Radiance: Once Saved, Always Saved?

Reading: Luke 18:18-30

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Charles Templeton was an outspoken Christian leader during the mid 1900s.  Following his conversion to Christianity in 1936, he founded Avenue Road Church of the Nazarene in Toronto.  In 1946, he helped start Youth for Christ International, which then hired Billy Graham as their first full-time evangelist.  During the early 1950s, he hosted a CBS religious show called “Look Up and Live.”  But in 1957, that all changed.  After struggling with doubt, he declared himself an agnostic.  He went on to pursue politics and eventually journalism.  In 1995, he wrote the book “Farewell to God: my reasons for rejecting the Christian faith.”  Charles Templeton died in 2001.

So, here’s what we all want to know: is Charles Templeton, a man who was once an outspoken leader for the cause of Jesus, saved and going to heaven?

Some, who believe that we can never lose our salvation, might offer an answer like maybe Charles was never saved to begin with.  But that seems difficult to understand when this man seemed to exhibit such a Christian walk.  Some, who do not hold onto the doctrine of eternal security, might simply say that Charles lost his salvation the moment he rejected Jesus.  Some might say that he is saved, even though towards the latter half of his life, he probably didn’t want to be.  They might say that though he will be punished for his rejection of Jesus, he will still be saved by Jesus’ grace.  Some might offer hope – maybe while he was on his death bed, he repented.

I’m not going to speculate on Charles Templeton’s (or anyone else’s) eternal state.  I can offer you my view of what the Bible says, and why I believe that once we’re saved we’re always saved, but instead, I want to challenge you to think about this a little differently.

Like I’ve mentioned before, we like to talk in terms of saved or not saved, heaven and hell.  And in reality, does anyone really want to go to Hell?  Let’s pretend that I’m going to offer you two trips.  One trip is to a beautiful 5-star, luxurious resort in Hawaii.  All expenses paid, and no expense spared.  Enjoy everything this lush environment has to offer.  Or, I can give you a free trip to Death Valley.  I’ll drive you out into the middle of the desert and drop you off.  Oh by the way, water and sunscreen are prohibited.  Are you even going to hesitate on which to choose?

We might offer someone the solution to their desire to go to heaven this way: ask Jesus into your heart, and then you’ll be saved.  “Really?” that person might ask.  “All I have to do is say this prayer and that’s it?  I’m in?”

But is that really it?  Is that all that they need to do.  You might respond saying, “We’re saved by grace through faith, not a works-based salvation.”  That is absolutely true.  But if we teach people that all you need to do is say a prayer, is that faith or lip service?  And if it’s just lip service, aren’t we teaching them that they are indeed saved by the work of saying some words?

Consider again the story in Luke 18 where a rich man asks Jesus what he must do in order to be saved.  There’s a dialogue that takes place, but the bottom line is Jesus invites the man to follow Him.  It might be helpful to think of Jesus’ instruction this way.  “Follow me.  Oh but by the way, you’ve got some things that might inhibit you from following me.  You have all this stuff – stuff you’re not going to need for the journey.  So why don’t you go ahead and sell it all and give the money to the poor and then come and follow me.”  The rich man walked away.

The truth is everyone wants to go to heaven, but very few want to follow Jesus.  I appreciate Jesus’ honesty here.  He doesn’t sugar coat anything.  He offers the man salvation.  More than that, He offers Him abundant life – in this life and the next.  You see, we are often great at trying to get people in the door of heaven, but often very poor at helping them live out their journey with Jesus on this earth.  It is the difference between lip service and genuine discipleship.

And so when you think about an individual like Charles Templeton who has turned their back on the Lord, don’t just think in terms of what will happen to them after they die.  Think of them in terms of what is or isn’t happening to them here and now.  The bottom line, whether they are going to heaven by the grace of God (just like the rest of us) or going to hell (just like what the rest of us deserve), they aren’t experiencing abundant life right now.  That, along with their eternal security, should make us troubled enough to share our concern through exhibiting the love of Jesus.

Jesus’ statement to the victorious in Sardis in Revelation 3:5 can seem confusing – “I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life.”  Combine that with passages like Exodus 32:32-33 and Psalm 69:28 where it talks about blotting out people’s names out of the Book of Life, and you can see why some object to the doctrine of eternal security. So how should we interpret these passages along with Philippians 2:12 that tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?

The answer is to resist complacency.  That was Sardis’ problem.  They were complacent.  There were probably individuals who thought, “I’m saved.  I can do whatever I want.”  By telling them that they’re dead earlier on in the letter, Jesus had already called their life into question.  I don’t believe that Revelation 3 is telling us that Jesus erases people’s names from the Book of Life.  I don’t believe it’s either God’s desire or healthy for us to always be questioning whether or not we’re saved.  The best way to act like a child of God is to realize first that we are one and be assured of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

If you have questions about yours or another’s eternal state, let me encourage you not to ask yourself or them, “Am I” or “are you saved?”  The answer to that question is likely, “Yes, because I did x, y, or z at some point in my life.”  The rich man in Luke 18 responded to Jesus in that sort of way.  You could ask, “Are you living for the Lord?”  However, that’s a question of perfection.  Even I would answer, “I try, but I fail.”  By the way, the rich man boasted in his ability to follow the rules.  So maybe a better question we can ask is “Are you a disciple of Jesus?”  You see, disciples aren’t perfect, we mess up, we stumble along the way, and sometimes we even take a selfish detour and get sidetracked.  But one thing is sure, we know that we’re on a journey following our Lord Jesus.  And in Luke 18, that’s exactly what Jesus tells those disciples who started wondering who could be saved.  As disciples, we not only get excited about the destination, but we crave the journey with our Rabbi.  Abundant life now and in the life to come.