I have spent the last 22 months studying the Bible, especially the New Testament, several hours per day. Sometimes up to 10 to 12 hours per day. I have been a Christian for 30 years but because of unemployment the last 22 months I have had a lot of time to study. I estimate I have spent about 3,500 hours studying my Bible the last 2 years.
I’m writing this post because I am concerned about a dangerous and false doctrine that permeates the Christian church.
It is the doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” or “Eternal Security”. This doctrine teaches that once a person believes in Jesus, even if it is just for one moment in time, that person is saved forever. THIS IS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY CONTINUE BELIEVING OR ARE REPENTANT.
I believe that the Bible does not teach this but most Christian churches are teaching this today.
Because of the length of this post I had to make 2 posts. The original post for this thread and then the first reply is also from me to finish the post. Thank you to all who take the time to read this.
Now let me explain, using SCRIPTURE ALONE, why I think that “Once Saved Always Saved” is a lie.
Let me start with John 3: 16. Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
We also have John 5: 24 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
And John 6: 47 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”
So what do these 3 verses have in common? The Greek word for faith/believe is Pistis. It is in the present tense in the Greek in all of these verses. The present tense in Greek denotes a “kind of action” that is continuous. It means a CONTINUAL coming to Christ in faith.
The Christian church for the most part teaches that you can “accept Christ” by believing in Him and you have “eternal life”. No repentance required. No continuing in faith. Just walk that aisle and “get saved”. This is giving many people in the church a false belief that they are saved.
Eternal Life isn’t something that is deposited inside of you which is how many Christians think of it. I think the term “born again” adds to the confusion. Also people think that the sealing of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 1: 13 and Ephesians 4: 30 is permanent.
BEING “BORN AGAIN” AND “SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT” ARE BOTH REVERSIBLE IN THE BIBLE. THE BIBLE ALSO SAYS THERE ARE AT LEAST 2 CLASSES OF GENUINE BELIEVERS.
How do I know these 2 things? In this post I will try to show you why these statements are true. Let me give you some examples from SCRIPTURE ALONE. Not my opinions.
You will find the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. The version in Luke 8 is especially helpful. Let us take a close look at the second and fourth soils in these parables and also compare it with John 15 and the parable of the vine and branches.
What does Jesus say about the second soil? He says five specific things:
1 - Mark 4: 5, That the soil is rocky with not much depth of earth (a bad heart).
2 - Luke 8: 6, That it sprang up.
3 - Luke 8: 13, That in the time of testing/temptation they immediately fall away
4 - Luke 8: 6, That it withered away
5 - Luke 8: 13, That they BELIEVE for a while
The last point is especially important. I have spoken with people who believe in Eternal Security/Once Saved Always Saved and they always try and tell me that the second soil never really believed. They are calling Jesus a liar. Probably not on purpose but that is what they are saying.
Jesus Himself says that the second soil REALLY BELIEVES. That is what the Scripture says.
Now let’s look at John 15: 1-6 and see how it relates to the second soil:
In this parable Jesus is talking about remaining in Him which we do by faith. What happens to the branch in John 15: 6? He loses his faith and is broken off from the vine. So what is the fate of this branch? It is the same as the second soil.
He withers and dies. The same description as what happens to the second soil when he falls away.
And we are told in John 15: 6 the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. This is an obvious reference to the Lake of Fire and the second death.
What does it say about the fourth soil? That they hear the word with a “Good and Sincere” heart. They are good soil. They bear fruit with patience as the parable tells us.
SO YOU SEE WE HAVE AT LEAST TWO CLASSES OF REAL BELIEVERS.
One with good and sincere hearts (the fourth soil) and one with bad hearts (the second soil which is rocky). If you examine the three versions of this parable closely you will see that the condition of the soil is equal to the condition of the heart.
It also helps to look at John 2: 23-25 and also John 8: 31. These are both second soil type believers. How do we know this? What does Jesus Himself say about them in these two passages?
To paraphrase John 2: 23-25, “…many BELIEVED in Jesus but Jesus did not believe in them…” Why did Jesus not believe in these BELIEVERS? He tells you in the verses. They have bad hearts. They don’t really love Him. They won’t stay long.
Same thing in John 8: 31 when Jesus says to those that BELIEVED in Him that “…if you continue in My word then you are really My disciples…”
The Scripture in both these passages says that these people REALLY BELIEVED. The same thing as what Jesus says about the second soil and the branch in John 15.
THESE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT PASSAGES THAT SHOW THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO CLASSES OF GENUINE BELIEVERS. To deny this is to deny Scripture and call Jesus a liar. These are not my opinions.
So how does the “new birth” work, and being “sealed with the Holy Spirit” work?
To use a crude analogy it works like electricity. Please hear me. I am not saying Jesus is electricity. He is infinitely greater obviously. I am trying to use an analogy to get the point across. I am trying to get you to think about how the “new birth” and “sealing” work in the biblical way.
Like I said earlier, many Christians think the “new birth” and “sealing by the Holy Spirit” are one-time things that are permanent and irreversible. This is false. Let me show you:
Remember John 15 and the vine and branches we just talked about? Jesus is the vine and we are the branches just as the parable tells us. What does a vine do?
It pushes it’s life giving sap into the branches otherwise the branches would die. Just like electricity lights a light bulb.
Ephesians 2: 1 says that we are all dead in sins. We have all been born physically alive thanks to our parents but spiritually dead thanks to Adam and Eve and their lack of faith in the Garden.
We are all empty vessels, or empty light bulbs if you will, walking around that need to be filled with Christ’s Spirit. How does that happen?
Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3: 3, “..you must be born again…” How?
By faith in Christ. You are that empty light bulb/vessel. When you believe in Him you flip the light switch on and the electricity/Jesus heats up the filament (your dead spirit) and causes the light bulb to shine. So when people see a true Christian they are seeing Jesus shining bright through that person.
As soon as you believe you are “born again” and “sealed with the Holy Spirit”. When we read of conversions in the book of Acts it works just like that.
But can you become “unborn” and “unsealed”? The biblical answer is YES.
This terminology is a stumbling block to the person who believes in Eternal Security/OSAS. The reason it is a stumbling block is because they think the “new birth” and “sealing” are irreversible. They are not. YOUR FAITH IS ALWAYS REQUIRED YOUR WHOLE LIFE UNTIL YOU DIE AND YOUR FAITH COMES FROM YOU ALONE. JESUS DOES NOT BELIEVE FOR YOU.
It works like electricity. When you stop trusting in Christ, you flip the light switch off. No more electricity/Jesus. The filament goes cold just like when you turn off a light bulb and there is no more light. Jesus’ presence has left you because you don’t have faith in Him anymore.
This fits the exact five details that I gave you earlier about the second soil. Remember them?
1 - “Rocky Soil” = Bad heart that doesn’t really love God
2 - “Life springs up.” This one is very important. We are all born dead spiritually with no life in us. Only God has spiritual life. Their faith was real because they were attached to His life giving Spirit.
3 - “In the time of testing/temptation they immediately fall away” This is more proof of a bad heart. You can’t “fall away” unless you had real faith.
4 - “they withered away” Just like the branch in John 15 that stopped believing also. They withered because Christ’s life was in them and now Christ’s Spirit has left them when they flipped the light switch off.
5 - JESUS SAYS THEY WERE REAL BELIEVERS. The eternal security/OSAS must stop denying that this is true. Jesus says it is true. But these people have bad hearts and don’t love Him so they lose their faith and perish.
What about the “sealing by the Holy Spirit” in Ephesians 1: 13 and Ephesian 4: 30?
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