Soooo…..let’s talk about it. ‘Once saved – Always saved’; it’s a phrase I’ve heard tossed around and debated amongst Christians ever since I first became aware of the concept of 'getting saved’, over 40 years ago. And I guess the definition or explanation of what it means would vary, depending on who you ask. So let’s dive in and examine this touchy topic more closely.

Most of us have probably heard the statement, if not had it taught to them as ‘truth’…that once a person has ‘placed their trust in Jesus…they can never ‘lose their salvation’. I would think having a better understanding as to what ‘salvation’ is, or what it means to be ‘saved’… including ‘what are we saved from?’…would help to address this concept. And we can circle back to that later; but for now, let me present three general scenarios in how many of us have heard this 'eternal security' explained over the years.

The first scenario is presented with the understanding that ‘salvation’ is like receiving a ‘golden ticket’ of sorts, that ensures, if not ‘guarantees’ …that anyone who has prayed a sincere prayer and ‘accepted Christ as their personal Savior’…that their name is now recorded in God's ‘Book of Life’; and regardless of what happens between that moment and the time they die, they are promised that their soul/spirit will go directly to heaven to be with Jesus for all eternity. You can imagine what a great source of comfort and peace of mind that such a promise would provide to anyone who is anxious about the condition of their soul.

To suggest anything else other than ‘faith’ is needed to ‘qualify’ for such a promise… would be interpreted (by many) to fall under the category of teaching salvation by ‘works’ and/or ‘legalism’. Whether any genuine ‘fruits of repentance’ are evident or not…’salvation’ has nothing to do with anything we say, do, or ‘produce’ in our walk of faith, so we’ve been told. ‘Salvation is a free gift, and not of any ‘works’ lest anyone might boast’. (Eph. 2:8-9)

The second scenario we hear shared regularly …to ‘explain away’ bad fruit in ‘Christian’ people’s lives…is that when a person ‘gets saved’…their ‘spirit is saved’; so regardless of what we see manifested in a person’s life (flesh), or lack thereof…doesn’t really matter. Their ‘flesh is temporal’ but their spirit will live forever in heaven when they die.

And thirdly… when the subject comes up to discuss this idea of whether or not a ‘true believer’ can actually …‘fall away from the faith’, which the Bible has much to say about…then there is usually a nice trite and simple explanation offered up to explain that: “Well they probably were never ‘saved’ to begin with.” How convenient is that?

If you are of the persuasion that salvation through faith in Christ is something akin to making reservations for one of those ‘mansions in the Father’s house’ that Jesus spoke of (John 14:2) which will be waiting for you after you die, then I can go along with this idea that you have a ‘guaranteed room’ waiting on you. But you still have to ‘get there’; and if you are not being ‘led by the Spirit’…which God’s children are… (Rom. 8:14; John 10:27)… then how do you plan on arriving there fully prepared, let alone know where to go in your walk after you first come to Jesus?

I have yet to ever travel somewhere where I made reservations at a hotel…and after I arrived was told they have no record of my name nor a room reservation. Now I would contest this idea that ‘salvation’ is getting a ‘ticket stamped’…and even if…you were to misplace or lose that 'ticket'…no worries…just show up and all will be well. It’s the ‘showing up’ that we don’t really spend much time talking about. This idea of ‘following and obeying’ seems to be a foreign concept in today’s modern world's understanding when it comes to matters of ‘faith’. It seems we give more credibility to a verse like John 3:16 instead of Hebrews 5:9, and Luke 6:46, or Matt. 7:21.

For those who like the idea that your ‘spirit is saved’…regardless of what your ‘flesh’ does …remains a mystery to me. Jesus said we would know who His followers were by the ‘love/fruit’ they manifested in their lives, and those who ‘belong to Christ’ have dealt with that ‘flesh nature’ by ‘putting it to death’ (Gal. 5:24; John 13:34-35; Rom. 8:13). And how do you explain what happen to the ‘spirits’ in those folks in Matt. 7:22-23 who were told to ‘depart from Him’?

But this idea that many people don’t think a ‘genuine believer’ could ever ‘fall away’ from the faith…and fail to ‘finish the race’, is puzzling to me. Let’s spend some time examining scripture, because Paul warns of a great ‘falling away’ that would occur in the times leading up to Christ’s return. (2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1).

If there was no concerns that people could ‘fall or drift away’…then why admonish us to ‘take heed to the things we have heard lest we...drift away’? (Heb. 2:1).And what are we to do with Hebrews 6:4-5 or 10:26-31?

We read in John 6:66 that a good number of ‘disciples went back and followed Jesus no more’. We’re not talking about a group of free loaders who were tagging along to see if more bread was going to be given out; these were ‘disciples’ who had committed to following Jesus…until the demands proved to be too costly. At least the rich young ruler made his decision up front regarding what he loved more…before ever becoming a ‘follower’ of Jesus.(Matt. 19:16-22)

And take a look at Luke 8, where Jesus shares the parable of the sower, and then explains it in more detail…to His disciples. The seed is the word of God (11) and when it is sown into a person’s heart, we are told the enemy (Satan) comes to snatch it away…’lest they believe and are saved’ (12).

But it’s the example He shares where the seed is sown amongst the rocky soil… that we need to examine more closely. It springs up at first…as they ‘receive the word with great joy’ (13). We are even told that they ‘believe for a while’ (you might underline that in your Bible)…but in the time of temptation, they _____ (do what?). The same could be said about the third scenario where the seed fell among thorns and briars. It certainly took root and started out…but in both of those cases, they failed to reach ‘maturity’…bearing fruit. How often do we mention here that ‘fruit matters’?

Two verses that get a lot of play when debating this topic are found in John 10:28 and Romans 8:39; the first one being the assurance from Jesus that ‘neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand’. It might help to see who He is referring to there, in vs. 27 – those who ‘hear His voice…and follow Him’. Jesus seems to have this thing about us doing what He says/asks of us (Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; Heb. 5:9). And that passage in Romans, that claims that ‘nothing shall separate us from the love of God…’, let’s be clear here: nobody is calling into question God’s undeniable love that He has for the ‘whole world’ (John 3:16). But we know the ‘whole world’ is not going to be ‘saved’. And it’s not because God doesn’t want them to ‘come to the knowledge of the truth, and to repent’ so that they might not perish. (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; Luke 13:3,5)

I would not want to try and 'prove' any one point or build a doctrine around one single Bible verse, but I’d be remiss to not mention Matt. 24:13, where Jesus said ‘those who endure till the end shall be saved’.

Maybe if we had a more clear picture as to what we’re being ‘saved’ from…all this would make more sense. Tomorrow, perhaps?