I had a conversation a while back with a brother who does not believe in “once saved, always saved,” and I was deeply saddened… If you TRULY get saved the first time, the Holy Spirit will enter your heart and the lifelong clean-up process begins. If someone TRULY has the Holy Spirit in their heart, they will understand that Salvation is NOT a hall pass or a get outta Hell FREE card for careless living.
If you actively seek God through prayer, reading His Word, and finding a Sunday meeting place with family to grow with, you will eventually change and start producing “fruit”… However, this change can be slow for some and quicker for others. There are MANY variances that contribute to the Speed of Change. It could be one’s IQ…. Life’s circumstances… Home life…. Habits…. Mental scars and about a billion other things…
I know for me when my life is on a “mountain top,” I tend to “act more saved or more like a Christian”, but when “in the valley.” I tend to screw up more and maybe do things I would not do when on the mountain….
What about the Christians who get divorced, and their need for human touch and companionship causes them to stumble and fall over and over again?
What about the former addict who hit a depression spell, used heroin one more time, and then died?
What about ANY Christian, even Billy Graham, who may have died in the middle of one isolated moment of weakness?
Would they go to Hell if Christ returned at that very moment of sin? Would God have sent David to Hell if he had a heart attack right in the middle of his lustful bedding of Bathsheba?
My jury says, HELL NO!!!!
If we actually jump in and out of Salvation like a game of hopscotch, even MOST of the saved people won’t make it because we sin without even knowing… What about the church gossip that thinks they are justified with sharing information? What about the Christians that carry hatred in their heart for the person that just recently brutally raped them OR their child?
No, I believe if one can lose Salvation that easily, MOST of us are SCREWED!
What about Peter, who remained a bigot/racist for ten whole years after Christ ascended back to Heaven? Peter didn’t change until the vision of the sheet filled with all the different animals! What if Jesus came back while he was still a bigot? Would he have made it to Heaven? OF COURSE.
What about Paul struggling throughout the rest of his life with his infamous, ‘thorn in the flesh”? Is he in Heaven? You better believe it!
I believe that once we get saved, the rest of our lives will be spent LEARNING TO FLY through the transformation of the Holy Spirit, but we will NEVER even be close to perfect until we cross over…
~Brian Smith~