The doctrine of OSAS is one of the most impending threats within Christianity today, 2nd only to Calvinism. The reason I say this is because all 5 point Calvinists believe in OSAS, but not all OSAS are Calvinists (see the previous section for more on the dangers and contradictions of Calvinism).
This false doctrine of greasy grace teaches that once you have accepted Christ as your savior, you need not do anything more for the rest of your life, because your one little moment of faith has sealed you for all eternity. You've got your free orange ticket to heaven.
This is a topic that after years of debate and discussion, I am a foremost expert on debunking, and will do so gladly, anytime, anywhere, pending my own availability conditions, in person in a formal debate setting, in front of a crowd, or on a tv/radio show, under the conditions that it will be broadcast, rebroadcast, and in any way featured or sold, exclusively in it's entirety, unedited, and I will not be muted/'cut off' at any time. Also that it will be available to me as well to feature on my own site. Also that I will be given at least equal time as my opponent. You can reach me at his.j.man at gmail.com.
There are 2 types of OSAS beliefs:
OSAS Lite
OSAS Classic
OSAS Lite
I call it "Lite" as a tongue in cheek kind of joke regarding to popular beers and alchohols, it still causes a drunken stupor, but with half the calories! This version teaches that a person is saved forever just by their little moment of faith, however, if they commit heinous sinful acts, then they were never really saved to begin with. The OSAS Lite crowd has the same cookie-cutter answers to just about every verse used to refute them. Usually their sneaky way out when I confront them on people backsliding, or falling into evil, turning from God etc. is to answer something along the lines of "They were never saved to begin with, or they wouldn't have done [evil deed] but once a person is really saved, then they can never become unsaved and will never [evil deed] for the rest of their life." It's very clever, but not irrefutable, here are the verses that the OSAS Lite folks cannot answer:....
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
How can you be saved without the light of God? Likewise, how can you lose the light of God, and yet be saved? Here Jesus is threatening to remove the 'candlestick' from the church unless they repented...and I don't think He makes idle threats.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
This is the singular blockbuster verse of all verses that destroys the doctrine of OSAS. It's painfully obvious here that if you remove the words from the book of Revelation then YOU WILL have your part in the book of life removed, and you will not be in the holy city spoken of. Unless an OSAS believer is going to convert to believing in universalism, or some new age doctrine, then this verse is the cure-all for their heresy.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
This verse takes care of the oft repeated verses from the OSASers that say "once God saves you, nobody can pluck you out of His hand" it's true that's what those verses say, but they are taken out of context and stretched into also saying that you have no free will and could not walk out yourself.
1Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.
Here we are told that some people shall depart from the faith. You cannot depart from something that you were never in. You can't depart from the Atlanta airport, if you were never in Atlanta.
Eze 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
This is absolute proof that the righteous can turn from their righteousness, and that it's not merely "they were never saved to begin with".
The only verse that even comes close to proving OSAS Lite, is 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
The big assumption being made here is the belief that the "they" in the verse were some kind of partial believers that didn't really accept Christ, or didn't get completely saved. The prior verse makes it clear word for word, that the "they" being talked about were antichrists! And the reason they were not "of us" was because they were antichrists, not some kind of fake Christian, or church goer wannabe.
Finally, if the verses given thus far haven't convinced you, maybe this will.
2Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Lastly, something that all OSAS Lite believers fail to realize is that their salvation is just as conditional as mine...
If they murder, they never really had salvation...if I murder, I've lost my salvation
If they commit adultery, they were never really saved...If I commit adultery, I'm no longer saved
We are in the same boat--LOST! So at least they believe that you have to live a righteous life, and be a good person. Don't get me wrong, OSAS Lite is still a false doctrine, but it's not as extreme as....
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OSAS Classic
This is the OSAS that most people are familiar with, it teaches that no matter what you do, how you do it, how bad you become, how much you sin, how many people you kill, how many women you rape, or how many poor people you steal from...NOTHING...absolutely NOTHING will prevent you from going straight into heaven
This doctrine is ludicrous
I have debated OSASers for years and it would be one thing if people had a stable belief about it, and exemplified a Christian lifestyle, but so far, most people who believe in OSAS simply languish around in a la-z-boy recliner gospel, and are far from walking like Jesus--as we are all commanded to be like.
All of the same verses used to refute OSAS Lite can be applied to Classic as well, so let's go down some more verses that are especially effective for this disgusting doctrine of lasciviousness...speaking of lasciviousness...
Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
OSAS turns the grace of God into lasciviousness and says you can do anything you want, cause you can't lose your salvation.
1st John 3:15 says that "if you hate your 'brother' you're a murderer and no murderer hath eternal life"
Gal 5:19-21 covers adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, HATRED, variance, emulations, WRATH, STRIFE, seditions, heresies, drunkenness, envyings, murders, and revellings...and says such a person living after flesh and not the Spirit has NO inheritance in the kingdom of God.
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
1st Cor 6:9-10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1st Cor 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Some people want to interpret this as Paul as saying that if he 'fails the test' he would merely be getting fewer rewards. Do we have scriptural support to prove that those who actually fail will indeed end up straggling into the kingdom? Hopefully this section will prove otherwise.
2nd Cor 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.
Apparently, Paul and others were working to be accepted by God. Some people want to say that the acceptance in this verse only means "to be pleasing", but lets look at what other scriptures have to say about this...
Verse 10 says we will all be judged and receive according to what we have done...whether good or bad. Now 1 Cor 3:10-15 goes into more detail about that judgement, and it ends with "if any mans work be burned up, he shall suffer loss, but be saved by fire". However, all OSASers miss the stipulation that you must first have Christ as the foundation (v 10)...
Now John 15:6-10 says IF you keep his commandments you will abide in Him, if you don't, you will be cast forth as a withered branch and burned. But are you still considered one of His as a withered and burning branch?
Rom 8:9 tells us if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
Matthew 12:50, Luke 8:21, John 8:31-32, Luke 6:35, James 2:5, 1st John 1:7, and 2:6 ALL put stipulations of DOING things in order to remain in Him as one of His. Titus 1:16 even tells us you can deny Him by your works, and Titus 2:11-14 tells us Christ wants a people who do good works.
Clearly the conclusion is that Jesus has specific requirements of us as Christians, and that we must meet these requirements to remain in Him, for if we don't, it won't merely be receiving fewer rewards in the kingdom, showing that 2 Cor 5:9 is literally talking about acceptance, not just getting fewer rewards, once again demolishing OSAS.
So you ask..."What about being saved by grace? Aren't we all just saved by grace, and not by our works, hence we can't do any works to lose our salvation?" Well friends, that's a good question, and there is a little known verse that explains the whole "saved by grace" stuff that OSASers spew like there's no tomorrow. Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
As we can all see, this is the grace that saves, it teaches people to be righteous and godly, so if you're claiming to be saved by grace, and yet you're living like the heathen world, then I would seriously question your salvation.
Further support for this is found in Matt 10:33 and Luke 12:9 where Jesus said "if you deny me before man, I will deny you before the Father."
Then we find in Titus that a person can be a denier of God, by their very works.
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in WORKS they DENY Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good WORK reprobate.
So now you ask "What about God's grace? Surely His grace can keep you saved." Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
The context of this is found in the following verses relating to Esau. The author explains the danger of immorality, and draws a parallel to Esau selling off his birthright for a single meal, and all of his desperate crying could not cause repentance and undo it.
The comparison is that falling out of grace into immorality is akin to Esau's mistake, it cannot be undone. Why warn with such an extreme example if it was not possible? Just another pointless threat?
Is the picture getting any clearer? Oh but I'm not done yet.
1John 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (This proves that not only is your salvation conditional, but that it also relies on YOU.)
So now the OSAS crowd says "What about being sealed unto the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit? Eph 4:30"
When a king put his seal upon something, it was an indication that it had his authority and approval, it was not a padlock, it was not a bank vault, it wasn't some kind of barricade. Furthermore, nothing in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation indicates that a seal is unbreakable. In fact, quite the opposite is shown in scriptures. There is a manmade seal and a heavenly seal, both are broken in the Bible...The seal on the tomb was broken when Jesus was resurrected, and the seal on the scroll in Revelation that John saw was also broken.
Many OSASers also leave out the beginning part of Eph 4:30 where it says to not grieve the Holy Spirit...they never stop to wonder what happens if they DO grieve the Spirit by which they are sealed by. Throughout this section I have shown what happens to those who spit in God's face, why would the same not be so for the Holy Spirit?
Now the OSASer resorts to "Well, I trust in the finished work of the cross for my salvation, and that's all I need to do!"
I'm going to bust your bubble on this one. The phrase "trusting in the finished work of the cross" does not exist in scriptures, nor does anything even resemble it. Search for it as you may, there is no such verse.
OSASer says Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. "See, Jesus said He never knew them, He doesn't say He knew them once and now He doesn't. This proves they were never saved to begin with."
While the verse alone may be compelling for 'OSAS Lite', it's important to know the context of it. This is not a verse about eternal security, it's actually a verse about the emphasis of works. The important question to ask is WHY is Jesus telling them "I never knew you"? If we look just a few verses prior to this, you'll have the answer. Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.. So what was the will of the Father if it wasn't just to prophecy and cast out devils? A few verses prior it says Mat 7:19-20 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. This ties perfectly together with being cast out in verse 23. They did not bear fruit, as many 'mighty' men of God who think they do so much for the Lord, with their evangelizing, and building churches from their thick wallets, have not bore any fruit of the Spirit. I've met a few of them, they can be vile people, and all the charities and mission trips won't mean much to God on their account. Is there more proof for this? Yes, John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. It is and always has been Faith+Works neither one alone will do.
OSASer says 1Cor 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."See, even if you've done nothing for the Lord, you are still saved.".
This is a lesser known OSAS verse, but it is sometimes used, and can be easily misleading due to the length and complexity of it. These verses start out in verse 11 with Paul saying to the church, that the only foundation we have is Christ, and (figuratively speaking of course) if you build gold, silver, and precious jewels, upon the foundation of Christ, you will receive a reward. But if you build wood, hay, and stubble, upon the foundation of Christ, it will be burned up by fire. Yet the person themself would be saved, and this is true, but there is a condition to this. Remember how the allegory started. Paul is addressing the body of believers telling them the only foundation we have is Christ. So tell me, what if somebody is not abiding in Christ, do they still have Christ?
John 15:6 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.
How does one abide in Christ?
1 John 2:3-4 We do know that we know him, IF we keep His commandments. If you say you abide in Him you ought to WALK in the same manner as He walked.
3:24 And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.
What if you don't have the Spirit?
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Looks pretty clear to me. So what are His commandments?
First and foremost, John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, by THIS shall all men know you are my disciples, if ye love one another.
Further information as to what Jesus and God require of us can be found here, and we know it's not the old Torah, as explained here.
In desperation, the OSASer may throw out 1 Cor 5:5 and say "See, that guy's flesh was destroyed to save his spirit" To which I really have to ask "If there is eternal security, then why did he have to be destroyed in the first place? What danger was his spirit ever in?" The verse is counter-productive to OSAS.
1Peter 1:5 is also sometimes brought up because it says Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Some people would take the verse as meaning you have nothing to do with staying saved. At a first glance, this verse would be very destructive to alot of my points, but it's really an issue of translation in King James English. Phrureo and phyllaso in the Greek are both translated sometimes as "kept" or "keep" in the Bible, and their definitions mean to be guarded or protected, not withheld, retained, or prevented from something. The reason translators used "kept" and "keep" is because of the language at the time, and this can be illustrated by a 'keep' in medieval times being the guarded structure within a castle. It applies in not only 1Peter 1:5 but also in 2Thes 3:3 and Jude 1:24 among others that use phrureo or phylasso, as this is their only definition.
These and other verses were also spoken at the time to counter the dogmatic religious leaders of the day (pharisees), who had the personal power to dictate righteousness and damnation.
So what are we being guarded or protected (kept) from in the context of these verses if it's not preventing the loss of your salvation? We know 1Cor 10:13 says God will not allow you to be tempted beyond means of escape. Sure enough, the verse following 1Peter 1:5 goes right into the temptations and trials of this world. Similarly, the verses following 2Thes 3:3 go into obedience and staying on the straight and narrow, as do the verses immediately prior to Jude 1:24. I believe this settles the context of being kept by God as meaning temptations cannot overpower you, and not as a proof text of eternal security.
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The OSASer's last ditch effort is usually asking something like "So what do I have to do to lose my salvation? Tell a lie? Kill someone? And how many times do I have to do this? And what about Heb 6:4-6 that says if someone falls away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance? Or Heb 10:26 that says if we sin willfully we have no more sacrifice?"
These are easily answered when you know the scriptures. As I proved earlier with 1st John 3:15, Gal 5:19-21, 1 Cor 6:9-10, and Eph 5:5 that someone who does these things is not saved, but the Bible does not require sinless perfection for salvation. Mat 6:14-15, 18:35, Mark 11:25-26, and Luke 6:37 All in some form or another tell us to forgive others so that we too may be forgiven by God. Even the Lord's prayer in Luke 11:4 tells us to ask forgiveness when we pray. We wouldn't be told so many times to forgive and ask forgiveness if perfection was expected of us.
Even Paul admits this. Phil 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after... And 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
So we can see that we are not perfect, and we are not without sin, however we as Christians are not be sinners, as in one who willfully, repeatedly, or seriously commits sin, which is what we were prior to salvation.
Proof of this is the fact that nowhere after the resurrection are any of the believers referred to as a 'sinner'. The whole 'sinner saved by grace' statement is heresy as well. Even when Christ rebukes the churches in Revelation, He never calls them sinners, in spite of the fact that they are told to repent. Also in Paul's rebuking of the believers in 1 Cor 6:7-8, and Gal 5:15-17, he does not call them sinners, or say they are sinning, all he does is scold them and warn them, because of their "faults".
Further proof is as follows....
1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1 John 3:6-10 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
This last group of verses also proves not only that we are not to be 'sinners', but that it is righteousness that is required, and righteousness is completely attainable, as explained here.
So to answer Heb 6:4-6 and 10:26. Is it possible for one who falls away to be brought again to repentance? No, but as we can see, falling away is not a simple matter. It's a serious price to actually live after the flesh again, and truly forsake everything you've learned and experienced in Christ, as elaborated in Heb 10:29. In Rev 2:1-5 it makes it clear that it's also not an instant thing, as they left their first love, but were not cast away yet. But how easy is it? Not all sins are the same, it is not a simple thing to BECOME a whore monger, by the very definition of the term. Or to BECOME an idolater, or BECOME filled with wrath and hatred. Whereas the other sins are much easier to lose one's salvation by, such as murder, or adultery.
This also disproves the Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron 'Way of the Master' method of preaching by which they ask "Have you ever lied? Yes? So that makes you a liar. Have you ever stolen? Yes? So that makes you a thief." With their train of thought that 1 act makes you something, it would be akin to asking "Have you ever told the truth? Yes? So that makes you honest. Have you ever laughed? Yes? So that makes you cheerful. Have you ever smoked a cigarette in your life? Yes? So that makes you a smoker. Have you ever drank an alcoholic beverage in your life? Yes? So that makes you a drinker."
Is there scriptural proof that this method is heresy and not all sins are the same? Yes.
John 19:11 he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. We know that not all punishment is the same either
Mat 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47 Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
Click here for many more verses on how all sins are not the same.
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To summarize the OSAS crowd. I look at it like this. If you've ever been a tenant somewhere and had a lease, you know sometimes the top of the lease is in bold black ink and usually says something like: I (your name) hereby enters into a contractual agreement with (Realtor) to lease the building/apartment at (location) for a fee of $_____ per month.
Below these opening lines there is usually a list of 20 or more bullet points of fine print, listing the conditions of your tenancy. Such as:
*Loud music will not be played past 10:00pm or before 9:00am
*Animals are not allowed in this apartment complex
*Garbage will not be thrown from windows or placed in hallways
*Smoking is prohibited in hallways and lobby
*Drinking alcoholic beverages is prohibited in hallways and lobby
*Alteration of landscape is prohibited except by written consent from (Realtor)
*etc etc etc
It usually ends with something like
*Violation of these terms and conditions will be grounds for the termination of your lease agreement.
The OSAS crowd most of the time only looks at the top of the 'lease agreement' to salvation, and screams "I make my payments, I have the right to live here no matter what!" Or in other words "I accepted Christ, and I'm saved no matter what!". Never....I mean NEVER do they read the terms and conditions of their 'tenancy'. I will even say, in my experience, most of them don't know the fine print even exists. For if they did, they would not believe in the heresy.
In closing, dear brothers and sister in Christ, I would strongly urge you to reject this doctrine of devils, it leads to a path of destruction, and gives people every excuse in the book to be despicable, apathetic human beings.
The proof is in the pudding, it is extremely rare to find a person who believes in OSAS and actually follows Christ, not that such people don't exist, but they are very hard to find. Many don't believe they have to or even should take Jesus's instructions in life 100% seriously, because they don't think they apply to us today with the dispie doodle doctrine of 'mid-acts dispensation' so they can live a life of wanton excess and just "sin it up" all day long.
The proof that having to emulate Jesus didn't end after the crucifixion and mid-acts dispensationalism is mostly incorrect, is that many of the verses I have put forth come from the apostles long after the crucifixion and even Paul himself.
Which kind of people would you rather have? Which would you rather trust if you had to? A Christian who believes you have to follow Christ, and totally obey His commandments, try to be perfect, overcome through Him, and live a holy life?
Or a 'Christian' who believes that they can be as sinful as they want, and it will never make a difference on their soul, everything is ok, don't have to try to BE or DO anything...don't have to give, or care, or have charity, or the fruits of the spirit, nothing.
For some excellent further reading on this subject of refuting OSAS, I would recommend Dan Corner's website and his books, which can be purchased through him.
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