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Once Saved Always Saved?

 

Before I knew anything about the connection of tzedaqah to eternal life, I simply believed the salvation doctrine I heard at my church – “we are saved by grace through faith and once saved always saved.” Two Bible verses were used to prove that doctrine was the word of God:

 

● “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

● “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”  (Romans 3:28)

 

Something you have probably heard me say before is worth repeating here – words taken out of context can be used to prove anything. When we read a couple of chapters later in Ephesians, we find this:

 

● Ephesians 5:4-5 – “. . . no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

 

In that context, people committing those sins will not be part of the kingdom of God – regardless of what they believe. We have a similar situation with the verse from Romans. This time it is verses from the chapter before the verse quoted above that are important.

 

● Romans 2:5-11 -- “. . . God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality . . . glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

 

Obviously, doing good works is the key factor in obtaining eternal life – not just grace. When we use the BHC Guidelines and Models we use to Explore Our Biblical Heritages, we discover the following facts:

 

● 1525 – Luther created the “saved by grace” doctrine.

 

● 1550 -- John Calvin’s doctrine of “perseverance of the saints” laid the foundation for the “once saved always saved doctrine” to be created.

 

I thought the doctrines my church taught came directly from Jesus, but they were created over 1,500 years after he lived. My church did not teach us anything about the history of Christianity, our denomination, or the doctrines it taught – neither did the public school system I attended. Obviously, I lacked the accurate information I needed to evaluate beliefs that strongly influenced my life in many ways.

 

Identifying our most important beliefs, discovering their origins,

and understanding how they have evolved over the centuries

is one of the most important things that we can do.

 

Please share and discuss this email with others. Thank you for exploring biblical heritages with us.

 

Shalom,

Jim Myers

 

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