Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. - Philippians 2:12-18 (ESV)
There are certain biblical subjects that there is simply no consensus for. They usually have good interpretations on both sides, supported by compelling scripture. They often also, lead to fruitless arguments to debate. One such topic is "once saved always saved. (OSAS)" This devotional will first deal directly with the topic directly and then respond to the above linked article from Charisma News that ponders this debate in light of the recent falls from grace of well-established ministers. So, let us once again reason together beloved.
I understand why people gravitate towards OSAS. Who would not enjoy believing they have a get out of hell free card? For years I have addressed this simply by pointing out that perspective is what creates our view. We all know people who once seemed very "saved." They attended church, maybe bible study and prayer meetings, and at some point, they seemingly walked away. Maybe they returned to an old life of sin. Maybe it was some kind of sin such as infidelity that led them astray and away. Now, the obvious first point is we do not really understand what happened in their lives and faith just like our assumptions of their salvation prior is just that - an assumption. The modern American church is largely performative and that performance mentality is taught and rewarded from the pulpit. That is why the vast amount of people shouting fake tongues or repeatedly going for altar calls to be slain occur. The "look at me" spirit embodies Charismania. The second major point as background is it is not our place to judge anyone's salvation. As the old saying goes, we will be surprised in heaven by who is there, who is not there and that we are there at all. These points aside, let us assume that the example of someone who was heavily involved and then falls away happened. The reason why it is often fruitless to argue OSAS is that if you believe in that, you will simply declare that the person was never saved, which may be completely correct.
For me personally, the first compelling fact is that nearly all false teachers believe in OSAS. They do so because it is far easier to sell and they do not preach the actual gospel or truly deal with the need to repent. The purpose driven apostate church sells a nine word "salvation prayer" after a 20-minute sermonette that never addressed sin. The business model is not to save you but to church you. They use emotional manipulation and even audience plants to compel you to raise your hand and then that is maybe followed with a quick and dirty membership class and then you are plugged into ministry, saving the church the cost of having to pay people for those roles and they hope establishing your tithe. The whole time assuring you that you are now "saved." The second compelling fact that leads me away from OSAS is that it breeds lazy Christianity. If I know that I can lead my life however I choose and still go to heaven, then why wouldn't I? What salvation is supposed to do is change our perspective of how God views sin. I always say that before I was saved, I thought I was not that bad a guy and then I was saved and I realized I wasn't very good at all. Whatever is noble within me comes from God but our flesh is constantly warring against us. To avoid belaboring the point, I present the key verses that I usually reflect on when discussing OSAS.
Paul exhorts the people in the Philippian Church to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. That seems to really fly in the face of OSAS. Note that Paul reminds them that it is God that works in them, so Paul clearly believes they are saved. He also notes that it is all so we might do works for His good pleasure. Next, we see that Paul implores them to do all things without grumbling and disputing so that we might remain blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. So, there are still things we must do to avoid blame and blemish. This is what he meant by working out our salvation. Why? So, we might shine as lights in the darkness to the world, clearly implying that we can do things that will dim that light, even though we are saved. Paul goes on to say that on the last day he does not want to discover that he ran this race in vain. The word vain means useless, or having no result. This clearly means that someone can run the race and not be saved, which is why Matthew 7 deals with the people who say Lord Lord. These people are churched but not saved. Let me be clear, the OSAS crowd can still respond that all of these examples would be examples of people who were never saved but Paul sure seems to think they are saved and since we believe God wrote the entire bible, it is God showing us these facts. Either way, I think that it is more scriptural and "safer" to deal with this topic by always on working out your salvation with fear and trembling. If I am wrong, I am still saved. If a firm believer in OSAS is wrong, they may end up saying "Lord Lord" on the last day. I have heard the cliche that if we could lose our salvation, we would, but that is so dismissive of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Let us now turn to the above link and examine this in light of recent pastoral failings.
"The public moral failures of a number of megachurch pastors over the past few months and years have not only caused a crisis for these men, their families, their congregations and the millions who have been influenced by their ministries. Their falls have also caused a theological crisis for many pastors and leaders, especially those who believe in the doctrine known as "once saved, always saved." Now, these ministers have been forced to choose between two possible positions. The first choice is that these pastors or preachers were never saved. Or second, that even though these men were actively or previously involved in grievous sin, they were, are and always will be saved." - Rabbi Eric Tokajer
