Once again, "Baptists" are not a cohesive group. Many Baptists teach "once saved always saved," some do not. It seems to me that once someone receives the gift of eternal life it can not be taken away. If you could lose "eternal" life, you never really had it... eternal means forever. If it is revocable, it is not really eternal. John tells us many times that Jesus used the phrase "eternal life." I would take this to mean that eternal life is just that: eternal. We in this life may not be able to tell for sure which people have really received eternal life, but it seems necessary to me that once given, it can't be revoked or you never really had it. 1 John 5:13 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20jn%205:13;&version=49;31;47;) says John wrote so that believers would "know that you HAVE eternal life" (emphasis mine). If the believer was not eternally secure, John would have written something like "so that you may hope to get eternal life if you are in the proper condition when you die." Jesus own disciple (and the writer of several books of the New Testament) clearly taught that assurance of eternal life is indeed available to the believer. I imagine God's knowledge of the future, our spirits and our faith allows Him to impute righteousness and eternal life only to those whose faith is right or real or whatever the criteria are. This addresses your second question: just asking God to give you salvation and eternal life is not God's criterion.

Thom's answer is correct. The scripture teaches in the following verses that once you are saved, you can't lose it. John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 John 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Everlasting means just that. God cannot lie and does not change over time. He promises everlasting life to those who accept His Son, and they shall have it. We are made righteous throgh Jesus' Grace, when we go to Him and ask for it. The righteous HAVE Life Eternal.Without Jesus, no matter what we do , we do not have Righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. You can't lose your salvation, but you can lose fellowship with the Lord. Possibly you are asking about confession to Jesus and repentance. Those are necessary to regain fellowship with Jesus after a sin. They do not void your eternal life.

if you were really saved, you cannot lose your salvation

Yes, The biggest flaw in this belief is it isn't scriptual. It feeds mans desire to do what he wants and remain ok. If one falls and asks the Lord for forgiveness He will forgive 1Jn.1:9.,Yet if you live a life of sin after salvation your action say you are lost. This is not a matter of what we think but what the word says. If Paul said Demas who once was with us,yet he loved the world and is no longer with us.(the church)Yes we can loose out with God. Most every denomination knows and understands this. For the details go to this website. http://www.biblical-theology.com/security/ues.htm

I believe the doctrine of eternal security to be true, but I disagree that it encourages us to sin. Rather, I believe it a testimony to the completeness of Christ's actions in securing eternal life for those who should receive Him. Therefore, while those who believe you can lose your salvation may serve God out of the fear of losing eternal life, I choose to serve Him because I love Him and appreciate that which He is and does for us. The question is, which force is more powerful...fear or love? While the OT speaks frequently of the "fear of the Lord", the NT in 1 John states "God is love". I thank God for my eternal security in Him, and to show my appreciation, I seek to please Him daily. He who has ears...

If once saved , always saved is true, that means a person who has fallen away from Christ can commit murder on children, rape, robbery & assult and still go to heaven. If you say they were not saved, then you must beleive a saved person can not sin.

No malice intended, but any doctrine that teaches that "signing up" to run the race is the same thing as "finishing" the race and collecting your prize is really scary!! Just because Baptists redefine and then insist on the <i>impossibility</i>of spiritual miscarriage (better known as "apostasy" in the scripture), doesn't make it go away... Take a look at www.webspawner.com/users/eternalosas/index.html ("Once Saved, Always Saved? Sign Me Up!")

Hmmm...my answer got bumped. Let's try this again. I fully respect your right to hold your views, but any doctrine that teaches that "signing up" to run the race is the same thing as "finishing" the race and collecting your prize I find really scary!! Just because some people redefine and then insist on the IMPOSSIBILITY of spiritual miscarriage (better known as "apostasy" in the scripture), doesn't make it go away... Do a Google search for "Once Saved, Always Saved? Sign Me Up!"

Here is a good quote: "The fatal flaw of OSAS reasoning is that it deftly merges the 'works' of the Old Covenant Law ('by which no man shall be justified') along with the 'works' of obedience to God’s Word which are inextricably bound to both the Old and the New Covenants ('faith without works is dead'). The obedience 'baby', then, is ceremoniously tossed out along with the rest of the 'works' bathwater!" Taken from "Once Saved, Always Saved? Sign Me Up!": http://www.webspawner.com/users/eternalosas/index.html

You will be saved and relieved from all sins and God will forgive you but just beacuse he forgives you doesnt mean to go do it again. cause God cant keep forgiving you over and over. dont make your sin a habit.

I have looked at this from both sides and I have come to the conclusion that this is one of the most highly debated and wedge causing subjects in the body of Christ. I say it this way; if osas is true I'm ok, and if it isn't true I'm still ok. Live a life of righteousness, humbleness, and true repentace. Live for Jesus daily.

I'll let you know when I die and find the answers to the questions that are posed daily to all believer's in all walks of faith. Aren't we all basing answers on faith..or teachings of a lifetime? Who knows? that's the point. Who really knows? The God I believe in is merciful and loving, with grace and mercy..BUT, I am responsible for living the best life I can live..the rest is totally in HIs hands..that, to me is the challenge..the unknown.

The God of the world -- Satan hates Jesus Christ & Christians, and all human beings. All Christians will struggle with sin until the day they die. We are sinful. When we become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. To be a Christian does not mean we will not sin. Only Jesus Christ was without sin. Therefore, yes I have to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness. Note: I am not asking for Salvation when I do this, only forgiveness if I know that I sinned. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we sin. Satan is the author of confusion. If you become a Christian, he will try to tell you that you are not saved and/or ruin your testimony. There is no man on earth that does not sin. So, to answer your question this Baptist does believe that once saved, always saved.

My belief is this. Scripture tells me that there is no difference in sin to God. Therefore turning your back on God is no greater sin than not witnessing to your neighbor. Both are equally sinful. What I feel most fail to see is that while on earth the only part of us that is saved for eternity is our soul. Our bodies and minds are not yet saved. The Bible teaches at the resurrection we will receive a NEW body and a NEW mind. It does not say a new soul. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a filthy vessel therefore profission had to be made for this, thus our soul. Although our flesh and our minds still sin since we still live in the post fall world our soul does not. If it did as I said the Holy Spirit would vacate. At salvation we were not saved from all our individual sins but our sin nature that was passed to us via Adam. We still struggle with sin. God knew we would thus 1 John 1:9 written to believers. When God turned his back on Jesus while he was on the cross did Jesus stop being his son? Of course not. Only the fellowship was broken. God could not fellowship with sin. If indeed commiting sin after salvation will cause me to lose it then I am forever damned because scripture tells me that even my righteousness is as filthy rags. My faith is totally in the Risin Savior who is able to keep me until that day. Thank God he is..I cannot do it myself!

I thought I'd add my two cents worth here. I believe that once we recieve the gift of salvation, it's ours....unless we give it back! To say that once we're saved, we're always saved (even if we intentionally turn our backs on God) is to say that once we're saved, we no longer have free will (the one thing God won't interfere with). I know several years ago I went through some things and felt like God had abandoned me. (I didn't yet understand that He couldn't interfere with the free will of the people harming me), so I litterally walked away from God. After a long while and friends who refused to give up on me, I repented and came back to God (I do believe we can do that). I do not doubt that if I had died before I repented and returned to God, then I would've gone to Hell, the same as any lost person. The parable of the Prodigal Son gives us a clear picture of this. The son was with his father, then decided he wanted to do his own thing, so he left. When he realized he made a mistake, he repented and returned, and was welcomed back. I know some have told me that since I was able to walk away from God I probably wasn't really saved to begin with. To believe that (in my opinion) is to believe that God was lying when He said that if we ask for salvation, we have it, because I had sincerely asked and lived for Him up until the time when I walked away from Him. I've gone back and forth, but I'd have to say I do not agree with "once saved, always saved", but I guess our believing or not believing it isn't important. What IS important is knowing beyond a doubt at any moment in our lives that we're right with God and if we were to die, we would be in heaven with Him. By saying we're right with Him, I'm not saying "perfect". No one is "perfect", but I do mean that we've asked forgivness for sins we know we've committed and we're at least making an effort to walk with God.

You must ask God to forgive you of your sins, even if you are born again.

I do agree that we have to ask for forgiveness for our sins even if we are saved, and by saying that I don't agree with "once saved, always saved" I'm not saying that we have to be re-saved every time we sin. To that extent, I do believe in once saved always saved. Even if we mess up, we're still saved, we just have to ask for forgiveness, however I do believe that we can choose to walk away from God (and He won't stop us, but He WILL be there to welcome us back when / if we choose to return to Him).

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. 5 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 ANYONE WHO PARTS FROM ME IS THROWN AWAY LIKE A USELESS BRANCH AND WITHERS. SUCH BRANCHES ARE GATHERED INTO A PILE TO BE BURNED. 7 But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.

This idea of once saved always saved is not Biblical. If you ask God to come into your life and repent of your sin and ask the Lord to be your Savior this doesn't mean you are saved from Hell. We are human and have a week nature and God knows this ("The spirit is willing but the flesh is week")This is also why God says not to swear on anything and let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. We can still sin and need to watch out for satin. Salvation is a ongoing process and we need to STAY CONNECTED TO THE VINE (JESUS) in order to bear good fruit.

The Baptist church I attended believed that. I no longer go ther, but I belive that once you are saved nothing can change that.

Most of the baptist churches I attended growing up believed that once you were saved you were always saved and that it took an act like blaspheming the holy spirit to change that. In actual practice though, many were quick to claim that someone wasn't "really saved" to get around that whenever they wanted to condemn someone who had at one point had been seen as saved. I know the moment I stopped sending them money. my "saved" status suddenly seemed in doubt. Maybe it was repossessed for lack of payment and conditional upon financial terms.

John writes the teachings of God and said he writes these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. So what are the teachings of Jesus Christ though? so that you may have eternal life? You can't take a scripture and not look at the scripture as a whole. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ANYONE WHO PARTS FROM ME IS THROWN AWAY LIKE A USELESS BRANCH AND WITHERS. SUCH BRANCHES ARE GATHERED INTO A PILE TO BE BURNED. But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father. "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ezek/18/19-32

Many Baptists believe that, but other people think that God does not lose anyone.