“What must I do to be saved?”
See Acts 16:30
Once Saved Always Saved is a touchy subject for those who don’t understand what Christ has fully done for us and to us. To prove that Once Saved Always Saved is true, I need to first build on what saves and what doesn’t.
I was recently scrolling through social media and I read a post about a near-death experience. This person had been in a drowning accident and died in the water. Miraculously, she was revived after being pulled onto a boat; yet she still spent quite some time with no pulse. She was dead.
Her post was her testimony, and testimonies are always amazing to hear or read. I loved it.
However, she said that as she drifted away, all she could feel was shame because her life had “shown no evidence of belief in Him.” Was she already saved? I don’t know, but evidence of belief doesn’t save us, only the actual belief does. If evidence saved us, how can we be sure we’ve got enough of it? Where is the finish-line tape of evidence that we break through of being absolutely, positively, 100% sure?
Sadly, if we have a definitive answer we are placing our faith in ourselves. And even more sad, if we answer that question with a non-definitive answer–yet we still believe it’s evidence that saves us–we will live in fear. Faith in what we do or don’t do, as evidence, is not proof of faith. Faith is the substance of things not seen (see Hebrews 11:1).
This person went on to type, “Nothing we can do can save our soul except accepting His grace.” So which is it? Is it the evidence–as she previously said–or is it grace, as she just finished up her post with? It can’t be both. Paul explains:
“And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6)
Why would I reference this verse? Because evidence is created through works–or gifts. I’m not going to go over gifts in this devotional (you can search my past devotionals to find more on that subject). But even when we express our gifts, this only happens organically by way of expressing Christ without effort.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand: evidence of faith by works.
Another verse might come to mind, from the book of James:
“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17)
Now, in context, James is writing to his unbelieving Jewish friends. Anytime the Old Testament is mentioned as “ground to stand on” the Jews are in focus–not us stinky Gentiles. This passage is a plea for them to place their faith in Christ–in full. By using the examples of two separate people who expressed a one-time action of faith–Rahab and Abraham–Jesus’ brother builds his case for expressing faith in Christ through action.
The readers of this letter were bent on believing their Scripture, so James gives them two examples of people from their Scripture who had expressed their faith through one-time actions. It wasn’t the actions in themselves that justified their faith but the faith behind their single action.
The truth is, Rahab, who was a non-Jew prostitute, believed God and helped out the Jewish spies. It wasn’t the action, but the faith behind it that mattered. James doesn’t say, “She was a fellow Israelite”–which she had to be if she wanted to be righteous by their Law. Nor does he say she stopped prostituting and lived a righteously behaved life. Instead, his focus was her one-time action backed up by faith–an action which would never have happened if she did not first believe God.
He then uses the example of Abraham offering Issac on an altar. Again, it wasn’t him placing his son on the platform that justified Abraham, but the faith behind it (see James 2:21-26). Abraham was already credited as righteous with God way before Issac was born, by faith alone (see Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3).
Do you see it? Friend, it’s not our evidence or actions that save us but the faith from within them! Again, Rahab wasn’t even an Israelite–she was a Gentile–and this was before the New Covenant which was brought in by the Cross! Us Gentiles–all non-Jewish people–weren’t even allowed to follow God’s commandments! Therefore, she didn’t have the opportunity to be considered as righteous by obedience, yet she was used as an example of perfect faith!
This proves that mankind has always been justified with God by faith alone, even during the period of Mosaic Law (see Galatians 2:16,21). So yes, faith without works is dead–faith must be the bedrock of all authentic work! But even deeper, works without faith is dead.
This brings us to the conclusion that Once Saved Always Saved is true! Why? Because faith cannot be measured by evidence, and it is our one-time faith alone that saves us! How does a single moment of faith in Christ’s forgiveness save? Because it causes us to be birthed! It is faith that makes us reborn in our spirit, and our supernatural birth is what truly saves! (See John 1:12, 3:6-7).
Let’s look at it like this: If you have a baby and you’re holding it in the hospital, it’s swaddled and oh so cute. But the first thing you speak to your child is this, “I sure hope you live up to our family name. If you don’t, you’re no longer my baby. I’ll turn away from you and I might consider you being my baby again if you prove yourself. However, if your actions and attitudes aren’t just right, you’re going back into the womb and being turned into a sperm and an egg. I’ll undo your birth and I might re-do it if you straighten up. Then, if you keep falling short of who you really are, you will not exist anymore. You need to die to yourself each day so that you don’t die to me. Mess up too much? Ha! I’ll let you try to still be my child, but if you don’t repent and confess regularly–you’re definitely out. So you better stay in line and I might bless you and take care of you–but only if you have plenty of evidence of being in my family and give me 10% of your income.”
You’d be out of your mind. This is madness. Your child can never be unborn from you–no matter what they do. We can never be unborn from God no matter what we do–or don’t do! Birth is not contingent on actions and attitudes!
Yet this is exactly what happens when a Christian is made to think they must have evidence of being a child of God–of being saved once. Friends, this is not okay. We should be teaching believers who God has recreated them to be! We should be nourishing the built-in love inside them! We should be giving them confidence in their heaven-ready lineage and strong supernatural DNA structure! We should be treating them according to who they really are, not by how they always act!
If you’re still not convinced that Once Saved Always Saved is the same as Once Born Always Born, here’s some biblical truths to help build up your blessed assurance even more:
So today, my friends, know this: Once Saved Always Saved is the truth! We don’t have the ability to unsave ourselves–to unborn ourselves! If we could, then each time we sinned, Jesus would have to go back in time, climb back on the Cross, take Himself down, become a baby, go back into Mary, go back into heaven, then re-do His birth, life, death, and resurrection all over again! Our incorrect choices and thoughts are not more powerful than His decision to forgive us once and for all time! We cannot maintain our heavenly lineage nor improve it, just the same as we cannot maintain our human lineage nor improve it! We are born! Birth is final! We are children of God who are forever saved into eternity!
A prayer for you: Dad, thank you for teaching me that I’m a child of yours who’s been born into your family for good. Paul told us in Romans 8, we have the right to call you “Abba” which means “Daddy.” My, what an honor! Thank you for sending Jesus here to give us this gift of free righteousness! Right now, I lift up all who are reading this, directly to you. So many of them have been lied to about who they are as a new creation in Christ. Please begin to reveal the truth of Scripture about what you’ve done to them through their faith in Jesus! I pray that you open up the eyes of their mind to match the eyes of their heart, where you live. In Jesus’ name I pray, give them confidence, Dad. Teach them to never be afraid. Amen.
This devotional is from The Christian Identity, Volume 1. Get your copy here!