Greetings Family.

If I were to ask everyone in the group, "Who was the first one to teach once saved, always saved?", no doubt I would get different answers. Most would probably say Jesus. Others might say Paul. If you didn't believe once saved, always saved, you might say Augustine or John Calvin. It might surprise you to learn that the first one to teach this doctrine goes back farther than Jesus. Before I give you my answer, let's examine what the doctrine of "once saved, always saved" really means.

The doctrine of "once saved, always saved" basically teaches that once a person is has accepted Christ, they are saved and they can never lose their salvation. To expound on this a little further, you have been given eternal life and you can never lose it. In the 5 points of Calvinism this principle is called "the perseverance of the saints". In other words, You have been predestinated and it is guaranteed that you will persevere to the end.

So with this in mind, let's look in the scrptures and see who was the first one to teach this. Who was the first one to teach that you can have eternal life and never lose it? Are ya ready kids?

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die:

There you have it. It was none other that the serpent. He was the first one to teach that you can never lose eternal life. Adam and Eve were not created to die, they were created to live forever and to have dominion over the earth. But the Serpent robbed them of their life through deciet and caused them to diobey God. This message continued to be associated with false prophets. Notice the following verses in the Old Covenant.

Jer. 7:3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
7:5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

7:6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:7:7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

7:9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
7:10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Do not these last two verses sound like a familiar message? Haven't you heard preachers say "You are in God's hand and it doesn't matter what you do or how far you stray away, your salvation is secure"? This message continued not only through the days of Israel but carried over into the days of Jesus and the Apostles.

1 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Just like there were false prophets in the Old Covenant, Peter says there will be false teachers among us. What will be one of the messages ,or damnable heresies, of these false teachers?

1 Peter 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

You will notice in verse 19, that they promise people liberty. Can we really say that we have been made free by Jesus and still be a slave to sin? Sounds like I can hear the sound of a hiss when I say that.