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Summary
- Christian churches disagree on whether a believer can lose salvation, and each side cites Scripture, above all John 10:27–29 and Hebrews 6:4–6.
- The Catholic Church teaches that mortal sin, committed with grave matter, full knowledge and deliberate consent, causes the loss of sanctifying grace, which Penance can restore (Catechism 1855–1861).
- The Orthodox Church treats salvation as a process rather than a finished event, and the Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist confessions say the justified can fall from grace.
- John Wesley, the Church of the Nazarene and the Assemblies of God teach that a believer who rejects Christ can be lost.
- The Westminster Confession (chapter 17) and the Baptist Faith and Message teach that true believers will persevere to the end.
- “Once saved, always saved” can mean the Reformed perseverance of the saints or the Free Grace view that a believer who stops believing is still saved.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: John 6:39; 10:27–29; Romans 8:38–39; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Philippians 1:6; 2:12–13; 1 Timothy 1:19–20; Hebrews 6:4–6; 2 Peter 2:20–21; 1 John 2:19; Luke 8:13.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1855–1861 and 2089. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P6C.HTM
- Council of Trent, Session 6 (13 January 1547), chapters 12–14, trans. J. Waterworth (1848). https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html
- Orthodox Church in America, “Hebrews 6:4-6 – Falling Away from the Faith,” Questions & Answers. https://www.oca.org/questions/scripture/hebrews-64-6-falling-away-from-the-faith
- Augsburg Confession (1530), article 12, “Of Repentance.” https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/of-repentance/
- Church of England, Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, article 16, “Of Sin after Baptism.” https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- The United Methodist Church, Articles of Religion, article 12, “Of Sin After Justification.” https://www.umc.org/en/content/articles-of-religion
- John Wesley, Serious Thoughts upon the Perseverance of the Saints (1751), in The Works of John Wesley, vol. 10, pp. 284–297. https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Volume-10-Letters-Essays-Dialogs-Addresses.pdf
- Church of the Nazarene, Articles of Faith, “Repentance.” https://nazarene.org/what-we-believe/
- General Council of the Assemblies of God, “The Security of the Believer,” position paper adopted by the General Presbytery, 21 August 1978. https://evangelicalarminians.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Assembly-of-God.-The-Security-of-the-Believer.pdf
- Canons of Dort (1618–19), Fifth Main Point of Doctrine, articles 3–8 and 14. https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/canons-dort
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 17 and 18. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), article 5, “God’s Purpose of Grace.” https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
- John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews, on Hebrews 6:4–6, trans. John Owen. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom44.xii.ii.html
- Charles Stanley, Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure? (Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1990).
- “Five Articles of Remonstrance,” “Conditional preservation of the saints,” “Eternal security” and “Westminster Confession of Faith,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Articles_of_Remonstrance
