Once Saved, Always Saved? Answer for Final July Challenge Question, Part 2
Once saved, always saved?
Yes.
Why?
As referenced in the first part of the article, Christian salvation is a work of God. Salvation is an act of God: for God's glory. In the epistle written by Jude, the author describes (in verse one of the book) the saved ones as those who are "kept for Jesus Christ." As the all powerful creator of everything, nothing and no one who is kept for Jesus Christ will ever be lost or removed from his keeping. Even physical death, which is how we leave this world, cannot destroy our spirits (our true selves) or remove those true selves from the keeping and protection and fellowship of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is defined as a status, not a set of behaviors. Throughout the New Testament, believers are described as those who are adopted into God's family and those who have been transferred into the kingdom of light and transferred out of the kingdom of darkness. In each case, it is God, through Jesus Christ, who initiates these actions. It is God who adopts us. It is God who transfers us. After our adoption and transfer, it is God who keeps us and never allows us to be separated from him. Our final condition, or experience, is described at the end of the book of Jude:
If you are saved, your status and your adoption are eternally and personally guaranteed by God. God completes everything that has a beginning, including your salvation. If salvation could be "undone", no one would be saved. In the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 19), Jesus teaches his followers about a number of controversial topics, including divorce, if wealthy people who love their money can be Christ followers, etc. The listeners ask a legitimate question at the end of the lesson. They ask "who, then, can be saved?" Jesus answers them by saying "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." For the saved person, their change in status is reflected in their behavior. For the one who is not saved, "good behavior" can never create a change in status. For the saved person, their change in status is a reflection of the work of God and their behavior reflects the character of God. For the one who is not saved, "good behavior" is self-motivated, self-powered, and self-directed. These behaviors do not reflect the work of God. These behaviors may conceal pride, manipulative motives, even anger and the need to dominate. Everyone is invited into the kingdom of God, but no one is "good enough" to enter on their own power. When disputing with the religious leaders of his day, Jesus told them they were of their father (the "devil"), even though these leaders emphasized their good works, their prayers, and their ancestor, Abraham. These individuals called themselves the children of God. Jesus taught his followers "by their fruit you will recognize them." Fruit takes time to grow. Because you never know at what phase in someone's life of "fruit making" you are observing them, you are not free to make judgments about another person's spiritual condition. You are free to make judgments about compatibility, partnership, or if you want a person in your life. These decisions are not the same as judging salvation. Why is there so much confusion around people who claim to be saved, but seem to have no "fruit" in their lives, who seem to engage in so much destructive or angry behavior? Why are there people who call themselves the children of God, but do not do the works of God? This answer points to the difference between being saved and claiming salvation. This will be discussed next week in the third and final part of the answer to "once saved, always saved?" ICYMI: Here is the original challenge question. ICYMI: Here is part one of the answer. |
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