Once Saved, Always Saved

John 10:28-29, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”

A Person CANNOT Lose Salvation. 

Galatians 5:1-4, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE.”

Many sincere folks have misinterpreted this Scripture to conclude that a Believer can lose their salvation—this is a false teaching! “Falling from grace” does NOT mean falling away from God’s salvation and God’s promises. God made us a promise in the Bible, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). My part is to “call”, God’s part is to “save.” I cannot save myself, nor can you. Only God can save a person because only God can forgive sin. No priest or Pope can forgive (or absolve) anyone’s sins. Penance is simply NOT a Bible doctrine. I must go to Jesus and Him alone! Thanks be to God, I did this as a young man and have been saved since that day. Though I am still a sinner and often fall short of God’s standards, I am still a Child of God—safe and secure in the  everlasting arms of the Father. 

Eternal Security is the Biblical doctrine that a believer CANNOT lose salvation in Christ Jesus. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Christ died for our sins on the cross, He was buried and raised up bodily from the dead three days later. This is the Gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Believe and the work is done, you are saved securely and eternally. Eternal security is not a separate doctrine than salvation. 

“The moment you are saved, you become a member of the body of Christ. If you could ever become unsaved, part of Christ's own body would go to hell.” —Dr. Ray Stanford (1916-2012), “Handbook Of Personal Evangelism,” chapter two, “Eternal Security”)

I CANNOT lose my salvation, no way. No amount of evil or wrong doing can undo what God has done. I didn’t deserve to be saved in the first place so my actions have no bearing on my salvation. This does not give us a license to sin, it just means that salvation starts and ends with God. The only thing God requires of us is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Thank God! Jesus washed my sins away and wrote my name in Heaven! He saved a vile, dirty, rotten sinner from hell-fire! God placed Jesus’ righteousness on my account and placed my grievous sins on Jesus account! The Father declared me J-U-ST-I-F-I-E-D, just-if-I’d never sinned! Now that’s a wonderful God!

“We believe this King James Bible is the ONLY Bible!” —Dr. Jack Hyles, a quote from the great sermon, “I Find No Fault In This Man!”