Are you ready for some diabetic (sugar-free) biblical teaching? Because today's blog will definitely ruffle some feathers. Especially those who believe once saved always saved. Sorry, not sorry.
I have so many friends who have fallen into the "once saved always saved" web of lies. It's unfortunate, sad, and Satan's greatest weapon. In Hosea 4, it clearly states ...
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6
We also have the ones who say what happens in your life is between you and God. This is also a lie! A lie I used to believe as well. We will cover this at a later date.
The term “Born Again” is found three times in the New Testament with two coming from the gospel of John in chapter 3 and the other coming from 1 Peter. In the 3rd chapter of the gospel of John, the Lord Jesus Christ tells Nicodemus that one must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven:
John 3:3 – Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jesus means that when we are born into this world, we are born out of flesh and are in a fallen state. This fallen state is a result of our disobedience from the beginning in the garden of Eden. The Lord says that unless we are born again from the Spirit, we will remain in that initial state and our end will be one of eternal destruction because we will die in our sins.
This rebirth means that unless we receive the Holy Spirit, we will not be born again into the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ. This rebirth of the Spirit is implied when we hear someone say things like:
I was saved back in 2003
I was saved while reading the bible in my room 2 months ago
He got saved back when he was in high school
I was saved at church camp as a kid.
After the day of Pentecost, we encounter many different expressions used in the bible to indicate that a person has already gone through this event of spiritual rebirth which is sometimes called a conversion. For the sake of the length of today's blog, I will only mention three (3) which will then be used to prove that we can indeed lose our salvation and that after we are born again.
“Receive the Holy Spirit”
Of course, the first term is to “receive the Spirit”. In the book of acts and in the epistles, this is used many times to mean someone who was just born again or experienced conversion. In the book of acts, it can even mean someone who has experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit because the reborn individual would speak in new or other tongues which is a sign of the filling or baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Here are GREAT examples from the new testament:
Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:33 – Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
People of Samaria receive the Spirit after Peter and John lay hands
Acts 8:17 – Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Peter explains that the household of Cornelius was converted
Acts 10:47 – Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Paul’s inquiry of the 2 followers of John the Baptist)
Acts 19:2 – He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Paul’s letter to the Romans
Romans 8:15 – For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 2:12 – Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
“Knowledge of the Lord”
This term which is very ignored and underrated is the “knowledge of the Lord” and in the scriptures, this is implying more than just presumptuous belief in something or just something simply thought up in the brain. Knowing the Lord is a realization of fellowship with him, it is being sure of being IN the Lord and being guided by His Spirit.
Therefore, this term designates someone who is already born again as we can see in the following verses:
The Lord Jesus about His sheep
John 10:14 – I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
The Lord Jesus about knowing the Holy Spirit
John 14:17 – Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Salutations of Peter in 2 Peter 1
2 Peter 1:3 – According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
The Lord Jesus explains that eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son
John 17:3 – This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Paul says that keeping the law is DUNG compared to KNOWING CHRIST
Philippians 3:8 – More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ
Paul in the letter to the Ephesians
Ephesians 4:13 – until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
In these verses, it is clear that the terms “knowing God”, “knowing Christ” and “knowing the Spirit” are talking about someone who is already passed the stage of being born again. In 2 Peter 1:3, we see that the people who know the Lord have been given things pertaining to godliness. In Philippians 3, Paul says that being blameless in keeping the law (Philippians 3:6) counts as dung relatively to knowing and gaining Christ.
“Sanctification”
This word “sanctification” is for those who were not only born again but who are also now being conformed to the image of the Son of God through a continual process of regeneration by the Spirit. The gospel of Christ and the letters Paul speaks about this as it is the will of God for us to be sanctified by the Spirit after justification. In other words, justification is precisely when we become born again and then the Spirit of God coming in us will begin to prune and sanctify us so that we become more and more like Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at some verses:
Paul clarifying what being IN CHRIST produces in us
1 Corinthians 1:30 – But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:.
Paul encourages the Thessalonians to possess their vessels in sanctification
1 Thessalonians 4:4 – That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians 2:13 – But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
The Lord Jesus explains that eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son
1 Peter 1:2 – Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
In these verses, Paul and Peter are both talking about sanctification to those who already have been born again. This is clear in 1 Corinthians 1:30 when Paul says that the saints are IN Christ and in other verses like 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and 1 Peter 1:2 where a sanctification is a regenerative act of the Spirit working IN believers.
Therefore, sanctification also means one who has already received the Holy Spirit and who is born again.
Hebrews 10:26-29
This passage a very strong objection against the false doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved and is contained in chapter 10 of the book of Hebrews. Let’s look at that passage:
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
The central intended message of the author is to warn from backsliding wilfully into a lifestyle of sin and from the consequences of such a fall in verses 27 and 29. This passage of scripture is packed with terms designating brethren who are already born again and on the way of salvation.
Notice the terms we already discussed above in verse 26. The author mentions sinning willfully after coming to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus Himself is that Truth as He Himself said:
John 14:6 – Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
As we have read previously the term “knowing Christ” is used to design believers in a close fellowship with Christ through the fellowship of the Spirit.
Then the author mentions the consequences of falling away. He says that sinning willfully and deliberately will remove the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross and then there will remain no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for judgment.
Verse 29 is the pinnacle of the passage and completely goes against the doctrine. The author shows that insulting the Spirit of grace is worse than disobeying the Law of Moses of the Old Covenant. By so doing, the backslidden Christian is said to have deliberately chosen to trod underfoot the Son of God. How can one do that unless they had access to the Son of God? One cannot put the Son under their feet or insult the Spirit of Grace unless they have Him.
The reborn brother who backslides deliberately is also counting the blood of the covenant by which he (the brother) was sanctified, an unholy thing. Sanctification is a process that is a work of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as we have also shown.
In light of the whole passage, it is clear that one can lose their salvation after being born again. Believe me, this was hard to swallow for me. But, as seen today it's the plain hard sugar-free truth.
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