Falling Away Proves Not Saved To Start With?

I keep hearing the argument for the Once Saved Always Saved position that if a “Christian” falls away, that proves he must never have been saved to begin with. Does that really represent what the Bible teaches, or is it just another unsound argument for a false doctrine? Let’s actually examine some scriptures to see …

Let’s start with Heb 3:1,12. Everybody would have to agree verse 1a (“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling”) is addressing true Christians, not just pretenders. The word “holy” comes from the same Greek word translated “saint” 61 times in the New Testament. Wouldn’t that have to be a real Christian (not just a pretender)? That and the phrase “partakers of the heavenly calling” can only refer to a genuine Christian; all are called to the heavenly calling, but only a Christian has partaken of the heavenly calling; that’s what makes one a Christian. And then we have verse 12 warning these brethren (according to verse 1) not to develop “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” My friend Alan Dvorak uses an illustration: “We don’t bother to warn folks about sharks in north Alabama because it is impossible to encounter a shark here, us not being near the ocean. Similarly, why would God bother to warn these saints against falling if it were impossible for that to occur? So it is possible for these brethren in Hebrews 3 to fall, and we know for sure they were saved to start with.

One book over James 5:19-20 tells us to try to restore “brethren” who have “wandered from the truth” (NKJV). If we are successful, we save their soul from (spiritual) death. And we can’t say these fallen away Christians were never saved to begin with because they are “brethren” in Christ, and one can’t wander from the truth unless one is in the truth to begin with. Parallel: a child can only wander from the house if he was at the house to start with, correct?

Gal 5:4 asserts Christians who try to bind Old Testament laws are “fallen from grace.” Just like one cannot fall from a tree they never were in, one cannot fall from grace unless they were in grace to start with. So the problem here is not that these Christians had never been saved to begin with. They had been saved (been in grace), but now they were outside grace (unsaved). The fact they had been saved at one time is confirmed by Gal 4:6 which says about these same brethren “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit … into your hearts” and 3:26 they had become “children of God.” Is that talking about someone who had never actually become a Christian, just a pretender? Absurd.

Rev 3:5 may be the clearest passage of all. Jesus says if we overcome (temptation, persecution) Jesus will not blot our name out of the book of life, implying Jesus will take away our salvation status if we do not overcome. We can’t say that proves we were never saved to begin with, because if that were the case, our name wouldn’t have been in the book of life in the first place, right?

Can’t we also make the exact same point from Rev 22:19? If people take away from the word of God, their part will be taken out of the book of life – God’s list of the saved. So they were first in God’s list of the saved, and now they are no longer in His list of the saved. Once Saved Always Saved is proven false, and one can’t claim they were never saved to begin with, because they were clearly in the list of God’s saved at one time.

And there is just no way to say the Christians described in Heb 10:29 as those “who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant … unholy thing” were never saved to begin with, because the verse clearly says they had been “sanctified” by that blood. So they had for sure really been forgiven previous to their falling away, before they started completely disrespecting our Lord, spitting in his face in our vernacular.

Consider also II Pet 2:20 – “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Of course we see here Christians falling away, they had become “entangled” into the “defilements of the world” (ASV) again. Does that mean they were never said to begin with? Obviously not, the verse says they had at one time “escaped the pollutions (the footnote says “sins”) of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Only a genuine Christian has escaped the sins of the world through the knowledge of Christ. Am I right?

Lastly let’s look at II Pet 1:9 – “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” Obviously, this verse is talking about unfaithful Christians. They now lack what are called the “Christian graces” (listed in 5-7), and “cannot see afar off.” Does that prove they were never saved to begin? Absolutely not; to the contrary it is said each had been “purged from his old sins.” Only a true Christian has been purged from his sins.

Notice our method here. We don’t just talk and hypothesize. Instead we conclusively prove from the plain meaning of eight clear passages that one who is actually saved can fall away, and that when one falls away that doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t saved to begin with.

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