In many regards, there is not a more important moment in the life of a soul - the Bible is clear that the culmination of every life lived will be the same, that we will all stand and give an account of our lives and Jesus, the Righteous Judge will either usher a soul into Eternity with him, or usher a soul away from him to the lake of fire. There is no 3rd option and, either way, your soul exists forever. When considered, the prospect of the whole thing is enough to provoke our spirit.
Nowhere in the Bible will you find justification for "once saved, always saved" and I will argue that what you find is exactly the opposite - that God clearly says that someone who is 'righteous' can lose their salvation. Before I get too far in; what I mean by "once saved, always saved" is the sentiment implied in the 'sinners prayer' - specifically, "all you have to do is "declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, [and] you will be saved."" (Romans 10:9, emphasis my own) - the Gentile church has turned this into a prayer, or a justification for a prayer that will allegedly lead to salvation; the verse is often coupled with John 10:28 (see below). Jesus talks about the 'narrow road' or 'path' (Matthew 7), Paul talks about the 'race' (1 Corinthians 9) - whether talking about a road or a race, you're talking about a journey, not a singular event. Interpreting passages that appear to make it seem like the Bible is saying "once saved, always saved" deserve a second look.
Romans 10-9-10
"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth you profess faith and are saved." (Emphasis added, and I would insert into Paul's initial statement, the words "on that day" - so it would read, if you declare with your mouth on that Day, and believe in your heart on that Day that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.)
This is a favorite verse to quote by those who say, "once saved, always saved." The thing to note, however, is the tense and the context. In this passage, Paul is talking about living out a life of faith, but not putting any confidence in works. Also, in these specific verses, he seems to be talking about a point in the future, when we are standing before Jesus at the judgement (i.e. 'will be')
If you disagree, I would direct you, again, to the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 7:21-22: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out many demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Also, towards the end of chapter 7, Jesus talks about the two men, the one who builds his house on the rock and the one who builds his house on the sand - the one who builds his house on the rock (i.e. the one who will be saved) is the one who "hears these words of mine AND puts them into practice". I believe Matthew 7 clearly indicates that there are those who will think they are saved on the Day that Jesus returns, but who have been deceived. And these are well meaning people! Francis Chan captures this better than I can in a video on this subject. Check it out.
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." What is Paul saying here? First, he is saying that we are saved BY GRACE, not by faith - THROUGH faith, yes, but not BY faith. He marries faith and works together, just as James does later on in his Epistle when he says, "But someone will say, "You have faith and I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." (James 2:18) Faith in something is shown by living it out. Are you saved by living out that faith perfectly? No, no man can save himself by what he does or does not do. This was the fundamental error of the Pharisee - God gave the law through Moses, and then the people of Israel missed the point. They thought that righteousness could be achieved by outward law-keeping, which is something Jesus addresses directly:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are filthy, full of greed and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:23-25)Jesus addresses this in the sermon on the mount as well - the passages about anger ("whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement"), lust ("whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart") and the parts about gouging your eye out and cutting your hand off - these are all clarifications of the law - getting to the HEART of the matter, which is what the law was intended for. It was intended to cause Israelites to see their inability to save themselves and then cast themselves upon God's mercy. In other words, clean the INSIDE of the cup first, and then the OUTSIDE action will follow.
But back to the point - can someone save themselves through works? No, but faith implies endurance - it necessarily means that there will be something in a person's life to indicate what it is they are putting their hope and trust in. Is that thing Jesus? Or is that thing you? Or your money? Or your status? What someone does, how they live their life, tells you what they are putting their faith in. So faith is the indicator, or as James might say, "the evidence". Faith isn't the thing that saves us, but it is the thing that reveals what the state of our heart is.
John 10:27-29
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father's Hand."
In this particular passage, Jesus is speaking to a group of Jews, gathered at the Feast of Dedication. At this point, he was well-known and had already performed many signs and wonders and this passage is an answer he is giving to the question, "How long will you (Jesus) keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." The real question, underlying the question they are asking is, "are you going to bring your kingdom now; are you going to sit on your throne now?" This is important to point out because in Jesus' response to them, he pivots, in the middle of his thought, to talking about the Day of the Lord. He says that his sheep hear his voice and follow him - he then makes the accurate claim that he will be the judge - "[on that day] I give them eternal life" - after that point, there will be no need for God to change anything, those chosen ones are His forever.
What about Ezekiel 18?
One thing that any serious believer will agree to is that the Word of God cannot contradict itself. So, I would ask of those who advocate for a 'once saved, always saved' point-of-view, "what about Ezekiel 18?
"The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: "The parents eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"? "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child - both alike belong to me. The one who sins will die." (Ezekiel 18-1-4) ... "But if a wicked person turns away from all of the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die." (Ezekiel 18:21-22) ... "But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die" (Ezekiel 18:24) ... "Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" (Ezekiel 18:30-32)These are the words of God himself in these passages - would God suddenly change his mind on this later on without making it clear that he is changing how he views sin?
Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:2, Paul says, "By this gospel you are saved, IF YOU HOLD FIRMLY to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." Why would Paul add this condition unless it were true? And then there is a stern warning at the end, "otherwise you have believed in vain." He is talking to believers and saying, if you don't hold firmly to the Word, if you do not follow what is says and live it out in Faith, you might as well have not believed - it is meaningless for you if you fall away.
What about Assurance?
I want to be clear, I'm not saying we cannot have assurance. I think we can - through the work of the Holy Spirit and through our the evidence of obedience in our lives. Will we be perfect in that effort? No. But when we sin, when we fall short, what are we doing? We cast ourselves, once again, on God's mercy and we repent of that sin, turn to God and continue walking with him. We cannot do this on our own, that is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit - the Holy Spirit's work is to confirm the Gospel and to empower us to lay down our lives daily, take up our cross, and follow Him. Jesus commanded us to "take up [our] cross DAILY and follow me" (Luke 9:23). When Paul talks about running 'the race' he talks about enduring to the end. Friends, if we truly believe, a) we will want to keep going and b) we will not be worrying about whether we are saved or not.
Wrong Question
My thoughts presented here are the way that I look at things now, and this isn't a hill I will die on (alternatively read, not a salvific issue), but to me, the question "Am I saved?" is probably the wrong question to ask. The question we should be asking ourselves is a little more complex and would go something like, "Is my life emulating that of Jesus in increasing ways and is there evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life on an on-going basis?" If the answer to these questions is 'yes', then I believe you can walk with assurance that if you died right now or Jesus came right now, you would be able to confidently stand before Him and that His blood would cover your sins and no charge would stand again you. Our job, as believers is to listen to the words of Jesus and put them into practice (exercise faith), relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus has sent us, to resist temptation, live an upright life before Him, and 'make disciples of all Nations". That is the 'narrow path' that Jesus talks about in Matthew 7 and if we stay on that path with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can live with confidence that when we stand before him on the Day of Judgement, Jesus will have mercy on us and say, "well done good and faithful servant!"
Other people are much better at explaining things that I am, and they have far more credentials and years of study that I do. If you'd like to hear more about this - listen to this, it's a message given by David Pawson (about 50 minutes) and towards the end, he talks about these issues directly. Overall, the message is very good, give it a listen! https://www.davidpawson.org/resources/resource/1455
