Once Saved Always Saved?

[Claire Rousseau]

I mean that is a bit concerning that you dont remember when the Supernatural phenomenon of being Dead and then being made Alive, of being Lost then Saved, of being an Old Creature and then becoming a New Creature happened.

I personally remember the exact moment I was saved, I remember the night I prayed for Salvation and the second I truly believed in my heart on Christ. Something supernatural happened that day, it was like a light switch was flipped on, I went from someone who didnt believe in Jesus of the Bible to knowing without a doubt He was real, He was my Savior and I was given Eternal Life. I remember calling my mom and telling her I was saved, I remember telling everyone around me about what had happened.

And I just find it strange that anyone can experience something like that and NOT remember what happened to them, regardless of the age. In my Church we have many people that were saved at a young age, and they testify of the same thing I experienced, where they had that moment when Christ entered into their Heart and they went from Dead to Alive.

How can one say they are Saved if they have no Testimony of Salvation? A book, a handshake, a card, none of that means someone got Saved, they have to be Born Again, and that is a Life Changing Experience.

I suppose that is why there is a distinction between those who testify about not being able to Lose Salvation vs those who state they can. I cant ever in my life believe I could come to a point where I could deny what happened to me in 1999, I cant ever see myself ever denying who Christ is and what He did on the Cross and what He has done in my life. I have been in many Spiritual Battles, I have suffered much defeat and even strayed from God, but never once in any time since that day have I ever been able to deny what happened that day and what Christ has done in my life and who Jesus is. My belief in Christ never once has moved regardless of my walk with Him.

And of course when it comes down to it absolutely no one who believes that people can lose salvation, one can ever tell us where or when they point is, two never state THEY can or will lose THEIR salvation and most importantly lie concerning whether or not one can "lose" their salvation and then come back to salvation.

The verse none of them are willing to interpret is:

Heb 6:4 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.

The very clear interpretation of this verse is, it is IMPOSSIBLE for someone who has tasted Salvation IF they were to fall away EVER find Repentance again, so as always we have those who declare you can lose your salvation, not willing to tell us what that line is, when someone actually does lose it, and at the same time telling others they can be "backslidden" and be restored back to Repentance.

I say that once you have tasted the heavenly gift, once you actually have a Born Again experience you will NEVER in your life EVER dream of denying that Supernatural Event, where you went from Dead to Alive, from Lost to Saved, from an Old Creature to a New Creature. If Salvation is based on Faith by Grace, then I can not ever imagine any person who has ever been Saved denying the Faith and Event that they experienced when they were Born Again.

However I could see people who never experienced a True Saving Faith Born Again Experience walking away, because it wasnt truly real to them because they never were actually Saved to begin with..

If you have had a Born Again Experience you would never walk away totally from the Faith no matter how far you may drift from God, period. If you think otherwise then I believe you probably never had a True Born Again Experience because you would know for sure how impossible it would be to ever walk away from the Faith after experiencing such a life changing event...

As far as Hebrews 6:4-6, I believe that is describing a person who was literally on the cusp of becoming saved, understood the Gospel & how it applied to them....but instead of receiving salvation, they flat out rejected it, and as a result, was made reprobate, like in Romans 1.

People (unsaved) often use those verses to “prove” that we can “lose” our salvation, without realizing that the Hebrews 6 person never got saved, but fell away from salvation.
(I am not insinuating that you are, you are not, because you are clearly saved, but a lot of people who do deny OSAS do).

For us who are saved, we can recognize that the verses in Hebrews 6 are describing that moment we experienced right before we got saved....where suddenly it all became clear (enlightened by the Holy Spirit) that we are sinners who deserve Hell but that God was offering us the gift of salvation, and that Jesus Christ actually DID die on the Cross & rose again to pay for our sins, as if God was showing us in our heart that it is true. And in that very moment we were given a choice: to believe the truth and receive salvation, or to fall away from the truth, reject salvation & choose to believe a lie.

The Hebrews 6 person chose to believe a lie.

 

[TokiEl]

(I am not insinuating that you are, you are not, because you are clearly saved, but a lot of people who do deny OSAS do).

For us who are saved,

This is not the right mindset according to the red letter words which the Saviour spoke.

Now there is one specific group mentioned with this exact same mindset...

 

[phipps]

As far as Hebrews 6:4-6, I believe that is describing a person who was literally on the cusp of becoming saved, understood the Gospel & how it applied to them....but instead of receiving salvation, they flat out rejected it, and as a result, was made reprobate, like in Romans 1.

People (unsaved) often use those verses to “prove” that we can “lose” our salvation, without realizing that the Hebrews 6 person never got saved, but fell away from salvation.
(I am not insinuating that you are, you are not, because you are clearly saved, but a lot of people who do deny OSAS do).

For us who are saved, we can recognize that the verses in Hebrews 6 are describing that moment we experienced right before we got saved....where suddenly it all became clear (enlightened by the Holy Spirit) that we are sinners who deserve Hell but that God was offering us the gift of salvation, and that Jesus Christ actually DID die on the Cross & rose again to pay for our sins, as if God was showing us in our heart that it is true. And in that very moment we were given a choice: to believe the truth and receive salvation, or to fall away from the truth, reject salvation & choose to believe a lie.

The Hebrews 6 person chose to believe a lie.

Hebrews 6:4-6 is talking about a saved person who falls. Saved people do fall and the Bible is clear on that. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” (NKJV). A saved person has tasted the heavenly gift, they have become partakes of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God. They are not on the cusp of being saved. There is really nothing that can be misunderstood in those verses. Its very clear actually. They are saved and then they fall away because saved people can fall away the Bible even has examples given in the above article. Kings Saul, David and Solomon and Balaam. Some of them repented and came back to God and some did not. Stop trying to project your doctrine on the Word of God which is clear.

What about these verses? “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26, 27). Are they not talking about saved people?

 

[Claire Rousseau]

Absolutely! Praise God! No one can go though this and not remember it. It is an event you remember, because it's the day you were born again. I remember my day of salvation like I remember the birth of my children. You can't forget something like that.

Same here.
But I didn’t get saved until I was an adult...so I am not sure if children have (or realize it due to their general innocence) the same dramatic impact that salvation has on say, an adult.

Also, I was a very, very sinful person at the end of my rope when I got saved, so salvation was intense.

So, I asked my kids if they remember their moment of salvation (they are now 18, 16, 14 & 11)....I gave them the Gospel at various ages (all between 6-9 years old) and they all say they remember it clearly, and it is a day they wouldn’t forget. They don’t remember the exact date, but they report that they know where they were, what they were wearing, and details of the transformation they experienced on that day.

They describe it in various ways: “the day I found out that God would not send me to Hell because of Jesus”, “the day God saved me & I knew I would go to Heaven”, “the day I was given a new, eternal life”, and my daughter’s explanation (which I thought was cute): “my second birthday, that is realer(sic) than my first“.

Simply put, but all descriptions that correlate with my own experience of salvation, and what the Bible states about being born again.

 

[phipps]

Quick question Phipps . . . I've personally rejected God after being saved for various personal reasons that were partly due to deceptive doctrine that led to doubt and confusion. It lasted for a very short period of time before I fully repented and turned back to Him. Does that mean I've lost my salvation completely? Because in my "falling away" I spitefully rebelled against Him through willful sin. I was miserable. I was depressed. I have had a complete change of heart but since reading this thread I'm not sure where I stand.

When you rejected God that means you weren't saved during that period. Then when you repented and came back to God, you were accepted and you were saved again. Now if you had continued to reject God and grieve away the Holy Spirit and not repented for the rest of your life, you would lose your life eternally. Examples of people who came back to God after rejecting Him for a while are kings David and Solomon. There is also the parable of the prodigal son. An example of someone who never repented and grieved away the Holy Spirit is king Saul.

I've rejected God too in my life and like you was miserable and depressed. Anyone can come back to God, repent and begin their walk with God again.

 

[Thunderian]

Same here.
But I didn’t get saved until I was an adult...so I am not sure if children have (or realize it due to their general innocence) the same dramatic impact that salvation has on say, an adult.

Also, I was a very, very sinful person at the end of my rope when I got saved, so salvation was intense.

So, I asked my kids if they remember their moment of salvation (they are now 18, 16, 14 & 11)....I gave them the Gospel at various ages (all between 6-9 years old) and they all say they remember it clearly, and it is a day they wouldn’t forget. They don’t remember the exact date, but they report that they know where they were, what they were wearing, and details of the transformation they experienced on that day.

They describe it in various ways: “the day I found out that God would not send me to Hell because of Jesus”, “the day God saved me & I knew I would go to Heaven”, “the day I was given a new, eternal life”, and my daughter’s explanation (which I thought was cute): “my second birthday, that is realer(sic) than my first“.

Simply put, but all descriptions that correlate with my own experience of salvation, and what the Bible states about being born again.

My mom gave me the gospel, too, and one morning I woke up and decided I wanted to go to heaven and be with Jesus. I was five and it took me another 33 years to get baptized, but that's the day I was saved. Bless you for doing your job as a godly parent. Our six-year-old accepted Christ recently, praise God, but the new one is too adorable to sin, so we haven't presented her with the gospel yet..

 

[Thunderian]

When you rejected God that means you weren't saved during that period. Then when you repented and came back to God, you were accepted and you were saved again.

Baloney. Stop telling people this. How cruel would God have to be to dangle salvation in and out of our grasp like that, depending on our faithfulness, and not his?

2 Timothy 2:13 - If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.​

​

Psalms 103:14 - For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.​

​

Galatians 3:3 - Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?​

 

[Lisa]

It's not the date, it's you lacking special feeling/experience of it. From the way you told it, sounds like just another random day...I don't remember which day it was myself either, but i do remember crying whole night, lying on the ground drowned in tears and snots...That's not something im going to forget...It's different for everyone, for some it maybe tears of joy, but it incredibly strong and powerful spiritual experience for everyone...who has it....

Hi Vytas, how have you been?
Maybe it’s because I was a little girl...I didn’t grow up in a Christian household and my parents never talked about anything with us...so I didn’t know I was supposed to remember the date to prove to the world that I am a Christian.
What I do remember is that I talked to Jesus and thought him my friend. I wanted to be a nun because I wanted to be dedicated to God and when I got older I wanted to marry a Christian man. I might not have remembered the exact moment I was saved but God was with me. When I lived with my Aunt who was a catholic I was going to start catholic learning classes but I went back home to my parents house before that (thank God!!!) I did end up marrying a man who said he was a Christian but he was a Christian in name only for quite some time and it was I who because of the hardships of my life at the time became more deeply committed to God. Reading through the Bible cover to cover multiple times and studying God’s word, learning to know God and learning to trust Him...I am certain that I can’t live without Him in my life and I never want to be parted from Him ever. So, yep, you guys got me...I don’t remember when I was saved but I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind so does it really matter if I can’t remember the date?

Edit: spelling

 

[Thunderian]

@Lisa and @phipps, how do you guys think salvation works? How does a person get saved, and what happens when they do?

 

[bible_student]

My test is already marked.

Really? If that was so, then what in the world are you still hanging around here for. Because if your test is already marked and you made graduation, then you should be free to go... right?

 

[TokiEl]

how do you guys think salvation works? How does a person get saved, and what happens when they do?

Hear Him !

Luke 13 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

 

[bible_student]

one morning I woke up and decided I wanted to go to heaven and be with Jesus

If your test is already marked and you have passed it, then what is stopping you from going to heaven now? Because you should be free to go then..

 

[Douglas Summers]

When you rejected God that means you weren't saved during that period. Then when you repented and came back to God, you were accepted and you were saved again.

The Scriptures in Hebrews warn those who keep putting Christ on the Cross of shame every time they fall into sin. Those who do such things and believe they lose their salvation, never knew Christ. (Hebrews chapters 6 thru 8). It is the New Covenant with an Ever Living High Priest who is our Mercy Seat (our propitiation) 1 John 2:1-2. You write a lot of long post that are copies of someone else's exergies. Try reading them yourself.

 

[bible_student]

Having begun a journey, is not the same as having already passed the test:

"When His Disciples told Him that they had toiled all night and taken nothing, He did not fill the boat with fishes without effort on their part. No! His Command stood. "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught."

Their lives were endangered, the ship nearly sank, the help of their fellows had to be summoned, and there were broken nets to mend. Any one of these troubles might have made them feel His help was not for them. And yet as they sat on the shore and mended those nets, they would see His Love and Care.

Man rises by effort."

 

[Douglas Summers]

Not all of those IF verses have to do with salvation, but here's one that does.

Romans 10:9 -That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.​

By your standard, I am going to hell. I was saved at a very young age, but drifted away from God for almost twenty years. Like the prodigal son, I realized my condition, and asked God for forgiveness and restoration, and since then the fruit of His Spirit and the work God has done in my heart have been plain for me and others to see. But, according to you and to Lisa, I lost my salvation at some point and I can't get it back. I wonder, how was I convicted of my sin, if not by the Holy Spirit inside me? How am I convicted now of my sin, and where does my desire for fellowship with God come from, if not from his Spirit inside me, the same Spirit people claim left me, never to return?

I was the same Thunderain. Your testimony fits me perfectly.

 

[Douglas Summers]

@Lisa and @phipps, how do you guys think salvation works? How does a person get saved, and what happens when they do?

Study Luke Chapter 24: 13-32 after you read John 6:44. and if you can not see, I will explain it to you.

 

[Lisa]

@Lisa and @phipps, how do you guys think salvation works? How does a person get saved, and what happens when they do?

I thought you were saved? Do you need us to walk you through it?
I can’t give you what you’re looking for because I don’t have more info on falling away except that falling away can happen and I know that because it’s written multiple times in the NT plus somewhere up above @phipps graciously laid out all the if’s that are in the Bible that help at least me and him to get how it’s not osas...can’t be otherwise God wouldn’t have told us some will fall away from the faith wouldn’t have had all those verses with all those if’s.

Honestly, I think it’s you and some of the others here who willfully wont see what’s right in front of your face. You’d rather argue pointlessly about it rather than take a look at where the Spirit explicitly..explicitly, no if’s and’s or but’s about it Thunderian, that in later times some will fall away from the faith. I don’t get how that’s not good enough for you to believe.
And what faith do you think the Spirit is referring to? Islam? Judaism? I mean really.
And how does this happen? Well it says in the verse paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons...what I’ve been saying the whole time...deception is key. And maybe the problem here is it’s the pie in the sky, tickling of ears?

 

[Vytas]

Hi Vytas, how have you been?
Maybe it’s because I was a little girl...I didn’t grow up in a Christian household and my parents never talked about anything with us...so I didn’t know I was supposed to remember the date to prove to the world that I am a Christian.
What I do remember is that I talked to Jesus and thought him my friend. I wanted to be a nun because I wanted to be dedicated to God and when I got older I wanted to marry a Christian man. I might not have remembered the exact moment I was saved but God was with me. When I lived with my Aunt who was a catholic I was going to start catholic learning classes but I went back home to my parents house before that (thank God!!!) I did end up marrying a man who said he was a Christian but he was a Christian in name only for quite some time and it was I who because of the hardships of my life at the time became more deeply committed to God. Reading through the Bible cover to cover multiple times and studying God’s word, learning to know God and learning to trust Him...I am certain that I can’t live without Him in my life and I never want to be parted from Him ever. So, yep, you guys got me...I don’t remember when I was saved but I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind so does it really matter if I can’t remember the date?

Edit: spelling

Thanks, im fine, life has been interesting. This forum is about to get more interesting also, with you around .

 

[Vytas]

Open question.
What are we saved from exactly ? It's might seem like dumb question but i doubt we all are on the same page...

Is Jesus talking here about those who are saved ?

Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

 

[bible_student]

Baloney. Stop telling people this. How cruel would God have to be to dangle salvation in and out of our grasp like that, depending on our faithfulness, and not his?

2 Timothy 2:13 - If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.​

Psalms 103:14 - For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.​

Galatians 3:3 - Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?​

Ezekiel
18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord "I AM": [and] not that he should return from his ways, and live?
18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth inequity, [and] doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked [man] doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
18:25 Yet ye say, The Way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O "House of Israel"; Is not My Way equal? are not your ways unequal?

Or do you also believe that Ezekiel does not apply, like you said before about the Gospel according to James the brother of Jesus?