Once Saved Always Saved?
Victor A. Feria
St. Michael Apologetics Society
There is an ongoing disagreement between non-Catholics and Catholics on the idea of “once save always saved.” Non-Catholic position is that a person, once saved, cannot lose salvation and is guaranteed eternal salvation no matter what one does. They also claim that losing salvation meant that the person was not saved or had no faith to begin with. They claim that if one has faith that person will live a righteous life and will not lose the faith. However, Scripture never supported this teaching. It is more of a perversion of the idea that one cannot lose salvation. St. Peter warns us on this type of false security:
[2 Peter 3:17] “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men.”
The verses in the following scripture also indicate that people can fall away and lose their faith. This cannot be taken lightly or even ignored. The letter to the Hebrews definitely defined that people can fall away and lose their faith:
[Hebrews 6:4-6] “For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.”
Falling away from the faith meant that at a moment in time you were part of the faith. To start with, you can’t fall away from something you were never a part of. As they claim, that belief in once saved always saved – that when those who fall away from the faith were not truly saved anyway. The previous verse explains that this is not so. It speaks about them being partakers of the Holy Spirit which indicates they were saved and give an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it says if they fall away(commit apostasy) which indicates that it is possible even after being enlightened and receiving the Holy Spirit.
How is this possible? How could someone who is truly saved fall away? Our Lord said that we must remain in him or else will be cut off:
[John 15:4-6] “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.”
This means that those who abide in him and are broken off were believers but did not hold on to their faith. They fell away and were broken off. The obvious explanation is that some start out in the faith but do not stay on thereby losing the salvation that was promised. The following verse shows the once faithful walking out of their faith: Paul wrote as a warning to those who break away:
[1 Timothy 4:1] “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,”
Salvation presupposes that you have faith. We are saved by having faith in the Lord. to have faith to start with then it is possible to unbelieve. The following verse shows what happen to those who have fallen off because of unbelief. It also shows that unbelief is a real possibility:
[Romans 11:20-23] “They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.”
Paul is saying that we must remain, we must continue, we must persevere in the faith or else we will be cut off. one must have faith to begin with if they are expected to persevere in it. He is writing about people who are already grafted into the tree. They already have faith in the Lord they are joined with God’s people and he said they will be cut off because of unbelief. Peter also writes about those who have receive salvation but turn back to a life of sin:
[2 Peter 2:20-22] “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns back to his own vomit”, and “the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.”
He’s showing us that it’s possible for someone who has escaped sin and found salvation to once again return to sin and loses his salvation. The proverbial dog returning to his own vomit ultimately, I believe, the once saved always saved argument is based on a faulty premise-the premise is that we can’t lose something we’ve already attained.
This may be true for those who persevere. However, persevering onto the faith meant that one can fall at any moment because of our free will on his journey unto the final judgement.. But if we continue to persevere without failure then we can have the confidence to attain eternal salvation but not an assurance of salvation. However, the Bible indicates that we have not fully attain salvation yet.
[Matthew 24:13] “But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
Our Salvation has not been completed yet. When we believe and you’re sure, when we come to faith in him, we start the salvation process. We are in the process of being saved. The book of Acts refers to new Converts as those who are being saved:
“… the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” [ Acts 2:47]
Paul says the message of the Gospel is powerful to those who are being saved
[1Corinthians 1:18] “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. “
He also speaks about those who are being saved in contrast with those who are perishing:
[2 Corinthians 2:15] “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,”
The Bible speaks about salvation in past. present, and future tense: We have been saved; we are being saved; and we will be saved. Paul explains that we have already been justified by the blood of the Lord but our Salvation from wrath has not yet happened:
[Romans 5:9-10] “ Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Notice he said we shall be saved through Jesus. It’s only through him that we are able to attain salvation if we remain and insure and endure to the end shall we be saved. We have been saved by grace through faith and we are being saved by remaining in the Lord and we will be saved when he returns i.e., if we endure in our faith to the end.
There are other ways we can lose salvation. Those who believe that “once saved always saved” and if this is a doctrine your faith relies on you will be saddened to find out the inaccuracy or untruth of such teaching as explained here:
[Galatians 5:18-21]“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Is there an assurance of salvation? St. Paul disagrees in the following verses:
[1 Cor 4:1-5] “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God.”
In 1 Cor 4:1-5, Paul, despite his own perception of being righteous refuses to judge himself: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me” Note also that Paul emphasizes that the Lord has the final judgement. Notice that “once Saved” believers may not realize it but they are actually casting judgment onto themselves by declaring themselves “saved”. We cannot judge ourselves as saved! By our being human, being righteous does not give us the assurance of salvation. We may not be aware of some misdeeds in our past.
As shown by the arguments above we can also fall away and thus lose salvation. Persevering to the end gives us the confidence that we will be saved. Notice the difference between confidence and assurance.
How do we know we are saved for sure? The only time we can know that we are surely saved is when we are face-to-face and in communion with God after the final judgment.