Once Saved, Always Saved

[Guest]

The following is an essay I wrote on salvation. I also used this as an outline for a bible study I taught on "bearing fruit." You'll notice a few Steve-isms contained in the essay, since we share a similar take on the issue and he is far more eloquent than myself in expressing some of these thoughts. Feel free to leave comments.

Salvation and eternal life are commonly thought of in terms of a transaction. We are taught that once a person places their faith in Christ they can never fall away or lose their salvation. My own opinion in this matter has changed over time by the scriptures themselves. The bible is surprisingly plain spoken on this issue.

Many people cite John 3:16 to prove that once a person has placed their faith in Christ, they can never lose their salvation. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

In this passage, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that those who believe in the Son of God have been granted eternal life. But the word "believe" here is in its present tense. Therefore, the passage doesn't necessarily apply to those who once believed, but walk away from their faith. John 15 gives us more detail.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Here Jesus tells his disciples that he is the vine and those who remain in him will bear spiritual fruit. The word "remain" means "to stay or to continue." Those who no longer have faith can't be said to have remained. Jesus goes even further in the next verse:

"If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

This is as clear a teaching as one could hope for. Jesus says those who don't remain (or stay) in him are thrown into the fire and burned. Whatever that metaphor means is anyone's guess, but it doesn't sound like eternal life to me.

So Jesus states very clearly that only those who remain, or continue, in faith are a part of the vine and those who don't remain on the vine are cut off from eternal life. So the question should not be, "Can someone lose their salvation" but rather, "Can someone walk away from their salvation?" The answer, according to John 15, is "yes."

Jesus doesn't describe salvation as a transaction. He describes salvation as being part of a living tree. As long as a branch remains on the tree, it draws it's life from the tree. But if it falls away, it no longer draws life from the tree, but withers and dies. Jesus warns us here to remain on the tree so that he can supply our life which, in him, is eternal.

One might wonder how it is that we remain in Christ. If eternal life consists of remaining in him, what does that entail? Jesus answers that question in this same discourse. In fact, we'll see that he answers a number of important questions.

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."

Here Jesus says that remaining in him translates to obeying his commands. If we do this, we remain in his love. But the next question to arise is, "What are his commands?"

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

His command is that we love one another as he loved us. But how did he love us?

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

So the love of Jesus is pure and selfless. We remain in him by continuing in selfness love to one another. While Jesus, quite literally, laid down his life for his friends (and enemies), we mustn't think we have to literally die for someone else in order to express this kind of love. He's talking about the kind of love that puts others' needs before our own... all the time. While Jesus here tells us to express this love toward our friends, he also says we must extend that same love to even our enemies in Matthew 5:44.

What is the result of obeying this command?

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

If we are walking in the love of Christ toward our friends and enemies then we can confidently ask God for whatever we wish in prayer. We also bear spiritual fruit, which according to Galatians 5:22 is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

The pages of scripture reflect a truth that is not often expressed in churches today. Eternal life belongs to all believers, yes. But the goal is not to get some kind of ticket to Heaven. God created us to bear fruit and be his presence on the Earth. The collective mass of Christians all over the world is called the "body of Christ" because his work is being done by us and through us. The goal of a Christian life is not to be saved. That's only the milk, not the solid food. The solid food is that we are to bear much fruit and be Christ's representatives here on Earth, until he returns and judges each man according to his deeds.(Romans 2:6)

Notice that, in all this, Jesus didn't talk about doing good works to gain salvation. Every religion on Earth teaches salvation through good works. Jesus taught something totally different, and in many ways, quite opposite. He taught that our goal is to love God and love others with a pure heart (meaning selfness motives). This changes a person's heart internally so they automatically do good deeds. But we are not to focus on the deeds, but rather, the internal and pressing motives from which they are expressed.

If I love my neighbor, I will automatically feel compelled not to steal his car. No one has to tell me, "don't steal your neighbor's car" because that much is obvious. If I love my neighbor I won't sleep with his wife, even if no one told me adultery was wrong. So doing so-called good deeds will not save us. Charitable deeds can be faked and also done for false motives, like to gain the respect of others and be seen as "good." Our motives should be selfless and our good deeds should spring out of the love of Christ. The love of Christ is what saves us. Remain in his love, and he will remain in you.

[Guest]

Good essay, JC! I am in essential agreement.

When you say, "... doing so-called good deeds will not save us," I think you are speaking about external deeds, not done from the heart. Yet even genuine good deeds will not save us (if by "save us" you mean "save us from hell.") For we don't earn eternal life by trying to, or even succeeding in, doing good deeds.


Having said that, I do recognize the place of works in relation to obtaining permanent (or "eternal" if you prefer) life. For Paul wrote:

.Romans 2:6-10
For He will render to everyone according to his works.

To those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, He will give eternal life, but for those who are self-seeking and are not persuaded by the truth, but are persuaded by unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Affliction and anguish for every person who does evil, but glory and honour and well-being for every one who does good... for God shows no partiality

[Guest]

Paidion, you understood me correctly. I believe every person will be judged by Christ, according to their deeds. But that's not the same as saying our deeds save us. Some would say this has to do with our punishment or rewards in the life to come and I tend to agree.

I don't believe everyone who dies in sin will be given the same punishment and I base this on the ideals of justice God gave Israel concerning criminals. Each crime came with a certain punishment, and not all of them were equal. If this practice seemed right to God so many years ago and his character doesn't change, I'm persuaded that his eternal justice carries similar precepts.

I feel that too often Christians look at external works and laws and just try to obey what they think is right. This isn't necessarily bad but you can't be consistent with this mindset, in my opinion. I have a friend who likes to drive fast ask me, "Is it a sin to speed when I'm driving?" I answered by saying, "The question should be 'is it loving to speed when you're driving?'" Placing others at risk so you can arrive a few minutes early isn't very loving. Again, it's what flows out of the heart that we should be concerned with, not the external action.

[Guest]

I feel that too often Christians look at external works and laws and just try to obey what they think is right. This isn't necessarily bad but you can't be consistent with this mindset, in my opinion. I have a friend who likes to drive fast ask me, "Is it a sin to speed when I'm driving?" I answered by saying, "The question should be 'is it loving to speed when you're driving?'" Placing others at risk so you can arrive a few minutes early isn't very loving. Again, it's what flows out of the heart that we should be concerned with, not the external action.

Very well put! Thanks for posting this.