Comments on: Can a Person “Fall Away” From Salvation?

By: mattsummers

mattsummers — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Keith:
(1) Yes. There are too many people who have put their faith in their baptism instead of their Lord. We might be saved “at the time of our baptism,” but we are saved “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15)
(2) My blog mentions several examples of people who fell away in Scripture. That’s enough for me. But yes, I’ve met several people who authentically professed faith in Christ, called upon His name for salvation; repented (at least temporarily), and were baptized. I have no reason to question their authenticity in this expereince. But they eventually rejected faith. You might say they were never saved in the first place. I think of the Parable of the Sower.
(3)I have a blessed assurance that salvation is guaranteed to all people of faith. But I don’t sing that song because it’s old (lol, just kidding). Satan can does not have the power to remove me from the hand of Christ. But if my faith dies, I believe my salvation would die with it. I believe in eternal security–but that it is only promised to people of faith–not to people who no longer have faith.
Thanks for the thoughts.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:26:56 +0000

Matt: Just stumbled on this post. Interesting perspective. Since I’ve been on both sides of the issue, I understand/anticipated your comments.

Several things I always found interesting about the Restoration Movement churches’ stance on this issue was:

(1) Even though they said they didn’t believe in the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints”, every person with whom I’ve ever had a conversation on the subject seemed to live their lives as if they believed it! The fruit of their salvation/sanctification was, in some cases, nearly invisible; some were engaged in the grossest of sin and could come up with all kinds of defenses for their lifestyles…all the while ridiculing those silly Baptists and their “once-saved, always-saved*” doctrine. When asked if they believed they were “saved” or would go to heaven, they ALWAYS replied “yes! I’ve been baptized.”

(2) When asked, not a single person from the above mentioned group could name ONE single individual–including themselves–that had ever lost their salvation, i.e. “fallen away.” They said they believed it could happen, but didn’t know anyone that had happened to, nor did they believe it would/could happen to them. Do you personally know someone that has fallen away/lost their salvation?

(3) I also thought it was funny to hear them sing “Blessed Assurance” when I knew many of them said they didn’t believe it.

*I prefer (if I have to use one) the term “IF saved, always saved.” I don’t believe truly saved people will continue in a life-time of habitual sin or abandoning of God’s Word.

By: Tonya

Tonya — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:43:22 +0000

i agree, this is an excellent subject!

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:54:03 +0000

Nice job on this subject. ~ Craig

By: bobp27

bobp27 — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:06:55 +0000

I have been debating this with people for a long time, only hearing one side of the story, only using small amounts of scripture. I think this is one of the biggest disagreements in scripture. I think you did a very good job laying it all out.