Once Saved, Always Saved?
In 2009, a gunman ran into a Pittsburgh health club, killed three people and injured nine, then took his own life. A deacon from his church said that the gunman was still going to heaven.
“The Bible makes it clear,” he said, “that professing a faith in Jesus as Savior means you will have complete eternal salvation.” He said his church members “are firm believers in once saved, always saved.”
Is that what that means? That as long as there was a point in your life you were a believer, you could go on a shooting rampage, and you still get to go to heaven? No matter what you do, you’re still saved?
No. That is a distortion of the Doctrine of Eternal Security.
It is by grace that we are saved through faith, not of works… but works still matter.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
The Apostle John wrote:
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil… whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. (1 John 3:10)
Paul said:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel message I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)
So, if you don’t remain in the faith, your moment of belief was just to satisfy some self-serving desire. You did not really worship God.
Hebrews 12 says:
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
At times, we will stumble, but we have these promises:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
If we are faithless, He remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)
It is not enough that at one time you professed faith in Christ. You must finish the race. As Jesus said to His disciples:
The one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)
…When we understand the text!
(This video is by WWUTT. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central.)