Revelation’s Verses Against Once Saved Always Saved 

The book of Revelation is in reality written by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In these revelations revealed to the apostle John, our Lord in His glorified state sends letters to seven (7) churches in the first three (3) chapters and goes on to give more revelation about the future to come. This book alone has so many scriptures going against the false doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved”. 

In this article, I am simply going to lay them out one by one for you and discuss them very quickly. To the OSAS brothers who disagree, if you find some good objection that can be used to answer these scriptures, please don’t hesitate to contact me or comment and I will be glad to add the objection and the response to the article.

 

“To Him that Overcomes” Verses

In the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus speaks to the seven churches always in the same format, beginning with “I know your works” and ending with “To him that overcomes”. This ending in each church letter is very telling and gives a strong blow to the false doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved”.

Here are the verses with some comments:

Revelation 2:7 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life (simple logic says we can deduce this “to him that does not overcome, Jesus will not give to eat of the tree of life“), which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

 

Revelation 2:11 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death (simple logic says we can deduce this “He that does not overcome shall be hurt of the second death“).

 

Revelation 2:17 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (simple logic says we can deduce this “To him that does not overcome Jesus will not give to eat of the hidden manna”).

 

Revelation 2:26 – And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations (simple logic says we can deduce this “He that does not overcome, and does not keep His works unto the end, to him, Jesus will not give power over the nations”)

 

Revelation 3:5 – 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. (simple logic says we can deduce this “He that does not overcome, the same shall not be clothed in white raiment, and Jesus will blot out his name out of the book of life and Jesus will deny his name before His Father”)

 

Revelation 3:12 –Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out (simple logic says we can deduce this “He that does not overcome Jesus will not make a piller in the temple of His God and he shall stay out“): and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

 

Revelation 3:21 –To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne (simple logic says we can deduce this “To him that does not overcome Jesus will not grant to sit with Him on His throne “), even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

Revelation 21:7 – He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (simple logic says we can deduce this “He that does not overcome shall not be His Son “)

 

These seven verses show clearly how Jesus Christ will make his judgment with all rewards given only to them “that overcome“. Please notice what kind of reward Jesus is talking about. He is not speaking about extra rewards, He is including salvation itself as the reward.

This is particularly clear in 5 verses 2:7, 2:11, 3:5, 3:12 and 21:7 which say, those who overcome will:

• get to eat of the tree of life (whoever eats from the tree of life lives forever, according to Genesis 3:22)
• not be hurt by the second death (which is the eternal lake of fire according to Revelation 22:14)
• not have his name blotted out by Jesus out of the book of life (according to Revelation 20:15 whosoever is not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.) 
• shall go no more out (they will be IN forever)
• be His Son (I hope we agree only the children of God will be saved)

 

Now, my friend, do you still want to risk it? Do you still think you can keep on sinning because you are now eternally secure according to the “Once Saved Always Saved” lie? Please, dear friend, read out of these verses and don’t read into them, don’t twist them. 

Here are some of the objections I heard from some brothers from the OSAS camp.

 

OSAS Objection 1: Jesus is only addressing those who overcome, not those who don’t

This objection I heard while talking live to a pastor who believes in “Once Saved Always Saved”. I was really happy to find that church and was thinking in my innocence that they could not be “Once Saved Always Saved”. I admit I was naive during my early days, I didn’t know how spread this lying doctrine was.

When we were discussing, I mentioned verse 3:5 specifically “He that overcomes… I will not blot out his name out of the book of life”. I said “that means that those who do not overcome, Jesus will blot their names out”, to my surprise the pastor said that I was jumping to conclusions, that this is not what Jesus, that Jesus was only singling out those who overcome. To the pastor, that does not mean that those who don’t overcome will not be saved. I will spare you the story of how my face looked after hearing this answer but my brother was with me and thought I was going to have a stroke.

 

Dear friend, if a teacher says to his students:

“to the student who passes this test I will give a chocolate bar”,

Can you be honest and tell me the teacher will give the chocolate bar to students who don’t pass the test? I mean how illogical is this? Why can’t we see that we are deliberately ignoring the straight-forward meaning of verses just because we have a preconceived idea set in our minds?

Don’t you see also that when we do this, we are basically making Jesus words of no effect? We are making Him seem as if He is blowing some steam, giving some kind of vague metaphors or only mere suggestions? 

Unfortunately dear brothers, all the words of Jesus count and should be taken seriously, Jesus does not give suggestions, He gives commands. Be careful and take these warnings seriously. We are talking about eternity.

 

OSAS Objection 2: Jesus is addressing the churches not us

Some OSAS believers have suggested to me these verses don’t really apply to us. Whoever they are written to, they don’t apply to us because we are saved. Some say this is all revelation about the end of the age in the time of tribulation, so it doesn’t really apply to us because we are not in the times of tribulation. This is the same objection I hear when I also quote Matthew 24:13 (when the Lord says “the one who endures to the end will be saved”). 

 

Now, let’s suppose for a second that this is only addressed to other Christians.

If these Christians will be saved by overcoming until the end, what makes us so special that we, unlike them, don’t need to keep our faith by overcoming until the end?

If that were, in fact, true, that would make God a respecter of persons, giving eternal life to some who don’t overcome while giving the same eternal life to others who have to die for their faith. 

It is clear therefore that this is not a good objection. It is another attempt to excuse ourselves from having to keep the faith which is precisely what Jesus is telling Christians to do by overcoming. 

 

“Keeping the Faith” Verses

There are some verses in the book of Revelation showing that in order to be saved we have to keep the faith.

Let’s look at 3 verses.

Revelation 2:10 – Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (so these Christians have to be faithful unto death not to get extra rewards but to have the crown of life. Why would they have to be faithful unto death to get the crown of life if they are already saved?)

 

Revelation 3:11 – Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (these Christians have to hold fast what they ALREADY have which is the Word of Jesus so that no man can take their crown. What crown? The crown of life as in verse 2:10 above. Why do they have to hold fast if they are already saved?)

 

The next verse 17:14 from Revelation is interesting especially against the famous verse Romans 8:30 OSAS believers use.

In Romans 8:30, Paul says that “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“

Let’s look at the verse from Revelation.

Revelation 17:14 – These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are CALLED, and CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL (so the Saints who are with the Lamb will be called, chosen AND FAITHFUL. To be faithful means to stay with Him and not go cheat by sinning deliberately and going back to a lifestyle of sin).

 

“Spue out of His Mouth” Verse

This verse is oriented at the lukewarm Christians.

Let’s look at it.

Revelation 3:16 – So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (If they were not already saved, what were they doing in Jesus’ mouth to begin with?).

 

“Adding or Taking Out of the prophecy ” Verses

Last but not least, the book of Revelation finishes with a very big warning to anyone who adds or takes out from it.

Let us look at these verses:

Revelation 22:18-19

¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life (that means some had their part in the book of life and God can take this part OUT), and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

 

Conclusion

I honestly don’t know how any genuine Christian can read the book of Revelation and still believe in the doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved”. This grieves me to see that people are not willing to open their hearts and eyes to see the plain truth. This truth dear friend is that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). This is clear all through the New Testament but do people have an ear to hear?

I want to reiterate the importance of not taking out or adding to these verses in the book of Revelation. Please dear friend, don’t risk it, remember that God WILL take our part out of the book of life if we do that as it is clearly said in Revelation 22:19.

May the Lord Jesus have mercy on us all!