Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Many Christians misuse the above verses to support their distorted doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” (OSAS). They believe that a person can never lose his/her salvation, because God is very loving and doesn’t cast off anyone.
While it is true that God is very loving, it is also true that God has given us a free will to make a conscious decision to follow Him. Of course, no external factors like Angels, demons, sickness, sorrow, pain, etc can separate us from God. However, our conscious perseverance to sin, can.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
1Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Heb 10:26 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.
2Pet 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
Matt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
But am I not sealed with the Holy Ghost?
Many people are quick to argue- “But am I not sealed with the Holy Spirit? How can I then fall away and lose my salvation?”
2 Cor 1:22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We must understand that God wants us to love and obey Him out of a free will. While nothing outside of God and us can pluck us out of His hand, we can still consciously walk away from Him by sinning deliberately and repeatedly.
Christian life is a warfare. Every day we battle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph 6:12). It is a lifelong war, and we must be careful each and every day of our life “until the end”.
Rev 2:10 be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
2John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Look at the below verse:
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
It clearly says that those who are “partakers of the Holy Ghost”, (sealed with the Holy Ghost) can still fall away, and it would be impossible for them to repent. It is a serious warning to all of us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12)
Therefore, it is really possible for us to fall away from God if walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit. It is possible for God to “blot out our name from the Book of Life”. So let us put on the full armour of God and stand against the “Wiles of the Devil”.
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.
Amen.
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