Can you lose your salvation? What each church teaches about "once saved, always saved"

Christians disagree. Reformed churches and most Baptist churches teach that a true believer cannot finally fall away. Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Wesleyan, and Assemblies of God teaching says a believer can fall from grace.

Key points

• The Westminster Confession of Faith, 17.1 (1) says those whom God has accepted in Christ “can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”
• The Baptist Faith and Message, Article V (2) says, “All true believers endure to the end” and “will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.”
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1861 (3) says mortal sin “results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace.”
• The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s doctrine FAQ (4) says “it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith,” and also that a believer can have “complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.”
• The United Methodist Articles of Religion, Article XII (5) says, “After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.”
• The Assemblies of God position paper (6) says the General Council “disapproves of the unconditional security position which holds that it is impossible for a person once saved to be lost.”
• An Orthodox Church in America question-and-answer (7), written by clergy and not a synod, says “salvation is a process, not a once-and-done event.”

What the words mean

Once saved, always saved, eternal security, and perseverance of the saints are not the same sentence, even when people use them for one debate.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s question-and-answer (24) prefers one of those names:

We believe that the language of “perseverance” is more careful and accurate with regard to what the Scriptures teach, and less open to abuse or misunderstanding.

Ask The UMC (27) is a communications article, not an Article of Religion. It calls the slogan a shorthand for Dort:

Above all, “once saved, always saved” is simply not part of our theological vocabulary or world-view. It is a kind of Americanized short-hand for the fifth of the core theological principles of Calvinist theology (perseverance of the saints) articulated by the Synod of Dort (1618-1619).

Conditional security is the name used for the view that continuing faith is required, and that a real believer can fall. The 1610 Remonstrance, Article V (31) did not yet teach that. It left the question open. A later Remonstrant text was not fetched for this page.

The phrase “once saved, always saved” is not a sentence of the Bible. The verses each side cites are listed below, in the King James Version.

Anglican Articles XVI and XVII (25) are read both ways. That reading is in the Anglican section, not in the opening answer.

Comparison

Each row uses a text fetched for this page. Yes means that text says a real believer can finally fall. No means it says a true believer cannot finally fall.

Churches of Christ have no central confession, and no official text on this question was fetched, so this page does not assign them a position. The Church of God (Cleveland) Declaration of Faith was fetched and does not address it. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s confession was not quoted on this question. Oriental Orthodox texts were not fetched.

Perseverance of the saints

This family says the people God has effectually called cannot totally or finally fall away. The warnings in Scripture are means God uses to keep them. A person who falls away completely was never a true believer, or was a temporary believer. A true believer can still fall into grievous sin for a time.

Westminster Confession

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church publishes the Westminster Confession (1). Chapter 17.1:

They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

Chapter 17.2 says where that perseverance rests:

This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

Chapter 17.3 says what a true believer may still do:

Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.

Chapter 11.5 distinguishes falling from justification and falling under fatherly displeasure:

God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure

On assurance, chapter 18.1:

yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.

The confession’s own texts are John 10:27–29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version and Romans 8:29–39^8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ^8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. ^8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? ^8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? ^8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. ^8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. ^8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ^8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ^8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ^8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ^8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version, read as promises about the destiny of those God has accepted. The warning texts are not denied. Chapter 17.3 puts grievous sin inside perseverance, for a time, and not as a final fall.

Canons of Dort

The Christian Reformed Church publishes the Canons of Dort (8). The Fifth Main Point, Article 8:

So it is not by their own merits or strength but by God’s undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen; but with respect to God it cannot possibly happen.

Article 6:

For God, who is rich in mercy, according to the unchangeable purpose of election does not take the Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously.

The canons reject the claim that true believers often forfeit faith and are lost forever:

Who teach that those who truly believe and have been born again not only can forfeit justifying faith as well as grace and salvation totally and to the end, but also in actual fact do often forfeit them and are lost forever.

On Luke 8:13They 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.King James Version, Rejection of Errors VII distinguishes temporary believers from true believers:

For Christ himself in Matthew 13:20ff. and Luke 8:13ff. clearly defines these further differences between temporary and true believers: he says that the former receive the seed on rocky ground, and the latter receive it in good ground, or a good heart; the former have no root, and the latter are firmly rooted

Article 9, on assurance:

Concerning this preservation of those chosen to salvation and concerning the perseverance of true believers in faith, believers themselves can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith.

Dort’s reading of the warning passages is that the people who “for a while believe” “have no root.” Its reading of the promise passages is that God, not the believer’s strength, keeps faith from being forfeited totally and finally.

The 1689 Confession

The Second London Baptist Confession has no single owning denomination. The sentence below is chapter 17.1 in the text published by the Mid-America Reformed Baptist Association of Churches (9):

Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved

That is the Westminster sentence in a Baptist confession. It is not the Free Will Baptist Treatise, which is quoted under conditional security.

How this family reads 1 John 2:19

The OPC question-and-answer (24) is a clergy answer on the church’s site, not the confession. On people who leave, it says:

They didn’t “lose their salvation” because they never possessed salvation in the first place.

1 John 2:19They 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.King James Version, King James Version: “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.”

Eternal security

The Baptist Faith and Message and a widely quoted evangelical answer teach the same outcome as perseverance: true believers will be kept. They also say a life of sin may show that a person was never in Christ.

Baptist Faith and Message

Article V (2) of the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000:

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

The article cites the promise texts, including John 10:27–29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version and Romans 8:35–39^8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ^8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ^8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ^8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ^8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version, and it cites 1 John 2:19They 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.King James Version among its proofs. Believers “may fall into sin.” They “shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” The warning passages are read as compatible with that keeping, not as a final loss for the true believer.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

The association published an answer to the question whether a person who decides to follow Jesus can later lose salvation by a major sin. It is the association’s page. This article does not attribute the paragraph to Billy Graham as his own sentence. The association is not a denomination. The answer (10):

Only God knows if someone has truly and sincerely repented of their sins and given their life to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but if they have, they now belong to Him forever, and their salvation is secure.

On a sinful life, the same page says:

If we live sinful lives, it may well mean that we haven’t given ourselves to Christ after all, and we’ve even deceived ourselves into thinking we are saved when we really aren’t.

That is the same pattern as 1 John 2:19 in the OPC answer: the promise stands for the person who has truly come to Christ, and a persistent sinful life is read as evidence that the coming never happened.

Free Grace

The Grace Evangelical Society (11) teaches eternal security and refuses to make perseverance a condition of assurance. Its affirmations say:

We believe that any person who believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life receives that gift which, as the words eternal life suggest, can never be lost.

On assurance:

Good works, which can and should follow regeneration, are not necessary for a person to have assurance of everlasting life (Eph 2:10 ; Titus 3:8).

On the warning passages, the same statement sends them to reward, not to hell:

Finally, every Christian must stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, not to determine his eternal destiny, for that is already set, but to assess the quality of his Christian life on earth (2 Cor 5:10; Rev 22:12). Anticipating either reward or loss of reward at the Judgment Seat should also motivate believers to perseverance and to faithfulness to God’s revealed will

John 5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.King James Version, King James Version: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” The society reads that present possession as permanent. 2 Corinthians 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.King James Version is the Judgment Seat, where the question is the quality of the Christian life. Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 are not given a separate quotation in the fetched statement. The statement’s own category for loss is “loss of reward.”

Conditional security

This family says the promise texts are spoken to people who continue in faith. The warning texts are spoken to real believers. A believer can fall. Several of these churches also say a person who falls can be restored.

United Methodist

Article XII (5):

After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.

The Confession of Faith, Article IX (26):

We believe, although we have experienced regeneration, it is possible to depart from grace and fall into sin; and we may even then, by the grace of God, be renewed in righteousness.

Ask The UMC, which is not that article, states the consequence this way (27):

A short, but very incomplete answer, is that our Church teaches we can end up “losing” the salvation God has begun in us, and the consequence of this in the age to come is our eternal destruction in Hell.

Article XII is the church’s reading of both sets of verses in one sentence: departure is possible after receiving the Holy Ghost, and rising again is possible by the grace of God. The promise texts are not quoted there as a guarantee that departure cannot happen.

John Wesley

Wesley’s Serious Thoughts upon the Perseverance of the Saints (1751) is a primary text. The file used here is hosted by the Society of Evangelical Arminians (29), not by a church. Section 5:

On this authority, I believe a saint may fall away; that one who is holy or righteous in the judgment of God himself may nevertheless so fall from God as to perish everlastingly.

On John 10:27–29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version, section 18:

In the preceding text the condition is only implied; in this it is plainly expressed. They are my sheep that hear my voice, that follow me in all holiness.

Section 29:

A child of God, that is, a true believer, (for he that believeth is born of God,) while he continues a true believer, cannot go to hell. But, (2.) If a believer make shipwreck of the faith, he is no longer a child of God.

Wesley’s reading of the promise is that it holds while a person remains a believer. His reading of the warning texts is that a saint, holy in God’s judgment, may perish. The condition he names in John 10 is “They are my sheep that hear my voice, that follow me in all holiness.”

The Wesleyan Church

Article 14 (28), paragraph 234:

We believe that after we have experienced regeneration, it is possible to fall into sin, for in this life there is no such height or strength of holiness from which it is impossible to fall. But by the grace of God one who has fallen into sin may by true repentance and faith find forgiveness and restoration.

The article agrees with the Methodist sentence and adds the restoration words “true repentance and faith.”

Church of the Nazarene

The Articles of Faith (30):

We believe that all persons may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost. We believe that regenerate persons need not return to sin but may live in unbroken fellowship with God through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God.

The article treats apostasy as a real end, “hopelessly and eternally lost,” unless the person repents. It also says regenerate persons need not return to sin, and that the Spirit bears witness that they are children of God. The warning texts are read as possible for “all persons.” The witness of the Spirit is the assurance sentence in the same article.

Free Will Baptists

The 2023 Treatise (32) of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, chapter XIII:

There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling; and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost.

The appendix adopted in 1969:

We believe that a saved individual may, in freedom of will, cease to trust in Christ for salvation and once again be lost. This we hold in distinction from those who teach that a believer may not again be lost.

This is the Baptist text that denies the Baptist Faith and Message’s “will never fall away.” Hope is “strong grounds,” and “final salvation” is “neither determined nor certain.” The promise texts are read as grounds for hope and for the Spirit’s support, not as a fixed end. The warning texts are read as real danger of shipwreck.

Assemblies of God

The General Council’s position paper of August 2017 (6) opens with the bylaw:

The General Council of the Assemblies of God disapproves of the unconditional security position which holds that it is impossible for a person once saved to be lost. (Bylaws, Article IX.B.1)

The paper’s own claim:

But, the Bible also teaches that believers who have accepted Christ as Savior can be lost if they repeatedly disregard the teachings of Scripture, continue to resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and finally reach the point where they have turned away from their Savior.

On Romans 8:38–39For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,King James Version, after quoting the promise, the paper says:

Their standing as justified believers in Christ is always by faith. Without faith in Christ, there is no longer a saving relationship with him.

The conclusion:

But perseverance in faith is certain as believers remain in relationship with their Lord.

The Assemblies of God read the promise texts as true for a person who is in a saving relationship by faith. They read Hebrews 6:4–6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version, Hebrews 10:26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,King James Version, and Luke 8:13They 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.King James Version as describing believers who can be lost. No outside force separates them. Unbelief ends the relationship.

Seventh-day Adventists

The Adventist.org page for Fundamental Belief 10 (33) prints this sentence. “turn out back” is the site’s wording:

When we choose Christ, He will hold us in His hand. He will never let us go, unless we decidedly turn out back on Him.

Belief 10:

Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment.

The promise is Christ’s holding. The condition is that the person not decidedly turn away. Assurance is “now and in the judgment,” for those abiding in him.

The Remonstrance left the question open

Article V (31) of the 1610 Remonstrance affirms John 10:28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.King James Version against outside power:

so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be misled nor plucked out of Christ’s hands, according to the Word of Christ, John x. 28: ‘Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.’

It then refuses to settle self-departure:

But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.

Later Arminian and Wesleyan texts, quoted above, answered the question Article V left open. Those later answers should not be read back into the 1610 sentence.

Lutheran

Lutheran confessions say a justified person can lose the Holy Spirit, and Lutheran church answers say a believer can also have complete assurance. They do not file themselves under the conditional-security list or under Westminster. The law warns. The gospel promises.

Augsburg Confession and the Smalcald Articles

Augsburg Confession, Article XII (21), in the Concordia Publishing House edition of the Book of Concord:

Our churches condemn the Anabaptists, who deny that those who have once been justified can lose the Holy Spirit.

The Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article III (22), reject the claim that a later sin proves faith was never real:

I encountered some who held that those who had once received the Spirit or the forgiveness of sins or had become believers—even if they later sin—would still remain in the faith. … They also say that if anyone sins after he has received faith and the Spirit, he never truly had the Spirit and faith.

The next paragraph states what the articles teach instead:

So it is necessary to know and to teach this: When holy people—still having and feeling original sin and daily repenting and striving against it—happen to fall into manifest sins (as David did into adultery, murder, and blasphemy [2 Samuel 11]), then faith and the Holy Spirit have left them.

Article XII is the Lutheran reading of the security claim: the churches condemn the denial that the once-justified can lose the Holy Spirit. The Smalcald paragraph is their reading of 1 John 2:19They 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.King James Version when that verse is used to say every later sin proves there was never faith. David’s fall, they say, is a case where “faith and the Holy Spirit have left them.” The promise texts are not cancelled. The LCMS answer below keeps them as gospel.

Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

The doctrine FAQ (4) is the synod’s FAQ, not the Book of Concord. On losing salvation:

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes and teaches that it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith, as Scripture itself soberly and repeatedly warns us (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:17; Heb. 2:1-3, 3:12-19, 6:4-8, etc.).

On assurance, the same FAQ says both:

Lutherans believe both are true and Scriptural: It is possible for a believer to fall from faith and lose salvation, and it is possible for a believer to have complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

On how to read the two kinds of text:

Warnings against falling from faith are the strongest form of God’s Law, intended to warn against “carnal security” based on “good works” or against the attitude that “since I’m saved, I can do anything I want to do.” Assurances of God’s constant and eternal love in Christ are the sweetest and purest form of Gospel, intended to comfort those who are plagued by their sins and by their failures to keep God’s Law perfectly.

On the promise passages:

By the same token, the LCMS affirms and treasures all of the wonderful passages in Scripture in which God promises He will never forsake those who trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation (John 10:27-29; Rom. 8; Heb. 13:5-6, etc.).

The warnings, including Hebrews 6:4–8^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. ^6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: ^6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.King James Version, are Law against “carnal security.” John 10:27–29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version and Romans 8 are Gospel for the penitent. The synod does not choose one set and discard the other.

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

The WELS question-and-answer (23) is a Q&A, not a new confession:

It is clear from Scripture that people can fall from faith (Luke 8:13; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Galatians 5:4; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Peter 3:17). While God’s law warns us about falling away from faith, God’s gospel assures us that we are safe and secure in God’s hands (John 10:28-29).

On election, the same page says:

If God has elected a person to salvation, God will bring that individual to saving faith and preserve that individual in saving faith. None of the elect are lost; all the elect enjoy eternal life.

WELS lists Luke 8:13They 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.King James Version, 1 Corinthians 10:12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.King James Version, and Galatians 5:4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.King James Version as texts that people can fall from faith, and John 10:28–29And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.King James Version as the gospel that the believer is safe in God’s hands. Election means the elect are preserved. The page’s further sentence, in the second quotation, is that all the elect enjoy eternal life. A person who dies without faith is not described there as an elect person who was lost.

Catholic

The Catholic texts distinguish mortal sin from venial sin, say sanctifying grace can be lost, give Penance as the way back, and refuse an absolute certainty of final perseverance apart from special revelation.

The Catechism

Paragraph 162 (14):

Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.”

Paragraph 1861 (3):

Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back.

Paragraph 1033 (12):

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”

Paragraph 1037, on the same page:

God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.

Paragraph 1446 (13), on return:

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.

On assurance, paragraph 2016 (15):

The children of our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus.

Paragraph 2005 (16):

Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved.

The Catechism reads the warning texts through mortal sin: a person in grace can lose it by a free choice, and can die that way. It reads the promise texts as a hope for final perseverance, not as a feeling or a stack of works that proves one is saved. 1 Timothy 1:19Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:King James Version is the text paragraph 162 uses for losing faith. 1 John 5:16–17If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.King James Version is the text the Catechism uses, at paragraph 1854, for a sin unto death and a sin not unto death. That paragraph was not given its own fetched quotation here. The mortal-sin sentence at 1861 is the one quoted.

The Council of Trent

The Holy See does not host an English text of Session VI. The quotations are the Waterworth translation of 1848, hosted by Hanover College (17). That site is not a church domain.

Chapter XV:

it is to be maintained, that the received grace of Justification is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost

Chapter XIII, which also uses the thought of Philippians 1:6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:King James Version:

let no one herein promise himself any thing as certain with an absolute certainty; though all ought to place and repose a most firm hope in God’s help. For God, unless men be themselves wanting to His grace, as he has begun the good work, so will he perfect it

Chapter XIV, on return:

As regards those who, by sin, have fallen from the received grace of Justification, they may be again justified, when, God exciting them, through the sacrament of Penance they shall have attained to the recovery, by the merit of Christ, of the grace lost

Canon XXIII (18). The sentence that was checked begins “any one saith,” without a clean opening If:

any one saith, that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he that falls and sins was never truly justified … let him be anathema.

Canon XVI:

If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end,-unless he have learned this by special revelation; let him be anathema.

Trent’s reading of the security claim is an anathema on two sentences: that a justified person cannot lose grace, and that anyone who falls was never justified. Its reading of Philippians 1:6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:King James Version is a most firm hope, with the clause “unless men be themselves wanting to His grace,” and a refusal of absolute certainty without special revelation. Matthew 24:13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.King James Version says “he that shall endure unto the end.”

Eastern Orthodox

No synodal decree or catechism on this question was fetched. The quotations are from the Orthodox Church in America website. The Hebrews page is a clergy question-and-answer. The other two are signed reflections by Fr. John Breck. They are not a dogmatic definition of a council. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese article often named in search was not fetched. The Confession of Dositheus was not fetched.

The Q&A on Hebrews 6:4–6 (7):

First, Orthodoxy, unlike some Protestant bodies, does not hold to the notion that we are “already saved.” For Orthodox Christians, salvation is a process, not a once-and-done event.

On the passage itself:

Now, let us turn to Hebrews 6:4-6. Of course, Saint Paul is writing to the Hebrews, and herein he refers to those who have apostasized—that is, to those who rejected Christ and His saving power after their Baptism.

Fr. John Breck, Already But Not Yet (19):

There is, then, no such thing as “once saved, always saved,” if by that we mean that a simple, public confession of faith made once and for all is sufficient to guarantee us entry into the Kingdom of God.

Salvation Is Indeed By Grace (20):

Orthodoxy does recognize, however, the importance of our “cooperation” with God, what we term “synergy.”

The clergy answer reads Hebrews 6:4–6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version as apostasy after baptism, not as a hypothetical about people who were never baptized. Breck reads “once saved, always saved,” when it means one public confession guarantees the kingdom, as something Orthodoxy does not teach. “synergy” is the word he uses for cooperation with God. The promise texts are not given a separate official paragraph in the pages that were fetched. The claim those pages do make is that salvation is a process worked out in a life of repentance.

Anglican articles

The Articles of Religion (25) say both of the following.

Article XVI, Of Sin after Baptism:

After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives.

Article XVII, Of Predestination and Election:

Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour.

The same article, on how the promises are to be received:

Furthermore, we must receive God’s promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.

Reformed Anglicans read Article XVII with the Westminster line: those chosen in Christ are brought to everlasting salvation, and the promise is comfort. Wesleyan and Arminian Anglicans read Article XVI with the Methodist article, which uses nearly the same words: a person may depart from grace given and arise again. This page does not decide which reading of the Articles is the church’s. Both sentences are in the formulary.

Verses cited for security

The King James Version is the text below. A range links to the chapter of the first verse. The first verse of that range also links to its verse page. The labels Security reading and conditional reading are summaries of how each side uses the passage. They are not quotations. Where a church’s own sentence was fetched, that sentence is in the sections above.

John 10:27-29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at John 10:27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:King James Version.

[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: [28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. [29] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Security reading: A promise about the sheep’s destiny: ‘never perish’ and ‘no man’ includes the believer himself (Dort V Rej. III cites it against final falling).

Conditional reading: The promise is to sheep who keep hearing and following. Wesley, quoted above, says the condition is “plainly expressed.” The Remonstrance of 1610 affirmed no outside power can pluck them but left self-departure an open question.

LCMS/WELS: read as Gospel comfort for the penitent, while Law warnings still apply.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000 art. V; WCF/1689 ch.17 proofs; Dort V Rej. III; Remonstrance art. 5; LCMS FAQ; WELS.

John 6:37-40^6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. ^6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. ^6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. ^6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at John 6:37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.King James Version.

[37] All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. [38] For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. [39] And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. [40] And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Security reading: The Father’s will guarantees that none given to the Son are lost and all are raised.

Conditional reading: The verse says “every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him.” Wesley’s reading, quoted above, treats continuing belief as the condition of the promise.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: GES (John 6:35-40); Dort; Heidelberg proof texts.

John 5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.King James Version. King James Version.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Security reading: Eternal life is a present possession; passed from death to life.

Conditional reading: The verse says “believeth.” That reading takes the promise as holding for the one who goes on believing.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000 art. V; GES Assurance.

Romans 8:29-30^8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ^8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Romans 8:29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.King James Version.

[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. [30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Security reading: No link in the chain drops anyone: all justified are glorified.

Conditional reading: Read corporately or as describing those who continue in faith; foreknowledge grounds predestination.

Catholic: CCC 2012-2016 context cites Rom 8:28-30 for the call to holiness; final perseverance hoped for.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000 (Rom 8:28-39); WCF ch.17 proofs.

Romans 8:35-39^8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ^8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ^8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ^8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ^8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Romans 8:35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?King James Version.

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. [38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, [39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Security reading: No created thing, including the believer’s future self, can separate.

Conditional reading: External forces cannot separate; the believer may still turn away. The Assemblies of God paper says standing “is always by faith.” The Adventist page says Christ will never let go “unless we decidedly turn out back on Him.”

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000; Dort V Rej. I (Rom 8:32-35); BGEA; AG paper; SDA Belief 10 page.

Romans 11:29For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.King James Version. King James Version.

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Security reading: God does not revoke a saving call.

Conditional reading: In context about Israel’s national calling, not an individual’s guaranteed perseverance.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: OPC Q&A; 1689 confession 17.1. The verse itself says “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

Ephesians 1:13-14^1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ^1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Ephesians 1:13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,King James Version.

[13] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Security reading: A seal and down payment guarantee full possession.

Conditional reading: The verse says “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” That reading does not treat the seal as overriding a later rejection.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (Ephesians 1:4–23); Dort V, Article 8, quoted above, on God not taking the Holy Spirit away completely.

Ephesians 4:30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.King James Version. King James Version.

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Security reading: Sealed ‘unto’ the day of redemption: the seal lasts to the end.

Conditional reading: The same verse warns believers not to grieve the Spirit.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: 1689 ch.17 proofs.

Philippians 1:6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:King James Version. King James Version.

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Security reading: God finishes what he starts in every believer.

Conditional reading: AG cites it as assurance for believers who ‘remain in relationship’; Trent adds ‘unless men be themselves wanting to His grace’.

Catholic: Trent VI ch. XIII cites it while denying absolute certainty of final perseverance.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: 1689 17.1 proofs; AG paper (Conclusion); Trent VI ch. XIII (paraphrased: ‘as he has begun the good work, so will he perfect it’).

1 John 5:11-13^5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ^5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. ^5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 1 John 5:11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.King James Version.

[11] And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. [13] These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Security reading: Assurance of present and permanent eternal life is possible for every believer.

Conditional reading: Knowledge of present possession for those who ‘believe on the name’; not a guarantee about future apostasy.

Catholic: CCC 2005 says we cannot rely on feelings or works to conclude we are saved; hope rather than absolute certainty.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: GES Assurance (1 John 5:9-13).

Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,King James Version. King James Version.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Security reading: God’s power keeps believers from falling away.

Conditional reading: The verse says he “is able to keep you from falling.” That reading treats ability as a promise, not as a statement that no one falls. Jude 21 was not given its own fetched quotation.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Nazarene Articles proof list (Jude 24).

1 Peter 1:3-5^1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ^1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, ^1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 1 Peter 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,King James Version.

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, [5] Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Security reading: God’s power is the guard; the inheritance is reserved.

Conditional reading: Kept ‘through faith’: faith is the means, so the keeping is for those who keep believing (Wesley §22).

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000 (1 Pet 1:2-5; ‘kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation’).

Hebrews 7:25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.King James Version. King James Version.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Security reading: Christ’s intercession for his own cannot fail.

Conditional reading: The verse says he is able to save “them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” That reading takes the promise as covering those who keep coming.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: WCF 17.2 (‘merit and intercession of Jesus Christ’).

1 John 2:19They 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: Apostates show they were never truly regenerate (OPC: ‘never possessed salvation in the first place’).

Conditional reading: Describes a specific group of false teachers; does not prove every departure means no prior faith.

Lutheran: SA III.3.42 rejects the claim that anyone who sins after receiving faith ‘never truly had the Spirit and faith’.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: BFM 2000 art. V proofs; 1689 17.1 proofs; OPC Q&A.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9^1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 1 Corinthians 1:8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.King James Version.

[8] Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Security reading: God’s faithfulness secures the end.

Conditional reading: Paul’s confidence about a congregation; the same letter warns of falling (1 Cor 10:12).

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Dort V Rej. II.

1 John 3:9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: The divine seed remains, so the regenerate cannot finally fall.

Conditional reading: Holiness texts: the born-again do not practice sin; one who returns to practicing sin shows the seed no longer rules.

Lutheran: SA III.3.45 cites it to argue that when sin rules, faith and the Spirit are not present.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Dort V Rej. III; WCF 17.2 (‘seed of God within them’); SA III.3.45.

Verses cited for the possibility of falling away

Hebrews 6:4-6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Hebrews 6:4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,King James Version.

[4] For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, [5] And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, [6] If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Security reading: Either a hypothetical warning God uses to preserve believers, or a description of people who tasted but were never regenerate.

Conditional reading: A real warning about real believers who fall away. Wesley’s fetched pages, quoted above, treat a saint as able to perish.

Orthodox reading: the clergy answer says Paul “refers to those who have apostasized—that is, to those who rejected Christ and His saving power after their Baptism.”

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper; Nazarene Articles; LCMS FAQ (6:4-8); Wesley §23; OCA Q&A.

Hebrews 10:26-29^10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, ^10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. ^10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: ^10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Hebrews 10:26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,King James Version.

[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, [27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. [28] He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: [29] Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Security reading: Addressed to professing Hebrews tempted to return to temple sacrifice; describes apostates who were never truly sanctified, or loss of reward/temporal judgment.

Conditional reading: Willful, persistent apostasy after the person “was sanctified” by “the blood of the covenant” forfeits salvation.

Catholic: read alongside the distinction of mortal sin and the sacrament of Penance (CCC 1446).

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper (10:26-27, 38); Nazarene (10:26-31); Wesley.

Hebrews 3:12-14^3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. ^3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ^3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Hebrews 3:12Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.King James Version.

[12] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Security reading: Partakers of Christ are those who hold fast; holding fast is the evidence, not the cause.

Conditional reading: “if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” is read as a real condition for continuing in Christ.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: LCMS FAQ (3:12-19); AG paper; Nazarene (3:12-15).

2 Peter 2:20-22^2:20 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. ^2:21 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. ^2:22 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.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 2 Peter 2:20For 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.King James Version.

[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.

Security reading: False teachers who knew the way outwardly but were never changed. The verse says “The dog is turned to his own vomit again,” and that reading takes the proverb as an unchanged nature.

Conditional reading: They had “escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” and then were overcome. Wesley’s pages cite the paragraph that way.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper; Nazarene (2:20-22); Wesley §21.

Galatians 5:4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.King James Version. King James Version.

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Security reading: Falling from the grace principle into law-keeping as a system, not loss of regeneration.

Conditional reading: Fallen from grace means severed from Christ.

WELS lists it among texts showing people ‘can fall from faith’.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: WELS Q&A.

1 Corinthians 9:27But 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: The King James word is “a castaway.” That reading takes it as loss of reward or ministry.

Conditional reading: Paul feared final rejection; self-discipline is necessary to finish.

1 Corinthians 10:12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.King James Version. King James Version.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Security reading: A warning used as a means of preservation, or aimed at false confidence.

Conditional reading: A real fall is possible for one who truly stands.

Trent’s chapter XIII is listed among pages that cite this warning. The King James sentence is the one in the blockquote. The fetched Trent paragraph does not reprint that English sentence.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: LCMS FAQ; WELS; Trent VI ch. XIII.

Matthew 24:13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.King James Version. King James Version.

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Security reading: Endurance is the mark of true believers; all true believers endure (BFM 2000).

Conditional reading: Endurance is a condition of final salvation.

Catholic: final perseverance is a gift to be hoped for, not presumed (Trent VI ch. XIII, CCC 2016).

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Trent VI, chapter XIII; Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which says “All true believers endure to the end.” The King James sentence is “he that shall endure unto the end.”

John 15:6If 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: Fruitless branches were attached outwardly, not by living union.

Conditional reading: The verse’s condition is “If a man abide not in me.” Wesley’s pages treat the branches that do not abide as cut off.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper (preamble); Wesley §17 (John 15:1-6).

Revelation 3:5He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.King James Version. King James Version.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Security reading: A promise that the overcomer’s name will not be blotted out. The verse says “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.”

Conditional reading: Implies a name could be blotted out.

Revelation 22:19And 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: Warning aimed at those who tamper with Scripture, who show they never had a true part.

Conditional reading: The verse says God “shall take away his part out of the book of life.” The Assemblies of God paper cites the warning. The fetched sentences do not add a separate wording about the book of life.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper (preamble).

Ezekiel 18:24But 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: Old Covenant, physical death in the land, or outward righteousness.

Conditional reading: Wesley: v.26 distinguishes temporal and eternal death, so eternal death is in view.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Wesley §5-6; Nazarene proof list (Ezek 18:25-26).

Colossians 1:22-23^1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: ^1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Colossians 1:22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:King James Version.

[22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: [23] If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Security reading: A condition that true believers will meet; it proves genuineness.

Conditional reading: A real condition of being presented holy.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Nazarene proof list (Col 1:21-23).

1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;King James Version. King James Version.

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;

Security reading: Departing from the faith (doctrine) they professed, not from saving union.

Conditional reading: Departing from a faith once held.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper.

1 Timothy 1:19-20^1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: ^1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 1 Timothy 1:19Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:King James Version.

[19] Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: [20] Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Security reading: Shipwreck of profession or doctrine, not of regeneration.

Conditional reading: Faith once held can be wrecked.

Catechism 162, quoted above: “We can lose this priceless gift.”

Fetched pages that cite this passage: CCC 162; WELS; Wesley.

James 5:19-20^5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ^5:20 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.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at James 5:19Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;King James Version.

[19] 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.

Security reading: “a soul from death” is read as physical death under discipline, or as a wanderer who was not truly converted. 1 Corinthians 11:30 was not given its own fetched quotation.

Conditional reading: A brother (‘any of you’) who errs is in danger of death and can be saved by being turned back.

Luke 8:13They 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.King James Version. King James Version.

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.

Security reading: Dort, quoted above, distinguishes “temporary” believers from true believers and says the former “have no root.”

Conditional reading: The verse says they “for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” The Assemblies of God paper cites that fall.

WELS lists it first among texts showing people ‘can fall from faith’.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper; WELS; Dort V Rej. VII.

2 Peter 3:17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.King James Version. King James Version.

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Security reading: Falling from stability, not from salvation.

Conditional reading: A warning to the ‘beloved’ that a fall is possible.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: LCMS FAQ; WELS.

Romans 11:20-22^11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: ^11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. ^11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Romans 11:20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:King James Version.

[20] Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: [21] For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. [22] Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Security reading: Corporate warning to Gentiles as a group grafted into Israel’s tree.

Conditional reading: Individual branches can be cut off if they do not continue.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Wesley (Rom 11:17, 20-22); Nazarene proof list (Rom 11:22).

1 John 5:16-17^5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. ^5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at 1 John 5:16If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.King James Version.

[16] If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. [17] All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

Security reading: Dort: the regenerate cannot commit the sin unto death.

Conditional reading: Some sin by a ‘brother’ can lead to death.

Catholic reading: paragraph 1854 was not given its own fetched quotation. The mortal-sin sentence that was fetched is Catechism 1861, quoted above. The verses themselves distinguish “a sin unto death” and “a sin not unto death.”

Fetched pages that cite this passage: AG paper (1 John 5:16); Dort V Rej. IV.

Matthew 7:21-23^7:21 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. ^7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ^7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Matthew 7:21Not 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.King James Version.

[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. [22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Security reading: “I never knew you” is read as a statement that these people were never saved, so they did not lose salvation.

Conditional reading: Shows professions and works are not proof; doing the Father’s will is required.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: (cited in popular debate; no fetched official source).

Philippians 2:12-13^2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ^2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.King James Version. King James Version. The passage opens at Philippians 2:12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.King James Version.

[12] Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [13] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Security reading: Working out what God works in; v.13 guarantees the outcome.

Conditional reading: Fear and trembling implies real danger.

Orthodox: synergy; Catholic: Trent VI ch. XIII cites it.

Fetched pages that cite this passage: Trent VI ch. XIII; Nazarene proof list.

How each side reads the hardest passages

These four passages carry the most search, and the others beside them are the ones the fetched documents argue from. The official sentences are repeated here so the reading sits next to the verse.

John 10:27–29

John 10:27–29^10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ^10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.King James Version, King James Version, from John 10:27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:King James Version: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” and “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Security reading. The Westminster Confession and the Baptist Faith and Message treat “they shall never perish” as the destiny of those God has given to Christ. Dort cites the saying against a final fall. The Remonstrance agrees that no one else can pluck them out of Christ’s hand, and it does not decide whether they can leave.

Conditional reading. Wesley, in the quotation above, says the condition is “plainly expressed”: “They are my sheep that hear my voice, that follow me in all holiness.” The Assemblies of God and the Seventh-day Adventist page say no outside power plucks them away, and that they can turn away.

Lutheran reading. The LCMS FAQ calls John 10:27–29My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:King James Version gospel comfort for the person who trusts Christ, and it keeps the law’s warning that a believer can fall. WELS says the same pair in one answer: people can fall from faith, and John 10:28–29 assures the believer of safety in God’s hands.

Romans 8:38–39

Romans 8:38–39^8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ^8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version, from Romans 8:38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,King James Version: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,” and Romans 8:39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version: “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Security reading. Nothing in creation, including what is still to come, separates the people Paul is describing. The Baptist Faith and Message lists Romans 8:28–39 among the proofs that true believers persevere.

Conditional reading. The Assemblies of God paper, quoted above, says standing “is always by faith” and that “Without faith in Christ, there is no longer a saving relationship with him.” The Adventist page says Christ will not let go unless the person turns away. The list in the verse is read as outside forces, not as the believer’s own unbelief.

Lutheran reading. The LCMS names Romans 8 among the promises God will not forsake those who trust Christ, and it names the warning texts as law.

Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:King James Version: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Security reading. God finishes what he begins in every believer. The 1689 confession lists the verse among the proofs of perseverance.

Conditional and Catholic reading. The Assemblies of God conclusion cites the confidence for believers who remain in relationship with the Lord. Trent’s chapter XIII, quoted above, uses the same thought and adds “unless men be themselves wanting to His grace,” and it forbids absolute certainty.

1 John 5:11–13

1 John 5:13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.King James Version: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Security reading. The Grace Evangelical Society cites 1 John 5:9–13 for assurance of eternal life as a present gift that cannot be lost, without inspecting works.

Conditional and Catholic reading. The sentence is addressed to those who “believe on the name.” It is read as knowledge of a present possession, not as a report about a future apostasy. Catechism 2005, quoted above, says grace “cannot be known except by faith” and that feelings and works cannot prove one is saved.

Hebrews 6:4–6

Hebrews 6:4–6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version, from Hebrews 6:4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,King James Version: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,” and Hebrews 6:6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version: “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance.”

Security reading. The warning is either hypothetical, a means God uses to preserve believers, or a description of people who tasted and were never regenerate.

Conditional reading. Wesley reads the participles as true of believers. The Assemblies of God and the Nazarene articles cite the passage for a real apostasy. The LCMS FAQ lists Hebrews 6:4–8 among the warnings that a true believer can fall.

Orthodox reading. The OCA clergy answer, quoted above, says Paul “refers to those who have apostasized—that is, to those who rejected Christ and His saving power after their Baptism.”

Hebrews 10:26–29

Hebrews 10:26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,King James Version: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” Verse 29 speaks of the person who “hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing.”

Security reading. The paragraph is addressed to professing people tempted to abandon Christ for the former sacrifice. “sanctified” is read as covenant privilege or outward profession, or the loss is read as reward or temporal judgment, not as the loss of regeneration. The Grace Evangelical Society’s fetched statement puts the Judgment Seat in the category of reward.

Conditional reading. Willful, persistent apostasy after being “sanctified” by “the blood of the covenant” forfeits salvation. The Assemblies of God and the Nazarene articles cite Hebrews 10:26. Wesley argues from the same warning.

Catholic reading. Mortal sin is the Catechism’s name for a sin that deprives a person of sanctifying grace, and Penance is the way back, in the quotations above. Trent’s chapter XV says justification is lost by infidelity and also by “any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost.”

John 15:6

John 15:6If 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.King James Version: “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.”

Security reading. Fruitless branches were attached outwardly, not by a living union.

Conditional reading. Wesley and the Assemblies of God paper treat branches that do not abide as cut off. The verse’s own condition is “If a man abide not in me.”

2 Peter 2:20–22

2 Peter 2:20–22^2:20 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. ^2:21 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. ^2:22 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.King James Version, from 2 Peter 2:20For 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.King James Version: “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.”

Security reading. The dog and the sow in verse 22 are read as natures that never changed. The knowledge was outward.

Conditional reading. They had “escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” and then were overcome. Wesley and the Assemblies of God paper cite the paragraph that way. The Nazarene articles list 2 Peter 2:20–22 among their proofs.

Luke 8:13

Luke 8:13They 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.King James Version: “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.”

Security reading. Dort’s Rejection of Errors VII, quoted above, says Christ “clearly defines” a difference of kind: temporary believers “have no root,” and true believers are “firmly rooted.” The verse itself says “these have no root.”

Conditional reading. The Assemblies of God paper says one who believes for a while can fall away. WELS lists Luke 8:13 first among texts that people can fall from faith.

1 John 2:19

1 John 2:19They 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.King James Version: “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.”

Security reading. The OPC answer, quoted above, says they never possessed salvation in the first place. The Baptist Faith and Message and the 1689 confession list the verse as a proof.

Lutheran reading. The Smalcald Articles, quoted above, reject the claim that “if anyone sins after he has received faith and the Spirit, he never truly had the Spirit and faith.” They give David’s adultery and murder as a case in which faith and the Holy Spirit left holy people.

Can you know you are saved?

The churches that agree a believer is secure do not all agree about assurance, and the churches that teach a possible fall do not all deny it.

Dort’s Fifth Main Point, Article 9, says believers “can and do become assured in accordance with the measure of their faith.” Westminster 18.1 says those who truly believe and love the Lord Jesus “may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace.”

The Grace Evangelical Society says good works “are not necessary for a person to have assurance of everlasting life.” Assurance, on that page, rests on the promise, as in John 5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.King James Version and 1 John 5:13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.King James Version.

The LCMS FAQ says both lines are Scriptural: a believer can fall, and a believer can have “complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” The warnings are law. The promises are gospel.

Trent’s chapter XIII says “let no one herein promise himself any thing as certain with an absolute certainty,” and it tells everyone to “place and repose a most firm hope in God’s help.” Canon XVI anathematizes the claim of “absolute and infallible certainty” of perseverance “unless he have learned this by special revelation.” Catechism 2005 says grace “cannot be known except by faith,” and that feelings and works cannot prove justification. Catechism 2016 says the church’s children “rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance.”

The Seventh-day Adventist statement says, “Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment.”

If someone falls, can they come back?

Catechism 1446 says people who “have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace” are offered, in Penance, “a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.” Trent’s chapter XIV says those who have fallen “may be again justified” when, God exciting them, “through the sacrament of Penance they shall have attained to the recovery, by the merit of Christ, of the grace lost.”

The United Methodist Article XII says that after a fall, “by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.” The Confession of Faith says “we may even then, by the grace of God, be renewed in righteousness.” The Wesleyan article says one who has fallen “may by true repentance and faith find forgiveness and restoration.” The Nazarene article says those who fall are “hopelessly and eternally lost” unless they repent.

The Free Will Baptist appendix says a saved person “may, in freedom of will, cease to trust in Christ for salvation and once again be lost.” The fetched lines do not add a separate restoration rite.

The LCMS FAQ’s fetched lines do not spell a ceremony of return. They teach that a true believer can fall, and that the gospel promises are for the penitent. The Augsburg article that condemns the denial of losing the Spirit is the article on repentance.

Westminster 17.3 says the accepted can “fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein.” Dort’s Article 6 says God “does not take the Holy Spirit from his own completely, even when they fall grievously.” The fetched Westminster sentence does not use the word restored. The claim those paragraphs do make is that the fall of a true believer is not final.

The Assemblies of God conclusion says, “perseverance in faith is certain as believers remain in relationship with their Lord.” The fetched lines say a believer can be lost after turning away. They do not add a sentence that every such person is beyond return.

Hebrews 6:4 says it is “impossible” for the people it describes, and Hebrews 6:6 says “to renew them again unto repentance.” The security reading treats that case as not a true believer, or as a warning that keeps believers. The Orthodox clergy answer treats it as apostasy after baptism. The conditional reading treats it as a real end for a real believer. This page does not collapse those readings into one.

What each view treats as its strongest point

These sentences say what the texts themselves emphasize. They are not a ranking, and they are not a verdict.

Supporters of perseverance point to Westminster 17.2: security rests on “the immutability of the decree of election,” “the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ,” and “the abiding of the Spirit,” not on the believer’s strength. Dort’s Article 8 says “With respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen; but with respect to God it cannot possibly happen.”

Supporters of the Baptist Faith and Message point to the promise sentences taken as they stand: “they shall never perish” in John 10:28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.King James Version, and “nor any other creature” in Romans 8:39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version. Article V says believers are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”

Supporters of Free Grace point to John 5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.King James Version: the hearer who believes “hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.” Their statement says works are not required in order to know that.

Supporters of conditional security point to warnings addressed to people the texts call brethren, beloved, and sanctified: Hebrews 6:4–6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version, Hebrews 10:26–29^10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, ^10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. ^10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: ^10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?King James Version, 2 Peter 2:20–22^2:20 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. ^2:21 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. ^2:22 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.King James Version, and John 15:6If 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.King James Version. Wesley’s reading keeps faith as a present relationship: a believer cannot go to hell while he continues a true believer, and a shipwreck of faith means he is no longer a child of God.

Supporters of the Lutheran texts point to holding both. The law warns, in the LCMS sentence, against “carnal security.” The gospel promises, in the same answer, that God will not forsake those who trust Christ. Assurance, they say, rests on that promise, and a fall remains possible.

Supporters of the Catholic texts point to a named sin that really kills grace, and a named way back. Trent says justification is lost by “any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost.” Penance is “a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.”

Supporters of the Orthodox pages that were fetched point to salvation as union with God over a life, not as one confession that guarantees the end. The clergy answer ties Hebrews 6 to rejection “after their Baptism.” Breck names “synergy” as cooperation with God. Repentance stays in that account. A council text was not fetched, and this paragraph should not be read as one.

Frequently asked questions

Is “once saved, always saved” in the Bible?

The phrase is not a Bible sentence. The verses cited for security, and the verses cited for a real fall, are the two lists above, in the King James Version. John 10:28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.King James Version and Romans 8:38–39^8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ^8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.King James Version are the promise texts people name first. Hebrews 6:4–6^6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ^6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ^6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.King James Version and Hebrews 10:26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,King James Version are the warning texts people name first.

Which churches teach once saved, always saved, and which teach that salvation can be lost?

The comparison table is the short map. Westminster, Dort, the 1689 confession, and the Baptist Faith and Message say a true believer will not finally fall away. The Grace Evangelical Society says eternal life can never be lost. Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, United Methodist, Wesleyan, Nazarene, Free Will Baptist, Assemblies of God, and Seventh-day Adventist texts fetched here say a believer can fall. The 1610 Remonstrance left it open. Anglican Articles XVI and XVII are read both ways.

What is the difference between perseverance of the saints and eternal security?

The OPC question-and-answer says the language of “perseverance” is “more careful and accurate” and “less open to abuse or misunderstanding” than “once saved, always saved.” Ask The UMC calls that slogan “Americanized short-hand” for Dort’s fifth point. The Westminster and Dort texts tie perseverance to election, Christ’s intercession, and the Spirit. The Baptist Faith and Message’s Article V is the eternal-security sentence in a Baptist confession: true believers “will never fall away from the state of grace.” Free Grace, in the Grace Evangelical Society statement, keeps the “never be lost” sentence and says works are not necessary for assurance. Perseverance texts say true believers continue in faith. The Free Grace statement separates assurance from that examination.

Do Catholics believe you can lose your salvation?

Catechism 1861 says mortal sin results in “the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace.” Trent’s chapter XV says the grace of justification is lost by infidelity and by “any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost.” Catechism 1446 and Trent’s chapter XIV say Penance recovers the grace that was lost. On assurance, Trent’s canon XVI rejects “absolute and infallible certainty” of perseverance without special revelation, and Catechism 2016 speaks of hope for final perseverance.

Do Baptists believe once saved, always saved?

The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000, Article V, says true believers “will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.” The 1689 confession, in the MARBAC text, says the same of those God has accepted. The Free Will Baptist Treatise says a saved person “may, in freedom of will, cease to trust in Christ for salvation and once again be lost.” Baptist, in this debate, is not one answer.

Did Luther believe you could lose your salvation?

The Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article III, say that when holy people fall into manifest sins, as David did, “faith and the Holy Spirit have left them.” They reject the claim that a person who sins after receiving the Spirit “never truly had the Spirit and faith.” The Augsburg Confession, Article XII, condemns “the Anabaptists, who deny that those who have once been justified can lose the Holy Spirit.” This page does not add a sermon line that was not fetched.

Do Methodists believe once saved, always saved?

Article XII says, “we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin,” and “by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.” Ask The UMC says the short answer is that the church teaches a person can end up losing the salvation God has begun, and that the slogan is not part of its theological vocabulary. The article’s own sentences are quoted above. Ask The UMC is a communications article. The Article is the doctrinal sentence.

What do Pentecostals teach?

The Assemblies of God position paper says the General Council “disapproves of the unconditional security position which holds that it is impossible for a person once saved to be lost.” It says believers “can be lost if they repeatedly disregard the teachings of Scripture, continue to resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and finally reach the point where they have turned away from their Savior.” The Church of God (Cleveland) Declaration of Faith was fetched and does not address the question.

Do Calvinists believe you can lose your salvation?

Westminster 17.1 says those whom God has accepted “can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace.” Dort’s Fifth Main Point rejects the teaching that true believers “do often forfeit” faith “and are lost forever.” The same texts say true believers may fall into grievous sin for a time. “Calvinist” here means those confessions. It does not include every person who uses the word.

Do Orthodox Christians believe in once saved, always saved?

The OCA clergy answer, quoted above, says “salvation is a process, not a once-and-done event.” Breck’s reflection, quoted above, denies the slogan when it means one public confession guarantees the kingdom. Those pages are a Q&A and signed reflections, not a synod. No catechism text was fetched.

Can I lose my salvation if I keep sinning?

Hebrews 10:26 is the passage people open. The security reading says willful apostasy describes people who were never truly sanctified, or a loss of reward. The conditional reading says willful, persistent rejection after the person “was sanctified” by “the blood of the covenant” forfeits salvation. Trent says justification is lost by “any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost,” and Penance is the way back. Westminster 17.3 says the accepted may “fall into grievous sins” and continue “for a time.” The Free Grace statement puts loss at the Judgment Seat in the category of reward. The full contrast is in the Hebrews 10 section above.

Can you lose your salvation and get it back?

Catholic texts say yes, through Penance. Methodist and Wesleyan articles say yes, by the grace of God, through repentance and faith. The Nazarene article says the fallen are lost unless they repent. Lutheran texts teach a real fall and gospel comfort for the penitent. Westminster and Dort say a true believer’s fall into sin is not the final loss of grace. Hebrews 6:4 says renewal is “impossible” in the case it describes, and the churches above do not read that clause the same way. The section above, If someone falls, can they come back?, has the quotations.

What does “fall away” mean in Hebrews 6?

Hebrews 6:4–6 describes people who were “once enlightened,” who “tasted of the heavenly gift,” and who were “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” and says that if they fall away it is “impossible” “to renew them again unto repentance.” The security reading treats them as not regenerate, or treats the warning as a means of keeping believers. The OCA answer treats them as people who rejected Christ after baptism. The LCMS FAQ lists the verses as a warning that a true believer can fall. The section above quotes those readings.

What does the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association say?

Its published answer says that if a person has “truly and sincerely repented of their sins and given their life to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” then “they now belong to Him forever, and their salvation is secure.” It also says a sinful life “may well mean that we haven’t given ourselves to Christ after all.” This page does not treat that answer as Billy Graham’s own sentence. The quotation is in the eternal-security section.

How can I know I am saved?

Westminster 18.1 and Dort V.9 say assurance is possible for true believers. The Grace Evangelical Society says works are not necessary for that assurance. The LCMS says complete assurance and a possible fall are both Scriptural. Trent and Catechism 2005 and 2016 teach a firm hope and deny absolute certainty of final perseverance without special revelation. The Adventist belief says those abiding in Christ have assurance now and in the judgment. The quotations are in the assurance section.

The churches on this site

The shelves below list each body’s own doctrine pages. This article is the comparison. A longer page for one church is not linked here, because those pages are not published.

• Catholic
• Eastern Orthodox
• Lutheran
• Reformed
• Baptist
• Methodist
• Pentecostal
• Anglican
• Christianity, the shared confession
• Denominations
• Common arguments
• Charity in disagreement
• How to use this wiki

This page does not say what the early church taught. No patristic text was gathered for it. It does not include Jehovah’s Witnesses or other non-Trinitarian bodies. Those questions are on their own shelves.