OSAS Once Saved Always Saved !

OSAS
Once Saved Always Saved !
General Notes on Believing God, or the traditions of men.
Saturday morning, 6:30 a.m.

Good morning saints,

I’m not picking on OSAS guys in particular. It’s not like there are a lot of them out there… I’m just using OSAS as a jumping off point to make some distinctions regarding man’s traditions and the faith we have in Christ.

1. It is kinda clear, (if you can pen them down… that OSAS guys don’t believe in anything special about God’s work in Christ’s cross. They believe that no one is saved by the cross. They believe that you MUST do something, to get the “eternal blessings” of God’s love, etc.
2. What is it you must do??? You “MUST” say this prayer, or repent in this kind of way, or do some kind of ritual of something… it’s not too clear… but for sure, you’re not saved by what Christ did on the cross. It’s WHAT YOU DO…. Not What God did in His Son’s efforts on your behalf. Oh no.
3. So these OSAS people come along and they preach that as long as you get in on God’s good side, you can never fall out of favor with God. That’s nice. But the premise is all wrong as I see it. Just how do you get in on God’s good side??? Let’s go back to the meaning of GRACE itself. Grace is the favor of God shown to someone who deserves THE OPPOSITE of favor.
4. But the OSAS folks seem to project a message that you earn the permanent favor of God if you do something. It doesn’t matter what it is that you MUST do… as long as you do something… anything, to earn or steer God’s favor in your direction, then you’ve changed the meaning of GRACE into WORKS.
5. I mean, OSAS is a nice thought as far as it goes… but it’s very limited in it’s scope. Think about it … “Once saved” — as if there was a time when you were NOT??? And, isn’t salvation God’s work? The idea behind “once saved” is that you can do something about it. You can get yourself “saved”…
6. But salvation is God’s work. He is the savior. And He is the savior of all. (See I Tim 4:10)
7. And what about the “ALWAYS SAVED” part??? It’s that kind of like God is making a deal, a contract, a bargain? It’s like a warranty of a piece of equipment you bought. ???
8. But if salvation is the work of God, then of course the “warranty” is good, right? It just bugs me that the OSAS guys treat this thing like it was a deal between a buyer and a seller. God is not the “seller” and we are not the “buyer”. Something bigger is going on here… and we need to believe God, not man’s traditions.
9. God’s work in Christ’s cross, is efficacious… Christ died for all. And Christ died for sinners. And Christ came into the world to save sinners. And so, when all sinners are saved (at the cross?) can’t we say with assuring, that YES, once, saved (and they were) always saved ?? (And they will always be).
10. Now, if the OSAS folks would clean up there vocabulary concerning the EONS (Greek AIONS) then, we could have a debate about if one comes into the faith (the promise of eonian life) can one fall out of the faith and lose eonian life???
11. But eonian life and “salvation” might not be talking about the same thing. You see, “salvation” is just a common noun in the Bible, and it could refer to any number of situations where man or animal gets “saved” from something.
12. There is a “salvation” for eonian life… but there is also a “salvation” that goes beyond the eons of time. (You’ll have to do a study on the Greek New Testament word AION to figure it out. AION shows up 199 times in the New Testament. Don’t be afraid, you can do it.)
13. Can one lose eonian life? I don’t know. There are some verses which seem to indicate so… but this IS NOT a deal where you can determine your own destiny. You see, human destiny is determined by the PURPOSE OF GOD.
14. Would it suit God’s purpose to bring you into the faith and then let you fall away from the faith? Perhaps. God’s purpose is eonian after all. (Eph 3:11)
15. But, on the whole, I’d say, we shouldn’t be so focused on “eonian life” as the sole aim and goal of God. Eonian life, is just one small picture in God’s eonian purpose. His purpose is to begin the eons (Heb 1:2)… carry the eons on (Eph 3:11) and then close up the eons at the consummation (Heb 9:26, I COR 10:11)
16. At the consummations of the eons (I COR 10:11) — that’s when the party really begins. That’s when you can say “ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED”. But during the eons of time, lots of crazy stuff has to happen. The eons are so crazy, and evil, that it makes sense that we’re mostly confused about God’s eonian purpose.
17. But when the eons end…. Boy howdy.

Conclusion:
The regular view and explanation of “OSAS” — is not founded on God’s work in Christ’s cross. It’s founded on man’s response to the cross, which makes it a “salvation by works” message.
If we want the truth about God’s purpose and plan… we need to see the cross as the truth, the source of all blessings… we even “believe” due to the cross… as “faith” itself is a gift.

Grace to you.
Ace.