This part is a continuation of Part One by the same author  Philip A. Matthews

Scriptures That Speak Directly of the Possibility of Backsliding

After all of the above discussion, much of which may still be debatable according to some, let us now turn our attention to more direct scriptures that contradict OSAS. What does the Bible say about backsliding and losing”or forfeiting”one’s salvation? Is such a biblical concept or not? Following are several scriptures that speak directly to this issue.

Many times when discussing this issue, the idea is proposed that people do not lose their salvation; really they were never saved in the first place. Sometimes this may be true, but it is still a New Testament concept that it is possible for someone who really was saved to be lost in the end. Apostasy is a valid Bible concept, taught plainly by many scriptures. The idea that lost souls were never saved in the first place is refuted by these scriptures.

Below are the scriptures that speak directly of the possibility of backsliding, i.e., of being lost after having once been saved. Remember, if we find even one instance of someone backsliding, whatever the circumstances and conditions may be, then that one instance is enough to immediately prove our point.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (AMP)

4  “For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5  And have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come, 6  If they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance”[it is impossible] to bring them back to  repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace. 7 For the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God. 8  But if [that same soil] persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. [2]

            Obviously, whoever the apostle is speaking of is saved. They are “once for all enlightened, they have “tasted of the heavenly gift, they have even been filled with the Holy Spirit, they have felt the goodness of God’s word and the mighty powers of the age to come. If they cannot deviate from the faith, then it makes no sense for Paul to write “if they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance¦ If they do so, he writes that they will be cursed and burned, obviously in eternal hellfire, because they could not be brought back to repentance. This terminology makes absolutely no sense unless there is such a thing as apostasy and backsliding.

Hebrews 10:23-39 (AMP)

“So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word. 24  And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, 25  Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. 26  For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. 27  [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. [Isa. 26:11]. 28 Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [Deut. 17:2“6]. 29 How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? [Exod. 24:8].

     “32  ¦But be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle, 33  Sometimes being yourselves a gazing stock, publicly exposed to insults and abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship and making common cause with others who were so treated. 34 For you did sympathize and suffer along with those who were imprisoned, and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge and consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession. 35 Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. 36 For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. 37 For still a little while (a very little while), and the Coming One will come and He will not delay. 38  But the just shall live by faith [My righteous servant shall live by his conviction respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it]; and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, My soul has no delight or pleasure in him. [Hab. 2:3, 4]. 39  But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul. [3]

        Paul is talking to Christians here, and if there were no danger at all of some of them turning away from God because of the persecution they are experiencing at this time, absolutely none of this passage would make any sense. They are saved. They have “acquired a knowledge of the truth. They have been “consecrated [sanctified KJV] by the “covenant blood. They have been “spiritually enlightened. They had “knowledge and consciousness that they “had a better and lasting possession in heaven that allowed them to sacrifice their lives here. They had a “fearless confidence. If they were not saved, then they were some supernatural sinners! But Paul had to encourage and warn them to keep holding on and not let their troubles cause them to draw back to “eternal misery (perdition) and be “utterly destroyed. Whoever they were, none of this makes sense if perdition (eternal damnation) were not a possibility for them.

Eternal security proponents usually argue that the above two Hebrews scriptures are talking only about certain people under certain conditions, perhaps hypothetical but not real conditions, and therefore these scriptures do not really prove anything at all. But why would the writer go through all of those scenarios hypothetically if they were impossible to ever occur? And whoever these scriptures are referring to, under whatever set of conditions, this fact remains: Somebody here had experienced all of the major blessings of salvation through belief in Christ”spiritual enlightenment and a knowledge of the truth, cleansing by His blood of covenant, Holy Spirit infilling, assurance of heaven, fearless confidence, etc. What more could we expect them to have? But they lost it”or gave it up. Why and how it was lost does not matter here. The fact that it was lost reveals the fact that it is possible to lose it

Several other pertinent scriptures:

Luke 12:45 “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” He was the servant of his Lord. But now Jesus says that, though he was once saved, his lord will appoint him a portion in hell.

John 15:2-6 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit¦ If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” The person was already abiding in the vine, i.e., saved and “in Christ. Now, he will be “taken away, cut off, and will be burned. But note what happens before this burning: He will “wither, xeraino, dry up, and shrivel. This means that at one time the life of the Vine actually flowed in and through him, but now being separated from the Vine because of a refusal to bear Christian fruit, he loses that life.

Romans 11:21 “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” This is the warning of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has cut off many before. If you don’t continue in his goodness, he will cut you off also.Once saved, you have to continue in salvation. Or else you can be cut off.

1 Cor 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” You are the temple of God. He lives in you. But, if you defile yourself with sin, God will destroy you, not merely your rewards! It is not once saved, always saved.

1 Cor 9:27 “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” If Apostle Paul did not continue to keep his body in obedience, he would have been thrown away. That means salvation is not automatically kept. But we have to meet the conditions to keep it.

1 Cor 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” If we stand, be careful so that we may not fall. This caution shows that the position is not guaranteed.

1 Cor 15:2 “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” “If you keep in memory” is conditional. If they do not keep the memory of the preaching, they lose the position of salvation.

Gal 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” They were in grace and hence they were saved. Now they fell from grace. That is, salvation is lost. They were saved once. But now they are lost.

Col 1:23—If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel¦  This letter is written to the “saints and faithful brethren at Colossae. There are only two groups of people there, as in any church: those who are truly saved and those who are not truly saved. If, as Calvinists say, the truly saved cannot fall away anyway, this whole admonition is moot and unnecessary for them. Paul’s instructions and warnings are mere wasted ink, and they are not really written to the truly saved at all.

So perhaps they are written to those in the church who are not truly saved. This is a popular argument of OSAS proponents: People who appear to “lose their salvation were never saved in the first place. However, the instructions here make no sense for them either, because why would Paul tell them to “continue along a path that does not lead to salvation anyway? Furthermore, why would he tell them not to be “moved away from some position they have never attained? A person cannot “move away from a place he was never in. One cannot “lose something he never had.

So it is obvious that he was not talking to or about unsaved professors, thus meaning that his instructions were definitely directed to those truly saved. He is warning the saved; he makes it conditional that the saved will be saved in the end “if they continue¦ and are not moved away. The only way this can make any sense at all is if it applies to the saved! Thus, we are forced to admit the possibility that the saved, if they disobey Paul’s admonition and fail to “continue or allow themselves to be “moved away, will not be saved after all. In other words, the saved can fall away and be lost.

2 Thess 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” A few people that are saved will be deceived and fall away. One cannot fall away from a position he never held. So, once saved is not always saved.

1 Tim 3:6 “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” Or, as in NIV: “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. A newly saved person is more vulnerable to fall into condemnation”and be lost. Note that this is not a matter of losing his rewards.

1 Tim 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” The Holy Spirit says clearly that some saved persons will depart from faith and will be lost. They will believe and preach the doctrine of devils.

1 Tim 5:12 “Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.” They were first, at one time, saved through faith. Then they cast off their faith and fell into damnation, which is not salvation.

1 Tim 5:15 “For some are already turned aside after Satan. They were with God but turned aside or away. But now they are with Satan. Once saved, now lost it forever.

Heb 3:12 “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if (and only if) we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” Partakers with God are departing from God. Sin is deceitful and will separate you from God. Once saved, if not steadfast, will lose it.

Heb 12:15 “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.” By grace you are saved. If you are not diligent you may fall from the grace of God, and lose the salvation.

James 5:19 “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.“ If a saved person errs from the truth, it apparently makes him a sinner who needs to be saved again. Saving him from the error is saving his soul. That is, any time you go into error or go back into sin, you no longer have the salvation you once had.

2 Peter 2:15 “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam.” They were in the right way but forsook it and have now gone astray. Once saved and now lost.

2 Peter 2:20 “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.” Those who once escaped sin may also fall into sin again.

Rev 2:5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” They had fallen from salvation. Jesus Christ requires them to repent and get back.

Rev 3:16 “Because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” This church was living in the mouth of God. Now God will spit them out unless they become hot for God. Getting “spewed out of God’s mouth doesn’t sound very eternally secure!

Rev 22:19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Rev 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” These people at first are saved, meaning that God has written their names in the book of life. But, if they reject any of his word, God Himself will take their names out of the book of life, meaning that they are not saved any more. Then, whoever is not found in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire. So ultimately, these who were once saved are now thrown into the lake of fire

Most of this should seem pretty clear and straightforward. These are all verses that make it difficult to support the teaching of “once saved, always saved.

Eternal Security Tends to Prevent Practical Holiness

It should also be noted that the doctrine of practical holiness, i.e., daily living with victory over sin, is generally incompatible with eternal security, the teaching that once a person is saved, he is saved forever, no matter what he does or how rebelliously he lives thereafter. This does not mean that no one who believes in eternal security can live holy. We simply mean that the doctrine of eternal security removes the “teeth out of the requirement to live holy, thus permitting a generally lower standard of Christian behavior throughout the Body of Christ. The name given to Christians who live on this lower standard of behavior is “Carnal Christians.

Once we remove the need to live holy and be submissive to God as one of the requirements to enter heaven, all real motivation to live a holy life is lost. Holiness becomes optional. If a person’s life does not have to be clean and holy to remain in fellowship with God or to enter heaven in the end, then we begin to wonder why did Jesus Christ come and die and what is the point of a great portion of the Bible that continually exhorts us to holiness and daily victory over sin?

Many teachers of eternal security answer this objection by saying that if you don’t live holy, then although you still go to heaven, you will miss out on your “rewards.They base this on 1 Corinthians 3:12-15: “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

This is like saying that instead of getting a “mansion in heaven that rivals Peter’s or Paul’s, an unholy, carnal Christian would receive only a little shack. But the fact of the matter is this: There are only two eternal destinations”heaven and hell”and if by any means you manage to miss hell and make it to heaven, even a shack in heaven is good enough! Heaven is the ultimate blessing, with or without any other “rewards. So in essence an unholy believer gets the same reward as the holy believer, thus completely eliminating any reason to live holy. When living unholy is not eternally devastating, then living holy becomes optional.

But for some reason, we hear the apostle Paul saying, “Seek to live a clean and holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14 NLT).[4]  Obviously, he is not talking about positional holiness or right standing with God (“hosiotes in Luke 1:75 and Ephesians 4:24), which a believer cannot do for himself. Instead he is referring to practical, character- and behavior-based holiness (“hagiasmos and “hagiosune in Romans 6:19 and 22; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Timothy 2:15; and 1 Thessalonians 3:13 and 4:7 ), which every believer is perfectly capable of and required to maintain. There should be no expectation of “seeing the Lord, i.e., of enjoying His divine presence in heaven, without practicing holy living.

Resolving the Controversy

While we are on this subject, it would be good to make an attempt to resolve the conflict between practical holiness and the doctrine of eternal security. First of all, it should be noted that if a person believes in eternal security but still lives holy, then it doesn’t matter whether their belief in “once saved always saved is right or wrong. A belief in eternal security is only detrimental when a person dishonestly uses it as an excuse to continue living sinfully. Unfortunately, this is often done. Multitudes of “Christians continue living a sinful lifestyle by assuming that once they made a decision for Christ, then it doesn’t matter how awful their behavior might be; they are still saved.

But the Bible clearly teaches that sin can break fellowship with God (2 Corinthians 6:14). However, when a Christian commits a sinful deed, this does not necessarily or immediately break fellowship with God. He gives the Christian committing the sin a “space or time to repent (Revelations 2:21). The Holy Spirit convicts the sinning Christian to repent, make restitution, clean up the situation, apologize to those offended, etc. Forgiveness is thus obtained, and the Christian’s fellowship with God remains unbroken.

See also 1 John 1:5-2:2 regarding this process of sinning and restoration: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

However, if the Christian refuses to respond to the convictions of the Holy Spirit and refuses to repent for the wrong deed done, the Holy Spirit will continue to prod and persuade him or her to repent, to straighten up the situation, and to remove the stain of guilt from his record and his heart and mind.  How do we know this? Because verse 9 is, once again, a tautology: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us¦ and cleanse us¦ It logically follows that if we do not confess, then He does not forgive or cleanse. Why would God forgive the sins of someone who does not have a heart and attitude of repentance, regret, humility, and confession? Such would be a complete violation of the whole biblical concept of confession and repentance: Someone who is completely unrepentant has his sins forgiven without meeting the biblical conditions (Romans 10:9-10)!

So if the sinning Christian never repents or confesses, the Holy Spirit eventually ceases to deal with him about the matter, eventually breaking fellowship with God. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth¦People who are not in fellowship with God do not go to heaven, not even to receive a lower degree of rewards. People out of fellowship with God go to hell. Indeed, that is the only way to get there: Simply be out of fellowship with God! People out of fellowship with God remain in spiritual death.

Thus, we can say that the traditional, non-Calvinistic Christian doctrine is similar to eternal security in that it does not teach that every little sin and misdeed results in an immediate loss of fellowship with God. We don’t just “lose our salvation for every little misdeed or without our knowledge. However, it does differ from eternal security by teaching that every willful and wrong deed you are aware of must be confessed and repented of to maintain fellowship with God. And it differs by teaching that a person who willfully rebels and refuses to repent for his known misdeeds”that is, holds on to his unconfessed sin”falls out of fellowship with God and cannot enter heaven.

Some well-known eternal security teachers (e.g., Charles Stanley) actually teach that once saved, a person can sin, deliberately turn his back completely on God, and even become an unbeliever, but still make it into heaven because of “that one point in time in which that person made a decision for Christ! “Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy.”[5] Why not? Because of this, according to Charles Stanley: “But a man or woman who has been rescued once from a state of unforgiveness need not worry. For once 100% of a man’s or woman’s sins have been forgiven, the potential for being unforgiven has been done away with. The risk factor is zero. There are no more fires from which the believer needs to be saved.”[6]

Other eternal security proponents actually interpret some biblical passages to teach that there is a place of “outer darkness inside heaven that has such a low degree of rewards that the souls there actually feel like they are in hell. For example, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates claims that the “outer darkness in the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant (Matthew 25:30) refers “to the degrees of the enjoyment of heaven rather than referring to hell. [7]  The “weeping and gnashing of teeth occurs in heaven! See his comments on Matthew 8:11-12 in his Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible (KJV). If unfaithful Christians were to remain in this condition of hell-like torment in heaven, even this would allow the doctrine of eternal security to make the requirement to live holy non-optional. However, according to their eternal security doctrine, God soon “wipes away all tears from their eyes (Revelation 21:4), thus leaving the unfaithful Christian free to enjoy heaven without torment for the rest of eternity.

This whole idea runs counter to the general tenor of the Bible and violates multitudes of scriptures. Keeping it simple, the general tenor of the Bible is that people are to get saved and “live a clean and holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). If we make it any more complicated than that, we run the risk of excusing sin, justifying selfishness, redefining what is morally right and wrong in society, permitting sin and selfishness in the church, and deceiving ourselves into thinking that we can eventually take it all into heaven.

May God bless these teachings to the Body of Christ.

© 2013 Philip A. Matthews

Original: March 19, 2011

Updated: January 11, 2013