Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Got Questions? Let me help

Hey there everybody. I'm new here and really excited about doing this. What I want to do is set it up so that you the reader can email me or post me or something with a question, and I will do my best to give a firm, biblical answer. And if in time no one seems to have any, I will then post some popular questions with the best biblical asnwer I could find.

It is important to note that anything and everything I say on here is meant with the utmost respect, and for the purpose of educating and informing those of you who read. It is meant with the love of Christ. That said, please, enjoy my blog.

Oh, and my email is godstruth4you@yahoo.com for those of you who want to send in a question.

The fact of "Once Saved, Always Saved" (OSAS)- a biblical response to Brother D

Recently my (ex)girlfriend and I had gotten into a discussion about the OSAS ordeal and she pointed me to a blog on this very site, and I read it, and even wrote a piece by piece rubutal to it. Yeah, it was that bad. But instead of posting that rediculously long piece of work here, I decided to do something else. I decided to post the 6 most asked questions concerning the topic and answer them using a combonation of good eisegesis (biblical interpretation) and common logic. So, I hope you enjoy it as much has I enjoyed writing it.

Can a Christian Lose Salvation?
First we must determine what we mean by Christian. It is not someone that just looks the part, but a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9)

With this definition in mind, let us look at some examples of what the Bible says about salvation and look at what losing salvation would entail.

A Christian is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) This verse speaks of a person becoming and entirely new creature as the result of being “in Christ”. For a Christian to Loose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.

A Christian is redeemed. (1 Peter 1:18-19) The word redeemed means something being purchased, and a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.

A Christian is justified. (Romans 5:1) To justify means to declare righteous, so all who receive Jesus are declared as such. For a Christian to lose salvation God would have to go back on His Word and un-declare what He had previously declared.
A Christian is promised eternal life. (John 3:16) The promise of eternal life is a promise of eternity in Heaven with God, but for a Christian to lose salvation eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how can God break His promise taking eternal life away?

A Christian is guaranteed glorification. (Romans 8:30) Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in Heaven, but if a Christian can lose salvation, Romans 8:30 is in error because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.

There are many more examples, but these all adequately share that a Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says concerning a person that receives Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. But salvation cannot be reversed; a Christian cannot be un-newly created, redemption cannot be undone, eternal life cannot be lost and still be considered eternal, and if a Christian can lose salvation, then God would have to go back on His Word, something Scripture says He never does.

Here are the two most frequent objections that will also be discussed later:
1. What about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle?
2. What about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ?

The underlying problem with both of these is the assumption “are Christians”.
1. The Bible says a Christian will not continue an immoral lifestyle (1 John 3:6)
2. The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he/she never truly was a Christian (1 John 2:19)

So after examining these examples, the answer is simply no, a Christian cannot lose salvation. According to Romans 8:38-39, nothing can separate us from God’s love, and nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand according to John 10-28-29. In Jude 24-25, we are shown that God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation status He has given us.

Is Eternal Security a “License” to Sin?
The most frequent objection to the idea of eternal security is the idea that it will allow for Christians to do what they want when they want without consequence. To examine this, we must determine how a Christian should live and what a person must do to receive salvation.

The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (John 3:16; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). Once a person believes in Christ, they are secure in that salvation; it is not that salvation is gained by faith and then maintained by works. Paul addressed this situation directly in his letter to Galatia when he said, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (3:3) If we are saved by faith, our salvation is secured and maintained by faith. We cannot earn our own salvation; therefore we cannot earn the maintenance of our salvation either. It is God who maintains our salvation, as exampled in Jude verse 24. It is God’s hand that holds us firmly in His grasp (John 10:28-29) and it is God’s love that nothing can separate us from (Romans 8:38-39).

Any denial of eternal security is pretty much saying that we must secure our salvation by works. This is very antithetical to salvation by grace. We are saved because of Christ, not our own (Romans 4:3-8) and to claim that we must obey God’s Word to live a godly life to keep our salvation is equal to saying that Jesus’ death was not sufficient to pay for all of our sins. Jesus’ death was, however, sufficient to pay for all our sins, past, present, and future; pre-salvation and post-salvation (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

So does this mean that a Christian can live and do as they please? This is a hypothetical question when one considers Scripture as a whole. The Bible makes it clear that a true Christian will not live anyway they want; they are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17); they demonstrate the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). 1 John 3:6-9 tells us that a true Christian will not live in continual sin. In response to the accusation that grace promotes sin, the Apostle Paul addresses this in Romans 6:1-2 when he says "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

Eternal security is not a license to sin, but it is the security of knowing that God’s love is guaranteed for those who trust in Christ. Knowing and understanding God’s tremendous gift of salvation accomplishes the opposite of license to sin. How could you when you know the price that Jesus paid for us go on to live in sin (Romans 6:15-23)? How could you when you understand God’s unconditional and guaranteed love for those who believe, take that love and throw it back in God’s face? Such person does not demonstrate eternal security but rather that they have never truly experienced salvation through Christ (1 John 3:6).

Once Saved Always Saved?
When people come into a relationship with Christ, they are bought into a relationship with God that guarantees their salvation as eternally secure. Many verses of Scripture declare this fact, as will be shown here:

a) Romans 8:30 says, “And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” This verse tells us that from the moment God chooses us, it is as if we are glorified in His presence in heaven. There is not a single thing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is glorified, his salvation is guaranteed and he is secure as if he’d already been glorified.

b) In Romans 8:33-34, Paul says, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Who will bring charge against God’s chosen? No one, because Christ is our advocate. Who will condemn us? No one will, because Christ is the one who condemns. We have both the advocate and the judge as our savior.

c) Believers are born again, or regenerated, when they believe (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). For one to lose their salvation, he would have to be un-regenerated, but the Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away.

d) The Holy Spirit indwells all believers (John 14:17; Romans 8:9) and baptizes believers into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). For one to become unsaved, he would be un-indwelt and detached from the body of Christ.

e) John 3:15 states that whoever believes in Christ will have eternal life. If you believe in Christ today and have eternal life, but lose it tomorrow, then it was never eternal at all. So if you lose your salvation the promise of eternal life in the Bible was in error.

f) The most conclusive argument is found in Romans 8:38-39, and it’s so good, that I gotta list here for you to read. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The same God who saved you is the same God who will keep you, and once we are saved, our salvation is eternally secure.

Is Eternal Security Biblical?
When one becomes saved, they are bought into a relationship with God the gives them eternal security. Jude 24 says, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” God’s power is able to keep the believer from falling, and it is up to Him, not us, to present us before His glorious presence. Our eternal security is a result of God keeping us, not us maintaining our own salvation.

The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28-29b). Both Jesus and the Father have us firmly grasped in their hand. Who could possibly separate us from the grip of both the Father and the Son?

We are sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), but if believers did not have eternal security then the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15 says that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life, but if one is promised eternal life and can then have it taken away, it was never eternal to begin with. If eternal security is in error, then so is the idea of eternal life in the Bible.

Again, the best argument comes out of Romans 8:38-39, because it is so obvious and straightforward. It clearly tells us that not a single thing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus. It is based on God’s love for those who He has redeemed, and our eternal security is purchased by the Son, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

If our salvation is eternally secure, why does the Bible warn so strongly against apostasy?
The reason the Bible warns against apostasy is because conversion is measured by spiritual fruit. When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River, he warned those who thought they were righteous to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:7). Jesus told them that every tree could be identified by its fruit (Matthew 7:16) and that every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and burned (Matthew 7:19).

These are meant to counter what has been called “easy-believism”, meaning that following Jesus is more than saying you are a Christian. Anyone can claim Christ, but those who are really saved bear visible fruit. So what is meant by fruit? The clearest example given is in Galatians 5:22-23 where Paul gives us a description of the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There are more, such as praise and winning souls for Christ, but this list provides a good summary of Christian attitudes. True believers will manifest these in their lives to an increasing degree as they progress in their Christian walk (2 Peter 1:5-8).

It is these disciples that have the guarantee of eternal security, and they will persevere to the end, and there is so much Scripture that bears this out. Romans 8:29-30 outlines the golden chain of salvation by pointing out that those foreknew by God were predestined, called, and justified, with no loss along the way. Philippians 1:6 says that the work of God began in us, and He will also finish. Ephesians 1:13-14 says that God sealed us with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance until we have it. John 10:29 says that no one is able to take God’s sheep out of His hand. There are many other verses that say the same thing, that true believers are eternally secure in their salvation.

Passages warning against apostasy serve two purposes. First, they exhort true believers to double check their calling and election. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine ourselves to see whether we are in faith. If believers are fruit bearing followers of Christ, then we will see evidence of their salvation. Christians bear fruit in varying degrees based on their obedience and spiritual gifts, but they all bear fruit, and we should see the evidence of that when self examined.

Now there will be times in a Christian’s life when they sin that there will be no visible fruit due to their disobedience, but what happens during this time of prolonged disobedience is that God removes the assurance of salvation from us, but not the actual salvation itself. That is why David prayed in Psalm 51 to restore him to the “joy of salvation” (verse 12). We lose this joy when we live in sin, and that is why we must examine ourselves. When a true Christian examines them self and sees no recent fruit, it should lead to serious repentance and a returning to God.

The second big reason for the passage is to point out apostates, or someone who abandons their religious faith. It is clear in the Bible that these are people who made professions of faith in Christ, but never really received Him as Savior. Matthew 13:1-9 illustrates this point greatly for us. A sower sows seeds onto four types of soil, and each type is a different response to gospel. The hard soil represents pure rejection, and the other three are levels of acceptance. The rocks and weeds are people who initially respond to the gospel, but when persecution comes (rocky) or cares of the world bear down (weeds), the person turns away. Jesus makes it clear with these two types of responses that they will initially accept, but will never bear fruit. “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom.” (Matthew 7:21)

It seems unusual for the Bible to warn against apostasy and at the same time say that a true believer will never do it, but that is what it says. 1 John 2:19 specifically states that those who do apostasize are demonstrating that they were not true believers, so the biblical warnings against apostasy must be a warning to those who are in the faith without truly having received it. Scriptures such as Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-29 are warnings to pretend believers, telling them to examine themselves and realize that if they are considering apostatizing, they are not truly saved. Matthew 7:22-23 indicates that those pretenders that God rejects are rejected because of the fact that God never knew them, not because they lost faith.

Many want eternal life, and will thus identify themselves with Him, but Jesus warns us to count the cost of discipleship. True believers count those costs, fake ones do not, and apostates are people who, when they leave the faith, show that they never were saved in the first place (1 John 2:19). Apostasy is not a loss of salvation, but a revealing that salvation never really happened.

Does Hebrews 6:4-6 mean we can lose our salvation?
Hebrews 6:4-6 states, “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.” This is one of the Bible’s most difficult passages to interpret, but one thing is clear—it does not teach that we can lose our salvation.

There are two valid ways to look at this verse:
One says that this passage refers to unbelievers who are convinced of the basic truths of the gospel but have not placed their faith in Christ. They are persuaded in the mind, but not spiritually committed.

According to this, “once enlightened” means to some level of instruction in biblical truth, but understanding the words in Scripture is not the same as being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. For example, John 1:9 describes Jesus, the “true Light,” giving light “to every man”; but this cannot mean the light of salvation, because not every man is saved. Through God’s sovereign power, every man has enough light to be held responsible. What it does is either leads to complete acceptance of Christ, or produces condemnation in those who reject it. The people here in Hebrews are of the latter group, unbelievers who have been exposed to God’s truth and have made a profession, but never exercise saving faith.

According to this, the phrase “tasted the heavenly gift” is referring to a momentary experience, akin to Jesus’ “tasting death” (Hebrews 2:9). This brief moment with the heavenly gift is not seen as equivalent to salvation, but it is likened to the second and third soils in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13:3-23).

Finally, according to this view, “falling away” is a reference to those who have tasted the truth, but fall away from the revelation they have been given because of their lack of faith. They have to come all the way to Christ in complete repentance and faith, or they re-crucify Jesus and treat Him contemptuously. Those who sin against Christ in such a way have no hope of restoration because they reject Him with full knowledge and experience, but have concluded that Jesus should have died and they stand His enemies. It’s impossible to renew such to repentance.
The other says that this passage is written about Christians and true believers.

According to this view, the key word is in verse six when it says If a Christian falls away, and sets up a hypothetical question. The point being made is that it would be impossible (IF a Christian falls away) to renew salvation because Christ died once for sin (Hebrews 9:28) and if His sacrifice is not good enough, then there is no hope at all.

The passage then presents an argument based on a false premise (that a true Christian can fall away) ad follows it to its senseless conclusion (that Jesus would have to be sacrificed over and over again). The absurdity of the end points to the impossibility of the premise, using a reasoning called reduction ad absurdum, which is a premise disproved by showing that it logically leads to absurdity.

Both these interpretations support the security of believers; the first presents unbelievers rejecting Christ and losing their chance at salvation, and the second view presents the very idea of believers losing salvation as impossible. Many verses make it abundantly clear that salvation is eternal (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:35, 38-39; Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:4-5) and this passage confirms that doctrine.

I hope this has both helped you understand the severity of this subject and has helped you reach a biblical conlusion on the matter. This is the kind of things I do. People ask questions nad I do the best to give them firm, biblical answers. If you have a question, either message me here any way you can (still learning the ropes aroudn here) or email me at godstruth4you@yahoo.com