SCRIPTURE: WORKING THROUGH THE PERPLEXITIES TO CLARITY IN THE CASE OF OSAS

I want to give you an example of the rich fabric of Scripture and how this richness and depth might pose problems for interpretation. Let’s take the doctrine of once-saved-always-saved (OSAS), which teaches that we can never lose our salvation. There is much disagreement about this doctrine, and it’s easy to see why. Scripture seems to contradict itself. For example, Paul taught that we can’t lose our salvation:

• He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)

Paul claimed that God would keep us, but later in the same letter he taught that he would have to keep himself saved until the end:

• Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:25-27)

Here, it sounds like salvation is not entirely a free gift apart from our efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:26-27) but is also up to us and our performance.

We find this same paradox dogging us throughout the Scriptures. Jesus taught that no one could pluck us out of His hand and that those who’d come to Him would receive eternal life:

• Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty...All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away...For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:35, 37, 40)

Jesus often declared that those who were in Him would be with Him eternally, no ifs, ands, or buts! However, Jesus also taught that if we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off:

• “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2)

On the one hand, it seems that Jesus taught OSAS, but on the other hand that we could lose our salvation. How do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory verses?

While I think that there are some uncomfortable doctrines that transcend our understanding, like the Trinity, I think that this doctrine can and must be understood and the seemingly discordant verses can and must be harmonized if we are to live a robust and confident Christian life. We need to know that we are eternally in Him and that nothing will separate us from Him.

This becomes an urgent issue as we go through trials that expose our utter unworthiness before our God – our bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, selfishness, and countless other sins that wait in hiding. When these are exposed, we can go into panic-mode during which we try desperately to prove ourselves worthy of our Savior, but we are not. How then do we face our unworthiness? By knowing that He loves us so much, even when we were His enemies, and that He will never abandon us, His investment, now that we are His friends (Romans 5:8-10).

How then are we to reconcile the many verses that seem to contradict one another? First of all, we are not in a position to discard any verse. This is to place ourselves above the Words of God, making ourselves masters over the Scriptures. Instead, all of these verses are teaching us valuable truths, and we have to let them all speak.

Well, how can they all speak coherently in a way which relieves the confusion? We have to hold onto three Biblically indisputable facts:

1.    We are saved eternally.

2.    Yet, we have a role to play in the unfolding of our salvation.

3.    Our Savior guarantees that we will fulfill this role even if it means taking us out of this world.

Here are some verses for your consideration under each of these three points:

1.             We are saved eternally.

·          Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.

·          John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

·          Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·          Romans 11:28-29 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

2.             Yet, we have a role to play in the unfolding of our salvation.

·       Hebrews 12:14-15 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

·       Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

·       1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (also 6:19)

3.             Our Savior guarantees that we will fulfill this role even if it means taking us out of this world.

·       Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

·       Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

·       Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

·       1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Ultimately, it is the grace of God that will cause us to enter by the narrow gate, even though it was a done-deal from the start.

Let me prepare you for your struggle. Trying to put these verses together harmoniously probably cannot be perfectly done. We only see in part. Therefore, it should be no surprise that our doctrinal formulations will not seamlessly fit together. Consequently, the plain teachings of Scripture should always take precedence over our doctrinal formulations and our feeble attempts to formulate them. Nevertheless, we must proceed in prayer, Scripture meditation, and in humility as we attempt to understand Scripture as our Lord would have us do.