CHARLO, February 16, 2024 – I was born-again from atheism nearly 25 years ago. I learned about God and Jesus from God and Jesus, first by my rebirth experience itself, and then by reading scripture and deepening my relationship with God and Jesus day by day. I attended Catholic mass for the first few years of my rebirth, but it was more an exercise in attendance and calisthenics (stand up, sit down, kneel down, sit down, bow your head, cross yourself, stand up, etc.) than an education in God. I guess what I’m saying in my usual roundabout way is that my knowledge of God and Jesus comes from the source itself – God and Jesus, and their words recorded in scripture.

Having been taught about God and Jesus by God and Jesus, I find it odd when theologians and pastors argue over what God and Jesus meant when they said this or that. God is Truth and we receive God’s Spirit of Truth at rebirth, which means those who are born-again are speaking God’s language of Truth by default. I don’t argue in support of this or that point of theology or school of thought, like a sports fan raucously backing a team for no other reason than that it is his team. As a born-again believer, I support Truth and Truth only, which is neither a school of thought nor a point of theology, because Truth, as scripture assures us, is God.

I mention this as a preamble of sorts to the topic of salvation. There are several different theological points of view and schools of thought on whether or not salvation (that is, eternity in Heaven) is guaranteed for all those who believe in Jesus. But how can there be opposing points of view on Truth? The fact that there are even differing arguments on this pivotal topic is itself a giveaway to the spiritual credentials of those doing the arguing.

Truth, being God, doesn’t need to be argued. Truth only needs to be presented, and those who love Truth will recognize it and receive it as such. This process of recognizing and receiving Truth when it’s presented is one of the abiding gifts of God’s Holy Spirit in a reborn soul. Those who are not reborn don’t have that gift and so can easily be deceived.

When I heard about “once saved, always saved”, I immediately dismissed it as a lie. It’s not only non-scriptural, it’s a repackaged version of the same old nose-stretcher told to the children of Abraham back in the day. Jesus had it out quite a few times with the scribes and Pharisees, etc., about their presumption that they were indisputably Heaven-bound solely because of their genetics. He tried to correct them by presenting the Truth, but being children of the devil, they would not receive correction.

I know that when you, as a born-again believer, read these words, you’ll recognize God’s Truth in them and receive them as such. I know that you’re well aware that we’re on spiritual probation and will remain on spiritual probation right up until the end of our time here. Our salvation is not guaranteed by our rebirth. Our rebirth, being conditional, guarantees nothing; it did, however, enable us to receive God’s Holy Spirit and through the Spirit to develop a close relationship with God and Jesus and to enter into God’s Kingdom on Earth.

But our rebirth does not guarantee our salvation, any more than the state of grace we entered into at our rebirth guarantees our salvation or being in God’s Kingdom guarantees our salvation. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid the sin price that enabled our reconciliation with God, but our reconciliation doesn’t in and of itself guarantee our salvation. Jesus’ sacrifice doesn’t guarantee salvation to someone simply for stating: “I believe”. If that were the case, even demons would be Heaven-bound, as James rightly pointed out, because demons know only too well that Jesus is the Christ.

Spiritual rebirth enables us to have a one-on-one relationship with God and Jesus. Through this relationship, we have their protection and guidance, which is worth more than all the world’s wealth combined. But even having this priceless constant protection and guidance still does not guarantee our salvation. We still have free will while we’re in the state of grace, which means we can still choose against God and Jesus.

We can still sin.

And we can still fall.

We don’t stop being tempted and tested just because we’re born-again and the apple of God’s eye. Yes, God loves us, but rules are rules and standards are standards, and we’re held to the highest of standards as God’s children. He expects the most from us, and rightly so, because he’s blessed us with so much. Jesus warned us that everything we do, every word we speak, and every thought we entertain will be judged. The devil’s taking copious notes on each of us and is planning to throw them in our face at the Judgement, pulling all stops to have us condemned. Jesus will present our defense, of course, but it will be much more than just “they believed in me”. He will have to prove by our actions, words, and thoughts that we lived our belief to the best of our ability, and that we did so to our last mortal breath. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, not in the recipe.

You, as a born-again believer, know this already. You know that you have to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, not with presumption, boasting, and false assurances. You know that you’re on probation and will remain on probation until the end of your time here. You know that grace is a state of being that you entered into at rebirth, courtesy of Jesus’ sacrifice. You didn’t earn grace; it was given to you. God has no interest in taking his gift back, but you still have the capacity to trash it and dump it of your own free will.

God promises he’ll never leave us or forsake us, but we can certainly leave and forsake him. God will not stop us, if we choose to go. We still have the capacity to stop following Jesus and start following Satan, like Judas did. May we never do that.

I learned about God, Jesus, and scripture from God, Jesus, and scripture, not from theologians and pastors. Being reborn and in a state of grace, I have God’s Holy Spirit of Truth in me, so I know a lie when I hear it. “Once saved, always saved” is a lie and a very dangerous one at that. It makes people spiritually lazy and proud, which is why the devil told this lie to the children of Abraham all those years ago and why he’s telling it to Christians today.

But as born-again believers, we know that as long as we have free will, we have no assurance of salvation, which means we can still sin the unforgivable sin and fall from grace. Being conscious of our vulnerability makes us careful in how we choose our words, thoughts, and actions. The more careful we are, the less ammo we give the devil for Judgement Day.