ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED ???

 There is a belief that is commonplace among many worldly churches that when a person is baptized they are saved.  Is this true ?  First we must define what salvation is.  Matthew 24:13  “the one who endures to the end will be saved”  the end of what ?   1 Peter 1:5 “who are protected by the power of GOD through faith for the salvation to be revealed in the last time”.  It appears that salvation or being saved is an event that happens in the last time or at the end. The mistake in thinking we are saved now is linked to baptism. To think being baptized is being saved is an error. Baptism is the beginning of our journey toward salvation which is at the end of the journey not the beginning.  It also helps to know just what salvation is.  Salvation is being born into the kingdom of GOD as an immortal, impeccable spirit being.  1 Corinthians 15:50-53  “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of GOD” so if you are flesh and blood you have not yet been saved.  “We will All be changed”, “at the last trumpet” when Jesus returns. “We must be clothed with immortality” we, while flesh and blood,  are mortal but when Jesus returns we will become immortal, composed of spirit and be incapable of sin.   It is a true statement to say that no one has ever received salvation yet, because it is given when Jesus returns.  If we already had salvation we would not hope for it , who hopes for what they already have ?  Romans 8:24   Rather we are to hope for what we do not yet have.  Romans 8:25   To this day no one has ever been saved, it is a future event that happens when Jesus returns.  

Therefore people who say when they are baptized that they got saved is not true. Being converted is not salvation.  Perhaps what throws people off track are the comments made by the Apostles when speaking about salvation. They saw GODS promise of salvation as such a sure thing that they sometimes spoke of it as though we already had it.  

When reading the scriptures it is paramount, extremely important, that we define or find the definition of words like salvation, faith, immortality, spirit and many more so to have the understanding of what they mean before we reach a conclusion about them.  This is a very common error made with many things, many subjects contained in the scriptures.  The truth must be rightly divided to be  correctly understood  and we must never just assume something but rather prove everything. 

1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things”    We have been given the hope of a great salvation that we should not neglect.  Hebrews 2:3 

GODS elect saints are taught by divine revelation from GOD through Jesus Christ just as the Apostle Paul was, “For I want you to know brothers that the gospel that I preach is not from man. I did not receive it from any man nor was I taught it by any man rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”  Galatians 1:11-12   Any spiritual thing that the saints are taught and understand is by revelation from GOD through Jesus Christ.  

Now that we have shown that salvation is a yet future event that happens when Jesus returns this shows us that the idea of baptism saving us or “once saved always saved” is also incorrect because,  You cannot always have what you have not been given in the first place.  You may have been converted but salvation is not a reality until Jesus returns to give it.  It is also possible to lose the hope of salvation if we commit the unpardonable sin because this sin is unforgivable and resulting in everlasting death.  Jesus and the Apostles warn us about this in Mark 3:29   Matthew 12:31-32   Luke 12:10  and Hebrews 6:4-6   Hebrews 10:26-29   1 John 5:16   These scriptures prove that the HOPE of salvation is lost if someone commits the unpardonable sin.  Therefore “once saved always saved” is not true from this perspective.  However if the truth be known to you then “once saved always saved” is true because in the end when Jesus returns and you finally receive salvation only then is salvation permanent, everlasting, and you will never lose it.  It is a matter of properly understanding the scriptures, of defining words and their proper meaning with guidance of GODS spirt to arrive at the truth of all things,  John 16:13   John 14:26  1 Corinthians 2:10-13   It is the spirit of GOD by revelation that we understand spiritual truths.  Once saved always saved is a matter of perspective based on revealed truth.