A Ramble About "Once Saved, Always Saved"

I don’t think I’ve been particularly vague about what I think of this doctrine. No, I definitely haven’t been vague. Polemic, antagonistic, and rejecting yes; but not vague. Many people would accuse me of falling into heresy or false doctrine, or of the worse sin of being “unbiblical.” What is misunderstood in this post-Reformation era is that nothing could be farther from the truth. I take my stand on this directly from both Holy Scripture and the unbroken, Orthodox teaching of the Church as it has stood since the Apostles.

This teaching is also known as the “Perseverance of the Saints,” and was initially introduced in modern times during the Reformation. In particular, it was promoted by John Calvin and later became an integral part of the Calvinist theology. Today, put in layman’s terms, it simply teaches that all those who have truly put their faith in Christ, “accepted Christ”, can never lose their salvation regardless of what they do or say. They are locked into it.

On the surface, this sounds great, and it is often promoted as a great comfort, and it does sound very comforting. The problem with this teaching, is that it runs contradictory to a number of passages of Sacred Scripture while professing to uphold a number of others, essentially pitting Scripture against Scripture. Furthermore, it requires that the teaching of the Church on salvation since ancient times be thrown out entirely and viewed as somehow heretical. The teaching itself is comparatively very recent (within the last five hundred years), and proponents of it presume that those Saints who lived prior to it either weren’t “saved”, or the salvific mechanism was in place regardless of their understanding of it. The presumption is made that somehow the Gospel was either taught incompletely, or not fully received until the Reformation.

Another problem arises in the practical application of this teaching. All too often, the state of one’s eternal salvation is considered settled once they make some kind of public, or even private, profession of faith in Christ. Many times one is asked to “pray the prayer”, or is led in some kind of a prayer. Once the person has accomplished this, they are considered “saved” and the “evangelist” moves on to the next lost soul. All too often the person who was “saved” falls back into the same pattern of life they were in. Ironically, if the behavior becomes somehow too immoral the person’s salvation is then somehow questioned as though their acceptance of Christ didn’t somehow “take”.

In dealing with this topic I know I’m going to have to be very careful because of the tangled mess this teaching has caused, and because of the number of issues involved, and confused. For example, the “faith versus works” controversy often arises in discussing this issue. Also, the issue arises as to whether or not we could ever do something which God couldn’t or wouldn’t forgive. Also, some bring up the argument as to whether or not we could ever lose God’s love, as though this might play into it. Always Holy Scripture is used to justify each and every position, contradictory or not. Always, the ancient teaching of the Church, and it’s interpretation of Holy Scripture, is ignored, and treated as somehow heretical.

So, let’s touch briefly on what the ancient Church had to say about this issue from those documents and writers accepted by the Church as Orthodox:

“We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation. Otherwise, the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, may hurl us forth from our life.” (The Epistle of Barnabas written between 70 and 130 AD.)

“Let us therefore repent with the whole heart, so that none of us perish by the way. ... Let us then practice righteousness so that we may be saved unto the end.” (Second Clement, written around 150 AD)

“Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.” (Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, around 180 AD)

“It is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope, nor the endurance of one day; rather, ‘he that endures to the end will be saved.’” (Clement of Alexandria, writing around 195 AD)

“No one is a Christian but he who perseveres to the end.” (Tertullian, Presbyter at Carthage, writing around 197 AD)

“You are still in the world. You are still in the battlefield. You daily fight for your lives. So you must be careful that ... what you have begun to be with such a blessed commencement will be consummated in you. It is a small thing to have first received something. It is a greater thing to be able to keep what you have attained. Faith itself and the saving birth do not make alive by merely being received. Rather, they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God. The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said, ‘Look! You have been made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’ ... Solomon, Saul, and many others were able to keep the grace given to them so long as they walked in the Lord’s ways. However, when the discipline of the Lord was forsaken by them, grace also forsook them.” (Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, written around 250 AD)

“As to one who again denies Christ, no special previous standing can be effective to him for salvation. For anyone of us will hold it necessary that whatever is the last thing to be found in a man in this respect, that is where he will be judged. All of those things that he has previously done are wiped away and obliterated.” (Cyprian’s Treatise on Re-Baptism, written around 257 AD)

“True repentance makes a man cautious and diligent to avoid the faults into which he has once fallen through treachery. No one can be so prudent and so cautious as not at some time to slip. Therefore, God, knowing our weakness, out of His compassion has opened a harbor of refuge for man--that the medicine of repentance might aid this necessity to which our frailty is liable.” (Lactantius, Christian tutor writing between 304 and 313 AD)

I could go on, but then this would become a book rather than a Ramble. The teaching and understanding of the Church, even prior to the first Council of Nicea in 325 AD was quite clear and also followed after what Jesus Himself actually said in the Gospels. In short, if, after a person has accepted Christ and been baptized, he continues in his sin and does not repent he will not be saved. The teaching of the Church is also clear that struggling with one’s sin, and making mistakes, and backsliding, and even kicking and screaming are understood to be a part of the process of spiritual maturity. The key here is repentance and confession and turning away from the things you’ve done wrong and turning to God.

In short, our salvation requires our cooperation. What state in which end is far more important than what state in which we begin our faith in Christ. Ezekiel 18:21-30 says:

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die.
Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.” (ESV)

Another passage to consider is 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. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (ESV)

Also, 1 John 1:5-10,

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (ESV)

Where then, if it is possible to fall away, is our hope, our assurance, our comfort? How could anyone feel secure knowing that it was possible to fail? Let me ask this question, why would anyone bother to make progress in their faith if it wasn’t possible to fail?

But, here is our hope in Jesus Christ that if we fall, He will raise us back up. If we sin, He will forgive. But here is also our warning, that if we treat His blood as nothing, and take it for granted, and do not repent of it, He will not open the door for us. He will ask who we are and send us away violently. God is not stupid (as all too often we treat Him). He knows who His friends are, and who they aren’t. He knows with whom He has a solid relationship, and who only pay Him lip-service. He knows those who love Him but are visibly struggling, and those who could care less about Him but appear to have it all together.

Those who profess faith in Christ and then deny Him by their actions will also be denied by Him because, contrary to popular theology, faith and actions are not opposing forces. They are one and the same. It can equally be said that one is saved by both faith alone and one saved by actions alone. Faith is action, and action is faith. You will never act on a belief you do not possess. In the same way, you will never fail to act on a belief you do possess. Whether what you say you believe and what you actually believe are the same thing is another matter entirely and requires deep introspection and complete honesty with yourself and God who is more than willing and capable of helping you in this regard. (Often we want to believe that we believe something, when in fact we believe something quite contrary to what we want to believe we believe. This is, I think, another aspect of the Disorder to which we are all subject that we do not want to be totally honest with ourselves because it could reveal some flaw within us which we do not wish to see, but I digress...)

Our final salvation is not locked down until the day we finally shed this body. Until then, we will fight. We will win some battles against our selves, and lose others. And always God has His hand outstretched to us calling us to learn from those mistakes and failures and return to Him where He can and will lift us up. If we cry out “God have mercy on me, a sinner!” He will hear us, even if it is with our dying breath. If we walk away from Him never to return, even if no one else knows it, He hears those silent footsteps too, and mourns.