I went one night to hear a Nazarene preacher who said, “We believe in once saved, always saved, as long as you keep saved.” That’s one belief Seventh-day Adventists have in common with the Nazarene church!

A large cross section of the evangelical Christian world believes that all that is necessary in order to be saved is to nod your head toward heaven once during your lifetime, and your eternal salvation is assured. They believe that regardless of what choices you make, or the direction of your life after the point of the initial decision for Christ, that in the end you will find yourself ushered in through the pearly gates to the city of God.

But the Bible teaching on this subject is very clear.

“Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:12, 13.

Jesus taught the same principle in John 15. He was speaking His last words to the disciples on their way to Gethsemane. He pointed to the vineyards, visible in the moonlit night, and tried once again to explain about the relationship they must sustain to Him in order to have life. He said in verse 6,

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

So it is possible to be a branch, but not to abide, or stay with the Vine. And when that separation continues, the time comes that the branch is removed.

In His parable about the wedding feast in Matthew 22 Jesus also spoke of the possibility of making a beginning, but not keeping on in the Christian life. The king had prepared the feast. The man had accepted the invitation to the feast. He had made a start. But he had neglected or refused to put on the wedding garment, and when the king came in to examine the guests, the man was found lacking. The king gave the command,

“Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Verse 13.

“Sinful man can find hope and righteousness only in God, and no human being is righteous any longer than he has faith in God and maintains a vital connection with Him.” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 367.

As we have already noticed, the assurance of salvation continues as long as our relationship with God continues, as long as we continue to accept His gifts of repentance and forgiveness and grace. Continuing salvation is based upon this faith relationship with Him, not upon our behavior or our performance. And no relationship continues any longer than the relationship continues.

We know from our human relationships that it is possible to have had a relationship with someone at one time, but to no longer have that relationship today. Unless a relationship is kept alive by continuing fellowship and communication and contact, it will inevitably die.

The same is true in our relationship with God. The Bible faithfully records the examples of those such as Enoch, Moses, Daniel, and Paul, who continued to walk with God to the end of their lives. Paul was able to say near the close of his life,

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” 2 Timothy 4:7, 8.

He did not say, “I joined the right side; I started the right course; I once had faith.” No, he had kept the faith, enduring until the end.

And the Bible also tells us about those who began with God, but who fell by the wayside and lost the salvation they once had. Cain began by offering morning and evening sacrifices with the rest of the family. But he did not endure until the end. King Saul started out converted, a humble child of God. But he took over control of his own life and ended his own life as a result.

Balaam was at one time a prophet of God, but in spite of his talking donkey, the angel who appeared to warn him, and the voice of God in dreams of the night to advise him, he was more interested in his own glory than in God’s glory and became an ally to the enemies of the people of God. Judas was one of the inner circle; he listened to the words and saw the works of Christ. He received a place as a missionary and joined with the other disciples in healing the sick and casting out devils and raising the dead. But he walked away from it all and betrayed his Lord.

To be saved once is important. To continue to accept salvation is equally important.