The Once Saved, Always Saved Inaccuracy

The children of Israel complained to Samuel, after years of the Lord being their guide, that they wanted a king. 1 Samuel 8:5 They said to him, [Samuel] “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” (NIV) After warning them of the downside to having a king, the Lord granted their request, and chose a king to lead them. God told Samuel whom to choose, and that he would be from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was anointed by Samuel to be king, and he went on to lead the children of Israel.

          Later, Saul was ordered by God to kill the Amalekites, and destroy everything and everyone. Nothing was to be kept and no one’s life was to be spared. However, Saul disobeyed God and did not totally destroy everything. He even was deceptive with Samuel, but God had already informed Samuel as to what he had done. After being caught in his lies, Samuel told Saul that the Lord was taking the kingdom away from him.

          The Spirit of God left Saul due to his disobedience. 1 Samuel 16:14  Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. (NIV)  Once God’s Spirit had departed Saul, there was only one spirit that he could be replaced with. That spirit would be of the devil. Well, we know how the story ended and for those who don’t, Saul, was killed in the end, and never returned back to the Lord. Saul was eternally loss.

                Now, this begins the study into the doctrine of “once saved…always saved.” If you refer back to the story, Saul once had favor in God’s eyes. However, he turned his back on the Lord and therefore, was loss. So, if we were to use Saul’s example, why is there such a strong belief into the always being saved doctrine? This would mean that a person can live anyway they choose as long and they have accepted Jesus. The bible, however, begs to differ. Romans 6:15  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means! (NIV)

Even the devil and his demonic host believe in Jesus. However, they will not be in heaven. The bible goes on to point out that it would have been better if they had not known the truth, than to have known and turned their backs on it. 2 Peter 2:20-22 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were in the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, then to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” Therefore, God wouldn’t have been concerned about you going back into the world once saved if it really didn’t matter.

We are to continuously be a light for Christ. We cannot turn our backs to God and then expect to enter His kingdom. It would be as if someone purchases a home with a mortgage, and decides not to continue to pay for that mortgage. You will eventually lose the home to foreclosure and therefore, will no longer have legal access to the home. Hebrews 6:4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened , who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the work of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. This is why it is ever so important to stay near the feet of God.

For those who have fallen away from God, we must do all we can to try to get them to turn their hearts back to Him. God desires that no one be loss, but the truth is…there will be Christians, or former Christians in hell. I have a friend whom I am concerned for about her soul Salvation. She used to be a Christian. Now, she considers herself to be “spiritual” and doesn’t accept Jesus as the Son of God. She believes in “God” or should I say the “Creator” as she calls Him, but she doesn’t accept His son. I pray for her and try to witness to her because the Bible says that Jesus is the only way. Therefore, if she accepts the Father and not His son, she cannot be saved. Mind you, she is a “former” Christian. I supposed that some would say that she is still going to heaven. I don’t think this will be the case unless she repents and once again accept Christ into her heart. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It saddens my heart to say, but unless my friends turns back to Jesus, she will be loss. She is not once saved, will be saved. She will be eternally loss.

There is so much that can be said about this doctrine. I am not able to fit as much as I would like into this one blog. However, we will revisit this subject in the future. What I will leave you with is that we have to stay connected to God. Yes, we are under grace, but that grace does not mean leaving the fold of His safety. John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

We want to be welcomed with open arms to God’s kingdom. We want our friends and family to be saved. If you know of anyone who is in a backslidden state, pray for them. Do not make the mistake of thinking that they are okay because they “once” accepted Christ at some point in their lives. Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. If they are not living for God, then the other is obvious. Pray! Witness! Pray some more! God bless until next time. 

If you would like to get a book that would be a great witnessing tool to win someone to Christ, I would like to invite you to get my book, “The First Black Friday: The Crucifixion of Christ.” It is a wonderful story of the fall of man and the painful decision that God had to make to send His son to earth in order that we may be save. This is a book that will reach the hearts of many and give them an understanding of the love that God has for us.