In a documentary titled “Once Saved, Always Saved?” Bible scholars and pastors attempt to disprove Once Saved, Always Saved (OSAS).
One three-minute section of the documentary answers the question, “Are We Saved by Our Works?”
Part one. In the first minute, Drs. Morrell, Oswalt, McKnight, and Witherington say that salvation is by grace through faith and that it is not of works. See here from 58:35 to 59:34.
People might be deceived during the first minute. They might think that these men believe we are not saved by our works. But if you watch the final two minutes of this section, you will see that they believe we must persevere in good works to avoid eternal condemnation.
Part two. In the second section, they introduce the need for good works to maintain salvation. See here from 59:34 to 1:00:24.
McKnight says, “But those who are saved are transformed into agents of good works.”
Witherington says, “Obviously, good works are part of the process of sanctification. Ephesians 2:10 says we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
Brown cites Matt 5:16 and 1 Pet 2:12, which say we are to let our lights shine and manifest excellent behavior.
Morrell says that we are justified “by a living faith” and that “works are evidence of living faith…As long as we are in the faith and have the faith, then we have the promises of faith like everlasting life and the forgiveness of sins.”
It is hard to understand their point. Why does the fact that God commands believers to produce good works prove that OSAS is false? Why would Eph 2:10 contradict Eph 2:8-9? Didn’t Paul clearly say that salvation is the gift of God and that it is not of works? Didn’t he say that believers have been saved by grace through faith?
Part three. In the third minute, they stress that salvation can be lost. See here from 1:00:24 to 1:01:35.
Witherington mentions the three tenses of salvation and says, “Until you get through all three tenses, the situation is not resolved.” In other words, salvation will be lost unless you keep believing and working.
McKnight says, “Justification by faith does not mean that there is a locked door behind us.” He says that if we walk away from Jesus, we lose our salvation.
Brown says that he does not find assurance of salvation in his works. Yet Brown believes we can lose our salvation. So, how can he be sure he is still saved? If assurance isn’t by works and it isn’t by faith, how does he have assurance? He doesn’t say.
McKnight says that we fulfill the Law and more if we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a fancy way of saying that we keep our salvation as long as we produce works that are good enough to keep us saved.
Oswalt ends this section by saying that good works don’t save us, but “salvation that does not issue in a transformed life has missed the whole point.”
So, what is “the whole point?” It seems that we must live transformed lives in order to keep our salvation.
Conclusion. These scholars say that salvation is initially by faith alone,i apart from works, but that one must persevere in faith and live a transformed life in order to keep that salvation.
They don’t say how you can recover if you lose your salvation. Nor do they say how you get it in the first place. What, precisely, must one believe to start [what they call] the process of salvation?
Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear. We have been saved by grace through faith and apart from works. The perfect tense refers to something that happened in the past and has an abiding result. That is, we were saved in the past; we are saved now; and we will remain saved forever. That is the great gift that God freely gives to all who believe in His Son for it.
There is a locked door behind us! We will never perish, hunger, thirst, die, or be cast out. The locked door is the promise of life made by the Lord Jesus Christ.
OSAS is true. Thank God it is.
Keep grace in focus.
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i Of course, they all agree with Dr. Morrell that faith is not simply being convinced that what the Lord Jesus promises in John 3:16 is true. They all believe that saving faith is “a living faith, a faith that works.” They all believe that to get saved in the first place, one must turn from sins, surrender to Christ, commit to serve Him for the rest of one’s life, and then start on the path of obedience. Such “faith” is not faith at all. Dr. Earl Radmacher once called such a view of saving faith “a return to Rome.”
