THE ROOT OF OSAS
I have learned over my twenty years of walking with the Lord that the doctrine of
Once Saved Always Saved, also known as OSAS is perhaps one of the spiritually deadliest teaching of devils in Christendom.
When I have ministered on the streets to the drunkards, drug addicts, lazy, lying, stealing, pimping, murdering sinners many of them have grown up in ‘churches’ which have taught them this onerous teaching of Once Saved, Always Saved. These sinners will say things like: a. I accepted Jesus when I was ten and I can’t do anything to lose my salvation. b. You’re a legalist because God doesn’t require us to do anything. c. I know God saved me, stop judging. When asked if Jesus came to set the captives free from sin, without exception they will then plead to, “Everyone sins, even you!” When asked if sin is a choice, they will proclaim, “We’re born this way, God knows that and forgives us anyway.” They make all manner of excuses trying to justify themselves. However, they can not answer this passage with any cogent response.
2 Pet 2:20-22
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit, and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.
When a OSAS believer is challenged to consider other former believers they may have known in their lives. They will respond, “They were never saved in the first place.” I will ask them how that makes any sense even though they personally knew the person experienced forgiveness, experienced a new birth, and experienced good fruits meet for repentance. They will continue to insist they were never ‘saved’ in the first place. We knew of a good Holy Spirit filled open air preacher in Richmond, VA around 2006 who began to doubt his faith. Instead of exhorting him to return to the faith, his Calvinist buddies began to tell him, You must have had a false conversion. He eventually became a very aggressive atheist for the devils work. He even has a YT webpage promoting his anti Christ thinking. Why have we shot our spiritual foot off with false doctrines? What a shame that any believer would cause a man to stumble from faith and into the pit of eternal darkness! I wonder what these verses mean in this situation I have described?
James 5:19-20
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Now, I don’t think we are ‘saved’ the way the OSAS believer thinks. I believe the Bible teaches us to seek a new birth. John 3:3-5 We must humble ourselves with broken hearts about our sin and what the Father and Son had to do to accomplish reconciliation with rebellious mankind and not compromise His Holiness. Ps 34:18 , 2 Cor 7:10 Our new life begins when we completely and unconditionally surrender to our Great God and King Jesus Christ. We are pardoned criminals that are here on earth in a period of probation. However, if we continue to seek sin, the world, and the devil’s work we will: 1. Grieve the Holy Spirit away 2. Increasingly harden our hearts as we continue to seek darkness instead of holiness 3. Many even test God so far that He will decide to reprobate us and turn us over to our vile desires that we could never be saved even though we have not physically died yet.
Here are some great videos on the probation of the believer:
Imagine a criminal going to a court before a good judge and being found guilty of assault against a defenseless 93 year old lady. The criminal puts forth a heartfelt apology to her and through tears begs the judge to give him mercy though he deserves none. The judge decides to offer that mercy and puts him on probation for five years with the condition of the original charges being added back to any future crimes. Well, sure enough the forgiven criminal did not take the judge seriously and within a few months was dragged back into court in chains before the same good judge. This time he had mugged an 86 year old man, broken his jaw, and put him into the ICU at the local hospital clinging to life. Do you think the judge was pleased to hear of the criminal’s activity? He was more furious than before that his mercy had been offered and the fool had trampled all over the former ruling. Well, all the former charges and judgments were now brought forth and adjudicated with the new charges. Plus an even stricter ruling was given than the first because the judge was tried by the criminal and found to be good to his word. Do you think God is good to what He has promised and threatened toward His sinning creatures? Do you think that God magically forgets what has gone on before you were forgiven the first time? No dear reader, God has not forgotten. He had remitted the past sin when you were born again and now you need to walk as an obedient servant instead of a rebellious criminal. Rom 3:25-27
I will often hear those holding to OSAS promote this analogy of what father rejects their children for mistakes they make.These folks make some serious category errors: 1. Our earthly fathers are nothing like our heavenly Father. Heb 12:9 2.We are not sons of God but children of the devil if we sin. 1 John 3:8-9 3. We are breaking our relationship with our heavenly Father. 4. Sin is not a mistake but a criminal activity 1 John 3:4
In conclusion, we should connect some dots so to speak from the preceding paragraphs. Firstly, ‘believers’ should never resist correction offered from God’s Word if we are found in contradiction to it. Secondly, The OSAS fruit of, “Never genuinely saved” causes doubts for both the former believers and current believers. Couldn’t people be grafted in again as God’s Word says in Rom 11:19-24? Couldn’t they return to the Lord as He admonishes in the Holy Scripture?
1 Pet 2:24-25
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
This deadly spiritual mistake is to presume that someone was not born again if they fell away from the faith. This would cause what I have coined the ‘Perpetual Insecurity’ of the believer. If you think carefully about it that is exactly what the OSAS doctrine does in a person’s heart. The former believer can not imagine returning if all of that former experience was not real. Because they have been taught they had a false conversion this only cements their spiritual condition against God. The current believer wonders if they are truly saved because they have internalized this false doctrine, secretly wondering if they are actually in the faith themselves. To compound the problem they must come up with more doctrines like sinful saint, imputed righteousness, etc. to assist understanding of the root of the false doctrine which is OSAS. For a good teaching on this CLICK HERE. These doctrines only try to hold together the fur ball that is being theologically choked upon. Why not just confess your sin IF you sin and be forgiven? Why not just seek the Lord, resist the temptations and devils and obey God in the first place? 1 Cor 10:13 Wouldn’t that be the faithful thing to do? Should we be found faithful or faithless before His Holy Throne?
Thirdly, our Great God and King is an impartial judge. He will not overlook your sin because you have washed it away with theological gymnastics. He commands all to be born again of the Holy Spirit, all to walk according to His Holy Spirit, all to abide in Him and produce good fruit, all to endure to the end. These commands make no sense in light of the ideology of Once Saved, Always Saved. Why walk, abide or endure to the end as He both commands and desires? Has God no power in your life to change the way you act, think, talk and walk?
Saints of God, let us be very careful how we deal with each other in this most Holy faith in which we partake. Glory to Jesus!
Heb 12:12-17
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Here is a spiritual tsunami which testifies against OSAS. Please read these verses carefully in context, thank you!
1 Samuel 10:6, 9-10; 1 Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 13:13-14; 1 Samuel 15:10-11, 23; 1 Samuel 31:4; 2 Chronicles 15:2; Proverbs 2:13; Isaiah 1:4; Ezekiel 3:20-21; Ezekiel 18:18-31; Ezekiel 33:12-20; Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 10 (Judas):20; Matthew 18:32-35; Matthew 24:13; Matthew 24:48-51; Matthew 25:1-13; Matthew 25:24-30; Mark 4:16-19; Mark 13:13; Luke 13:23-27; John 6:66; John 8:31; John 15:1-6; John 17:12; Acts 1:24-25; Acts 11:23; Acts 13:43; Acts 14:22; Romans 11:15-24; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 1 Corinthians 10:5-13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Galatians 5:4-9; Galatians 6:7-9; Philippians 1:9,10; Philippians 2:12-13; Philippians 4:1; Colossians 1:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 3:5,8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 1:5,6; 1 Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Timothy 5:11-12, 15; Timothy 1: 14-15; 2 Timothy 2:3-5, 12, 17-18; 2 Timothy 4:9-10; Hebrews 2:1, 3; Hebrews 3:6, 8-15, 18-19; Hebrews 4:1, 11, 14; Hebrews 6:1, 8, 11-12, 15; Hebrews 10:23, 26-31, 35-39; Hebrews 12:14-15, 25; James 1:13-15; James 5:19-20; 2 Peter 1:9; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 2 Peter 3:17; 1 John 3:15, Jude 20-21; Revelation 2:4-7, 10-11, 17, 25-26; Revelation 3:2-5, 10-12, 16, 19, 21; Revelation 16:15;
Judgment on Individuals
John 3:18 — unbelievers are already condemned
Acts 5:1-11 — judgment on Ananias and Sapphira…
Acts 12:23 — God’s angel smites Herod with a disease for not giving God the glory
Acts 13:10-12 — Paul strikes Elymas Bar Jesus blind for resisting the Gospel
1 Corinthians 11:27-32 — judgment on those who drink the Lord’s table unworthily
2 Thessalonians 1:5-6 — God’s “righteous judgment” on those who persecute believers
Hebrews 10:27-29 — judgment, and fiery indignation of God promised against willful sin
God’s Wrath being shown in this age
Luke 21:23 — God’s wrath to be poured out on Jerusalem in 70 AD
John 3:36 — the wrath of God is presently upon unbelievers
Romans 1:20 — the wrath of God is presently being revealed against ungodliness
Romans 13:4 — governments are God’s minister to execute wrath on evildooers
Ephesians 5:6 — God’s wrath executed upon the disobedient
Colossians 3:6 — God’s wrath executed on the disobedient
1 Thessalonians 2:16 — God’s wrath has come upon those who hinder the Gospel