JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE AND ETERNAL SECURITY REFUTED BY THE BIBLE “Once Saved Always Saved Doctrine”

James 2:24 “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

This is the only place in the entire Bible that the words faith and alone (or only) are joined together. The Bible says that MAN IS NOT JUSTIFIED BY FAITH ALONE, BUT BY WORKS!

ST. PAUL SAYS THAT HE COULD BECOME A CASTAWAY

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

By declaring that he could become a castaway or a reprobate (adokimos), there is no doubt that St. Paul is saying that he could lose his salvation and be damned along with the other reprobates. Was St. Paul a true believer who had been justified? Of course he was. The Bible thus teaches that true believers are not assured of salvation. This passage completely refutes the idea of eternal security or “once saved always saved.”

WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING

Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Work out salvation with “fear and trembling,” obviously because men can lose their salvation through grave sin at any time.

Read the whole article: Justification by faith alone and eternal security refuted by the Bible

PROOF FOR FAITH AND WORKS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, FAITH ALONE REFUTED BY JAMES 2! NO CATHOLIC TEACHING HAS EVER SAID THAT ANY MAN CAN HAVE FAITH OR WORKS BUT BY THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT WE MUST ANSWER THE VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND IT IS NOT AUTOMATIC FOR US! CHOICE IS DENIED IN FAITH ALONE BY PROTESTANTS!

James 2:19-26

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

1 Cor 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

If faith alone saves, how can love be the greatest?

Shows that faith and works are necessary for salvation (James 2:19-26) (Matthew 25) (Romans 2) and that we are not justified by faith alone. (James 2:24) (Matthew 7:19-23)

DISPROVING ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED OR ETERNAL SECURITY FROM PROTESTANTISM! THE WHOLE BIBLE IS A TESTAMENT AGAINST THIS!

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (The Rock is Peter)

A dialogue with a Protestant about “Faith Alone” and “Eternal Security” - “Once Saved Always Saved Doctrine”

Dan (Protestant): Hello John, I see that you are unable to properly interpret scripture. Hopefully you will take the time to read through the [heretical] website that I sent you. If you have any questions, email Joe at xxxxxxxxx. In response to eternal security- In Matthew 10:22, 24:13 and Mark 13:13, "endure to the end" is NOT in addition to faith in Christ. Salvation IS NOT faith + endure to the end (works) = salvation.

John: Really? Then why did Jesus Christ say that we must “endure to the end to be saved”? (See Mt 10:22; 24:13; Mk 13:13). Why was I able, in my book to devote nine pages of Scripture quotations teaching that we can lose our salvation if we don’t endure to the end?

Dan: The people who endure to the end prove their faith and are the same ones who are saved. Those who do fall away give conclusive proof that they were never truly saved to begin with - (1 John 2:19). *Your interpretation is typical "natural man" (1 Cor. 2:14) theology.

John: If what you are saying is true, this means that you can’t claim “to be saved” at this point in time in your life (although I bet you do). This is because, as you have stated, “the people who endure to the end prove their faith and are the same ones who are saved.” Since the demonstration of whether or not one is saved is whether or not the person “endures to the end,” you can never know that you are saved until “the end,” that is, when you die. Thank you, Dan, for demonstrating the error of “once saved, always saved.”

Dan: The negative form of the Greek word, "adokimos" in 1 Cor. 9:27 is translated "castaway" in the KJV, "disqualified" {for the prize} in the NIV, "rejected" in Hebrews 6:8; and "reprobate" in Romans 1:28, 2 Tim 3:8; Titus 1:16; and 2 Cor. 13:5-7. The use of the word in 1 Cor. 9:27 is in relation to "service" and Paul is therefore speaking of his strong desire to avoid the Lord's disapproval of his "service" at the end of the road which pertains to rewards in heaven and NOT loss of salvation. In context, (1 Cor. 9:24) Paul mentions getting the "prize" from the Greek word "brabeion" Strong's # 1017, which is used metaphorically of the "reward" to be obtained hereafter by the faithful BELIEVER. An award, a prize in the public games. Salvation is a "gift" (Rom. 6:23) and NOT a prize. *You confuse salvation with service and rewards.

John: This is the kind of forced exegesis that Protestants have to undertake to get around Scripture passages that deny their false theology. You admit that “adokimos” refers to the “reprobate” who are to be condemned by God. But when you come to 1 Cor. 9:27, you decide to interpret the word differently, somehow forcing it to mean those who will receive “the Lord’s disapproval of his service.” Sorry, but that isn’t going to work. First, in Paul’s discourse in 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Paul never once mentions “service.” Paul instead mentions running to win the “imperishable” (Greek, aphthartos) wreath (v.25). The word aphthartos appears only one other time in Scripture in 1 Cor. 15:51 in connection with human beings, where Paul says the dead will be raised “imperishable.” This “imperishable” crown refers to nothing less than the resurrection of our salvation. It has nothing to do with less rewards.

The word “brabeion” also has a soteriological implication. For example, Paul tells the Philippians, “I press on toward the goal for the prize (brabeion) of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). This “prize” of the upward call is nothing less than heaven itself. You try to make a distinction between “prize” and “gift” but Scripture makes no such distinctions. Paul tells the same Philippians to “work out your salvation in fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Salvation can also be called a prize because we have to work it out with fear and trembling. Certainly, the prize has been acquired for us by the voluntary and gratuitous sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but we also participate in acquiring the prize by cooperating with God’s grace. This is how we “work it out.” Since salvation is an all-or-nothing proposition, Paul uses the metaphor of a race. Paul says it is a matter of winning or losing the race for the “imperishable wreath” and “prize.” There is nothing about receiving more or less rewards.

Dan: In the analogy of the olive tree (Romans 11:19-23), Paul shows that Israel (the natural branches) were broken off because of UNBELIEF (despite being God's covenant nation) and that Gentiles (wild branches) were grafted in through FAITH. *This is not a warning that believers may lose their salvation. "Branches were broken off and others grafted in" is based solely on the issue of FAITH. Paul, speaking to Gentile Christians, warns them not to boast and feel superior because God rejected some Jews through UNBELIEF. Gentiles are not the source of blessing, but have been grafted into the covenant of salvation that God made with Abraham by FAITH.- (Gal. 3:6-9,13,14). "Continue in his goodness"- refers to steadfast perseverance in faith. Steadfastness is a proof of the reality of faith and a by-product of salvation, not a means to it. Those who reject God's offer of salvation through faith, will be cut off. In Paul's analogy (vs. 24) God will graft the (believing) Jewish people back into the olive tree of His covenant blessings because it was theirs originally, unlike the wild branches (the Gentiles). *You completely missed this one.

John: Sorry, Dan, but you missed it. If Paul is not warning the Gentiles that they can lose their salvation, then why does Paul tell them “if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you” (v.21), and “otherwise you too will be cut off” (v.22)? Even though Paul is warning the Gentiles that they can be “cut off” like the Jews, you are telling me that God wasn’t really giving the Gentiles a warning? What kind of exegesis is this? Are you saying that the Jews were merely “cut off” from less rewards? Paul is speaking about salvation proper here. That is why he repeatedly warns the Jews to repent and come to Christ for salvation. They were in fact “cut off” from salvation because they thought that had to earn with “works of law,” and not faith in Christ. Paul is warning the Gentiles to persevere in their faith in Christ, or they too will be severed like the Jews. Also, tell me where Scripture teaches that steadfastness is not a means to salvation, but a “by-product” of it? Where does Scripture ever say that “works” are only a “by-product” of faith?

Also, you refer to the covenant God made with Abraham, but then say that it was “the Jews’ originally.” This is also incorrect. God made the covenant of grace with Abraham when he was a Gentile, not a Jew. The Abrahamic covenant applies equally to Jews and Gentiles and everyone else who places their faith in Jesus Christ.

Dan: Salvation is by grace, through FAITH, NOT WORKS (Eph. 2:8,9). Without having "saving" faith, you are not even capable of interpretating scripture. You "infuse" works into the definition of faith which creates a "works based" false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). The Greek words for faith/believe are "pistis" and "pisteuo." These are two forms of the same word. "Pistis" being the noun form and "pisteuo" being the verb form. To have faith in Christ for salvation means that you have (belief, trust, reliance) in Him ALONE to save you. Nothing in the root meaning of either word carries any concept of works. This kind of belief should result in actions appropriate to the belief, but the actions (works) are not inherent in the belief. "Saving faith" is a complete trust in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ as the only means of salvation. ***Either you are trusting 100% in the finished work of Christ ALONE to save you or else you are 100% lost. My prayer for you is that you will come to place your faith in Christ ALONE for salvation and be saved (John 3:15-18,36 Acts 16:30,31).

John: The problem you have is that James says that salvific justification is obtained “by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). If Paul says that salvation is NOT obtained by works, and James says that salvation IS obtained by works, then the inspired writers are obviously talking about two different kinds of works (since Scripture cannot contradict itself). The original Greek demonstrates this as well. As I set forth on the website and in my book in painful detail, the “works” that do not justify are those performed by people who try to obligate God to reward them.

These were primarily the Jews who had made their covenant relationship with God into a contractual arrangement. They viewed God as a debtor who owed them, and not as a Father who would reward them for being faithful. Paul primarily refers to the “works of the Mosaic” law as the type of works that do not justify. James is referring to works done with faith in the grace of Jesus Christ. You are missing the key paradigm between law versus grace which is critical to understanding the biblical teaching on justification. In addition, no where does the Bible use the term “saving faith.” No where does the Bible say you need saving faith for “interpretating (sic)” the Scriptures.

You are also in error in your understanding of the Greek “pistis” and “pisteo.” You see, the meaning of the Greek word also includes “obedience.” Obedience is separate from faith, and something that must be added to faith to be justified. For example, in John 3:36 it says “He who believes (pisteo) in the Son has eternal life; He who does not OBEY (apeitheo) the Son shall not see life.” See also 1 Peter 2:7-8. This means that “belief” includes “obedience,” and since Jesus commanded us to do good works and endure to the end to be saved, true “faith” in Christ includes doing the “works” that He commanded us to do. It is faith + works that lead to salvation, not faith alone.

Dan: Until you understand what saving faith is, you'll never understand the grace of God or salvation. You'll just continue to believe in whatever your church teaches you. The Catholic church is not 2000 years old, but unfortunately that sales pitch has lead millions to bondage and UNBELIEF- (2 Cor. 4:3,4). I trust God's word, not man's tradition.

John: Dan, where does the Bible ever use the phrase “saving faith”? Please show me where the Bible makes such a distinction between true faith and false faith. Please also find one person (father, doctor, medieval, etc.) before the Reformation who taught eternal security and “faith alone” theology. I can assure you that there is none. This is a novel theological invention of the Protestant reformers, and has no foundation in Scripture. You are ignoring the 2,000 year-old teaching tradition of the Catholic and apostolic Church.

Your argument about enduring to the end is fallacious. You argue faith alone, and yet Jesus says that those who have faith must endure in that faith to the end. Faith alone never obtains the grace of justification and final salvation. In fact, your position even gives you less security in your salvation. This is because you never really know whether you are saved until the end. Catholics know [they] are saved, so long as [they] persevere in faith [state of grace]. [Catholics] know salvation is [theirs] to lose. Because you cannot predict the future, you don't even know if salvation is yours to begin with.

Your exegesis of 1 Cor. 9:27 is simply wrong, and you cannot find one father of Church until the Reformation that agrees with you. You say reprobate is in relation to service, but that is not what the Scripture says. Paul is saying that he must endure or he will be cut off. Adokimos always refers to the reprobates as you indicate, and these refer to those condemned. Your exegesis of Romans 11 is likewise flawed. The Gentiles already have faith, and yet Paul warns them that they too can be cut-off. This means they can lose the salvation they currently have.

You also are not grasping the faith versus works paradigm of St. Paul, which is the foundation of his theology on justification. When Paul says we are not justified by works (Romans, Galatians), he is referring to "works of law," not good works. Works of law refer to the Mosaic law, or any worldview in which we believe God owes us salvation by our works. The Jews believed that they could get to heaven by their works of law. The Gentiles also began imbibing this mentality. This is why Paul says the wages of sin is death. The Catholic Church teaches, like Paul, that we are saved by grace, not works of law.

When we humble ourselves and acknowledge that God does not owe us salvation, we move from a system of law to the system of grace. In the system of grace, we are justified by faith and works acting together. This is why James says that we are justified by works and not by faith alone (unlike what you believe). Is James contradicting Paul? No, because James is teaching about works in the system of grace, while Paul is teaching about works in the system of law. If we are in a system of law, the law will condemn us because we cannot live up to its exacting standards. If we are in a system of grace, God has mercy on us, and even though we are not perfect, God forgives us our sins, so long as we persevere in "faith working through love." (Gal. 5:6).

The only time Scripture uses the phrase “faith alone” is when James says “a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” in James 2:24. This obviously is a big problem for your theology. St. Paul uses the word "faith" over a hundred times in Scripture, but never said "faith alone" or "faith only." Yet Paul used the word "alone" more than any New Testament writer. Don't you think that if Paul wanted to teach "faith alone" theology, he would have used "faith alone?" He didn't, because a man is justified by works, and NOT by faith alone (James 2:24).

A tragic story of an “OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved)” believer

“My good friend killed himself 8 years ago and in the letters that he wrote while the drugs were destoying his internal organs He said he knew God would forgive him. osas [“Once Saved Always Saved”] again. And when the bullet splattered his brains all over the wall he was convinced that God would be there ready to embrace Him. He had told me months before exactly how He would kill himself if his wife ever left, because he would never pay child support and they had three children. I told him that I didn't think that it worked that way because I had read the verse Your body is the temple of God. He who destroys the temple of God, God will destroy.

I really thought that Buddy was just talking noise but to my horror He calmly premeditated and carried his own execution. Early on the morning of my eldest son's birthday I got a call from his wife...Buddy's dead...by his own hand. If he had not had the osas mindset but rather the increasing life mindset, well maybe he would have spent his anniversary with his wife, instead of leaving her waiting, while He was out with one of his old girlfriends.

Now Buddy was a very intelligent man, articulate who could build a sailing ship in a wine bottle, rebuild an engine out of an MG Midget, navigate around the world by the stars and the sun. But He was unable to see the plan of destruction that had been planted into his mind just as deadly as a mine in a minefield...”

Follow up: Where does it say in the Bible that suicide is a direct ticket to hell?

Question: “Where does it say in the Bible that suicide is a direct ticket to hell? My church and many other churches believe that as long as you are saved you will go to heaven. If you are saved and become weak and sin by committing suicide, then that is a sin that God will obviously hate, but will he send you to hell for it? We just had a 45 year-old man commit suicide and everyone is saying that he went to heaven. I really don't know the answer. I was brought up in church believing that you would go to hell for committing suicide but apparently not.”

Answer: Like the Trinity and other Christian doctrines, the Bible does not come right out and say that suicide is wrong, but if you look you will see it just as clearly. Let us give you a couple passages to show you what we mean. First we know and most Christians will agree that suicide is self murder. Murder is forbidden by the Bible.

Here are the other passages we wanted to show you:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or know you not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body.” It is up to God when we die not us. It is hard to argue that a person who kills himself is honoring God with his body.

Romans 14:7-9: “For none of us liveth to himself; and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Therefore, whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” This passage shows that our lives are in Christ's hands. We live for Christ and we die for Christ, not for ourselves.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.” We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Here is another passage which I think shows this same thought, Matthew 16:24: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” To be a follower of Christ, you must deny yourself. Now it is pretty hard to claim a person has denied himself when he commits suicide.

1 John 2:3-6: “And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. He who saith that he knoweth him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But he that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.” Since suicide is against His commands, it is a mortal sin.

Hebrews 10:26-27: “For if we sin wilfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins, But a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries.” Here again we see that if we deliberately sin, it shows that we don't really have a relationship with Christ. Now let me make one thing very clear. I am not saying that a Christian will never stumble and sin, but I am saying when a Christian thinks that they can deliberately sin and God will somehow just wink at it, they are sadly mistaken.

It appears that your “church” teaches “once saved always saved”. In very simplistic terms what that means is that once a person is “saved” all their sins are forgiven (past, present and future) and they never have to worry again no matter how much they sin. That goes against many passages of God's word.

Now your church may look back at his life and say it was obvious from his life that he had a relationship with Christ and since nothing can change that he went to heaven. We are commanded to follow Christ, or in other words to continue in the faith. 1 Corinthians 15:2: “By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.” If we don't hold firmly we have believed in vain. People can twist that passage to mean whatever they want it to, but it says what it says. If we don't continue in the faith then we believed in vain in the beginning. That is why we can know about the person who commits suicide why he is in hell, even the two mentioned above.

When a person gets to the point of suicide, it is the mark of a longer battle. If the person makes the decision to take their own life, then it shows that they are no longer following Christ. This is exactly why the doctrine of “once saved always saved” is such a dangerous doctrine. It very well might lead a person, like the man in your church, who feels that he is at the end of his rope to commit suicide and believe that God will gladly welcome him into heaven with open arms. As Scripture clearly shows it is wrong, then many people who thought they were just getting to heaven quicker then God intended were sadly mistaken.

Again let's go to Scripture and see what a biblical response to being at the end of our rope is: 2 Corinthians 1:8-11: “For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, of our tribulation, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of life. But we had in ourselves the answer of death, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead. Who hath delivered and doth deliver us out of so great dangers: in whom we trust that he will yet also deliver us. You helping withal in prayer for us: that for this gift obtained for us, by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many in our behalf.” Paul too was at the end of his rope, and when he says he felt the sentence of death and despaired even of life, he is saying the same thing that the person who commits suicide is saying. The difference is that Paul said it with words not actions and in fact then realized this all was to help him learn to lean more fully on the Lord. That is what a true relationship with Christ is all about. He also says that he was greatly helped by the prayers of other believers.

If any man deliberately makes the choice to reject what God wanted for his life and “get to heaven sooner” then God intended even though he knew it was a sin, then it shows he had quit following Christ and had no place in heaven and went straight to hell.

People don't like to hear that, but why should it surprise them? God demands obedience, sin is rebellion or in other words disobedience. If He requires us to have faith and keeping his commandments to obtain salvation, why wouldn't He require us to continue to have that faith? We can't make a fool of God by being forgiven and then going back to being rebellious. Many heretical “churches” claim that we are under grace which makes the entire Old Testament null and void. They seem to forget that the Apostles preached using the Scriptures. And what Scriptures where they using? They were using the Old Testament. The oldest New Testament writings are the letters Paul sent to the churches, then came the gospels, so they were teaching the gospel using the Old Testament. It was relevant then and it is relevant now. Besides, many passages in the New Testament goes against their heretical believes too. Go to your Bible and see for yourself. We have only quoted a small number of the passages which refer to our continuing in the faith.