Good morning and welcome to this edition of the Berean Break, the program where the Bible and the Bible alone is used as the standard for the truth.  My name is George Sinkie and I thank you for sharing this time together with me.  Today we are going to consider a question that I was asked one time, but before we go into that let’s have a word of prayer.

Great God in heaven, Thank You for this day in our lives, And the many blessings that You give us each day.  We are especially thankful for Your word, That reveals to us all things that we need to know, To be right with You.  Help us this morning to open our hearts and our minds to Your will, And to apply that truth into our lives.  In Jesus’ Name!!  AMEN !!

     One time as I was visiting with my mom and my sister and they asked me a question.  As my sister put it she wanted to know what I had to say about it.  Well, really it doesn’t matter what George Sinkie has to say about a subject.  What matters is what does God have to say about it in His word.  And so the answer that I gave was based upon the Word.  My mom was in a discussion at the denomination where she goes and one of the ladies made the statement that once a person is saved, they are always saved and there is nothing that they can do to be lost.  Now this is very good denominational doctrine, but the problem is that it is not what the Word of God teaches and so it is just another false doctrine of denominationalism.  This doctrine is not limited to any one particular denomination and sometimes it is stated in various ways, but the result is always the same — it is a sinful doctrine to believe and teach and it will not bring people to the freedom that is in Christ, but will further the bondage of sin that they are in.  This doctrine is sometimes called, “Once Saved, Always Saved” or “Perseverance of the Saints” or there may be other names that I am not aware of at this time.  Let’s consider for a while this morning some of the passages from the Bible that teach this is a false doctrine. Unfortunately we do not have the time to look at all of the passages, but we will look at enough to see the will of God.
     One thing that we need to establish is the biblical fact that God created mankind as beings that have a free will and are allowed to make their own choices concerning serving God.  Sometimes the false doctrine called “Perseverance of the Saints” is built upon other false doctrines that God makes all the choices and forces man to do things in accordance with the choice that God made for him or her.  The Bible teaches a completely different doctrine, which in itself would make an entire program.  At this time we will look at but one passage to show that man gets a choice.  Consider these words of Joshua, that he spoke to the children of Israel as the entered their promised land. Joshua 24:14-15 says,

   14 “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
   15 “And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve:  whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living;  but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Did God’s chosen people have a choice concerning which god they served?  God teaches that they did, but they would also be judged concerning what choice they made.
     Based upon the Bible teaching that man has free will, let’s consider the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.”  I hope that you have your Bible handy and check out what is taught here this morning.  I am going to ask several questions this morning and then allow the Bible to answer those questions.
     First question, “Can a saved person practice the deeds of the flesh and still be saved?”  Well God, what is Your answer to this question?  Turn with me over to Galatians 5:19-21 and let’s listen to God’s reply.

   19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
   20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
   21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

     If a person does not inherit the kingdom of God then they will not be eternally saved. From this one verse we see that the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” is false, but there are many more passages that teach this and other questions to be asked.
     Like, “Is there a connection between keeping God’s commandments (not the 10 Commandment of the Old Law, but the commandments of the New Law) and going to heaven?”  The word teaches that there is in 1 John 2:3-4.  Turn there with me,

   3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
   4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”

If a saved person does not keep the commandments of God does he continue in a good relationship with God?  Well it says that he is a liar, and Revelation 21:8 says,

   8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

John also said that the truth was not in him, yet Jesus says in John 8:31-32,

   31 Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
   32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

     A person who is saved and then exercises his freewill and decides not to keep the commandments of God, goes into bondage and will be sent to the second death in the lake of fire.  There’s no support in God’s word for “once saved always saved.”  Another point to be made is from this passage right here in John 8: 31-32, Jesus says, “if you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples.”  That is a conditional sentence, it has an “if-then” combination.  The “then” part only becomes true after the “if ” part is accomplished and only continues to be true for as long as the “if” part continues.

     A third question that could be asked is, “If ‘once saved, always saved’ is true then how can you explain 2 Peter 2: 20-22?”  Peter writes by inspiration of God in 2 Peter 2:20-22, and I am going to emphasis some things,

   20 For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
   21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
   22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

     Now unless you have been taught a false doctrine like “once saved, always saved” this passage is pretty clear and easy to understand.  The person who is saved and then falls away from the Lord is in a worse relationship with God than they were before they were saved.

     There are other questions that could be asked dealing with how to explain many other passages, but because of the time limits that we have I just want to read a couple more passages.  Again these passages are pretty clear and self explanatory, unless a person has been taught the false doctrine of “once saved, always saved.”  I will be emphasizing certain parts of these passages that apply to this topic.
     Galatians 5:4

   4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

     Revelation 22:19

   19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

     One of the biggest problems that those who teach “once saved, always saved” have, is that they do not even understand what the Bible teaches a person must do to be saved.  As I mentioned earlier some say that God did all the choosing and now man just gets the result of God choice for him.  But this program is about teaching truth and so you will not hear that kind of doctrine taught here.  The Bible teaches that there are several things that a person must do or choices that a person must make to have the gift of salvation that is offered by God’s grace.  First, a person must hear as we are told in Romans 10:17

   17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

If a person has never heard the word of Christ then they cannot have faith and faith is essential.  Once a person has heard then they need to make a choice - either to believe or not believe God’s word.  Since we are dealing with what a person has to do to be saved we will concern ourselves only with those choices that bring us to that end.  Therefore a person will believe as it teaches in Hebrews 11:6,

   6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

     All the other things that a person does must be based on this choice to believe or have faith.  But faith is not the end of what to do – it is just the beginning of what a follower of God will do.  The follower of God must also repent or turn away from their sin.  Jesus gives this warning to his disciples in Luke 13:3 and 5,

   3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
   5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Also based on faith, a person must confess as Paul wrote about in Romans 10:10

   10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

But Jesus also speaks about those who called Him Lord, but did not do the Father’s will in Luke 6:46

   46 “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Then the Bible also teaches that based on faith a person must be immersed in water for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus shows that this saves a person in Mark 16:16

   16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;  but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

     This is what the Bible teaches a person must do to be saved, but the Bible also goes on as we have seen today and teaches that a person must continue in their faithfulness to God’s will to continue in their salvation.