Many different Christian denominations believe slightly various things regarding salvation. Many ideas on how one is saved or if one could lose their salvation were starting to be questioned throughout the Protestant Reformation, and continue to be debated now. Before the Protestant Reformation, the concept of eternal security (example: you can’t lose your salvation) was an unfamiliar belief. I know that only certain Christian groups believe in the “once saved, always saved” teaching, so it’s not a universal protestant belief. However, many other Christian groups do have somewhat similar beliefs to this. Luther believed that one could perhaps lose their salvation, though only through the apostasy (the sin of rejecting the Christian faith). Other Christian groups have developed the idea that you could not lose salvation, through whatever sin that may be.

 

A Catholic may be asked, “Have you been born-again”, and “if you were to die tonight, would you go to Heaven?”. These two questions are intertwined but are a little bit different. Catholics believe that you are born again through Baptism, which I will speak more in the topic of baptism. 

 

Conversion however is different to being born again. If we want to be faithful Christians, we should be open to receiving revelation everyday, not just once in our lifetime. We should always be accepting Jesus into our daily lives, saying yes to Him every day. (see Matthew 24:13).

 

Catholics and all Christians who follow the teachings of Christ should be assured of their salvation. However, salvation isn’t something to be taken for granted. Nowhere in Scripture are the words “Once saved, always saved”, nor does the Bible teach that. This belief of once saved, always saved was developed by John Calvin throughout the Protestant Reformation, Although, salvation is not a one time event. Salvation is an ongoing process for many reasons. 

 

Catholics may avoid using the term I was saved or I got saved which implies that it was a one-time event. Catholics do believe that we have been saved, though are also being saved, and will be saved when we pass from this earth. There might be many reasons why Catholics don’t use these particular words, but here are a few reasons why. 

 

The first reason is that, Paul mentions in Hebrews 12:1 that he hasn't got to the goal yet. he is still running the race. Paul reminds us that we haven’t gotten to judgement day, and reminds us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and get rid of everything that gets in the way. We who are Christians have received the Holy Spirit who moves us to do what is right, however we still have free will to decide if we are going to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, or resist Him. 

 

We have to be resisting temptation and continue following Christ all the days of our lives. I’m not saying that if someone sins, they lose their salvation, because then Christ’s life, death and resurrection is meaningless. As it is said in the Bible, Jesus takes away the sins of the world. God is merciful and a forgiving God. Yet we learn in the Bible that we need to repent and believe. Repentance and believing also isn't a one-time event. We need to be repenting every day and following Christ daily, not just when we feel like it. We are always going to sin because we are flawed humans. God gave all people free will, and even though when we trust in the Lord, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we can still make the wrong decisions. It is easy to fall into sin, and if it’s mortal sin, can put our salvation into jeopardy. Committing a sin doesn’t make God rethink your salvation; God knows we are flawful and we certainly aren’t perfect. However we must always be striving to do God’s will, and not thinking “I will be okay to steal this little thing, God will forgive me”.

 

Christ warns us to be on guard and to pray that we won’t enter into temptation. He reminds us that we are still human, and of the flesh. (see Matthew 26:41)

 

As a visual example; imagine you are in the middle of the ocean, probably drowning, but you don’t know it yet. You see a big boat in the distance, and suddenly notice a life belt coming in your direction. You decide to clutch on to it and save yourself from floating alone. The waves are rushing beneath you and making it an unpleasant journey; however, you now have hope you will be protected from the waves. You get to the boat and about to get on board; yet, you have second thoughts and decide you want to wait for the next ship to come past because you think it might give you what you want rather than what you need. Even though this is rather foolish, some people make the unwise decision to let go of the life belt and hope to find land by themselves.

 

The second reason is that we are not the judges of our salvation; God is. If we try and sneak on board that boat without an invitation, we are trespassing and will be condemned. Going back to what was said a bit earlier, Evangelical Christians, usually ask Catholics if they will go to Heaven if they die tonight. Of course, we should have full confidence that we will enter Heaven if we do have faith in God and follow Him with our hearts and minds, however, the decision is not up to us individuals, only Christ.

 

It doesn’t make sense if salvation is a one-time event. It’s so easy to turn back to old ways, just like letting go of the life belt. The devil is always trying to lead us to himself and not to God. Paul teaches salvation in a past, present and future tense. I have been saved, I am currently being saved, and I look forward to when I am saved. 

 

However, some people may say “Well if he or she doesn’t practice his faith anymore, it shows that they didn’t truly believe at the start.” I don’t personally agree with this statement, because the world is full of evil, and sometimes it’s so hard to escape that evil. When my own mum was single, she had a friend who would always share Bible passages with her, mostly trying to convince my mum that Catholicism was wrong. He was a Bible-believing Christian who would use every opportunity to share the Scriptures, and even became a minister of a church. However, now he is an atheist and a confident one too. 

Only God knows what’s in our hearts, we can never, and should never assume if someone leaves the Christian faith, that they never had the faith at the beginning. We don’t know what’s around the corner. Even if we may trust the Lord and start to follow Him, it doesn’t mean that the devil won’t try to work our way into our lives in different ways. Christians are struggling with sin and confusion every day, and sometimes if they feel weak at that particular time, they may fall into the trap of giving up the truth of Christianity.

 

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus explains the parable of the sower, and how different people receive the Good News of Christ. Some of the seeds are those who receive gladly the Word of God, although they soon fall away after times of trials. These may be the cause of the person’s environment, life circumstance, or anything. But I would like to point out the last verse of the parable. Verse 15 , “ The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.” (Luke 8:15) Notice how the verse says “they persist until…”? We as Christians must keep exercising our faith and being obedient to Christ, and encouraging others to do the same. 

However, even if we fall into sin and turn away from God, it doesn’t mean we can’t come back to God. Salvation is always open to everyone while we are on this earth. We all need to put our trust and faith in Christ and follow Him. We should all be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for the people who don’t know Him, so we can all have a deeper relationship with Christ that is unbreakable. 

 

In Paul’s letters, he teaches that salvation is a continuous process. “So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation” (Philippians 2:12-13). Notice here Paul uses the words “keep on working” and “complete”. It tells us that there was not a once saved, always saved belief in the Early Church. Paul also mentions that he does not claim that he has already succeeded, but is striving to win the prize that Christ Jesus has already won for us. (Philippians 3:12-14). 

 

Some non-Catholics may refute the idea that you can’t lose your salvation as nothing can separate us from the love of God, (see Romans 8:39 and John 10:28). However these verses aren't speaking about salvation as such. God loves the world, that is why He sent His Son, Jesus down to save us. God is love (see 1 John 4:16). He loves us in our flaws and hardships. He loves us even when we don’t love him back. However if we turn our backs on Him, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t suffer the consequences in eternity. Catholics and all Christians believe that Heaven is for eternity, that once we enter Heaven we are there forever, nothing can take us out. 

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