Once Saved Always Saved (Part 4)

Ben Bailey

A denominational preacher in Louisville, KY has made this statement concerning once saved always saved. "If I killed my wife and mother and debauched a thousand women I couldn't go to hell--in fact, I couldn't go to hell if I wanted to." While many who hold to this teaching would not take it this far, this has to be the logical conclusion of once saved always saved. No matter what you do, or how bad you live, you cannot go to Hell even if you want to! Let us examine another passage that some believe teach once saved always saved.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” Some claim this passage teaches that once you are in Christ, you can never leave Him. In context, this is not at all what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching the exact opposite of that. Jesus is saying that nothing can remove him from you, not you from Him. This is very, very important to recognize. Jesus is teaching us that nothing externally (world, devil, persecution, etc,.) can take you out of his care and protection. But, you can get up and remove yourself out of Christ’s love by living a life of sin. Nothing can force you to leave Christ, but you can freely choose to leave Him and be lost. Jesus clarified this idea in John 10:2 by saying “…no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Those who believe John 6:37 teaches eternal security must believe that we are mere robots and drones. If nothing can remove us from eternal life, not even our own decisions to leave, then we do not have a free will. The Bible teaches that we do have the free will to choose (Josh. 24:15). Dear reader, John 6:37 teaches that Jesus does not want you to be lost and has done all He can to protect you, but you can turn you back on His protection and be lost.

The Bible does not teach a person can never be lost once he is saved. In fact, the Prodigal Son is a perfect example of a son who left the Father and was dead and lost (Lk. 15:24). The younger son chooses to leave the safety of his father’s house to lead a life of sin and waste. To return to the father, the son must make a decision to repent and turn back to his father. While the son is leading an ungodly life, he is considered lost by his father. The application for us is that once we are Christians we can choose to leave the security of the house of God and be lost to our heavenly Father.