Once save always save?

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Permalink Reply by Seek on December 29, 2014 at 6:39am

Verse after verse tells us that if we believe in Jesus, we will be saved THROUGH Christ.  Because He died for our sins, He made us righteous and by believing in Him, we grow to be more like Him. 

John 15 says “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

If we remain in Him (the Word - for the Word became flesh/Christ) we will bear fruit. 

1 John 2:19 tells us ^"They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."

So if we remain in the Word and don't leave then we belong to Christ.  If we don't, then we never did belong. 

Once we belong to Christ, Romans 14:4 says And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Since God's Word is truth, He is able to make those who are truly saved stand, therefore, they are always saved.  Using it to excuse bad behavior is not the intent.  One can go to church for a time, act saved, even think they are, but called upon God for the wrong reasons.  They didn't truly believe they sinned or had a heart change that left them wanting to turn to God and be more like Christ.  They just wanted a way out of their troubles or other reasons.  They didn't really believe in Christ.  Those who do will stay in the Word.  They may act badly at times, but they're grieved by those actions.  That doesn't mean we carry that grief around either.  We take it to God and ask that He help us overcome those areas where we fall short. 

The short of it is, if we are TRULY in Christ and Christ is in us, we will be saved...we will spend eternity with God.  God's Word says it, therefore it is true.  God is faithful and does not go back on His Word.  So when we're truly saved, we are saved...always...period.

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Permalink Reply by Mikel on January 1, 2015 at 12:05pm

thanks a lot seek.  i got the point that it must be the ones who are truly saved. only God knows who are truly saved. and we only know them much clearer by the evidence of their fruit.

i was asking this because there was a pastor who really faithfully served Christ for some years and indeed the fruit of the Holy spirit is clearly seen on him, but later in time he texted his other pastor friends that he is now a Muslim. and as muslims i think Jesus is just a prophet and so not God. and i think he was a child of  God in the past but didnt remain in Him Christ, so he lost it. it is also possible that he is really not a genuine Christian in the first place after all. but indeed the fruit of the holy spirit was really seen in him..and that it makes me think once saved not always saved. but there are those who are saved and are always saved because they remain in Christ until now.... Hebrews also talks about drifting away and that we need to be careful with our walk in God. thanks a lot seek for the insights.

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Permalink Reply by Seek on January 1, 2015 at 1:29pm

In this instance I'd go by the one verse 1 John 2:19 tells us "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."

Then temper it with us not knowing another's heart. If he wasn't truly saved then he's lost. If he is saved God's able to make him stand and can draw him back.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on January 3, 2015 at 12:42pm

I agree with Seek on her Scripture usage for that pastor. Many people grow up in a Christian home & they know how to walk the walk & talk the talk. It's a heart condition. Those are the ones that I say 'play church'. Some are prideful & want to be in command so they stand in the pulpits spewing the word of God & speak His words but not with His following or His Spirit. It may have appeared that the Spirit spoke through him because he based it on the word. Who knows, he could have been taking other sermons from Spirit-filled men of God? That's why we are to be in prayer at all times & to be led by the Spirit in us. From Christianity to Muslim is quite the leap. 

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on January 3, 2015 at 11:49am

You have made an interesting statement here. Is God the only One who knows those who are truly saved? 

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Permalink Reply by Mikel on January 14, 2015 at 8:37pm

I believe God knows everything. And for us to know is to pray and ask God if these people are truly saved. But in my bible readings, it was said that by their fruit we will know them. For no good tree wil bear bad fruit nor a bad tree wil bear good fruit.. i will check on the bible verse for this.

Now here it is tammy.

Matthew 6:16to20-By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

I hope this helps tammy.

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Permalink Reply by Mikel on January 14, 2015 at 8:25pm

Thank you Seek, now it is clear to me that we can loose our salvation.. i was able to read also these following verses in my bible reading:

Hebrews6:4 to 6- It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Heb 10:26to29-If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Here's another verse also
-2Peter 2:20 to 21- If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

These are heavy and direct to the point verses in the Bible. What can you say about these bros and sisters?

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Permalink Reply by Seek on January 15, 2015 at 6:15am

Well I believe that because it says ^"They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." shows that they never truly belonged.  And probably why they kept on sinning. 

The first verse says they cannot be brought back to repentance, but does it mean they lost their salvation?  Hard one to figure out.  But it's certainly speaking of those who tasted the heavenly gift and received the Holy Spirit...which only the saved can do. 

The second says received the "knowledge".  That doesn't mean they were saved, but they were told of God, they know about Him, but they kept sinning anyway.

The last is somewhat like the first.  It doesn't mention whether they lose their salvation or go to hell.  When we read about being caught up into the third heaven, it seems there are levels of heaven.  The highest level is what we want to obtain, but perhaps there are other levels for those who were saved but fell away?  We will never know until we're there.  Speculation usually makes my brain hurt.  LOL

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Permalink Reply by ScribeD on January 15, 2015 at 1:47am

Dear Mikel, I find it's best not to get tied up with what other people say about God's plans. It's better to read His word, study it deeply, and let Him guide you. Allow me to demonstrate what God is telling us in His word about this topic.

Hebrews 12:2 says "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The entire book of Hebrews is written to tell us that if we are turning to and trusting in Christ, He will complete the work He started in us. Let not your heart be troubled. When Jesus sat down at the right hand of he throne of God, He did so with confidence. "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.." (Hebrews 7:25)

When you study out the doctrine of salvation, as the Bible presents it, you find that Jesus Himself takes responsibility for your salvation. What He requires of you is coming to Him and trusting Him, depending on Him and following Him. You could NEVER keep yourself saved any more than you got yourself saved. It comes by receiving the Covenant that Jesus wrote for you with his own blood and carved upon his own body.

God is offering for you to be confident in your salvation, when you are walking in Christ.

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