Many Christians believe that once a person repents and turns to Jesus Christ, the person is saved for the rest of his life. But is that true? Is een keer gered altyd gered Bybels? Are you saved for once and for all, despite your lifestyle? Doesn’t it matter how you live after your repentance? Is it really the grace of God that will save you once and for all? Or is once saved always saved a false doctrine and can a Christian lose his salvation? What does the Bible say about once saved always saved?
The redemption of God’s people from the power of Egypt
God delivered His people from the power of Egypt. God’s people were slaves of Pharaoh and lived in slavery and oppression. But one day, it was enough. God answered the prayers and the cries of His people. God sent His servant Moses, to redeem His people from the oppression of Pharaoh.
You might think, that the people of God would be grateful for their redemption. Maar nee, that wasn’t the case. The people were not grateful. In plaas daarvan, they twisted and argued with Moses and murmured and complained to God, while God provided for everything. They didn’t lack a thing! Egter, it didn’t go according to their will and their way.
God didn’t provide the things His people wanted and expected from Him (Lees ook: Wat as God se wil nie jou wil is nie?).
God’s people wanted to live like the Egyptians; the Gentiles, and do the things they did. However not in slavery and oppression, but in freedom.
But that was impossible. It was either living in freedom, while being obedient to God’s commandments and statutes or returning to Egypt and living like the Egyptians, the Gentiles, in slavery and bondage (Lees ook: ‘Appointing leaders, who will lead the people back to Egypt')
God made Sy wil known to His people via Moses. But it was up to each one of them whether to obey God’s commandments or disobey God’s commandments.
Everyone had been given free will. They could choose to love Him, serve Him, and keep His commandments or not.
Dié, who were stubborn and rebellious and didn’t obey God’s commandments didn’t enter the promised land. They didn’t enter His rest. And so it happened, that a whole generation was lost and died in the wilderness.
Everyone was redeemed, but not everyone was saved.
Jesus preached the message of repentance
Jesus came to this earth for a special mission and an important message: “Bekeer, for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. He came first of all for the redemption of the people of Israel (God’s carnal people). Jesus called the house of Israel to repentance. He revealed and demonstrated the Kingdom of God to them through His speech and signs and wonders following Him. But still, everyone had free will to make a choice (Lees ook: Die oproep tot bekering).
Many Jews answered the call of repentance of Jesus and repented of their sins. They repented and were gedoop, while confessing their sins, and followed Jesus. But not all of Jesus’ followers stayed loyal to Jesus (John 6:66).
Not everyone was prepared and willing to give up their own life (Lees ook: Die pynlike proses bekend as doodgaan).
As they were going along with Him, many of His followers, turned back, because of His hard sayings, which offended them (John 6:60-62)
That’s why Jesus said, that you have to count the cost before you make a choice for Him and decide to follow Him. Because if you choose to follow Jesus, it means that you have to deny (give up) your own life.
When you are prepared to give up your life, only then will you be able to follow Jesus (Lees ook: Om Jesus te volg sal jou alles kos).
Then said Jesus unto His disciples, As iemand agter My aan wil kom, laat hy homself verloën, en neem sy kruis op, en volg My. Want elkeen wat sy lewe wil red, sal dit verloor: en elkeen wat sy lewe om My ontwil verloor, sal dit vind (Matteus 17:24-25, Merk 8:34, Lukas 9:23)
Did you truly repent?
If you repented and were baptized in water and received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but you keep walking, the way you walked before your repentance in sin, it shows that you have not truly repented from your works of the flesh, your sins, and your nature has not changed, therefore you are not saved.
If you truly repent and become a new creation, you will change and will walk as the new creation (Lees ook: Wal in the dominion that God has given you).
Your old sinful nature which reigns in your flesh has died and is buried in Christ (Lees ook: What does the Bible say about the old man?).
Through the resurrection of the spirit from the dead and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you have received a new nature; God se natuur.
As gevolg daarvan, you shall walk after the Spirit and do what the Word says, and bear the fruit of the Spirit.
What will happen if you don’t bear the fruit of the Spirit? Jesus discussed this matter in the following parable:
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Kyk, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Here, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: en indien nie, then after that thou shalt cut it down (Lukas 13:6-9)
Your works testify whose slave you are and to which kingdom you belong
As long as you keep living after the flesh and persevere in sin, after your repentance, you are still a servant of sin and not a servant of righteousness.
Klein kinders, laat niemand jou mislei nie: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that commits sin of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning (1 John 3:7-8).
Elkeen wat uit God gebore is, doen nie sonde nie; for His seed remains in him: en hy kan nie sondig nie, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother (1 John 3:9-10).
Die Woord sê, that if you persevere in sin, jy is a slave of the devil and belong to the kingdom of darkness. You are not a slave of Jesus Christ, because you don’t do what Jesus says and do what He has commanded you to do and don’t belong to the Kingdom of God.
The works you do reveal whose slave you are and to which kingdom you belong.
When you live after the flesh in sin, you shall bear the fruit of sin, which is eventually death.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Romeine 8:13)
You have been given power, to become a son of God
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).
Die Woord sê, that to as many as received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God. 'To become’ means an action, a process.
You have to put effort into it and train and discipline yourself, so that your spirit matures and grows up into the likeness of Jesus Christ; die woord (Lees ook: Wat is die kenmerke van 'n seun van God?).
You are redeemed by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and His blood.
Jesus Christ has redeemed you from the power of the kingdom of darkness and brought you into the Kingdom of God. He has redeemed you from the power of the devil and of sin and death.
Deur Jesus Christus, you have entered the Kingdom of God.
You are circumcised in Him, which means that you have laid down your life through baptism, and by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, your spirit has been raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you (Lees ook: What does the circumcision in Jesus Christ mean?).
But… now it’s up to you to stay inside and work your salvation.
Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Filippense 2:12-13)
Once you are saved will you always be saved or can you lose your salvation?
Once you are saved will you always be saved or can you lose your salvation? Ja, you can become apostate from the faith and lose your salvation. Jesus said to His disciples, dat slegs dié, who endure to the end, would be saved:
You shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved (Matteus 10:22)
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matteus 24:12-13).
There is a possibility of not staying saved and becoming apostate from the faith and losing your salvation
Paul wrote in his letters, so many times about salvation, the walk of the saints, the removal of sin, becoming apostate, ens.
Byvoorbeeld, in Paul’s letters to Timothy, Paul commanded Timothy to walk according to the prophecies, which were given to him, that he might fight a good fight, holding the faith and a good conscience. Because some had put away their faith and became apostate:
That thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:19-20)
Alexander and Hymenaeus were not the only ones, who left the faith. Demas also left Paul for the love of the world:
For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica (2 Timothy 4:10).
The love for the world is a major factor, through which many will leave the faith. You can’t serve the world and serve Jesus Christ. They diametrically oppose each other. It is either the world or the Word (Jesus).
“Who hindered you that you should not obey the truth?”
You did run well; who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion comes not of Him that calleth you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be (Galasiërs 5:7)
Many are called, but few are chosen
In Matteus 22:14 Jesus het gesê, For many are called, but few are chosen. The cross is not the final destination of your life, but the cross is the starting point of your new life. The cross can’t be used as an excuse to keep walking after the flesh in sin and keep walking the way you walked, before your repentance (Lees ook: What does the cross mean to you?).
If you have been convicted of your sin and your sinful nature and truly repented of your sin and turned away from your sin, how can you keep walking in sin?
The cross is not a camping site, but the cross is the place, where you have crucified your flesh in Christ (Lees ook: Die kruis, a place to die or a place to keep sinning?).
You have become a partaker of His death and burial (baptism), but you have also become a partaker of His resurrection and have received the Holy Spirit (doop met die Heilige Gees).
The resurrection life should become visible in the lives of all Christians.
Ongelukkig, many Christians know the doctrine, but only a few Christians put the doctrine into practice and do what is written in the Bible and apply the words of God in their lives.
Many don’t practice what they know or confess. Daarom, not many Christians walk in this resurrected life, but stay carnal and keep doing the works of the flesh and live like the world (Lees ook: As Christene soos die wêreld leef, wat moet die wêreld bekeer?).
What is stopping them? The love for themselves (their flesh) and the love for this world. They are not able to step into the boat and let go of the rope. They can’t say goodbye to their old comfortable familiar life.
The old creation always looks back and always returns to the old and his old habits (Lees ook: Hoekom gaan Christene terug na die Ou Verbond?).
But if a person turns back to his old habits, gedrag, and lifestyle, it means that the person returns to his old life in darkness.
The blood of Jesus is of no use to the person, who is not willing to lay down the flesh with its sin nature. The blood of Jesus is not a magic spell, nor a lucky charm, or a permit to sin. Geen! It is either one or the other: you lay down your life (vlees) or you don’t.
What does God do to those, who don’t stay in His Word and become disobedient to His Word?
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Wel; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.
Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (Romeine 11:17-24)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Romeine 8:13)
Is een keer gered altyd gered Bybels?
Does once saved always saved apply in the Kingdom of God? Does the Bible say that once you are saved you will always be saved? Doesn’t it matter how you live after your repentance and can you live the way your flesh wants to live? The answer is NO!
You don’t get saved or stay saved by obeying all kinds of legalistic rules, by church membership, by attending church and/or by doing all kinds of church activities or charity activities, by doing good to others, or by daily reading your Bible and praying.
You are only saved when you repent and become born again and be born of God and become a new creation. And you stay saved, by staying in Jesus Christ; die woord, and walking as the new creation after the Spirit in His commandments (Lees ook: How to put on the new man).
As jy lief is vir Jesus; die woord, you shall keep His commandments and do, what He tells you to do.
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end (Hebreërs 3:14)
Many confess God, but in their works they deny Him
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (Titus 1:16).
Paul warned and wrote the following to the believers, die kerk van Jesus Christus:
Nou is die werke van die vlees geopenbaar, wat is hierdie; Owerspel, hoerery, onreinheid, losbandigheid, Afgodery, heksery, haat, variansie, emulasies, toorn, twis, opruiings, dwaalleer, afguns, moorde, dronkenskap, revelings, en sulkes: waarvan ek julle tevore vertel, soos ek julle ook vroeër gesê het, dat die wat sulke dinge doen, die koninkryk van God nie sal beërwe nie (Galasiërs 5:19-21)
Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Moenie mislei word nie: ook nie hoereerders nie, ook nie afgodedienaars nie, ook nie egbrekers nie, ook nie vroulik nie, ook nie misbruikers van hulself met die mensdom nie, nor thieves, ook nie begerig nie, ook nie dronkaards nie, ook nie kwaadsprekers nie, ook nie afpersers nie, shall inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Korintiërs 6:9-10)
Maar hoerery, en alle onreinheid, of hebsug, laat dit nie eenmaal onder julle genoem word nie, as becomes saints; Ook nie vuilheid nie, ook nie dwase praatjies nie, ook nie gespot nie, wat nie gerieflik is nie: maar eerder dankbetuiging. Hiervoor weet julle, dat geen hoermaker nie, ook nie onrein persoon nie, ook nie begerige mens nie, wat 'n afgodedienaar is, het enige erfdeel in die koninkryk van Christus en van God. Laat niemand jou met ydele woorde mislei nie: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them (Efesiërs 5:3-7)
Do you stay saved if you walk in rebellion towards God?
If you are redeemed by faith in Jesus Christ, deur Sy bloed, and keep walking in sin, in rebellion towards God, then the Word shows you, your final destination:
Want as ons daarna opsetlik sondig, het ons die kennis van die waarheid ontvang, daar bly geen offer vir sondes meer oor nie, Maar 'n sekere vreesbevange soeke na oordeel en vurige verontwaardiging, wat die teëstanders sal verteer (Hebreërs 10:26-27)
If once saved always saved is true. If you can live the way you want to live, because it doesn’t matter how you live. Why did Jesus warn the churches in the Book of Revelation?
Why did Jesus command the churches to repent of their works and return to Him; die woord? Jesus revealed what was wrong with the churches and called the churches to repent of their behavior and remove the evil out of their midst.
Jesus was very clear and said that if the churches wouldn’t repent and return to Him, Jesus would take the candle away from the churches and they would be seated in darkness. But that’s not all. Jesus het gesê, that He would erase their names from the Book of Life (Openbaring 3:5 (Lees ook: Die kerk sit in duisternis).
And this still applies to every believer, who belongs to the church; the body of Jesus Christ
Many are redeemed, but only few are saved.
READ ALSO: ‘CAN YOU LIVE IN SIN AND BE SAVED?‘
‘Wees die sout van die aarde’
