Once Saved, Always Saved: Always False.(1977, 1993 Mark Smith)
Certain Christian sects, especially the Baptists, teach a doctrine called “Eternal Security”, commonly referred to as “Once Saved, Always Saved.” Many non-Baptists criticize it as a moral blank check that encourages Baptists to do as they please, since their “salvation” from BibleGod’s hell is never in jeopardy, as they can do whatever the hell they want, and never “go to hell”. This may indeed be an issue, but in my opinion, this problem is not limited to the Baptist sect. Christianity in general offers “blank check” morality, as Christians (in their worldview) are allowed to get away with any atrocity- even the genocide of six million Jews, as long as they utter a trite “Awww gee, sorry, Jesus” afterwards. And that’s all it would have taken Adolf to ensure his future entry into “heaven”. Christianity, in offering such cheap and easy moral forgiveness, leads to the moral breakdown of a society, rather than to the moral strengthening. Atheism on the other hand, leads to personal moral responsibility, as we have no such easy out for our screwups.
As juicy as the above issues are, they shall await a future essay. For right now, the question that this essay deals with is the fact that this doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved” goes against clear Bible teaching. And this leads one to wonder, whenever one encounters yet another Baptist trying to shove his Bible and its gods down someone’s throat, since the Baptists themselves don’t listen to their own Bible, Why the hell should we???
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“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” John 6:37Jesus, in this verse, says that he will not cast out people that come to him. But this verse does not preclude people casting themselves out by their own free will. BibleGod would not hold a man in BibleGod’s kingdom against that man’s will, neither would he send a man to heaven against that man’s will. That would be spiritual slavery/kidnapping.
“...and I give eternal life to them; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:28The verse preceding this one in the Bible (#27, see above) lays down a prerequisite of life-long obedience by saying that “they follow Me.” Given that obedience, verse 28 promises security. Notice the “they” of #28 refers directly back to the “they” of #27. So this section, in its whole, in CONTEXT, says that THEY who FOLLOW Jesus shall never perish. It follows then, that they who CEASE to follow Jesus also cease to be covered by the reward of never perishing.
“...nothing...shall be able to separate us from the love of God...” Romans 8:39This verse does not say that “nothing will be able to take away our salvation.” It only says that BibleGod will continue to love you wherever you end up- even in hell. You can never be separated from the love of BibleGod- even if you end up being separated from his salvation. Even Baptists will admit that sinners are not separated from the love of BibleGod, though they are separated from his salvation. In other words, this verse doesn’t support their theory.
“The Christian is one who has been born again, born of the Spirit of God, born into the kingdom of God. He becomes a child of God by reason of the new birth. When a child is born to a father and mother, he can never cease to be their child.”(Soul Winning Doctrines, J. Clyde Turner, Convention Press, 1955, Nashville, page 81)
It is obvious that Mr. Turner has never thought about the term ADOPTION, nor about the concept of a parent DISOWNING a child. If a man is a child of the devil, and through the “New Birth” becomes adopted into BibleGod’s family, he becomes equal to any of BibleGod’s regular children, though by birth he remains the child of the devil. In fact, according to the Bible, all Christians are adopted children of BibleGod, and not natural children (see Romans 8:15&23, 9:4, Galatians 4:5, Eph. 1:5). And as anyone knows, children who can be adopted can be UN-adopted just as easily. (See Romans 11:19-22 for more detail.)
“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has DENIED THE FAITH, and is WORSE THAN AN UNBELIEVER.” 1 Tim. 5:8If it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved (1 Peter 4:18), “...what will become of the Godless man and the sinner...” or of the man who is WORSE than a sinner, worse than an unbeliever??? It is obvious that man will roast in the BibleGod’s eternal hell fire, Christian or not.
“...keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.” 1 Tim. 1:19One can not sail to heaven in a ship that has wrecked and sunk to the bottom. If the Christian suffers a loss of faith, that is, if he ceases to trust Jesus, whether it be through contradictions among the gospels, or false second coming prophecies, his faith may suffer shipwreck, and he will then be eternally tormented and burned alive for ever and ever by his loving heavenly father. (With fathers like this, who needs enemies???)
“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 (i.e. these were spirit filled 100% pure Christians) 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 while they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame...if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, AND ENDS UP BEING BURNED.” Hebrews 6:4-8These people were partakers of the Holy Spirit, which, according to Paul in Romans 8: 9,ll meant they were saved at one time. This point needs to be established as some Baptists claim people who lose their salvation were “never REALLY saved in the first place.” This verse clearly shows that these people used to be Holy Spirit filled saved and empowered Christians, then turned away from the faith, and now are going to end up being burned in hell by the god of all love and kindness. It can’t get any clearer than that. This verse disproves with a vengeance the notion that a Christian can not end up in hell.
“He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My father, and before His angels.” Rev. 3:5A Christian must “overcome” to PREVENT his name from being erased from the book of life. This shows that Christians who DON’T overcome won’t be saved, and it also shows that Jesus does indeed have the power to erase people’s names from the roll of the saved, and indeed WILL erase the names of those who did not overcome. Jesus would not have created an “eraser” unless he was going to use it. The very fact that an “eraser” exists disproves the ��Once Saved, Always Saved�� fantasy.
“And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no firm root; they BELIEVE for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” Luke 8:13Jesus says they believed. Paul said those who believe became saved, (Acts 16:31) Therefore, these people were at one time saved. They also later “fell away.” Fell away from what? From their salvation, of course!
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John 15:6“Thrown away” from their salvation is all that makes sense, as “does not abide IN me” implies that at one time they WERE “in him.” One can not cease to abide in something one was never in, in the first place. So, once again, another example of Christians ending up in hell (note what Jesus said about the fire- if that’s not referring to hell, what is?) via their loving, kind, all merciful father in heaven.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves...For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, THE LAST STATE HAS BECOME WORSE THAN THE FIRST. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.’” 2 Peter 2:1, 20-22 Peter mentions that these ex-Christians had “denied the master who bought them.” Note that the phrase “bought them” is reflected in 1 Cor. 6:19,20, where Paul says:
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price...” As previously shown, the New Testament teaches that if a man is a Christian, and has the Holy Spirit, he is a “real” Christian no ifs, ands, or buts. I am again establishing the fact that the Bible teaches that “real” Christians CAN have their salvation jerked away by BibleGod. These people who had been “bought with a price,” and who’s bodies were “temples of the Holy Spirit,” nevertheless are now UNsaved. For, if their “first state” was to have been unsaved, and now that they have rejected Jesus, their current state is WORSE than their first state, they must be even worse than unsaved!!! So, dear Baptists, how can they still be saved if they are in a worse state than being unsaved? They are so far down BibleGod’s shit-list that even the initially UNsaved have more status than they.
“You have been SEVERED FROM CHRIST, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have FALLEN FROM GRACE.” Galatians 5:4 In the original Greek, the word “severed” means: “To be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from any one. To terminate all intercourse with one.” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon). Another book, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, puts it this way: “...they were as branches severed from the tree.” And The New English Bible words it as “completely severed.”
Based upon all this, the following three points can be made: 1. To have been SEVERED from the TREE, they therefore must have at one time been ATTACHED to the TREE. In other words, yes, these people were previously saved.
2. Since these people had been SEVERED from Christ, and since there is “salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12), they must therefore have been SEVERED from their SALVATION!!! Do you get it, Baptists??? Severed from Christ = Severed from Salvation. Is it really that hard to see, or do you Baptists just love your traditions (and traditional doctrines) more than you love your gods???
3. Paul said they had “fallen from grace.” This implies they must have been IN grace (i.e. saved) in order to FALL FROM IT. It would be impossible to have “fallen from an airplane” unless one were IN the airplane to start with. In other words, yes, once again, an example of “REAL 100% Christians” having LOST their salvation. (How many examples are needed to convince a Baptist that it’s possible for a person to have “really been saved,” and then to have REALLY LOST HIS SALVATION???)
Anyway, since it is “by grace you have been saved,” (Eph. 2:8) and since these people had “fallen from grace,” (Gal. 5:4), and since there is “salvation in no one else,” (Acts 4:12) and as these ex-Christians had been “severed from Christ,” (Gal. 5:4), severed from the one and only source of salvation in the universe, by what means Dear Baptists, if these people are STILL SAVED, by what means other than Christ (from whom they are separated) are they now being saved??? They are severed from Christ and severed from grace. But you say they are saved. You must be advocating then a means of salvation that doesn’t need either Christ or grace. By what means then are these people NOW being saved??? What are the details- the “nuts and bolts” of this theory??? Are they being saved by BUDDHA maybe? Because according to your Bible, it sure ain’t by Jesus anymore!!! Maybe you should read your Bible once in a while- you know, practice what you preach. What a concept!
“Truly I say to you, all sins shall be
forgiven the sons of men...but *whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
NEVER HAS FORGIVENESS, but is guilty of an ETERNAL SIN.” Mark 3:28,29 *Even a Christian.
“For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will NOT FORGIVE YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS.” Matthew 6:14,15 Let’s suppose that while reading the Old Testament one day, a Christian gets really angry at BibleGod for all the innocent men and women, children, and even unborn, that were murdered because that was what BibleGod commanded the Jews to do. (See Exodus 32:27, or Exodus 20:5, or Hosea 13:16, or Numbers 31:15-18) And let’s suppose that he gets so mad at BibleGod that he blasphemes both BibleGod and the Holy Spirit of BibleGod. And also, as the anger builds, he refuses to forgive the minister who couldn’t explain away all the atrocities of this God of “love.” Now, according to the words of Jesus, this man will never receive forgiveness for these sins. Which means that these sins will always be on his hands. And since BibleGod will not tolerate sin in his heaven, this Christian must end up in the other place after he dies. This would be a very clear case of a Christian losing his faith through Bible study, and thus also losing his salvation. A perfect example of the falsity of “once saved, always saved.”
“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If ANYONE adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; AND IF ANYONE (Hey Baptists! Does the word “Anyone” also include saved Baptists???) takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, GOD SHALL TAKE AWAY HIS PART FROM THE TREE OF LIFE AND FROM THE HOLY CITY, which are written in this book.” Revelation 22: 18&19 Well, gee, this sure sounds to me like a clear refutation of the “once saved, always saved” party line. It does say “anyone,” which would include even Baptist Christians. And it does say that these Christians were saved- they had their part of the tree of life already reserved. And then it goes on to say that BibleGod would CANCEL their reservation and keep them out of heaven, out of the “holy city.” Unless, of course, the Baptists have a special heaven all to themselves where they don’t need the “tree of life” to live forever, and don’t need to live in the “holy city” with BibleGod. In fact, maybe the Baptists are actually planning to boycott heaven just like they boycotted Disney World, because BibleGod has been too inclusive of people they don’t like. Maybe they DO have their own secret heaven???
“Every one who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15 “Everyone” here includes saved Christians. Even the idea of hating “his brother” would indicate this is directed towards inter-Christian relationships. A Christian would not refer to a Pagan as his “brother”, but rather to a fellow Christian. And it says that the Christian who hates his brother has no eternal life. He was saved, then he hated his brother in Christ, and now as a result he has become UNsaved.
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I hope that this study will come in useful. It would be good to use in deflating any Baptist friends who are bugging you to buy into their myth. And you could even quote to them the Bible (not that it would do any good, though- remember, these are HARD SHELLED Baptists!), as it is written in Hebrews 3:12 "Take care, brethren, lest thereshould be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God."
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Links to Other Web Sites dealing with "Once Saved, Always Saved"
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