“Once saved, always saved,” is a promising and, above all, well-sounding slogan. A thesis supported by many evangelical churches. As nice as it sounds, this heresy is completely wrong. It is a malicious deception.
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A convenient but erroneous doctrine
The supposed statement, “once saved, always saved” is often heard in so-called Protestant circles. Anyone who had once decided on Jesus Christ could be sure of their salvation or redemption to eternal life. Here one must (for once) agree with the Roman Catholic Church when it criticizes such statements about human salvation. Because as relieving as this message sounds, it is also wrong. However, the Church of Rome is not automatically correct with its answer. This institution uses self-defined sacraments for “salvation” and this includes itself.
Unfortunately, the thesis “once saved, always saved” is not a heresy in smaller evangelical free churches, but also an (indirect) message from the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD). Even if this motto is not directly spread by the EKD churches, their message is equivalent to “perpetual security of salvation”.
EKD spreads this deception through baptism
Get baptized once and you already have the ticket to the kingdom of heaven in your pocket (Info). The chairwoman of the EKD council, Annette Kurschus, explained:
“I am baptized, which means: I belong to Christ, this man on the cross. He gives me strength from his strength. Through baptism, my path in life is firmly connected to his path – and that means: my life converges on life. Even through death.“
Apart from this completely out of place formulation, “this man on the cross”, her statement about the “salvation ritual” of baptism is a complete misdirection. A baptism in the congregation of a Protestant church secures church tax revenue, but not a secure path to life.
The fact that the true symbolism of baptism is not recognized or accepted by Kurschus, the Protestant and Catholic churches, is already evident in the ritual of simply sprinkling water on the head of the person being baptized. This ceremony is not able to represent the actual background of the baptism (Info).
Baptism alone is not enough
Even if baptism is carried out correctly according to the example of the gospel, it still does not equate to a free ticket to the kingdom of heaven. It is obvious that a convinced “spirit healer” and shaman does not walk straight into eternal life just because he has undergone baptism. It is not a magic ritual.
Even if the person being baptized turned from his previous way of life before his baptism, turned to Jesus Christ, confessed his sins and asked for forgiveness, this is still not a guarantee of entry into eternity. It is true that Jesus Christ promised to forgive any sin if it was confessed in true repentance, and in this case the sincere person being baptized is actually freed from all guilt, but what happens after that?
Sin and God simply redefined
Should there really be no difference for the EKD and Kurschus as to whether the newly baptized person will lead a life according to God’s will (sanctification) or whether they will return to their old, sin-filled life? Apparently not, because in order to avoid the embarrassment of teachings that contradict the gospel, the same churches advocate a completely different definition of sin (Info).
And because this was obviously not enough, representatives of “evangelical theology” laid hands on God and defined Him as a product of their own desires (Info). The principle: God is love because we want this love. On the other hand, those who need security and good advice simply define God as their Father in heaven.
The gospel speaks clearly
Jesus Christ said to Mary Magdalene after she was caught in adultery and dragged away by the Pharisaic teachers of the law,John 8:11:
“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.“
Jesus Christ forgives her sin of adultery (grace), but warns her not to do so in the future (law).
The blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ is by no means a blanket forgiveness of all past and future sins, as it were on a permanent basis. Yes, Jesus Christ took on all the sins of all people and had to suffer the just punishment (death) for it. But this is not a free pass for all people, even those who claim to profess Him, to go through life ignoring God’s laws.
Before anyone wants to believe the statements of the EKD, its representatives and like-minded people of the thesis “once saved, always saved”, they should take Jesus Christ’s statement “intensively” to heart, Matthew 7:21:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
What is the Father’s will? Walk according to His laws (commandments)!
Possibly never saved
After the (pseudo) baptism, occasionally going to church (Sunday is the wrong day – Info), temporarily declaring faith in Jesus Christ and still continuing to live a “little life” does not lead to the believed goal of salvation to eternity. These people are subject to a deception, carried out, among other things, by the large, so-called evangelical churches.
Anyone who accepts baptism as merely a ritual with the ruse of “once saved, always saved” will one day hear a bitter answer from Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:23:
“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.“
For the sinner who returns to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul, Ezekiel 18:21-22 applies:
“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.“
However, whoever, as a baptized person, strays from the originally right path and falls back into a sinful life without any repentance, Ezekiel 18:24 applies to him:
“But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.“
Conclusion:
‘Once saved, always saved’ is a lie!
Bible verses from King James Version
