The Bible and the Catholic Church Once Saved, Always Saved? What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you yield yourself to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? - Romans 6:15-16 Presented by: The Bible Christian Society P.O. Box 424 Pleasant Grove, AL 35127 Email: john@biblechristiansociety.com (205) 744-1856 Copyright 2000, John Martignoni I. The Protestant View A. Protestant Beliefs. ~Accept Jesus Christ into your hearts ~The “sinner's prayer” ~Only need to believe in Jesus (John 3:16) ~One way ticket to heaven; nothing can derail the train ~”Absolute assurance” ~Since works do not gain our salvation, works cannot contribute to our losing our salvation. ~We are “hid” with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) ~”No condemnation” for those in Christ (Romans 8:1-2) B. One Protestant writes: “However, it is not merely from the Levitical laws that we were discharged, but also from the moral ones. God only has one law. Does that mean we can sin freely? No, for God hates sin, and if we love God, we will live according to His commandments. However, it does mean that no sin will be held against us once we receive Christ, for upon receiving Christ we are discharged from the very law against which our sins would have been reckoned.” NOTES:__________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ II. Showing the Protestant Doctrine to be False, from Scripture A. Absolute assurance… NO! Catholics say: ~ Romans 8:1-2 does not say absolute assurance ~ Romans 6:15-16 says that sin leads to death B. Discharges from the moral law...NO! Catholics say: ~ Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus does not discharge us from the moral law! There is consequence for sinning! ~ Matthew 18:8-9 C. Others ~ Matthew 13:40-42; Matthew 18:23-35 & Matthew 6:14-15 (we must forgive others); Romans 11:17-23; John 15:1-11; Galatians 5:1; Hebrews 6:4-8; James 5:19 NOTES:__________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ III. Other Protestant Arguments A. Sola Fide...NO! ~ Once saved, always saved stems from this doctrine. Since “sola fide” (faith alone) can be shown to be false, the basis for once saved, always saved crumbles. B. Once saved, you cannot sin...NO! ~ Romans 7:15 “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very things I hate.” C. Once saved, sin no longer holds any consequences…NO! ~ Paul writes to believers but preaches about avoiding sin. ~ Romans 12:21 & 15:15; Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 6:18 & 11:17-22 & 15:12; Ephesians 4:25-32 & 5:5; James 2:1 & 4:1-4; Matthew 5:31-48 & 6:1-7; Colossians 3:25; 1 Peter 1:1-2 & 2:1, 2 Peter 1:1 & 3:17 NOTES:__________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid , and the glorified God, who had given such authority to men. - Matthew 9:8 IV. Other Problems if Protestant View is True A. Must endure until the end ~ Matthew 10:22 ~ Hebrews 10:35-36 ~ Hebrews 12:1 B. Hope ~ Romans 8:24-25 ~ Romans 15:13 ~ Romans 5:2 C. Paul didn't have “absolute assurance” ~ Philippians 3:10-13 ~ 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 NOTES:__________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ IV. Other Problems if Protestant View is True D. Other verses that wouldn't make sense if Protestant view is true ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ~ Philippians 2:12 ~ Hebrews 4:1,11 ~ Colossians 1:21-23 E. The “Book of Life” ~ Revelation 20:15 ~ Psalms 69:28 ~ Revelation 3:1-5 IV. Once Saved, Always Saved...NO! ~ Hebrews 10:38 ~ Ezekiel 33:12-19 ~ Ezekiel 18:21-24 ~ 1 Timothy 4:1 ~ John 2:11 with John 6:16-22, 66 ~ 2 Timothy 3:16 NOTES:__________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________