RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-04-07	Once Saved Always Saved, Is It A License To Sin?
		The phrase, “once saved always saved” is a description for the theological doctrine called the eternal security of the believer. We need to use a couple terms to help us explain the two camps. The first camp are those who believe in the doctrine of eternal security of the believer. Let's call them “embracers”. The second camp are those who reject the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Let's call them “rejectors”. The rejectors believe the embracers teach you sin as much as you want and you do not have to obey God, or live for Him and you still will go to Heaven. 1. SALVATION. How we are made right with God. This is a one time event. You cannot say it is by grace through faith that I get saved, and once saved I must maintain my salvation by doing works for God. The Bible does not teach you get in one way, but you must maintain it another way (Ep.2:8-9). Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Eph 2:9  not of works, lest anyone should boast. Paul is saying we cannot take credit for our salvation because it is a gift of God (v.8) Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done so we have no basis to boast about it. 2. SANCTIFICATION. This is the process where God takes the child of God and makes him look like the Son of God. This is a process. Paul refers to four different levels of spirituality. (A) The Natural Man (1Co.2:14). The lowest level of spirituality is someone who does not have the Holy Spirit. These are simply unsaved. 1Co 2:14  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Everything they do relates to their own abilities and thinking apart from God. They cannot discern anything spiritual. (B) The Baby Christian (1Co.3:1). These Christians are on a journey (sanctification) but have not progressed very far. These are simply new believers. 1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. He also speaks in this verse to the third category of men, the carnal. (C) The Carnal Christian (1Co.3:3) 1Co 3:3  for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? Paul describes them as Christians, but their lives look like the unsaved natural man. He says, “you are still carnal”. When someone looks at their lives they do not see a huge difference between them and a non-christian. (D) The Spiritual Christian (1Co.2:15). These are mature and discerning Christians. They are not perfect, but there is evidence of God working in their lives. 1Co 2:15  But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. Even the spiritual Christian may at times act like the baby and carnal Christian. Paul clearly describes these different levels of spirituality or sanctification whereby He is making us more like the Son of God. 3. ANTICIPATED QUESTION Paul strongly refutes the idea of our salvation being a license to sin. Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more If sin can never overrun God's grace, then why not keep on sinning (Ro.6:1-2)? Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Rom 6:2  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? It is unthinkable that just because we have this grace given to us, that we should take advantage of it. The reason this question comes up is because grace does cover all sin. So the person asking this question is the one seeking to justify himself. 4. SALVATION FOLLOWED BY WORKS We do not maintain our salvation by works. Rather we demonstrate our salvation by works. These are very different. Our good works and obedience toward God is the FRUIT of our salvation, not the ROOT of our salvation. It is not what gets us saved, or what keeps us saved, it is what we do because we are saved. We do it because we love the Lord. Eph 2:10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We were saved to do good works. We were not saved because of our good works. Jas 2:20  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? If you say you have faith, but live like a natural man, you may be saved at all. This would not mean you lost your salvation. It means you may not have even been saved in the first place. Jesus spoke of those who outwardly said they were believers, but in reality they never knew God (Mt.7:21-23). These are not those who lost their salvation. Jesus does not say, “I do not know you anymore.” He says, “I NEVER knew you.” These were never saved! Brothers and sisters you cannot lose your salvation, but that does NOT mean you have a license to sin. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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