Does the grace doctrine of “once saved, always saved” encourage sin, careless behavior, and more ungodliness?
Once your house is paid for in full, you own it forever. Does owning a property mean you will take less care of it? Of course not.
Once you have a child, they will always be yours. Does this mean you will love them less except there is a fear of your child being taken away? Absurd.
Marriage is supposed to be for your whole life. Does marriage encourage us to disrespect our spouse? Does the threat of divorce fix marriage problems? Nope. The problem runs deeper.
Those who think being saved forever encourages sin misunderstand sin and salvation. They think salvation operates on the carrot and stick principle and grace removes both the carrot and the stick.
It is true that if there is less consequence, then there is less motivation to change behavior out of fear. This removes the stick. However, grace does not motivate by fear, but by love (2 Cor 5:14; Rom 8:15).
It is also true that if salvation is the prize for righteous behavior, then giving the prize removes the motivation for righteous behavior. This removes the carrot. However, salvation is not a prize for righteous behavior. Salvation is a gift of God through the work of Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1; Rom 6:23).
If you threaten a sinner, their behavior might change, but not their heart. Grace changes hearts through faith (Rom 6:17).
If poor behavior means someone is not saved, then salvation is not by grace and not by the cross of Christ (Gal 2:21; Gal 5:4).
Salvation is not a result of changed behavior, nor is it removed if behavior has not changed. Salvation is needed precisely because our behavior is wicked and can never justify salvation. This is why salvation is a gift not of yourselves, but by Christ’s work (Eph 2:8-9).
The same grace that gives salvation also keeps salvation and teaches us to walk in it (Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7).
For your understanding,
Justin “saved once” Johnson