Once we are saved, are we always saved?

 

Sometimes people believe that once we are saved, we are always saved, and a lot of theology can be tied up with this assumption. Since it is a foundational belief, if it is incorrect, much of the Bible must be re-interpreted in light of the truth of God's word. 

 

So, can a Christian fall from grace, or once we're saved, are we always saved no matter what? Let's see what God says on the matter:

 

 

1.) "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Gal 5:4)

 

———>If someone has been severed from Christ, they have to have been attached to Christ at one point, just as for a hand to be severed from an arm, it must have at one time been attached to the arm.  Salvation comes through Christ, so at one point these individuals were saved. And, of course, they fell from grace. 

 

 

 

2.) "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." (Heb 6:4-6)

 

———>Again, people were in a state of salvation which did not last. They fell from grace.

 

 

 

3.)  “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” (Jude 5)

 

———>The Old Testament contains physical representations of the spiritual reality of today. Jude mentions that some people were saved, but they were not faithful until they died. They went from believing to not believing, and thus lost that salvation.

 

 

 

4.) “They have forsaken the right way and gone astray.” 

 

 

———>Peter warned that false prophets would arise from among the people of God in 2 Peter 2. He did not say they would enter from the outside, but that they would come from within the family of God. You cannot forsake a path that on which you were never walked. Concerning these people and those they lead astray Peter warns (see 5),

 

 

 

5.) “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” (2 Peter 2:20-21).

 

———>Here again we see people who were saved, and later lost that. There is a reason that God says, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Rev 2:10) It is possible for a faithful spouse to abandon the one to whom he or she is married, and to lose that relationship. 

 

 

So We Have to Be Faithful? Do We Have a Choice? As it turns out, we have a huge say in this thing. In fact, God offers the gift, but we can choose to accept or reject it!

 

The following passages describe a need to live faithfully (obediently) from henceforth until death:

 

“You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:22)

 

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mat 24:9) 

 

 “If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (2Ti 2:12)

 

So we just saw that we have to endure—something that we can choose to do or not. We can fall away from the truth, or cling to it.

 

 

Can we turn down God's Grace?  The above discussion has a vast reach.  If a child of God can fall from grace and lose salvation, then God's grace must not be irresistible. But we can show this further!  In Matthew 23:37, Christ proclaims:

 

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"

 

If grace were not resistible, then this could not be! Instead, God , "is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)

 

 

There is something else that we have to consider, though. God can tell where this whole shebang is headed. He can discern our very hearts. Even then, though, it is OUR action that leads to His response. He lets us get the first say:

 

“And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess 2:10-12)

 

God wants everyone to be saved, but will not force anyone to accept salvation. Grace, then is entirely resistible.  And if God's grace is not irresistible, then a person must be free to choose whether he will accept that grace or not. Because of this, we cannot say that we are elected to salvation sans conditions. However, we can indeed agree with God that He has predestined those who believe and are faithful to be saved!

 

 

Who'd Christ Die For? 

If a person is free to make the good choice to accept God's grace, we cannot say that Christ died only for some "elect group." Instead, we must say along with the apostle Paul that Christ, "gave Himself as a ransom for all," and died for the sins of all people. Christ did not die to atone for the sins of a limited group of people. (Luke 19:10, John 12:32, Romans 5:18, 2 Cor 5:14-15, 1 Tim 2:5-6, 1 Tim 4:10, Heb 2:9)

 

 

Are We 100% Defiled? 

If a person can make a good choice, and we've seen that he can, he must not be "wholly defiled in the all the faculties of soul and mind." Many people are thus considered anything but totally defiled. For example, God called Barnabas a, "good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord." (Acts 11:24)