You are evidently speaking of salvation here in the context of “once saved always saved” or alternatively, “saved again”. I find no language in the Bible related to a second or continuing salvation. The burden is on those making that supposition to provide biblical references.
To say that salvation is not static but that it is dynamic is to misuse the term salvation as understood in Christian Orthodox theology. Salvation is a specific forgiveness by Jesus Christ of our sins by his grace through faith and our acceptance of that by belief through faith.
A few references for “once saved always saved” are the following:
1. KJV-(Mark 16:16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
2. KJV-(Eph 2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God
3. KJV-(Act 15:11) But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. [Once a person believes in Christ for forgiveness, he/she is saved]
4. KJV- (1Co 1:18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God. [There is a definite point where a person is saved: when they belief, in faith, that Christ is their personal savior and in repentance turned toward him as Lord of their life.]
There are many other references; these are just from a NT word search for “saved”.
In grammar, one must pay attention to what tense a word is; present, past, future.
Secondly, what you are really speaking of is the process of
Sanctification which is a specific Bible doctrine. Might I encourage you to research that doctrine and the related scriptures and see if what you hold to be a dynamic salvation is not actually the
sanctification process that continues until our death. It is through sanctification that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit work in our lives on a continual day-to-day basis. These are the doctrines that pertain to
saved [past tense] Christians. You’ll find these studies very worthwhile.
“Can't. I don't believe in "once saved". Such a concept would negate any further need of the Savior. And there will never be a moment when I do not need my Savior to be doing what He does...saving me.”
You quoted the following verse in your symbol. Notice that in both translations, and others, the past
tense is used since Paul is writing to the Ephesian Christians – they were already saved. Salvation, as widely preached and taught, and in the common language of Christians, means a specific point in their lives [hopefully
our lives] when they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. If it was meant to be an ongoing experience, this verse might read “are being saved” [future progressive tense]. See my comments above on
sanctification. The entire New Testament, including the last chapters of the gospel of John and the epistles of Paul, are entirely about how God works in the Christian life
after salvation.
KJV-(Eph 2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
RV-(Eph 2:8) for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
JIMBO43 wrote:
Rather than using our imagination, let us turn to God’s word for interpretations of what is written therein. God, Jesus Christ the Word, is well able to explain and defend what he has given to us to understand. From the imaginations of men and women, great heresies have been concocted.
Looking at the Markan account beginning in Mark 5:5, the demonically possessed says man makes his appearance (the corollary account is in Matthew 8).
(Mar 5:5) And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
(Mar 5:6) And when he saw Jesus from afar, he [the demon] ran and
worshipped him; (James 2:19 …the devils also believe and tremble.”)
There is much more that could be explained about the following verses but let’s jump to verse 15 after Jesus cast the Legion of demons out of the man.
(Mar 5:15) And they [those of the city and the country, v. 14] come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with devils sitting, clothed and in his right mind,
even him that had the legion: and they were afraid. (Mar 5:16) And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with devils, and concerning the swine. (Mar 5:17) And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders. [The populace of the region and their lack of repentance even in view of a miracle suggest why Jesus destroyed a herd of pigs, a significant amount of wealth in an agricultural society, many commentaries cover this, let’s advance to the point of this thread]. (Mar 5:18) And as he [Jesus] was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with devils besought him that he might be with him. (Mar 5:19) And he suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and
how he had mercy on thee. (Mar 5:20) And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
There are absolutely no words related to salvation in this account [or in the parallel Matthew 8 account]. The text does say that Jesus had mercy on the man by exorcizing many demons. The text does not say that if the demons returned, Jesus can “save” him again. Jesus might save him in the sense of protecting him from future but not in terms of the Christian doctrine of
salvation. We might talk of “saving” a man from drowning but that is hardly Christian salvation. Jesus sent the man into the midst of the country, the Decapolis, and instructed him to “…tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee”, which is exactly what the mentally healthy man did. There is no language about the man returning “…to be saved again.”
(1Cor 15:1) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (1Cor 15:2)
By which also ye are saved, [not “are being saved”-present progressive tense] if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have
believed in vain. (1Cor 15:3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (1Cor 15:4) And that he was
buried, and that he
rose again the
third day according to the scriptures:
From these concise verses we are given the biblical elements of a valid salvation:
- we are saved by the gospel,
- we believe the gospel (the good news),
- we believe that Christ died for our sins (his crucifixion),
- we believe that he was buried,
- we believe that he rose again (his resurrection),
- and that his resurrection was on the third day.
The essential elements are that we believe in the gospel which states that Christ died for our sins and that by his resurrection he has saved us for all time from our sin.
There is no room in the gospel message for a “second salvation.”