I’d like to address a common argument in favor of the “once saved, always saved” (OSAS) doctrine, also known as “unconditional eternal security.”
Here are three variations of this argument:
- If you didn’t earn your salvation, how can you un-earn it?
- Since you cannot earn your salvation by works, you cannot lose it by works.
- Since you did nothing to receive it, there’s nothing you can do to lose it.
One of the notable advocates of this argument is the late Tim Keller. It puzzles me how someone so bright intellectually can come up with such an argument. This shows that intellectual capacity and spiritual discernment don’t necessarily go hand in hand.
Let’s now address this particular OSAS argument. Indeed, no one “earns” their salvation in the sense that God is contractually obligated to save us in exchange for our good works. However, this doesn’t mean that there are no conditions or requirements for receiving salvation. The Bible is extremely clear that there are two requirements: repentance and faith.
[Mark 1:15] Repent and believe in the gospel.
[Acts 20:21] … repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Hebrews 6:1] … a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.
To reach a logical conclusion, we must recognize that the same two conditions required to initially receive salvation—repentance and faith—are equally necessary to maintain it. It’s puzzling why this concept seems difficult for some Christians to grasp.
If we consider it in human terms, it’s not uncommon for a gift to come with conditions for both receiving and keeping it. So, why do we find it challenging to accept that a similar principle applies to our relationship with God?
Most of the verses cited in support of the OSAS doctrine simply mean that God is faithful and will keep His covenant with us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us, just as the Bible says.
However, this doesn’t mean that we are incapable of straying from Him or breaking our covenant with Him. Our covenant relationship with God requires a continuous commitment from our side as well, rooted in both faith and repentance. We need to remain faithful to Him and run the race to the end.
If it’s impossible for a believer to turn away from God, why are there so many warnings in the Bible against it? Those warnings are obviously addressed to believers, not unbelievers. That’s why we need to be watchful, awake and alert spiritually.
The question is: Why do so many professing Christians want a license to sin?
[Ezekiel 18:24] When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.