Once Saved Always Saved? Part 1 of 2

Q. Heb 6:4 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, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

Can you explain “Once Saved, Always Saved”? Can a truly born-again Christian walk away from God and lose his position as God’s child?

I will answer the primary question before addressing Heb 6:4-8. The primary issue is whether our salvation ultimately depends on God’s promise or on us. My position is it depends on God, not our ability to hang on. Let us review two passages of what God promised:

• John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
• Rom 8:33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The conclusion is no enemy is greater than God to snatch us out of the Lord’s and the Father’s hands. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The natural question is, “OK, no one is greater than God, but can’t we walk away from God ourselves?”

My response depends on whether that person is really a born-again Christian. If he is a genuine Christian, then God will discipline a wayward child to bring him back:

• Heb 12:5  and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

However, if he is a counterfeit Christian, then his walking away from God is a case of:

• 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

They are Christians in name only, but their lack of perseverance shows that they do not have saving faith and were not truly born-again.

Books have been written by both proponents and opponents of eternal security to support their position. Space does not allow me to address their arguments in this short article, but the above sums up my view.

(To be continued)

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing (Counselling A Gambler’s Family 2)

As promised, we visited the gambler the next time, only to discover the situation far more complicated because of the behavior of a black sheep in the church family. It turned out that the gambler had previously attended church for as long as two years. He didn’t become a Christian then, but became friends with a number of brothers and sisters, including a couple who offered to sell them a piece of land for a store. Another sister, unrelated to the transaction, drafted the purchase agreement for them. The amount was to be settled by a deposit, plus two equal installments for the balance, using post-dated cheques.

The vendor couple had an evil scheme up their sleeves. They stalled on signing the buy-sell agreement, claiming that some words need to be changed. When closing date came, they convinced the gambler buyer that since they knew each other well, they really don’t need to wait for the agreement to be amended. All they needed were the cheques and a hand-shake to seal the deal. The buyer took the bait, and wrote the vendor 2 cheques with consecutive numbers. The vendor cashed the first cheque immediately, but presented the second cheque to the bank before its due date. When the bank refused to honor it, he took the NSF cheque to the buyer, claimed that it bounced, and demanded a replacement. The buyer did not realize that it was a plot, wrote them a third cheque, numbered later than the first two, but omitted to demand the second NSF cheque back, thus falling into the vendors’ trap.

The vendors again tried to cash the third cheque before it’s due. When it bounced again, they sued the buyers for defrauding them with rubber cheques. They claimed that the verbal agreement was for a deposit plus 3 equal installments for the remaining balance, two of which bounced. Initially everyone in church believed them, for they were “Christians”, while the buyer was a known gambler. The gambler and his wife were extremely frustrated, as no one would believe them even though they were telling the truth. In desperation, they sought out the sister who drafted the un-executed agreement for help. She asked the bank for photocopies of all three cheques, noted their numbers and dates, and surmised that the vendors were lying.

She went with a church leader to confront the vendors, asking them to drop the charges as they knew the whole truth. They refused. They were willing to “sell” their souls for a mere few thousand dollars. The love of money is indeed the root of all kinds of evil. The case went to court and dragged on for more than a year, but righteousness won because the sister and brother testified against the “Christian” couple and exposed their plot. The couple left town and moved to another city. Besides leaving a very bitter spirit within the gambler against Christians, the biggest loss was sustained by the church and the cause of Christ, as unbelievers use this as an example of the hypocrisy of Christians and the futility of believing in Christ.

When Satan attacks, he knows where to cause the biggest damage. He will try to trip up Christian leaders and cause their downfall, bringing many people down with them. At the very least, he will use the bad testimony of weak or nominal Christians to hurt Christ’s name. Be on your guard against the devil’s devices. Put on the full armor of God. Pray for your leaders, especially pastors and missionaries who are on the front line. Do your part in the spiritual battle.

We ended up witnessing to the gambler, the friend he was chatting with when we arrived, plus another Chinese customer who dropped in for a visit. What will be the end result? Only the Lord knows. But do what you can, with what you have, while you can. Every little bit counts. God does not waste time, neither should we.