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ONCE IN GRACE, ALWAYS IN GRACE
by Evangelist Ed Bousman
One of the most popular doctrines in the Christian Churches
and Churches of Christ today is called "Once in grace, always in
grace." I heard one time of a man who went to the barbershop to get
a shave. About a month later he noticed that he was still clean-shaven.
He went back to the barber and asked him why his beard never grew back.
The barber told him, I believe once shaved always shaved. It is true of
course that you can ransack the tract rack of any of these Churches and
not find any mention of it, and it is not recognized as one of the distinctive
doctrines. But the evidence that most people in the Church of Christ and
Christian Churches believe it is because we practice it. The idea that
if you have been baptized and your name is on the roll book of the church,
you've got it made no matter what you do from then on. One elder in a
Church told me once that he was talking to a man who told him that since
he was a Christian he was not required to ever attend a Church service
again because he was saved and never could be lost. The same man told
me that a certain woman told him that she was saved and since she was
saved she could become a prostitute if she wanted to and it would not
have any effect on her salvation. At the funeral of any member of the
Church of Christ, or Christian Church the preacher had better preach the
corpse to the front row of heaven, with a crown on his head, and a harp
in his hand. The deceased may have been a drunkard or anything worse,
but if his name was on the Church roll book, he's got it made. No one
will admit this, but that is the way it is. Not very many people in the
Church of Christ or Christian Church have the perception of one woman
I know about. Her husband had died and she asked her preacher to preach
the funeral. Now the preacher did not know the deceased, but he did learn
that at one time he had been baptized and was a member of the Church of
Christ. So at the funeral he tried to hold out all the hope he could and
pretty well got him through the pearly gates. As the assembly was passing
by the corpse on their way out, the widow told the preacher in a voice
loud enough to be heard by everybody, O preacher, you were mistaken; my
husband died and went to hell.
The Bible is full of many verses that tell us that a person can fall from
grace. Some good folk in the church of Christ and or Christian Church
will use John 10:28 as proof that once saved is always saved. That verse
states, "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish
and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." However they neglect
to read the previous verse which gives the complete thought. My sheep
hear My voice and I know them and they follow me: and I give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them
out of My hand. The ones who cannot be snatched out of the Masters hand
are those who listen to His voice, the word of God and who follow Him.
What happens if you stop hearing His voice and stop following Him? The
obvious answer is the deal is off and you will be snatched. And now consider
the following statements that indicate you can fall from grace.
MATTHEW 24:12-13 "And because iniquity shall be multiplied the love
of the many shall wax cold, but he that endureth unto the end, the same
shall be saved." Jesus included this statement as He preached about
His Second Coming and the end of the world. He warned them of persecution,
and to strengthen their resolve, he warned that only those who stuck it
out would make it. Is there any reason for us to believe that it will
be any different for us today? And if this is not conclusive, turn to...
MATTHEW 24:45-51 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom
His Lord hath set over His household to give them their food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom His Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you he will set him over all that he hath. But if that
evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord tarrieth and shall begin
to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken the Lord
when He cometh will cut him asunder and appoint his portions with the
hypocrites, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
The Lord is speaking of servants that he personally hath set over His
household such as elder, preacher, and evangelist. When the Lord comes
He will set the faithful steward whom He hath set over His household over
all that He hath. The unfaithful will be cut asunder. Cutting asunder
is what they did to some of the Old Testament servants of God. Paul in
Hebrews says that some of the great ones of faith were sawn asunder. When
the Lord returns he will get in on that sawing asunder routine himself.
From this account the Lord told Himself it is evident that elders and
preachers can
fall from grace and if this is not conclusive, turn to...
MATTHEW 25:30, "And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the
outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This
statement of Jesus is in his parable of the talents. He had given some
five, some two and some only one. These servants were his, not the Devil's.
To his unfaith-ful servant the order went forth from the Lord, "Cast
him out . . . " What other conclusion can you reach from this that
once you are saved you can be lost? If this isn't conclusive, turn to...
JOHN 15:6, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned." In the preceding verses, Jesus had said that He
is the vine, and we are the branches. He said if we don't bear fruit,
we shall be cut off to wither and then to be burned. Need any more be
said? How could it be plainer? Cut off from Christ, whither and burn.
And if this is not conclusive, turn to...
ACTS 8:20, But Peter said unto him, "Thy silver perish with thee,
because thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money."
Here Simon a former fortuneteller, a member of the Church at Samaria,
offered money to the Apostle Peter and John for the ability to lay his
hands on others and gives> them miraculous powers. I must say that I have
a lot more respect for Simon the Sorcerer than for these modern day fake
healers and tongue speakers. At least he was willing to pay for it. These
modern day fakers try to get it for nothing. Peter said thy silver perish
with thee. What other conclusion could you reach, but that Simon would
perish with his money, if he did not repent? Some would try to tell us
that he was not really a converted follower of Jesus in the first place.
That is something those who make that charge will have to prove. The scriptural
account tells us that Simon also himself believed and being baptized continued
with Philip. If this isn't con-clusive, turn to...
ROMANS 11:21, "For if God spared not the natural branches, neither
will he spare thee." In these verses God's people were likened unto
a tree. The Jewish branch had been cut off be-cause of disobedience. God
asks the question, if he spared not the natural branch, what chance would
a branch that has been grafted in have? Those grafted in were the Gentiles.
What other conclusion can we reach from this, than that we can be cut
off. If this is not conclusive, turn to...
FIRST CORINTHIANS 9:27, "...but I buffet my body, and bring it into
bondage; lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself
should be rejected." Here in these verses Paul recognizes the possibility
that he could fall, himself. He indicated that he had to fight his body
to win victories over the flesh. Who is the boss in your life? Do you
boss your body or does your body boss you? What other conclusion can we
reach from this passage than that a person can establish churches, live
a sacrificial life, do great things for the Lord and then be rejected
if he does not control the dictates of his fleshly desires. If this is
not conclusive, turn to...
FIRST CORINTHIANS 10:12, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed unto himself lest he fall. Paul had just listed some of the
times that the ancient Israelites had fallen. He mentions the story of
their idolatry, their fornication, their murmuring and then says this
happened to them as an example for us. What is the example, if it is not
an example of how a person can fall away? Hear it again -"Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." What other con-clusion
can we reach except to believe that a saved person can be lost? If this
is not conclusive, turn to...
GALATIANS 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach
unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him
be anathema." From this verse we learn that preachers who preach
a different gospel will be accursed. We all can say that we know of preachers
who have been baptized into Christ and have been faithful in preaching
the word and then defected. Paul says they are accursed. Does this sound
like they are going to heaven? If preachers can be accursed, others can
too. What other conclusion can we reach from this passage than that a
person once saved can be lost? If this isn't conclusive, turn to...
GALATIANS 5:4, "Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified
by the law, ye are fallen away from grace." This verse seems to be
tailor made to prove the error of once in grace, always in grace. Hear
it again, Ye are fallen away from grace. These Christians who were keeping
the law and trying to earn salvation by works were severed from Christ.
How can you be cut off from Christ if you never were joined to him? I
have a missing finger on my right hand. It was severed from my hand. How
could it be severed from my hand if it was never a part of my hand in
the first place? What other conclusion can we reach from this than a Christian
can be severed from Christ after being a part of Him? If this isn't conclusive,
turn to ...
SECOND TIMOTHY 2:18, "men who concerning the truth have erred, saying
that the resurrection is past already, and over-throw the faith of some."
Here Paul reminds Timothy that false prophets by their teaching have overthrown
the faith of some. If you overthrow someone's faith, then he no longer
believes in Jesus and his resurrection. What else can we say about him,
but that he is lost? We all know of those who at one time believed in
the risen Lord, who no longer believe it. Are they still in a saved condition?
What other conclusion can we reach than that a person once saved can be
lost? If this is not conclusive, turn to...
HEBREWS 6:6, "...and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them
again to repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh
and put him to an open shame." Here the writer is speaking of those
who were enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, made partakers of the
Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of life and the power of the age to
come and fell away. This passage speaks as clearly about the question
as can be written. Fell away: impossible to renew them again to repentance,
while they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. Any honest person
can see it. A person once saved can be lost, if the Bible and its testimony
are to be accepted.> What other conclusion can we reach than that a person
once saved can be lost? If this is not conclusive, turn to...
HEBREWS 10:26-27, "For if we sin willfully after we receive the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacri-fice for sins but a certain
fearful expectation of judgment, and fierceness of fire which shall devour
the adversaries." If a saved person can never be lost, how come he
can be de-voured by fire if he sins willfully after receiving the knowledge
of the truth. The writer is talking about saved people here because he
says, we. He includes himself in these who sin will-fully. Hear Paul as
he continues, how much sorer punishment shall they be judged worthy who
have trampled underfoot the body of the Son of God and counted the blood
of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing and hath
done despite to the Spirit of grace. What other conclusion can we reach
from this passage than that a saved person can be lost? If this is not
conclusive, turn to...
SECOND PETER 2:21, "For it were better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the
holy commandment delivered unto them." Peter was talking about those
who had escaped the defilement of the world and then were overcome. He
said, better for them never to have known about it. He then said they
were like dogs again turning to their own vomit and sows that had washed
to wallowing in the mire. What other conclusion can we reach from this
than that a person once saved can be lost? If this is not conclusive,
turn to...
REVELATION 2:5, "Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent
and do the first works or else I come to thee and remove thy candlestick
out of its place, except thou repent." Jesus is speaking to the Church
at Ephesus here and he tells a church that he will remove their candlestick
unless they repent. What kind of mental gymnastics does a person have
to perform to read this and still maintain that a saved person can never
be lost? And if this is not conclusive turn to...
REVELATION 3:1-6 Jesus told the Church at Sardis, "He that overcometh
shall be arrayed in white raiment and I will in no wise blot his name
out of the book of life, and I will confess him before My Father and before
His angels." From this verse it is evident that the pen Jesus uses
to write your name in the book of life has an eraser on the other end.
He says that He will not blot out certain names. He had told this Church
that it had a name that they lived, but He said you are dead. There are
many people who have their names on the roll book of Churches whose names
were never written in the roll book of Heaven. The Lord is speaking here
of the roll book in Heaven. If these people had never been Christians
in the first place, the Lord would never have put them in the book of
life. But here He says there are a few names in Sardis that have not defiled
their garments. They shall walk with Me in white for they are worthy and
I will not blot their names out of the book of life, which I have written.
The gospel song says it for us. When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes
be white? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you freely trusting
in His grace this hour are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Any one
of these scriptures would have been enough to prove this proposition,
but when we pile scripture on top of scripture and then more scripture
on top of that, it makes the person who would maintain, once in grace,
always in grace, look like an elephant trying to climb through a key hole.
We close where we started. And because iniquity shall be multiplied the
love of the many shall wax cold, but he that endureth unto the end the
same shall be saved.
Ed Bousman Evang. Assoc.
"GOD IS JUST A PRAYER AWAY"
Ed & Naomi Bousman
P O BOX 511
LYNCHBURG, OH 45142 USA
ACTS 2:38 and MARK 16:16
Web site: www.gijapa.org
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