In the Religion forum, on a thread titled What if ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’ is Wrong?, redleghunter wrote:
What happens when a person dies unexpectedly four days after receiving communion?
I responded:
If they are in a State of Grace, they are saved. If they are not, but have the time to regret the sin that removed them from God’s Grace and contritely ask forgiveness, they are saved. Anyone who dies in a sin-filled state of rebellion is not saved.
Please correct or amplify, as needed.
The calminian in me comes to the fore on this classic protestant question. “Once saved always saved (osas)” is a phrase that poorly presents the doctrine of perseverance of the saints.
The truth is that the doctrine should be called: The Faithfulness of Almighty God. Neither of the above is really the heart of the teaching, so once you get into it you find a lot of clarity explaining the faithful love of Almighty God who will never leave us or forsake us.
That accurately describes the Lord Jesus. It describes the Father in the story of the prodigal son. It describes the Apostle Paul’s teaching that our worthless actions will be burned up but that we ourselves will be saved “yet so as by fire”.
Does God keep His promises? Yes. Absolutely. Does the bible say that “whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved?” Yes it does...romans 10:13. If we act in John 3:16 belief, then God provides us a John 3:16 eternity.
God will bring us on that journey so that whatever we need He will provide, so that at the end we will be with Him.
We need to remember that it might be us acting, but that everything is by grace. As the bible says: God graciously gives us ALL things.
Romans 8: 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”j
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,k neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.