1. ‘Once saved, always saved’ is the Devil’s LIE
Did Jesus preach ‘once saved, always saved’? This popular teaching has wormed its way into many churches, but it is the Devil’s lie. The doctrine is actually two deceptions rolled into one to take you to Hell. First, it deceives the unsaved to think they are saved. These can be church people who continue in sin, but are convinced that by God’s grace they will escape Hell. Second, it deceives these same people to think their supposed salvation is permanent. They think that no matter how they live, there is no concern of losing salvation. Even as they disobey God’s commandments, Heaven is guaranteed for them. This teaching of ‘once saved, always saved’ is the Devil’s doctrine, and was first introduced in the Garden of Eden.
God created Adam and Eve, and gave them one commandment—do not eat nor touch the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. Everything else in His garden was available for them to enjoy. God warned the penalty of disobeying Him was certain death the very same day. But the Devil appeared as the Old Serpent to deceive Eve to think that she could disobey God without being punished. Revelation 12:9 says, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…" Genesis 3:2-4 says, "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die…" The serpent’s deception is the same core message of ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine—the lie that there is no eternal consequence for disobeying God.
2. Sin causes Spiritual DEATH
After sinning, Adam and Eve continued to live, in the flesh in the world, for many more years. But they died spiritually the very day they sinned. Their souls lost the covering of the holy spirit, which is needed to be spiritually alive and is needed to enter Heaven. This is why Jesus taught we must be born of the spirit. In John 3:5-6 Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Without the clothing of the holy spirit body, our soul is naked and spiritually dead—it cannot enter Heaven. We are born with a flesh body to be physically alive in the world. But we must be born again with a spirit body, so that our soul may qualify to enter Heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:50 says, "…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." 2 Corinthians 5:2-3, 5 says, "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked…Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
Upon sinning, Adam and Eve were kicked out of God’s Garden, which is now Paradise, which is the third part of Heaven. Genesis 3:22, 24 says, "And the LORD God said,…lest he [man] put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever :So he [God] drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." The tree of life represents eternal life. Because Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, they chose spiritual death, and lost out forever on eternal life and Heaven.
3. Salvation is being Saved from SIN
Lying pastors continue the deception of the Old Serpent with the two-fold lie of ‘once saved, always saved.’ The first part of the deception is telling unsaved people that they are saved. They convince churchgoers that salvation does not require obeying Jesus’s commandments. They say accepting Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is all that is needed to escape Hell. But Scripture says sin causes spiritual death, and spiritually dead souls are cast in Hell. Jesus’s blood only applies to forgive past sins of those who turn away from committing sin. There is no escaping Hell, and there is no salvation, without turning away from sin. Matthew 1:21 says, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Romans 6:22-23 says, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death." Salvation is being freed from sin, so that you may gain eternal life. You either serve God (with proof of righteous, holy living) and your reward will be eternal life; or you serve sin, with penalty of spiritual death and Hell. As Jesus plainly stated in John 8:34, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." Do not be deceived by the Old Serpent’s lie that you are saved while continuing in committing sin.
4. Salvation can be LOST
The second lie of ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine is that this salvation cannot be lost by disobeying God. Scripture says God’s blessing or curse is dependent on us continuing in His goodness. Romans 11:22 says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." God’s strict warning is He will cut off those who fall away from Him. Only those who continue in obeying Him, will God continue to bless with spiritual increase. God gives truly repented souls the light of the holy spirit, so it may lead us to live a just, pure life. The spirit does not force us to obey God, it simply guides us. It is our soul’s choice to obey that spiritual light or ignore it to follow our sinful flesh desire.
But, just as God gives the holy spirit, He removes it if we grieve and quench the spirit by continuing in sin. In Revelation 2:4-5 Christ Jesus warns a backsliding church, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Please notice this is resurrected Jesus speaking as God in Heaven. Is He preaching ‘once saved, always saved’ because I shed my blood and died on the cross? No—He preached the opposite message. These born again believers initially were intent on loving and obeying God, but they fell away in sin. Christ Jesus warns them to repent and do their first works of obedience, otherwise He will come quickly to remove from them their candlestick, which is the holy spirit.
When we are born of the spirit, that is only the beginning—it is being born as a baby who must grow. A spiritual immature baby grows to become a spiritually mature son of God by cleaning the filth of sin from their life and heart. As the sinful flesh nature dies, the obedient spirit nature grows. This is how we make ourselves open to God’s presence. If we put to death our sinful flesh nature, we may become a temple for God to abide in us. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." This does not occur in an instant; it takes diligent effort to grow in spirit. But as we achieve spiritual maturity we ought not to return to our prior filthy, sinful ways. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Salvation can be lost. Once saved, we must continue in salvation. If you mature to become the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you, at that point if you defile yourself with sin, God will destroy you in Hell. Once freed from sin, we must be careful to keep our salvation.
5. Backsliding DOGS will NOT get Eternal Life
All Christians say Jesus Christ is Savior. Although they claim to worship Him, most worship another Jesus who is from Satan. This other Jesus is a Savior who takes you to Heaven even as you continue in sin. Apostle Paul warned believers of this in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached …ye might well bear with him." The Old Serpent deceived Eve to disobey God by removing fear of God and saying sin does not cause death. Now, servants of the Old Serpent deceive people with another Jesus who offers salvation that does not require fearing God, obeying God or putting effort for salvation. Let’s see what the Bible says about salvation. Philippians 2:12 says, "my beloved, as ye have always obeyed…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." True salvation requires fearing God, obeying God, and work on our part. Do not be deceived by the Old Serpent’s other Jesus who offers false salvation with no eternal penalty for disobeying God.
True simplicity in Christ is obeying Him to gain eternal life. Let’s see the final message resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as God sent to the churches in the last book and last chapter of the Bible. In Revelation 22:14-16 Jesus said, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches...." Only those who do God’s commandments gain eternal life and enter Heaven. Jesus specifically names examples of sinners who will be cast out to Hell. First on this list He says, "…without are dogs…" Who are dogs and what is their sin? Dogs are those who to return to doing the prior sin they escaped. Jesus says backsliding dogs will not get eternal life. This directly opposes the demonic doctrine of ‘once saved always saved.’
Apostle Peter taught the same point in 2 Peter 2:20-22, "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." Those freed from their prior filthy sin nature by obeying the doctrine of Lord Jesus, must maintain their new clean status. As we grow in spirit, the punishment for backsliding to prior sin becomes more severe, because it is a greater fall. It is better to never have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and be a backsliding dog. Dogs vomit up what causes them sickness or harm. To be a dog that returns to his own vomit, is to be a person who returns to their prior expelled sin that caused spiritual death.
6. Jesus BLESSES in turning you AWAY from Sin
God did not send Jesus to save us from Hell despite our continuing in sin. The very name of Jesus means He will save his people from their sin. He came as a man to shed his blood and die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, but the whole world will not be saved. Only those who submit to obeying Jesus as Lord of their life will have for His blood applied to forgive their past sin. We cannot rescue ourselves from our sinful flesh nature without God’s help. We need His power, His spirit, His grace to put to death our sinful flesh nature. But God draws near to those who first draw near to Him, by working to cleanse themselves. James 4:8 says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Another Jesus who is the deception of the Devil will accept you just as you are, filthy sin and all. But Jesus of the Bible requires obedience. If you diligently seek Him as your Savior, resurrected Christ Jesus blesses in turning you away from your sin. Acts 3:26 says, "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." May you seek and receive this true blessing.