Marilyn Sheppard writes:

“I once believed OSAS as well. In fact, I did for 38 years—not because I was unwilling to die to self but because I thought that is what Scripture taught. It is what I had always been taught. But in 2014 I set out to show a friend according to Scripture, why I believed as I did. I prayed and asked God to lead me into all truth and to fill me with wisdom and discernment. I was stunned by what I discovered—the Bible does not teach OSAS!

According to God’s Word, we are only eternally secure as we continue to abide in Christ. We do not lose our free will upon salvation and therefore can turn back to the world like a dog to its vomit. “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). This verse is not speaking of the unsaved because the unsaved have never left the vomit of sin and the world to begin with. Therefore, it’s only the saved that can return to it.

Please prayerfully search the Scriptures on this subject for yourself. The Bible absolutely does not teach OSAS.

Can one return the gift of salvation? Can a Christian fall from God’s grace and be eternally lost?

1) 1 Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Why such a warning if it is impossible to fall from grace?

2) Galatians 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Isn’t it strange, that people who say they believe the Bible also say that we cannot fall from grace, when the Bible so plainly says that we can fall from grace? Who should we believe, man or God? How much clearer could the Bible have said this?

3) Romans 8:12-13 “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Paul is talking to Christians and tells them if they live according to the flesh they will die spiritually. In other words, you will be lost.

4) James 5:19-20 “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ²⁰ let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” The Bible here says that a believer can wander from the truth and be lost. But also, one who wanders from the truth can be won back.

5) 1 Corinthians 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.” Even the apostle Paul knew it was possible for him to become a castaway and be lost even after he had preached to others.

6) 2 Peter 2:20-22 “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.” Can one turn from the way of righteousness after they have escaped the pollutions of the world? The Bible says so. Will this cause them to be lost? Yes. This is a description of the pitiful state of one who turns away from God after they have been saved. In other words, they have become lost after they were saved.

7) 1 Corinthians 8:11 “and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” The Bible says that a weak brother can perish.

8) Revelation 2:10 “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Eternal life is conditional on one remaining faithful. What will happen if one does not remain faithful until death?

9) 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” Will you be saved if you do not hold fast to the word of God? One’s salvation is conditioned on “if you hold fast”.

10) 2 Peter 1:10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” A Christian’s election is not a sure thing, or such a command would not have been given in the Bible.

11) Hebrews 3:12 “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” So, the Bible says that a Christian can depart and leave God if he develops an evil heart of unbelief.

12) Luke 8:13 Jesus says, “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” The Bible says that believers can fall away, but some men say differently. Who are we going to believe: men or God?

13) 1 Timothy 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;.” The Bible says we can depart from the faith. What happens when we depart from faith in God? We are lost.

14) 1 Timothy 5:12 “Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.” They were once saved but are now condemned. Why were they now condemned and lost? Because they had cast off their first faith.

The false doctrine that a child of God cannot sin so as to fall from God’s grace and be eternally lost, is a lie of Satan. This same lie was told by Satan in the Garden of Eden to Eve, when he said, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Satan told Eve that disobedience to God would not result in death, but it did. This false doctrine is also referred to as once saved, always saved or the impossibility of apostasy. This is one of the many lies Satan tells today to cause many people to be eternally lost.

There are many wolves in the church today. Do they lead people to the saving knowledge of Christ? Yes.

What’s going to happen to them if they are blasphemers?
Let’s see what the Word says:

“Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

Now, what happens if they do not keep their bodies under subjection? Could they, after leading so many to the Lord, actually fall themselves?

“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” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Study the churches in Revelation. Regarding the church of Laodicea you will find it had become lukewarm. Keep in mind these are the churches God is speaking to, meaning they were blood-bought born-again Christians. That’s the only church the Bible speaks of—not a building. God says he’d rather they were hot or cold but lukewarm he detests and will spew it out of His mouth. “Spew” is to vomit. What is vomit? It’s refuse. It’s repulsive. Out of the seven churches there was only one God had nothing against.”

Antoinette Yeboah writes:

“I too believed OSAS for years. But when I look back I can see I was also lukewarm.
Even though I professed my love for Jesus, I sinned over and over believing all I had to do was confess and repent. Not so.
Because repent means never going back. To renounce it forever.
I didn’t have a deep understanding of that.
Now that I do, I’m much more aware of my sins. God by His mercy, reveals them to me instantly. My job is to repent when I see them. They sully my testimony.
Now, I receive more revelations because I can now hear better. I walk more closely with the Lord Jesus. I’m stronger for it.
For that, I thank God.”

More on OSAS here.