You have probably heard of the teaching about “Eternal Security”, a.k.a. “Once Saved, Always Saved” (ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED). Chances are you probably don’t think it is worth splitting hairs over. The Apostle Jude (Jude 1:1-5) however obviously encourages otherwise. ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED is the belief that once a man is born again, he can never lose his salvation, irrespective of what he later does or fails/refuses to do. The reasoning is that since man did not do anything to get saved (it is of course true that salvation is entirely by grace), it also follows that he should not need to do anything to keep his salvation. The parable of the wedding garment in Mathew 22:2-13 however debunks this outright. The fellow who initially got a free undeserved invitation to the Wedding later ended up in outer darkness for failing to show appreciation for the invitation by observing the expected simple dress code. Another little extension takes the ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED argument much further, from “not doing” to “doing”: nothing a believer DOES (not even the filthiest, most despicable action imaginable) can make him lose his salvation! After all, using the analogy of the physical birth, can a baby become “unborn” simply because of his wrong and unhelpful doings? How can a “new creation” then ever go back to becoming “old” again! The fallacy with this analogy is that it fails to recognize that salvation at this point in time is still an on-going process. The new birth saves us from the power of sin, but not yet from its presence (called temptation). We must ensure we continue to believe Him Who has saved us, and continue to follow Him, resisting all temptations hauled at us by the enemy of our soul, until we eventually reach eternity. At that point outside of time, our salvation would become consummated and totally irreversible (1 Peter 1:3-5, Revelations 3:5). ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED comes with special in-built mechanisms and camouflages to make the Church continue to wave it aside as trivial. On the one hand, most ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED teachers are quick to shout themselves hoarse that even though their teachings clearly make sin a nonissue, they actually do not support living in sin. Of course, that unrealistic assertion is not borne out by evidences that clearly abound! For instance, the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States, one of the major purveyors of ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED, recently (at their 2010 convention in Florida) had to admit “a scandal that has become all too commonplace in our own churches”. That scandal was higher incidence of adultery and divorce within the denomination compared with the “unchurched” they were trying to evangelize!

Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to them that the situation might be related with their embrace of the doctrine of ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED (see http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/1205/on-the-scandal-of-southern-baptist-divorce). Then there is also the infamous caveat that goes with ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED. Anyone who for some unfathomable reason loses his/her salvation (for example, Judas Iscariot) is readily denounced as never really having been “saved” to start with! As such, many in the Body of Christ tend to, even if subconsciously, dismiss the doctrine as merely a juvenile theoretical model for describing salvation. Probably unhelpful, but not worth spilling hairs over!
Unfortunately, the issue is quite more serious than that. Two major problems have traditionally been associated with the ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED doctrine, over the 700 years plus since it was brought to the fore in the medieval church. One is the implication for evangelism and discipleship. By traditional Calvinistic teachings, those who are earmarked for salvation would eventually be saved, while those destined for hell fire can do nothing to change the outcome. Under this scenario, the value of evangelism becomes questionable. Most ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED teachers would however, vehemently protest being called Calvinists and declare their commitment to evangelism. However, the teaching of “once saved, for ever saved” clearly makes Christian discipline and discipleship redundant. As will be shown shortly, ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED has zero tolerance for such admonitions that believers should “take heed, watch, and pray” (Mark 13:33), live sober and vigilant lives (1 Peter 5:, walk not carnally, but in the spirit, (Galatians 5:16, Romans 8:1), etc. Not bothering to walk worthy of the vocation wherein we have been called (Ephesians 2:10, 4:1) is the sure first step to becoming blinded (2 Peter 1: 9) to the invaluable worth of our salvation, and consequently rendering ourselves no better than pigs unworthy of such pearls, in the first instance (Mathew 7:6, 10:13). Clearly, ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED is a great evil that must be fought!

ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED teachers are constantly looking for various straws to cling to, in order to persuade their incredulous disciples they are really on to something nouvelle, profound, and not really so deviant. By re-posting on social media, messages of highly-respected holiness preachers, ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED teachers quietly convey the impression that there is only a small gap (which presumably requires “hyper-boldness” to cross) between their messages and those of such men of God. Indeed, a portion of a message on the Assurance of Salvation can very well be mistaken for one on unconditional Security of Salvation, but in reality the gap is yawning! And no one familiar with the likes of Pastors Adeboye or Kumuyi could by any means attribute ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED to them. As a rule, it is safe to specifically find out what a man of God believes about ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED before linking them with (or, sadly, exonerating them from) the teaching.

Later on in this article, we will be mentioning the one notable Nigerian minister who unfortunately now endorses ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED; but many would probably be surprised to know that contrary to sly misrepresentations on the subject, the revered father of the Word of Faith movement, Revd Kenneth Hagin, categorically denounced the hyper grace teaching of ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED while he was alive. In his words: “Today there are not too many old school Calvinists -- their doctrines have been watered down -- but now there are "new school Calvinists." "New school Calvinism" is basically the doctrine of eternal security, or "once saved always saved,"

God will save this generation of false teaching

Cc Seun

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