The Church of Christ
Can a child of God so live
as to fall from Grace and be eternally lost?
Some of our religious
neighbors sincerely teach and practice that once a Christian has been saved, nothing he or
she can do will separate them from their eternal inheritance. This is
known as the "Once Saved, Always Saved" Doctrine. Is this
scriptural? What does the Bible teach us?
A Child of God can fall
from Grace.
Gal
5:4
“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the
law; ye are fallen from grace.” Paul wrote this to “the churches of Galatia” (Gal.
1:2); to those who had been called “into the grace of Christ” (Gal.
1:6); who had received the Spirit and begun in it (Gal
3:2,3); whom “Christ hath made free” (Gal.
5:1); and who were called “children of God” (Gal.
3:26; 4:6).
The Galatian Christians
had been “removed…unto another gospel” (Gal.
1:6); “bewitched” (Gal.
3:1); desired “to be under the law” (Gal.
4:21); were trying to receive circumcision (Gal.
5:2,3); and were not obeying the truth (Gal.
5:7). Paul said “Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal.
5:2); “ye are fallen (from ekpipto (ek-pip'-to); to drop away; specially, be
driven out of one's course; figuratively, to lose, become inefficient: ) from
Christ (Gal.
5:4); “ye are fallen from grace,” if you “would be” justified by the law.
Since our salvation is by
grace (Eph.
2:8) and all “spiritual blessings” are “in Christ” (Eph.
1:3) then a child of God who falls “from grace” and is “severed from Christ”
is lost if they remain in that condition.
One’s name can be
blotted out of God’s book of life.
Those who have their
names written in the book of life are God’s children. (cf.
Luke 10:20;
Phil. 4:3).
In the judgment those whose names are “not written in the book of life” will be
cast into the lake of fire. (Rev.
20:14,15)
Jesus promised: “He that
overcometh…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” (Rev.
3:5). If he does not overcome then his name will be blotted out of the book
of life. “Blot out” here is from the same Greek word as in
Acts 3:19,
exaleipho (ex-al-i'-fo); from NT:1537 and NT:218; to smear out, i.e. obliterate
(erase, tears,): KJV - blot out, wipe away.
Ex
32:33
And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot
out of my book. (KJV)
Question: How can a name
be blotted out/erased from the book of life unless it had first been there?
An apostate’s last
state is worse than the first.
“For if after they have
escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Saviour 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” (2
Peter 2:20-21).
Those here described were
children of God. They had “escaped the pollutions of the world” (V.
20) and had “known the way of righteousness” (V.
21). Also, they had been in the right way (V.
15); for they could not have forsaken the right way without first being in
it. Furthermore, they had been bought by the Lord Himself (v.1) (The “they” of
verse 20
refers to the “false teachers” of verse 1). Those bought by the blood of Christ
are redeemed, forgiven of sins, and make up the church (Eph.
1:7;
Acts
20:28). Therefore, these people had been redeemed, forgiven of sins and were
in the church.
These saved people became
“false teachers … denying the Lord that bought them (2
Peter 2:1; cf.
Gal. 1:8;
Matt.
10:33). Their ways were pernicious (v.
2); they were covetous (v.
3); walked “after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,” “presumptuous,”
“self-willed,” not afraid to speak evil of dignities” (v.
10), “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin” (v.
14). They had “forsaken the right way,” (and had entered the wrong way,
cf. Matt.
7:13-14), “and are gone astray” (v.
15). They become “servants of corruption” (v.
19); again entangled in the pollutions of the world and overcome (v.
20); having turned “from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (v.
21). As “the dog is turned to his own vomit; and the sow that was washed to
her wallowing in the mire,” these saved persons had turned back into sin (v.
22).
Peter says they “bring
upon themselves swift destruction” (v.
1); that their “judgment … lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not” (v. 3).
He adds that such unjust persons are reserved “unto the day of judgment to be
punished” (v. 9);
that they “shall utterly perish … and shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness” (v.
12-13). He calls them “cursed children” (v.
14); “to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever” (v.
17). He concludes that “the latter end is worse with them than the
beginning. For it had better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness…” (v.
20-21).
2 Peter, chapter 2
gives a very vivid picture of some who have been delivered (redeemed, saved),
from sin but go back into sin and are lost. This demonstrates that a once saved
child of God can so live as to be lost.
Summary:
The Once Saved, Always
Saved doctrine cannot be true if it can be scripturally proven that any
Christians fell away from Christ. If any "once saved" Christians were to
backslide or fall away, they were therefore not "always saved".
There can be no question
that early Christians could and did fall from grace. God is no respecter
of persons. That which was true for the Christians of the early church is
true for us as well. The good news is that Christians who find themselves
in this fallen state can be forgiven if they repent, are truly sorry, and ask
for forgiveness.
Related Studies:
Was Timothy "Once
Saved, Always Saved"?
A
Believer can become an
Unbeliever.
Can one Err from Truth and be Lost?
A Christian can
fail of the grace
of God. (Heb 12:14-15)
