1OS John 10:28 - The Once-Saved-Always-Saved doctrine is popular in Christendom. One of the texts that this doctrine is based on is John 10:28 which states, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." So long as we stay in a saving relationship with God, we shall never be plucked out of His hands. However, we can choose to sever ourselves out of a saving relationship with the Lord, and John 10:28 will no longer apply to us.
2OS I Corinthians 15:31 - Paul died daily to sin and self, and we, too, must die daily to sin and self. Sin separates people from God and keeps them from having a personal relationship and fellowship with Him. We must put away sin from our lives. Isa 59:2 says "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
3OS Revelation 3:21 - Only the overcomer will be rewarded with the Crown of Immortality.
4OS Hebrews 10:38 - God will not grant eternal life to those who draw away from him. He has no pleasure in them. God is a God of love and full of mercy and compassion, but we cannot presume upon His love and mercy to save us IN our sins. Jesus died to save us FROM our sins.
5OS Isaiah 55:7 - The fact that the Lord admonishes the wicked to forsake and put away sin and return unto Him denotes that the wicked was at one time in a saving relationship with Him. This was the experience of the children of Israel over and over again. We must not let this be our experience.
6OS Ezekiel 3:20 - It is possible for a righteous man to turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity and die in his sins. Unforgiven sins will keep anyone out of the Kingdom. A solemn responsibility rests with us to warn the erring.
7OS John 6:66, 67 - Many of His disciples turned back and walked no more with Christ.
8OS Hebrews 10:38, 39 - When we draw away from Christ, we head into perdition. Perdition means death and eternal separation from God unless we repent and come back to God.
9OS 2 Peter 2:20-22 - It is possible after coming to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to lose it and be entangled and overcome by the world. It is better not to have known the way of righteousness, than after we have known the truth, to turn from the holy commandments. It's like a dog turning to his own vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
10OS Hebrews 6:4-6 - "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
11OS Hosea 14:1-2,4 - This is one of many texts in the Bible where God entreats his erring people to return to him lest they die in their sins.
12OS Ezekiel 18:30, 31 - The Lord wants us to repent and turn away from our transgressions. He desires for us to live, not die. "...for why will ye die, O house of Israel. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."
13OS 1 Corinthians 10:12 - There are warnings in the New Testament for us to watch and pray lest we fall into temptation and sin. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
14OS Luke 21:34-36 - We are to be watchful and to pray always so that we will be ready to stand before the Son of man.
15OS I Samuel 9:16,17; 10:1; 15:1-11, 20-22 - These texts give examples of people in the Bible who had walked with the Lord and then departed from Him. The book, Patriarchs & Prophets, Pages 603-615, depicts the account of the first king of Israel. The people of Israel had grown in number and had adopted a lot of the customs and practices of the heathen nations around them. They even desired to have their very own monarch to rule over them. Prior to this, the government of Israel had been under theocracy where God was the Supreme Ruler, and the prophets, elders and judges were there only to enforce the laws that God had given them. So long as Israel remained obedient and faithful to God, the nation prospered. When they apostatized, the nation suffered the consequences. The nation of Israel now wanted an earthly monarch, and God permitted them to have their way.
16OS I Samuel 10:1 - Saul was anointed by the Lord to be captain over his inheritance. Saul started out on the right track. He was filled with the Holy Spirit of God and was prophesying with the prophets. However, Saul did not maintain his integrity and loyalty toward God. He severed his relationship with Him through disobedience. He presumed upon the goodness and mercy of God just like many people are doing today. They believe that God will save them while continuing in their sins. The key is to put away sin from our lives and stay continually in a saving relationship with the Lord! That's why we have been given the admonition in Eph 6:10-18 to put on the whole armour of God lest we fall into temptation and commit grievous sins and separate ourselves from God. Ps 119:11 - "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against Thee." Satan is out like a roaring lion to cause us to sin against God.
17OS I Samuel 13:14 - So what ultimately happened to Saul? The kingdom was taken away from him and given to another. The same thing will happen to us if we are not faithful to the Lord. We will not sit with Christ on His throne to rule the nations with the rod of iron (Rev 2:26-27).
18OS Psalm 51:12 - Another example of a man who lost his salvation (at least temporarily) was the psalmist David. He was a man after God's own heart, but he committed a terrible sin which he paid for dearly. How do we know that David lost his salvation? He said: "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." The word "restore" means to give back something taken, lost, etc. Another meaning is to bring back to a former or normal state or to a position, rank, use, etc. David was restored back to a saving relationship with the Lord because he repented of his sin with a godly sorrow and turned away from it. Had he not repented of his sin, he would have been lost, and all the good things he did for God would have been forgotten. See Eze 18:24.
Talking about losing one's salvation, a friend of mine who is an advocate of the once-saved, always-saved doctrine, told me that David did not lose his salvation. He merely lost of JOY of his salvation. I pondered my friend's statement. Can one have a joyless salvation? It seems to me that salvation and joy go hand in hand; you can't have one without the other.
Another example of a righteous man who lost his salvation was the man of God in I Kings, Chapter 13. He was instructed by God not to eat or drink or go back the same way that he came. Sitting under an oak tree in Bethel, he was met by an old prophet who said that an angel had told him to tell the man of God that it was okay to come and eat and drink with him. He was lying. The man of God believed the old prophet and went to his home and ate and drank, violating the command that God had given him earlier. This account is a classic example of a righteous man falling thru disobedience. He disobeyed God, and he suffered the consequences. Once saved, always saved? Not to this former man of God who died in his sins.
Balaam was another example of a man who fell from his former estate. Read the account in Numbers 22 and 31:8. Balaam was a prophet of God, but he became covetous and disobedient. He fell by transgression against God.
19OS Acts 1:25 - Maybe you're saying that we are under New Testament dispensation, and the Old Testament does not apply. There are many examples in the New Testament of righteous people who fell by transgression. All the twelve disciples of Jesus had major flaws in their character. They were given the opportunity to correct these flaws and stand in right relationship with God. The disciples emulated the character of their Lord and won the immortal crown, but Judas nurtured his covetous spirit and fell by transgression.
20OS 2 Timothy 4:10 - Demas, a fellow-labourer (a Bible worker), left his post of duty in the work of God and went out into the world. If we are not careful, we, too, can leave our post of duty in God's vineyard to go out into the world.
21OS Acts 5:1-11 - Annanias and Sapphira were church members in good and regular standing who wanted more than anything to give to the cause of God, but they sinned by lying to the Holy Spirit regarding the proceeds of the sale of their land. One act of disobedience, and they forfeited their lives here and now as well as their lives in the hereafter.
Invariably, the argument that the advocates of the Once-Saved-Always-Saved doctrine present is that these people (Judas, Demas, Annanias and Sapphira and modern day counterparts) have not really experienced true conversion. Ezekiel 3:20 and 18:24 say that a righteous man (one could hardly call a righteous man unconverted) who turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity shall die in his sins. Remember that sin is the transgression of the Law of God (1 John 3:4).
Some people in the Bible fell into sin but got reconciled to God by confession, contrition of heart, humiliation and repentance. One person whom we are all acquainted with was the Apostle Peter. He denied His Lord three times. When he realized what he had done, he ran to the Garden of Gethsemane and wept bitterly. He repented. Peter was restored back into a saving relationship with his Lord.
22OS 1 Corinthians 9:27 - The Apostle Paul kept his body under subjection lest that by any means after he had preached to others, he, himself, should be a castaway. Paul could have fallen into sin, separate himself from God, and lose his salvation if he was not careful. And we can do the same thing if we are not careful.
23OS Hebrews 10:26 we read: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins."
24OS Jude 6 - It was possible for the sinless angels to fall into transgression. A third of the angels in heaven together with Lucifer were kicked out of Heaven because of transgression against the Lord God Almighty.
We are not automatons. God created us free moral agents. He has given us the freedom of choice, free to choose whomever we want to serve. We can choose to serve God or we can choose to serve sin and Satan. We can choose to walk on the straight and narrow way or we can choose to walk on the broad way that leads to destruction. Our life, our character is made up of the choices that we make every day, and our eternal destiny will ultimately be determined by the choices we make. Once saved, always saved? Only if we are robots, but we are not. We can choose not to be saved, and God will not force us against our will. God will not force us to go to Heaven if we do not want to go. Forced against our will, we would be one most miserable person in Heaven. Ephraim was joined to his idols, and God said in Hosea 4:17, "let him alone." God wants only willing and loving obedience. He will not ask for anything less.
Joshua 24:15 - "...choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
