Selected Sunday Scriptures- #118

A conversation with some friends got me thinking about the topic of salvation. More specifically, the false doctrine of Once Saved, Always Saved. Before chiming in it is always good to hit the books. Let us begin with the Letter to the Hebrews:

^26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ^27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. ^28 A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. ^29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? ^30 For we know him who said, âVengeance is mine, I will repay.â And again, âThe Lord will judge his people.â ^31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

(Hebrews 10:26-31)

Next we move to Philippians:

^12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ^13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ^14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ^15 Let those of us who are mature be thus minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you. ^16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

(Philippians 3:12-16)

Finally we end with St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians:

^24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ^25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ^26 Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; ^27 but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

(1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

What we can see here is that there is no scriptural support for OSAS. We are not “saved” at some point while we are alive. Salvation is not a living state. Rather, salvation is the goal, the prize at the end of the race. Even Saint Paul was worried that he might lose out, after having accomplished so much! Clearly he didn’t believe that he was “saved.” Rather, he imagined himself a runner in a race where the stakes were as high as they could be. We too should be just as concerned as he was.

Buy hey, don’t take my word for it. Rely on Jesus instead:

^31 âWhen the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ^32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ^33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. ^34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, âCome, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ^35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ^36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.â ^37 Then the righteous will answer him, âLord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? ^38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? ^39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?â ^40 And the King will answer them, âTruly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.â ^41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, âDepart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ^42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ^43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.â ^44 Then they also will answer, âLord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?â ^45 Then he will answer them, âTruly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.â ^46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.â

(Matthew 25:31-46)

Notice how there is no mention of being “saved” here? Nor is there any mention of “professing me (Jesus) in your heart” or anything else like that.

So what is involved then? Well, lets look to the Gospel of John:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ^2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, âRabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.â ^3 Jesus answered him, âVery truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.â ^4 Nicodemus said to him, âHow can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the motherâs womb and be born?â ^5 Jesus answered, âVery truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ^6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

…

^16 âFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

^17 âIndeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ^18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

(John 3:1-6, 16-18)

From this and other passages we can figure out how we can win the race. There are a number of steps necessary to win this race. Here is a crude outline I created which tries to lay them out:

1. Believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and our Lord and Savior (the most essential step)
2. Be baptized (born of water)
3. Be chrismated -the laying of hands (born of Spirit)

Of course, these just get us on the path. We can swerve from it if we are not careful. That is where repentance and confession come in. And of course Communion/Eucharist helps fortify our spirit so we can keep on the path as well. Taken together, we can see how it is sort of a two stage process. The first stage is to get on the path, and the second stage is to keep on the path.