Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Greetings...

Over the last couple of months we have studied...

God’s love for mankind and man’s love in response to God’s love.

Today I want us to turn our attention from “love to lies” as in…Satan’s lies.

Satan loves in a way describe by Merriam Webster as a, “warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion.”

Obviously this isn’t biblical love but it is clearly how Satan views his work.

Satan, from the beginning, has been lying () and is the father of lies ().

He has, unfortunately, deceived more people than can be counted by getting them to “believe his lies.”

Over the next several Sunday morning lessons we are going to be looking at some of these “lies.”

Today, as seen on the screen & in your handout, we are studying the lie of “once saved always saved” also known in the “academic seen as permanence of salvation or eternal security.”

John Calvin would call it, in the P of the TULIP, “preservation of the saints.”

So, what exactly is “once saved always saved?”

Once Saved Always Saved

Definition of the doctrine.

Westminister Confession of Faith chapter 17 section 1 & 2 reads...

They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.6

I. Quotquot Deus in dilecto suo acceptavit, vocavit effieaciter ac per Spiritum suum sanctificavit, non possunt illi statu gratiæ aut finaliter excidere aut totaliter; verum in eo ad finem usque certo perseverabunt, ac salutem æternam consequentur.6

II.

This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free-will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father;7 upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ;8 the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them;1 and the nature of the covenant of grace:2 from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

In the Baptist Faith & Message we read this in article five.

All true believers endure to the end.

Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Joe McKeever writes...

Can you unfry an egg?

Then, after being saved–genuinely forgiven and accepted and transformed by the Holy Spirit of God into something far different from what you were, more than any hen’s egg ever dreamed possible–you cannot undo it.

Once saved, always saved.

To say otherwise, and to preach it, might be something akin to insulting the Holy Spirit.

Once saved, always saved.

To say otherwise, and to preach it, might be something akin to insulting the Holy Spirit.

We could go on and on but this is sufficient to understand that “far too many” in the world of “Christendom” are caught up in this.

We must not only understand where it comes from but understand how to teach against it properly and combat Satan’s lies.

Passages used to teach this doctrine.

There are several used as “proof text.”

Summery

There is a comfort that comes with this belief how else could Satan get people to believe this lie perpetuated by him.

Once Saved Always Saved Debunked

The problem.

The reality is for anyone to hold to a “false doctrine” they must let go of any sort of desire for logic and reasoning i.e. proper doctrine.

This concept is demonstrated by Joe McKeever, quoted from above, when he wrote, “We are not saved by proper doctrine, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, faith only comes from understanding proper doctrine () therefore being saved by faith is being saved by proper doctrine.

Far too many want to “wish away” truth by saying things like what was mentioned without regard for logic and reason at all, yet God Himself showed this to be foolish at best.

The problem with those that hold to false doctrine is that they simply do not want to believe they could be believing a lie and would rather seek comfort in the lie than the truth of God.

As John would put it in , “…no lie is of the truth.”

The answer.

We know that God’s Word cannot contradict itself.

In other words God will never say one thing and then the opposite thing within a single law because God cannot lie.

It’s simply not in His nature and thus impossible.

Just like it’s impossible for a man to be a woman or a woman a man due to their nature.

Now remember what the Southern Baptist many who hold to the “Westminister Confession of faith believe.”

Those that are saved cannot “fall away from the state of grace.”

Passages that clearly point to one losing their salvation.

It’s not like there are not tons of passages that clearly contradict the doctrine of “once saved always saved.”

Heb 10:

Harmonizing the Scriptures.

How can Jesus say no “child of God can be snatched out of His hand” and then we read of those in Christ “severed from Chris” and haven “fallen from grace.”

How can we harmonize such passages?

It comes down to perspective.

From God’s perspective, Jesus gave His life as a perfect sacrifice and made His blood available to those that choose to cleansed in it and there is nothing that can force us apart from God.

From man’s perspective, Jesus gave us choice to have our sins washed away by His blood and the choice to stay cleansed by His blood, but it is man choice whether to stay faithful or not.

Jn 1:

Harmony with Scripture only comes to those that love God and His word enough to not be satisfied contradictions and lies.

As John would put it in , “no lie is of the truth” and as such we should never settle for a lie rather than seeking the truth ().

Conclusion

The doctrine of “once saved always saved” is false to its core and comes from the “father of lies” not “the Father of truth.”

Let us be a people that seek to help those caught in such destruction and let us direct people to the love of God through truth not lies.

Invitation