What Everyone Should Know About Being Saved!

Once in Grace, Always in Grace?

Chapter Eleven

Once in Grace, Always in Grace?

So-called orthodox churches have been engaged for centuries in "saving souls from hell" and guaranteeing them a place in heaven. The very possibility of such "saved souls" being subsequently lost finds no place in most theology. Many Christians labor under the belief that once they have allegedly been "saved," heaven is guaranteed. This argument is only possible because "saved" to them means "saved to heaven." 

Such heavenly salvation is contingent upon continued faithfulness and growth in the graces of the Spirit, as we have seen. Hence, one may be "saved" from the judgment of sin and brought into a relationship with Christ and then lose that standing. Let us note what the Scriptures say in this regard.

Jude 5 tells us, "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." 

Here is a case where a great number of people were saved out of Egypt, and again saved through the Red Sea, and then later destroyed. Twice the children of Israel experienced God's grace; but subsequently, because of their hardness of heart and refusal to believe, God decided to destroy the adults in the wilderness over a period of forty years. Only Joshua and Caleb were privileged to enter the Promised Land, whereas all the other adults that left Egypt were destroyed in the wilderness. 

Here is proof that "saved" people could subsequently be destroyed. These Bible stories were given for our instruction. It is clear that most of the "Israelites" received the grace of the Lord in vain and, therefore, never set foot in the Promised Land. Paul uses this lesson to teach, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" (Heb. 4:11).

Jude 23 says, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." In this text "save" embodies salvaging lives that are being overcome by fleshly sins so that their spiritual well-being is not harmed. Notice that it is not the "blood of Christ" that saves in this text. Rather, fellow-Christians are engaged in restoring those involved in activities that threaten their relationship with Christ. If those "saved" must all be received in heaven, then Jude's exhortation would seem unnecessary. Must God receive all to heaven unconditionally, no matter what they do or how far they wander from Christ? This teaching gives license to living a life devoid of spiritual reality. It is a very dangerous view.

Jude goes on to say, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). The danger of "falling" is real. Paul says, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). When Christians in the early church tried to commend themselves to God by works, Paul said, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace [being justified by God's grace]"(Gal. 5:4).

Christians Who Violate God's Grace

Peter speaks of Christians who place themselves outside of God's grace. He says, "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (2 Pet. 2: 20-22). Character can become seriously corrupted, making recovery difficult and, in some cases, impossible.