Once Saved, Always Saved - A Person CANNOT Lose Salvation
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify
again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; YE ARE FALLEN FROM
GRACE” (Galatians 5:1-4).
Many sincere folks have misinterpreted this Scripture to conclude that a
Believer can lose their salvation—this is a false teaching!
“Falling from grace” does NOT mean falling away from God’s
salvation and God’s promises. God
made us a promise in the Bible, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”
(Romans 10:13). My part is to
“call”, God’s part is to “save.” I cannot save myself, nor can you. Only God can save a person because only God can forgive sin.
No priest or Pope can forgive (or absolve) anyone’s sins.
Penance is simply NOT a Bible doctrine.
I must go to Jesus and Him alone! Thanks
be to God, I did this as a young man and have been saved since that day. Though I am still a sinner and often fall short of God’s
standards, I am still a Child of God—safe and secure in the everlasting arms
of the Father. I CANNOT lose
my salvation, no way. No amount of
evil or wrong doing can undo what God has done.
I didn’t deserve to be saved in the first place so my actions have no
bearing on my salvation. This does
not give us a license to sin, it just means that salvation starts and ends with
God. The only thing God requires of
us is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
Thank God! Jesus washed my
sins away and wrote my name in Heaven! He
saved a vile, dirty, rotten sinner from hell-fire!
God placed Jesus’ righteousness on my account and placed my grievous
sins on Jesus account! The Father
declared me J-U-S-T-I-F-I-E-D, Just-if-I’d never sinned!
Now that’s a wonderful God!
The Church at Galatia was Beginning to Fall Into False Religion
What does the Apostle Paul mean here in Galatians 5:1-4? What is meant by the phrase “fallen from grace?” In order to fully understand what Paul meant, we must understand the purpose of the Book of Galatians. The Believers at Galatia had fallen victim to a false religion. And let me pause right here to say that there are MANY false religions in the world today, right in our own neighborhoods. These “deceitful workers” that appear as angels of light are two-fold the “children of Hell.” Not only are they unsaved but they subtly propagate damnable heresies to lead others into Hell with them (the blind leading the blind). They are dangerous and must be exposed for who they are—antichrists! They are against Christ!
There
were false religions in Paul’s day as well.
One false religion in particular had preyed upon the church at Galatia.
This false religion wanted to merge with the true Believers in order to
promote their own false religion. This
was a false religion that taught “works” was necessary to be saved.
They believed that a man needed to be circumcised in order to be saved.
This was known as Judaism (the keeping of the ceremonial laws, etc).
Listen here to Paul’s warning to the Galatia Christians, “As
many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be
circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire
to have you circumcised, THAT
THEY MAY GLORY IN YOUR FLESH”
(Galatians 6:12,13). This false religion didn’t care about these true Believers,
they only cared about promoting their own heresies and foolishness.
The Devil's Crowd Seeks to Yoke with Compromising Believers
This is so often the case, greedy people try to capitalize on the
goodness of God’s Children. I’ve had several people in my lifetime try to recruit me
into selling something door-to-door: Amway, life insurance, long distance phone
service, etc. They knew I was a
zealous soul-winner and figured they’d make an easy buck if they could get me to do
all the work for them. I never did
help those lazy rascals. Paul heard
of the evil which was happening in Galatia and writes this letter of warning to
the church. Paul brings to
attention the fact that these unbelievers DON’T keep the very law that they
claim can save them if they obey it. No
person can keep all of God’s law, “...there
is NONE RIGHTEOUS,
no not one” (Romans 3:10). This is
true of false religion today as well. I’ve
met many religious people who take God’s name in vain, wish the boss would
burn in hell, hate their spouse, etc, etc.
These are unsaved people who trust in their good works to get them into
Heaven someday—good luck! They
won’t make it! They’ve yet to
realize their sinful condition. One
cannot be honest with God until willing to first be honest with one’s self.
This takes an honest person. Most
people run from the truth at all costs and refuse to face the facts.
You can deal with the truth, but a lie cannot be dealt with. The truth is often painful to accept.
Jesus is the ONLY Way to Heaven!
Having
laid the groundwork, now let me explain what Paul meant when he said, “Ye are
fallen from grace.” Paul was
simply saying that Jesus is the only ticket to Heaven.
If you miss Jesus, you will have missed your only bus ride to Heaven.
If an unsaved person rejects Christ as Savior, then there is NO OTHER WAY
to be saved. This is all that Paul
was saying. Paul speaks strongly in
Galatians 3:1,2, “O
FOOLISH
Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among
you? This only would I learn of
you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? Are ye so
FOOLISH?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
Nobody likes to be called “foolish.”
Paul’s strong words must have been a big surprise to these folks;
nevertheless, they were much needed words.
“Am I therefore become
your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”
(Galatians 4:16). I find
myself quoting this verse often because many people do not want to hear the
truth. We must learn to accept the
truth, seek the truth and love the truth because God is truth.
The Gospel is Easily Perverted, Just Add or Subtract
The Galatians had heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and yet we’re being
entangled into this works religion mess. Paul
was starting to wonder if these folks had really been saved in the first place.
“I marvel that ye are
so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel: Which is not another; but
there be some that trouble you, and would
PERVERT
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST” (Galatians
1:6,7). The Gospel is easy to
pervert, simply add something to it and it is corrupted. For example: If you add baptism to the Gospel, then you have
added a “work” to God’s simple plan of salvation by grace through faith.
No good deeds can save us and they absolutely cannot be added to
salvation otherwise you will have perverted the truth of the Gospel.
Baptismal regeneration perverts the Gospel of Christ.
Some people have the false impression that they are saved, but they truly are NOT
because of various misunderstandings concerning salvation.
Adding or subtracting anything to simple Gospel of Christ is a sure road to
Hell.
If You Reject Jesus as Saviour, then You are Fallen from Grace
If you have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, look no further.
You must simply believe the Gospel, making the decision to trust Christ
as Saviour, asking Him to forgive you of all your sins. If you have heard the Gospel of Christ but it hasn’t
affected you, I feel sorry for you. If
you refuse to call upon the name of the Lord, you are fallen from grace (you
have rejected your only way to salvation).
If you have called on the Lord but are also trusting in your good works
to get you into Heaven, then you are not truly trusting Christ.
I’ve actually met some people who have told me that they are trusting
"faith and works" to get them into Heaven. No
sir! You won’t get into Heaven
any other way than through the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.
If You Add Works to Faith, then You are Fallen from Grace
Notice again the Words which we just read in Galatians chapter three, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the WORKS of the law, or by the hearing of FAITH?” Do you see? Salvation cannot be by works, only by faith. If the Galatians had fallen prey to the false belief that circumcision was necessary for salvation, then it would have revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were NOT saved. I often am concerned myself about the salvation of other professed Believers. You’d be surprised just how many people think they’re genuinely saved simply because they made a commitment to Christ at a crusade or turned over a new leaf at a revival meeting. Let me tell you, your sins are the big issue my friend. Have your sins been dealt with? Have you gone to God as a dirty, rotten, hell-deserving sinner and BELIEVED the Good News of Christ crucified on the cross, buried and bodily resurrected the third day for salvation? That is THE GOSPEL! That is the GOOD NEWS! Believe it friend and you have eternal life! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Jesus Christ alone can forgive and save you?
The phrase
“fallen from grace” simply means that you have refused the saving
power of the Gospel. It means you have been deceived and given a phony life
insurance policy! I don’t know about you, but I have “all saints
insurance” with Jesus Christ. It’s
a free policy paid-in-full by Jesus Christ Himself.
God the Father is my agent! Amen! Anybody
can have this eternal life insurance.
There's no
deductible, no premium and no hidden costs. Are you insured with the heavenly Father?
Don’t miss your only bus to Heaven, simply BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus
Christ now as your personal Savior. Please don't delay, because today could be the last day of your
earthly life! Life is short, Hell is hot, and eternity is a long time!
A Born Again Person Can Never Fall from Grace
Also,
let me make clear that you only need to be saved once and can NEVER fall from
grace. As I’ve mentioned before,
we didn’t deserve salvation in the first place and we never will deserve it.
If we cannot do good deeds to earn Heaven in the first place, then we
cannot do evil deeds to lose it. We
are kept saved by God’s power and God’s promise, our part was only to
believe on Christ. Once saved, always saved and that’s the Gospel truth!
The Bible teaches that a person must be “born-again”, NOT
“born-again and again and again.” We are born physically into this world one time and we can
only be born of God one time. We
become a “new creature” in Christ when God’s Holy Spirit unites in a Holy
Marriage with our own spirit (that spirit which was once dead in trespasses and
sins but is now made alive by the presence of God in our body).
A Christian Believer ALWAYS Falls IN GRACE, Never FROM GRACE!
Remember, a believer who sins (and we ALL do every day), only falls IN GRACE, never FROM GRACE. Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The unsaved person is still under the curse of God's LAW, condemned already. Ah, but the dear saint of God is under God's free GRACE. All of the false prophets today, like Paul Washer, Ray Comfort and John MacArthur, who require turning away from sinful behavior to receive the free gift of God, are not teaching GRACE! Anything other than grace alone is NOT grace! Romans 11:6a, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace...” The moment that anyone adds the slightest addition to the Gospel of grace, it ceases to be grace.
If you think that the life you are
living on earth
can affect your eternal life, then you don't get grace!!! As Jonah
rightly pondered in the belly of the whale in Jonah 2:9b,
“SALVATION IS OF THE LORD.” No believer can ever fall from
grace, it is impossible. When we sin (and we ALL still do because we
are human), we fall IN GRACE! Once a person has eternal life, which
is the gift of God, they can NEVER lose it!!!
Believers Are Under GRACE, Not Under the LAW
The
following Bible verse speaks concerning the unsaved person, who is still
under THE LAW, which condemns them for their sins. The LAW of God (about
720 Old
Testament commandments) makes all men guilty. Before we were saved, we
were all under the LAW...
Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
In sharp contrast, the following Bible verse speaks concerning the Christian, who is no longer under the LAW, but is now and forever under God's GRACE, which is only through faith in Christ Jesus...
Romans 6:14-15, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”
No Christian has a license to sin,
just because the LAW no longer has the power to condemn us. Albeit, in a
sense we do have a license to sin, in that, no amount of sinning can
ever jeopardize our position in Christ as His redeemed child. Isn't that
precious!
A Man Will Reap What He Sows
You have probably heard the following verse quoted at some time in your life, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). I became curious one day about the context in which this statement was made. Surely, we ALL deserve to get what we have coming to us—none of us are without sin. However, what is the application in Galatians 6:7? Paul makes this interesting statement that we will “reap what we sow.” I searched the Scriptures and learned that the Apostle Paul had made this statement (about reaping what you sow) in regard to the Galatians who were about to enter into a false religion. The people which Paul had previously ministered to in Galatia were about to sow something evil. Paul was warning them that false religion can only lead to confusion and Hell. As I mentioned earlier, Paul was skeptical concerning their salvation. Had they been saved at all? Were they going to follow this false religion? The Apostle Paul certainly had a reason to be very concerned. Paul was simply saying that you had better make sure you don’t wind up in some false religion, because you'll have to answer to God one day for it.
You had better “try the spirits” as we are warned in 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY (or test) THE SPIRITS whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” People are spirits in the flesh, that is who we are. Once the tent of the body is no longer fit for use, the spirit returns to God. So what the Scripture means by “trying the spirits” is simply—test someone with the Bible. Ask them if they believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Ask them if they believe that Jesus is God Almighty, Who came in the flesh. Ask them if they believe in the virgin birth and the blood atonement of Jesus. Ask them if they believe in the bodily resurrection and the coming physical return of Christ. Ask them if they believe that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all One in the same Being. Ask them if they believe that Jesus is Eternal, without beginning or end (He had no Creator).
Please don't miss your only bus ride to Heaven (falling from grace) by following
a false religion that perverts the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. The only
way to be saved is by simple heart's faith in the blood sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could
not pay. If you will simply believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of sins, then you will be saved. Be not deceived my
friend!!!
