The Truth About Once Saved Always Saved and The Eternal Security of the Believer

A major topic of debate among Christians around the world today is based on the "eternal security" of the believer. Many people hold the position that once a person is saved, they are eternally secured in Christ, and therefore will remain saved from that point forward. Others teach that you can be saved for a period of time but then "fall away" due to any number of factors such as certain sins or lack of faith. The Bible is quite clear in teaching that a person who is saved by God will be kept saved by God.

The main reason that people are led to believe that you can be saved and then lost again is that they place all of the choice and effort in the matter of salvation in the hands of the person, rather than in the hands of God the Savior. When we realize that we do not save ourselves and that it takes a supernatural work of God to save us, we can then see that the God who saved us will be sure to keep us saved. As Philipians chapter 1 verse 6 states: "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Once God has begun a good work in us, he will be sure to complete it.

We must be careful, however, to understand that not everyone who claims to be saved truly is saved. There are in fact countless millions of people who profess to believe in Jesus Christ and go to church every week and yet are not saved. We can look around and see many people who have attended church year after year, only to "fall away" in the end. Does this mean that they were saved and then not saved? Certainly not. The Bible teaches in 1 John chapter 2 verse 19 that "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. "

This verse could not make it any more clear that if you truly are saved that you will continue on in Christ. Those that seem to "fall away" are only making it evident that they were never in Christ to begin with. Some people abuse the idea of "Once saved always saved" using it as an excuse to continue sinning and living like the world. This makes a complete mockery of the Gospel. Those who are saved will bear good fruit. The Bible says "You will know them by their fruit." Therefore anyone who says that they are saved and does not bear good fruit is a liar and the truth is not in them.

In John chapter 6 verse 37 Jesus states: "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." Not only does God save us, but he promises that he will never drive us away from Himself. Jesus also says in John chapter 10 that "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." The Bible is clear in its teaching that a truly saved person is eternally secure in Christ.

With the idea of eternal security in mind the question to be asking is not: "Is it true?" But rather: "Am I truly Saved?" The catch lies in whether or not a person is truly saved, or simply making false professions. If a person is truly saved, it will be demonstrated by the "fruit" that they bear. Those who appeared to be saved but then "fell away" were not truly saved to begin with. For if they had been truly saved, they would never have fallen away.