A common phrase in Christian circles is “once saved, always saved.” Many hold it, many reject it, but a lot of people have questions about it. Here are a few brief thoughts I recently shared with someone who asked me about it:

The Bible speaks clearly to the nature of salvation:

1) It’s a work of God (Ephesians 2:1-10, John 6:44, Romans 8:28-30, etc)

2) It’s not based on any works that we might do (Ephesians 2:1-10, Titus 3:5, etc.)

3) Jesus will not lose any of those the Father gives him to save (John 6:39, John 10:28)

Based on these passages, and others like them, I would argue that salvation is not dependent on us, but on Jesus who does not fail. Therefore, since it is not dependent on us, we cannot lose it. And Jesus won’t lose it for us.

That being said, however, Scripture is equally clear that it is possible to lose what we never truly possessed:

1) We can taste and see the goodness of God in salvation without actually experiencing it for ourselves (Hebrews 6:4-6)

2) We can delude ourselves into thinking we are saved when we are not (Matthew 7:21-23)

3) We can claim salvation but never be changed by it and thus prove to never have been saved (1 John 2:3-4)

Based on these passages, and others like them, I would argue that not everyone who claims to be saved is saved. Therefore, “once saved, always saved” has to be understood to implicitly mean “once truly saved, always saved.”

Though much more could be said here, I’ll keep it brief: Once saved, always saved is an easily remembered phrase and, so long as it is spoken with the understanding of all the biblical context taken together, it is true. However, it has frequently been used to imply that so long as someone “walked an aisle and prayed a prayer” they are saved. But that’s not what the Bible says salvation is. The Bible says salvation is found in submitting to Jesus as Lord, holding the enduring belief that he is who he claimed to be, being convinced that God raised him from the dead, and finding your joy in obeying him.