Katy said:
I dont believe this is what the bible says.
Do all Baptists believe in OSAS? or are their some sects that dont?
There are some, e.g. the Free Will Baptists, that don't, and I have met the occasional individual who did not, but for the most part Baptists do believe in "eternal security."
Consider this passage:
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:35-40)
Note well what Jesus says:
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- All who come to Jesus do so because they are given by the Father to the Son.</font>
- Jesus always does the Father's will.</font>
- The Father's will is that Jesus would lose nothing.</font>
And therefore:
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- All who come to Jesus will never hunger or thirst.</font>
- All who come to Jesus will never be cast out.</font>
- All who come to Jesus are raised up at the last day.</font>
- All who come to Jesus receive eternal life.</font>
We are saved and secure because we are
Christ's possession, given to him by the Father. To say that you can lose your salvation is tantamount to saying either
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- Christ can lose you; or</font>
- Christ is disobedient to, or fails to do, the Father's will.</font>
Both alternatives are unthinkable to any true Christian.
Let's take a look at another passage, this time from Paul:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Rom. 8:28-30)
We can
know that all things work out for our good. Why? Because we are called according to God's foreknowledge and purpose. Everyone who is known by God is conformed to Christ's likeness, called, justified, and glorified. No one who starts out as one of God's people can fail to finish as one.
If eternal security were false, then so would Romans 8 be false. How can we possibly
know that God works all things for our good if at some point in the future we might fall from grace? The best we could do is
hope all things would work for good. But Paul doesn't say we can hope, he says we can
know - we can have confidence that this is true. He goes on:
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:31-39)
How can you answer this? Paul asks. No one can bring an accusation against us; God has declared us righteous and there is no higher court to which to appeal. No one can condemn us; Christ was condemned for us and continues to plead our case before the Father. There is no power on earth or in heaven that can overturn God's judgment or separate us from his love.
There is a consistency to the theology that says that the final decision in salvation is up to us and we can lose our salvation. After all, if we sign up, we ought to be able to opt out too, right? But I don't believe for a minute that salvation rests on any choices I have made. It was God's work, and he will not fail to accomplish what he sets out to do.
