I've often said that the possibility of losing one's salvation is the most-taught doctrine in the New Testament. I cover a large sample of them [here]. And yet, I find that almost every Evangelical I've met believes the opposite.
The doctrine of "Once-Saved-Always-Saved" is supported by a few verses. I covered two of them [here]. Today I want to look at another: John 6:37
The Passage in Question:
Let's start by reading the passage. This takes place right after the feeding of the 5000 and at the beginning of the Bread of Life Discourse. Jesus says to a skeptical Jewish audience:
"But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me: that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” - John 6:36-40
The key part of this passage is verse 39, where Jesus says: "And this is the will of Him who sent Me: that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day."
The OSAS interpretation of this passage goes like this:
"A person who has been regenerated and justified has been given to Jesus by the Father. The New Testament says it is God's will that Jesus lose NONE of those people. Therefore, anyone who has been justified and regenerated cannot be lost. All those people will be raised up by Jesus on the last day."
The Will of God:
So what does a Catholic do with this?
The passage says it is God's will that Jesus lose none of the people He's been given. But is God's will always done? The answer is sometimes no.
For instance, is it God's will that husbands commit adultery? Obviously not. Is it God's will that people steal or commit murder? Nope. But they do. So in that sense, people can choose to defy God's will.
This is also true in matters related to conversion. As we read in Luke 7, the Pharisees rejected God's purpose for their lives by refusing to be baptized by John:
"When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.' []
And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves." - Luke 07:24-27
As we saw in a previous [post], the New Testament acknowledges the role of free-will is a person's salvation. We have the ability to refuse.
So while Jesus says it is the will of God that He lose none of those given to Him.... we know that sometimes people defy God's will by abusing their freedom. Some people will choose to be lost.
One concrete example of this would be Judas. Jesus acknowledges that Judas was among those who had been given to Him, and yet was lost:
"While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled." - John 17:12
Some may protest that Judas was destined to be lost, but what difference does it make? This passage opens up the possibility that a person can be given to Jesus and still be lost. Others may take the path Judas chose.
A Hard Predestinarian Approach:
But suppose someone doesn't like the appeal to free-will. Is there still a response a Catholic can make?
Yep.
The Catholic world has room for people who take a harder stance on Predestination - folks like Augustine and Aquinas. One thing they note is that a person can be predestined to become a Christian, but not predestined to remain one. To say it another way; not everyone who is predestined to justification is predestined to perseverance.
The OSAS interpretation of John 6:37 starts with the assertion about the identity of those who have been given to Jesus. Namely, that they are those who are justified and regenerated. Thus it goes on to say that those who have been regenerated cannot be lost.
But what if that assertion is wrong? What if those who are given to Jesus are those who are predestined to persevere? In that case it would be true (by definition) that Jesus will lose none of those who are given to Him (the people who will persevere). And OSAS would still be wrong.
To Conclude:
There are dozens of passages in the New Testament which warn Christians of the possibility of being lost. John 6:37 is among those few passages which people try to use to support the opposite. It says that it is God's will that Jesus lose none of those whom He is given.
This is used to say, "Aha! Once Jesus has been given to you, there's no way He's losing you! Once Saved, Always Saved!"
But as we've seen today, there's at least two other ways of reading that passage.
First, by pointing out that God's will is contravened by human free will. So just because the Bible says God wants something, that doesn't mean a person cannot choose against it.
Second, by pointing out that the people "given to Jesus" might not be those who are regenerated, but those who will persevere. And not everyone who is regenerated will persevere. Thus, it is still perfectly possible for a regenerate Christian to be lost.
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