God saved Israel, but they perished in the wilderness. Christians can be saved from sin but lost eternally. These two statements are not only parallel; they are true. Ahithophel was David’s trusted advisor–until he turned against him. Would anyone argue that he fell out of favor with David when he decided to counsel Absalom? Judas was numbered among the twelve apostles of the Lord, but Jesus said it would have been better for him never to have been born (Matt. 26:24). Why? The greater punishment presumes that he was an actual apostle of the Lord’s–one who fell; otherwise, he would be no worse off than anyone else that rejected Jesus.
Yet despite the obvious and oft-repeated fact that saved people can be lost, a few Calvinists still try to maintain their old doctrine: “once saved, always saved.” There is scarcely any false doctrine easier to refute, yet they cling to it. Most people recognize the error of it just because it violates common sense. We know from our own experience that one positive action is never sufficient to maintain a relationship. Do a man and woman say “I love you” only one time? When they say, “I do,” is no further effort required to maintain that relationship?
Yet Calvinists think that a one-time acknowledgment that “Jesus is Lord” is sufficient for anyone to be saved eternally. Even if saying, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” were sufficient to obtain salvation (which it is not, because repentance and baptism are missing), it would certainly not be sufficient to keep a relationship going. Theoretically, a person cannot ever be lost once he utters those words.
Those who hold to this false doctrine actually appeal to the Scriptures to establish their case. What verses do they use?
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life… (John 3:36).
Most assuredly, 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 (John 5:22-24).
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life (John 6:47).
All of these verses say that believers in Jesus have everlasting life. But none of these verses says anything to substantiate the “once saved, always saved” theory. They do not say: 1) that faith only is sufficient; 2) that no conditions are needed to maintain this relationship, or 3) that everlasting life cannot be lost. Permanent salvation is an assumption; Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me has eternal life, and he cannot possibly lose it.”
1 John 3:15, by implication, says that true brethren have eternal life abiding in them (since a murderer could not have). The argument is made that if a person has eternal life abiding in him, he could not possibly lose it. Such is an erroneous conclusion, however, not Biblical teaching. If a person has love for God abiding in him, yet can lose it, why can he not possess the result of that love (eternal life) and lose it as well? Causes have effects. Love of God and obedience to His will causes one to have eternal life abiding in Him. When that love diminishes, so will one’s obedience, and God will withdraw the eternal life that had been granted him. We will demonstrate the correctness of this view after examining one more passage that is used to justify the Calvinistic position.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).
This is an outstanding passage describing the security of the believer. It is designed to comfort all of those who are Christians and who desire protection from the evil one. The good shepherd (John 10:11) is able to lead us successfully. But notice that eternal life is contingent upon something–the sheep hearing and following the shepherd. There is no promise here that Jesus will save us in spite of ourselves. If the shepherd says, “Follow Me through this narrow passageway,” but the sheep says, “I want to wander around this hill where there is more room,” whose fault will it be if the sheep falls to its death? The sheep must follow the shepherd. Security for the believer exists, but it is tied to obedience.
The first danger of the “once saved, always saved” doctrine is that it is false. The second danger is that it may lead to a life of disobedience in which an individual begins to ignore the Scriptures and to live immorally because he is convinced that he will be saved regardless. Notice that we do not charge any Calvinist with teaching that the Word of God should be ignored. We have never known anyone to convince people to become Christians, and when they do (or think they do), tell them, “Now go on your way and sin all you want. You cannot possibly jeopardize your salvation.”
But Calvinists defend such an absurd position! Of course, they will teach “converts” to study the Word of God. They will encourage them to attend worship. They will exhort them to draw closer to God and to live holy lives. The bottom line is, however, that they will tell them they are saved if they do none of those things. The “once saved, always saved” doctrine for some is the “You can have your cake and eat it too” teaching. Simply put (as a Calvinist thinks), once one has confessed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, he is saved and granted at that moment eternal life which he cannot ever lose. Therefore, he can wallow in sin to his heart’s content and still be saved on the day of judgment. What a deal! Talk about having the best of both worlds! If something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. In this case, it definitely isn’t. The Bible soundly refutes this lie of Satan (John 8:44).
Although we are not under the old covenant that God made with Israel, we can notice that their physical salvation was not unconditional. The book of Judges shows repeatedly that their departure from the faith brought punishment upon them. Eventually God allowed His people to be taken captive because of their disobedience. But prior to these punishments, the book of Numbers contains numerous occasions in which those who left Egypt died in various rebellions in the wilderness. Somewhere along the line we ought to get the message that God punishes sin–even when (or especially when) it involves His own people.
God clearly articulates His view in Ezekiel 33:12-16:
“Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die” (Ezek. 33:12-13).
“Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live” (Ezek. 33:14-16).
God’s final view of an individual (the one that will prevail in the day of judgment) depends not upon any one-time act or even years of righteous living. Fifty years of righteousness cannot deliver the one who departs into the realm of iniquity during the latter portion of his life. No one should think that the first fifty years will offset even so much as six months of practicing evil. These two verses fairly shout: THE RIGHTEOUS CAN BE LOST!
Likewise, a lifetime of evil can be repented of. One can have practiced evil for fifty years but have a change of heart and be saved. This writer knew a man who had successfully resisted goodness for many years. He eventually obeyed the gospel but had difficulty overcoming alcohol. He came forward and repented. Within days of this decision he was struck from behind and killed while driving (sober) just a few blocks from his house. Ironically, his wife who led him to the Lord died as an unfaithful member. Our willingness to obey is the basis for God’s judgment. The wicked can be saved; the righteous can be lost.
Jesus Himself refutes this “once saved, always saved” doctrine. The Lord does not list percentages, but He contrasts the number of saved (few) with the number lost (many) (Matt. 7:13-14). But if everyone who confessed at some time in his life that Jesus is the Son of God were saved, the figures would be reversed. Furthermore, He states plainly, “Not everyone who SAYS to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES THE WILL of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). How could Jesus make it any plainer that salvation does not depend on what one says–but upon what one does? A one-time confession is no substitute for a lifetime of loving obedience. This corresponds to Ezekiel 33.
Luke reports Jesus as saying: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?” How would Jesus have answered someone who said, “Lord, I have confessed You, and I have eternal life abiding in me now, and I cannot lose it; so why should I do what You say?” If “once saved, always saved” is the truth, Jesus would have had to say, “I stand corrected.” But virtually everyone knows that He would have replied, “I am your Lord only so long as you keep My commandments. When you depart from them, you depart from Me, also.”
Peter told Simon that his heart was not right and that he needed to repent (Acts 8:22). He did not tell him that he was never converted and that he needed to be baptized again. Nor did Simon retort, “I have eternal life abiding in me. Therefore, I can be poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity and still be saved” (Acts 8:23). Instead he asked Peter to pray for him.
Paul writes: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6:12). But if one is eternally saved, what difference does it make? Why does Peter say of Christians who are overcome by lusts that “the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2 Peter 2:20)?
Why does Jesus warn His disciples against the doctrine (leaven) of the Sadducees and the Pharisees (Matt. 16:11-12)? Why does Paul say to mark those who teach things contrary to the doctrine they had learned (Rom. 16:17-18)? If Christians are saved to the degree that they cannot possibly be lost no matter what, then it makes no difference what a person believes any more than it matters what he does. He may believe any false teaching and engage in any immorality he desires.
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). This verse can have no meaning, if it is impossible for a “Christian” to fall. And how can a Christian be a stumbling block? Yet Paul affirms that a weak brother might perish (8:11).
Paul admonishes brethren in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith. Can Christians depart from the faith and still be saved? Paul said even of himself that he disciplined his body to bring it unto subjection, lest after preaching to others, he himself might become disqualified (1 Cor. 9:27).
The book of Galatians is addressed to Christians in the churches of that region. They had been troubled by the Judaizing teachers who insisted that Christians keep the law of Moses. Paul writes: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). Can someone fall from grace? Not only is it possible; Paul said it had already occurred. One cannot fall from a height to which he had never attained in the first place. One cannot lose salvation unless he once possessed it. They were Christians, but they were now giving heed to another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), which resulted in their falling from grace–losing what they had.
Paul wrote to Timothy that Hymenaeus and Philetus were overthrowing the faith of some (2 Tim. 2:18). The book of Hebrews contains a multitude of warnings for the Christian. “How shall we escape [punishment, gws] if we neglect so great salvation… ?” (Heb. 2:1-4). The writer of the letter is asking a rhetorical question. We shall not escape punishment if we are guilty of neglecting our great salvation. We shall be punished, but cannot lose the eternal life abiding in us? Such an idea is preposterous. Christians can also fall short of entering the rest God has awaiting them (Heb. 4:1). God says: “If anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” Oh, but He will be saved anyway. How absurd! Those who adhere to the “once saved, always saved” doctrine have God actually saving a person whom His soul abhors. Who can believe it?
James states that a brother can wander away from the truth; the one who brings him back “will save a soul from death” (James 5:19-20). His soul would have been eternally lost–even though he at one time had eternal life abiding in him. Many other Scriptures could be examined which establish this point. The New Testament consistently refutes the error of “once saved, always saved.” We have an ongoing relationship with the Father. No one-time confession or series of good works forever ensures salvation. Spiritual development is essential (2 Peter 1:5-11). Through continuous efforts and obedience we make our calling and election sure.
When we obey the gospel, our names are written in the book of life. We have eternal life, but we can lose it. How do we know? The Bible tells us that our names can be blotted out of the book of life (Rev. 3:5). They were there; we were saved, but salvation can be lost. To keep our names in the book we must overcome and keep the faith. Let us not pay heed to some enticing but false doctrine of eternal security; let us abide by the teaching of the Scriptures.