Once Saved, Always Saved?

I have been asked the question many times "why does a Christian who has absolute security not just use this as a license to sin perpetually and not care about the consequences?" Is it because they know they are saved and nothing can change that outcome. This is the fifth tenant in the Five Points of Calvinism - using the acronym TULIP - Perseverance of the Saints. Another way this is often expressed, once saved, always saved. Is this Biblical doctrine true or is it a misinterpretation of scripture?

In Romans 3:1-8, the Pharisees asked Paul the same question about Judaism. "Why Paul, if God made a covenant with us, should we believe He will break His word if we are circumsized and call ourselves Jews? Aren't all Jews saved?" Paul answers them by saying "may it never be so." Paul's point is that while the promises of God are faithful and true, the behaviors of certain non-believing Jews did not dictate the efficacy of His promises. In other words, God's promises are for the believers, not the unbelievers.

More to the point of this question though, how can a believer be assured of their salvation if they are continuing to sin? The Biblical answer is the Holy Spirit.

When we are saved, the Bible says we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. God lives inside us the same way He indwelled the tabernacle in the wilderness. We are regenerate people when we are saved. We are no longer slaves to sin, we are slaves to righteousness. Our lives were bought with a price, the blood of Christ on the cross. God is faithful to take this new creature (you) and to strip away the sin and to make us Holy as God is Holy. This is what is called sanctification.

Will we continue to sin as believers? Surely, there is a battle between our flesh and our soul that rages until we die. But God is faithful to complete the good work He started in us. And if there is no effort on the part of the believer to overcome sin, if there is no fruit in their life, if there is no evidence of a changed life - then can we assume God has failed? May it never be. We can and should assume that this person, the professing believer who is caught up in sin, does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. That for whatever reason they have been deceived into thinking they are Christians, but are in fact unsaved. And when they say Lord, Lord. Jesus will say, I never knew them.

The Bible is full of warnings to those who would profess God with their mouth but not with their heart. A true Christian would never willfully, deliberately sin. They would diligently work hard to remove sin from their lives. But despite the desire to obey, sin abounds. Paul writes, "Rejoice in tribulation because God uses it to build - perseverance, character and hope." Without repentance and a broken heart towards sin, it is hard to think the person really knows Jesus and has a personal relationship with Him. Yet sin is how God shapes and molds His children into vessels of righteousness. Amen.