Once Saved, Always Saved

Today, Candy takes on the question of whether or not one can lose their salvation. She puts forth her position as thus:

There have been many people who claim that they used to be Christians, but have left the faith. I posit the likelihood that most of those people were never truly saved - that they never tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. I think most of them played church, or played holy person for a while, but then they gave it up when it didn't work. That is not salvation, and praise God for that.

Candy says that her position is unusual, but it is the most common that I have heard. I really haven't run across many people who feel that you are always saved, no matter what you do, even if you reject the faith. I hear "then they must have never really been saved" a lot, especially relating to people who have converted to Catholicism.

In Candy's normal, sensitive way, she says that people who have forsaken the sake must be idiots. She gives the impression that people who have lost their faith are shallow and only "played church." I'm not sure how people who were so convinced of their faith as to become ministers could only be playing at church, but that is her belief.

I can't help but feel sorrow for people who had a deep faith, but lost it because of a tragedy in their lives, or persecution, or temptation to despair. Consider those who lost their families in a natural disaster such as the tsunami a few years back. When your children are literally ripped from your hands, who could help but to have at least some doubts about God.

We also discussed in the comments section just a week or so ago, the Donatists who were dealing with Christians who had renounced the faith under the Roman persecution. While Candy would say that someone who renounced the faith rather than be martyred was likely never saved in the first place, the Donatists felt that these people had lost the grace of God. Truly, the problem of what it means when someone rejects the faith is one which has always been around.

Personally, while I hope and pray that in a time of sorrow or persecution I would cling to God instead of reject him, I feel nothing but sorrow for those who have not been able to keep the faith. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to have been a joyful member of a OSAS congregation, and then have all of your friends and former fellow Christians reject you and say that you must have only been playing at church instead of reaching out to you in your time of need.

As for the Catholic Church, we believe that salvation is an ongoing process. As Milehimama once put it:

We HAVE BEEN saved by grace:
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

We ARE BEING saved
1 Cor 1:18, above.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)- Ephesians 2:5

We WILL BE saved:
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved - Matt 10:22

We HOPE to be saved:
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? - Romans 8:24


One could write pages on the many verses which speak of this teaching, but I will share only a few which lead me to disagree with Candy on this subject.

Hope is one of the three theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity. We hope to be saved.

Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer

Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

1 Thes 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Furthermore, perseverance is important. If we are "once saved, always saved" then why would we need to persevere. Merely playing at faith is not truly having faith, so perseverance is not needed there, only true faith.

Heb 3:13-14 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end

1 Tim 19-20 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Heb 10:36 For ye have need of endurance, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

1 Cor 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

And one of my favorite verses in the Bible, 2 Tim 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith.

The Pope on Justification

More from the writings of St. Paul at the Pope's weekly audience. I'm calling this one "Newsflash: Pope says Luther was right!" in honor of all those out of context headlines the media likes to run.

From the English part of the address: In our continuing catechesis on St. Paul, we now consider his teaching on our justification. Paul’s experience of the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus led him to see that it is only by faith in Christ, and not by any merit of our own, that we are made righteous before God. Our justification in Christ is thus God’s gracious gift, revealed in the mystery of the Cross. Christ died in order to become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (cf. 1 Cor 1:30), and we in turn, justified by faith, have become in him the very righteousness of God (cf. 2 Cor 5:21). In the light of the Cross and its gifts of reconciliation and new life in the Spirit, Paul rejected a righteousness based on the Law and its works.

For the Apostle, the Mosaic Law, as an irrevocable gift of God to Israel, is not abrogated but relativized, since it is only by faith in God’s promises to Abraham, now fulfilled in Christ, that we receive the grace of justification and new life. The Law finds its end in Christ (cf. Rom 10:4) and its fulfilment in the new commandment of love. With Paul, then, let us make the Cross of Christ our only boast (cf. Gal 6:14), and give thanks for the grace which has made us members of Christ’s Body, which is the Church.

In the longer, Italian portion:

On the journey we have undertaken under the guidance of St. Paul, we now wish to reflect on a topic that is at the center of the controversies of the century of the Reformation: the issue of justification. How is a man just in the eyes of God? When Paul met the Risen One on the road to Damascus he was a fulfilled man: irreproachable in regard to justice derived from the law (cf. Philippians 3:6); he surpassed many of his contemporaries in the observance of the Mosaic prescriptions and was zealous in upholding the traditions of his forefathers (cf. Galatians 1:14). . .

The wall -- so says the Letter to the Ephesians -- between Israel and the pagans was no longer necessary: It is Christ who protects us against polytheism and all its deviations; it is Christ who unites us with and in the one God; it is Christ who guarantees our true identity in the diversity of cultures; and it is he who makes us just. To be just means simply to be with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Other observances are no longer necessary.

That is why Luther's expression "sola fide" is true if faith is not opposed to charity, to love. Faith is to look at Christ, to entrust oneself to Christ, to be united to Christ, to be conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence, to believe is to be conformed to Christ and to enter into his love. That is why, in the Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul develops above all his doctrine on justification; he speaks of faith that operates through charity (cf. Galatians 5:14).

From ScriptureCatholic.com

Ephesians 2:8-9 – grace versus works
Zack: Ephesians 2:8-9 says this (according to New American Bible "The Catholic Youth Bible" revised):
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is a gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast."
How can one be saved by good works if the Bible clearly says here that one is not saved by works but by faith alone?
I'd just like to know what you think.
Thank you,
Zack
J. Salza: Zack, many people don't understand Ephesians 2:8-9. In this passage, Paul says we are not saved by works. But James says that we ARE saved by works and not by faith alone in James 2:24. Is there a contradiction? No.
The difference is that Paul and James are talking about two different kinds of works. When Paul speaks of works, he is generally referring to "works of law" (read also Galatians) which refer to works done under the Mosaic law. The Jews believed that they still had to perform their ritual works to be saved (e.g., circumcision). In Acts 15, Peter declared that circumcision was no longer required for salvation. We are saved by grace, not works. When Paul refers to "works," he is also referring to any type of work where we attempt to obligate God and make him a debtor to us. The Jews were attempting to do this in their rigid system of law.
Paul is teaching that, with the death and resurrection of Christ, the Father has invited us into the system of grace where we now can have a gracious relationship with God. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not works of law. However, once we transition from the condemnation of the law into the system of grace (Rom 5:1-5), we must add works to our faith. We are not justified or saved by faith alone (James 2:24).
Thus, there is a distinction between "works of law" and "good works." The former are done in a system of law which cannot save us, and the latter are performed in a system of grace by which we are saved. If we approach God with faith in Christ that He is our Father and will reward us not because He is obligated but out of His sheer benevolence, we please Him in a system of grace and He will save us. If we approach God impersonally and try to obligate him to reward us for our works, He will condemn us. The distinction is "law" versus "grace." This permeates Paul's teaching on justification.
I recently send this short analysis to another of my patrons:
Here is the critical issue that you must understand: there are works in a system of law, and works in a system of grace. When we do works in a system of law, we stand condemned. That is because in this system, we try to obligate God like an employer. But there is nothing we can do to merit any payment from God.
When we do works in a system of grace, they are profitable to our salvation. That is because in a system of grace, we approach God as a Father who loves us, not as an employer who owes us. We move from a system of law to a system of grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1-5).
That is why Paul says that we are not "justified by works of law." He is referring primarily to the Mosaic law (e.g., circumcision) or any work where we try to obligate God. This is to be distinguished from works performed under the auspices of grace. There is a difference between "works of law" and "good works." This is why James says that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24).
Paul's teaching that we are not justified by works of law and James' teaching that we ARE justified by works appear to be inconsistent with each other, until you recognize that they are talking about two different systems: law and grace.
Grace be with you.
John Salza
Zack: Thank you for your quick response. I'm a Catholic, but I attend a primarily Free Will Baptist school (though other denominations are present). They teach in their Bible studies that one must trust Christ with their life and believe in Him, and then after you've "been saved" you should have the desire to do good works and follow God's law but that they aren't required to get into heaven. They teach that good works are to lay up treasures in heaven for us to enjoy when we get there by believing in Christ.
They also suggest that people who believe that good works are necessary to enter the kingdom of God are hypocritical... and that they are like the Pharisees who Christ compared with a grave -- looks nice on the outside, but all that lies inside is a rotting corpse because they only do their works to impress the people watching them. That's what I've heard all the time at school, so that's why I was wondering what you thought.
They never bothered to mention James 2:24... I never knew the Bible said anything like that.
Thank you again for the info!
Zack ..........

................The Bible never says that we are saved by "faith alone" and that good works just automatically flow out of believers. It says just the opposite. The New Testament was written primarily for true, genuine believers who were being warned not to fall away from the faith. There is nothing about "once saved, always saved" anywhere in Scripture.
Neither faith nor works can save us outside of God's grace. But once we accept Christ with faith and move into a system of grace, we must add good works to our faith in order to be justified. James tells us so. So does Jesus. The good works are not automatic either. We must make a conscious effort to do them. We can also refuse to do them, even though we still believe in Jesus. Make sense? Faith and works are two different things, and they must be coupled together to procure justification. In fact, Jesus Himself said "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt 12:37). Jesus is saying that even our words can justify us or condemn us. Jesus looks at our actions, not just our faith.
Regarding Romans 3, if you read that section and also read Paul's letter to the Galatians, you see how Paul is emphasizing "works of law" in reference to the Mosaic law or any type of work where we try to obligate God. These works have nothing to do with the good works that James requires in James 2:24.
God bless.
John Salza

Mr Salza goes on and describes more on his blog if you care to read it.
Again I must state that I am describing what the Catholic Church teaches and what I BELIEVE. If you do not agree with me or my faith I am sorry but we will have to agree to disagree. My mind will not be changed and I do not expect to change yours, what I do expect is so me understanding and less of being told that Catholics do not get the real truth. We do get it, the Truth that we have is just from a different interpretation of the Bible. That is why I am Catholic and stay Catholic, that is why when I had a crisis of faith and thought I might become Baptist I returned to the Catholic Faith , because I believe what the Church teaches! I believe in the Catholic interpretation of Holy Scripture. I am not saying that Baptist are wrong or not saved I am just saying I do not believe what you believe about works & faith for salvation. I also believe through the GRACE OF GOD one is saved plain and simple without that Faith, Works and anything else is of no consequence.
Please read my quote from

NOT BY FAITH ALONE (This Rock: October 1997)

A good article by Jim Akin at NOT BY FAITH ALONE (This Rock: October 1997)

Some excerpts:



Protestants are known their slogan that we are justified by "faith alone," but the expression "faith alone" only appears once in the Bible—in James 2:24—where it is rejected. This is a burr under the saddle for Protestants, for, if they wanted to use terms the way the Bible does, they would have to give up their chief slogan.

When Catholics point this out, many Protestants attempt damage control by attacking the faith being discussed in James 2, saying it is an inferior or bad faith. Some do this by pejoratively labeling it "dead faith." They treat "faith without works is dead" (vv. 17, 26) as if it were a definition and say, "If faith does not produce works then it is dead faith. It is this dead faith that James says won’t save us."

But reading the context shows that James is not using the phrase as a definition. He is not defining the term "dead faith." That term does not appear in the text. He is stating a fact, not offering a definition.

The interpretation flies apart at the seams when we test it by substituting "dead faith" wherever the text mentions faith.