Expert: Dr. Billy Kryger - 3/13/2008

Question
Dr. Kryger,

I have never understood how the teaching of once-saved-always-saved can be true.  It seems that if it is true, that there is no sin whatsoever that can cause us to lose our salvation.  So even if I cheat on my wife and say "Well, God will forgive me" thus committing the sins of adultery and presumption, I will still be saved.  On the other hand, I have heard some ministers say that if I were to commit those sins, I was never really saved in the first place.  So how is it that we can ever really know we're saved?  I might think I'm saved, yet maybe I just haven't had the opportunity to commit the really bad sin yet.

Allow me, please, to give a more pertinent example.  I was raised Baptist, baptized at the age of seven after accepting Christ, and later rejected my faith in high school.  Late in my high school years, I rededicated myself to Christ and was baptized again.  I think my faith was since as a child, as after my reversion, and I think I would have gone to hell in between.

Later, in college, I converted to Catholicism, which is where I remain today.  Some Baptists would say that I joined an apostate Church, and perhaps "The Whore of Babylon" and that my sin is a great as unbelief.  Assume that the Catholic Church is the Whore (I don't know whether you believe this or not).  If it is, then I AM an apostate once again, just as I was in high school.  If I were to return to the Baptist church, how would I know that the last time my salvation would be genuine, if it was not the first two times?

I'm sorry this letter is so long, but this is an issue close to my heart.  This one teaching, above all others, kept me from remaining a Baptist.

God bless,
Cody

Answer
Cody:

Thank you for your question.  This is an issue that has perplexed people for generations.  Let me say right up front that my response will not be based on my own opinion but on what the Bible says.  That is my authority for all matters of faith and practice.  So if you don't believe the Bible to be the infallible Word of God, you probably won't agree with my response and may as well not waste your time reading any further.  If, however, you do accept the authority of the Scriptures, I hope this will be a help to you.  Let me break your question apart:

I have never understood how the teaching of once-saved-always-saved can be true.  IT IS, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD (1 JOHN 5:11-13).  

It seems that if it is true, that there is no sin whatsoever that can cause us to lose our salvation.  THAT'S RIGHT, CODY.  NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT THE BAPTISTS TEACH, BUT, AGAIN, BECAUSE OF WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS (1 JOHN 1:5-2:2).

So even if I cheat on my wife and say "Well, God will forgive me" thus committing the sins of adultery and presumption, I will still be saved. YES, CODY, YOU WILL.  BUT IT IS NOT A MATTER OF LICENSE--"I CAN LIVE HOWEVER I WANT TO BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT I DO I WILL ALWAYS BE SAVED AND CAN NEVER GO TO HELL."--IT'S A MATTER OF DESIRE.  IF A PERSON IS GENUINELY SAVED THEN GOD IS HIS FATHER.  IF MY CHILDREN DO THINGS THAT I HAVE TOLD THEM ARE WRONG THEY KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES.  SO IT IS WITH GOD'S CHILDREN AS WELL.  WHEN WE DISOBEY HIM HE WILL FORGIVE US BUT HE WILL ALSO DISCIPLINE US (HEBREWS 12:3-11).

On the other hand, I have heard some ministers say that if I were to commit those sins, I was never really saved in the first place.  So how is it that we can ever really know we're saved?  I might think I'm saved, yet maybe I just haven't had the opportunity to commit the really bad sin yet.  AGAIN, IT IS A MATTER OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "THINKING" YOU'RE SAVED AND KNOWING IT FOR SURE BASED NOT ON ANYTHING THAT YOU HAVE OR HAVEN'T DONE, BUT ON WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS (ROMANS 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9, 10, 13).  MY CHILDREN ARE A PART OF MY FAMILY FOREVER.  THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO TO CAUSE ME TO CHANGE MY MIND AND DECIDE I DON'T WANT THEM IN MY FAMILY ANYMORE.  NOBODY CAN TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE OR ARE NOT SAVED--ONLY YOU KNOW FOR SURE.

Allow me, please, to give a more pertinent example.  I was raised Baptist, baptized at the age of seven after accepting Christ, and later rejected my faith in high school.  Late in my high school years, I rededicated myself to Christ and was baptized again.  I think my faith was since as a child, as after my reversion, and I think I would have gone to hell in between.  NOT ONLY IS THERE NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO CAUSE GOD TO TAKE AWAY YOUR SALVATION, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO RELINQUISH IT EITHER.  YOU CANNOT GIVE IT BACK TO GOD NOR CAN YOU GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE OR SELL IT ON eBAY.  IF MY CHILDREN DECIDE ONE DAY THAT THEY NO LONGER WANT TO BE MY CHILDREN THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.  THEY CAN CHANGE THEIR NAMES, THEY CAN GO TO COURT AND "DIVORCE" THEIR MOM AND ME, THEY CAN MOVE IN WITH SOMEONE ELSE AND LIVE AS THEIR CHILDREN BUT I WILL ALWAYS BE THEIR DAD.  EVEN THOUGH YOU "REJECTED" YOUR FAITH FOR A TIME AND THEN CAME BACK TO IT YOU NEVER CEASED BEING A CHILD OF GOD--EVEN WHEN YOU DIDN'T WANT TO BE OR LIVED LIKE YOU WEREN'T.

Later, in college, I converted to Catholicism, which is where I remain today.  Some Baptists would say that I joined an apostate Church, and perhaps "The Whore of Babylon" and that my sin is a great as unbelief.  Assume that the Catholic Church is the Whore (I don't know whether you believe this or not).  If it is, then I AM an apostate once again, just as I was in high school.  If I were to return to the Baptist church, how would I know that the last time my salvation would be genuine, if it was not the first two times?  SALVATION IS NOT BASED IN A CHURCH IT IS BASED ON WHAT CHRIST DID ON THE CROSS IN PAYING THE PENALTY FOR OUR SINS (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21).  I'M NOT SAVED BECAUSE I'M A BAPTIST--OR BECAUSE I'VE BEEN BAPTIZED, I'M SAVED BECAUSE WHEN I WAS SIX YEARS OLD I TRUSTED JESUS CHRIST AS MY SAVIOUR AND ACCEPTED HIS PAYMENT FOR THE  SIN DEBT THAT I OWED (1 PETER 2:24).

Cody, i hope this is helpful to you.