. And just in case you were questioning whether these comments were, in fact, directed at “saved believers”, then I refer you to the very quote you provided from the previous chapter of Galatians:
Ephesians 4:30 says"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
You yourself said this means they were “saved”. But just one chapter later Paul is warning them that their actions can jeopardize their eternal destiny:
Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Its very straightforward: Paul tells them that immorality, impurity must not even be mentioned among them, and why not?? Because “no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Clearly being sealed for redemption (I believe a reference, again, to Baptism) does not guarantee that one will not later be “separated from Christ”; nor does it guarantee that one will, at the end of their life, inherit the Kingdom of God. You need to go back and really read those letters because you are making conclusions based upon verses which do not state directly what you claim to conclude from them and you are ignoring verses that do clearly contradict what you claim to conclude from them.
That latter issue(inheriting the KOG), BTW, is a key to understanding the falsehood of OSAS. It is discussed quite a bit to saved Christians and is repeatedly emphasized that certain sins can jeopardize one’s inheritance in the KOG. Here are some sections of Scripture that clearly point this out: 1Cor 6:9, Ephesians 5:5, Galations 5:19, Acts 14:22
Im always here to help as I have wrestled with this very issue repeatedly. It’s no accident that my sig is what it is…

Blessings!

 

[Farsight001]

Noobio, I have a slightly off topic question - In another thread you created (found here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=545922) you declared yourself a former Catholic. In addition, at one time, soon after the creation of that thread, you changed your religion from Catholic to something else. Why did you change it back? You clearly didn’t become Catholic again.