Thoughts on: Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS)

Lessons from the Parables of Jesus. . .

Jesus did much of His teaching in the form of parables. He came up with little stories to illustrate the points he was trying to get across. Peter had a question about a teaching parable that Jesus gave in the immediately preceding verses and here in this passage Jesus explains what He meant. Here is Jesus explanation of the parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Servants:

Luke 12:41-48
Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? 42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Who is the servant that Jesus is talking about? It does not talk about the servant having to accomplish any task before being admitted into the servanthood of the Lord. There was not any good deed mentioned that gained the position of these people as servants. This is where faith and belief comes in to significance. To be a servant is a role, a position of admitted subordination, granting supremacy to the Lord. Now to be sure, a Lord has power and resources outside of the one-on-one servant\lord relationship, but at its core to be a Lord is a position that is granted to one by submission. To be the leader of a country is only possible through the submission of people of that country to his authority. A general of an army, cannot lead if the army does not submit their wills to his and follow him where he leads. I take the position of servanthood by granting Jesus his Lordship. To be a servant is to have a Lord. To have a Lord is to do what that Lord requires of you. If Jesus is a man's Lord, then that man is the servant of Jesus. If someone is your lord then you do what they ask of you. Jesus cannot be your Lord if you do not do the things that He says to do. In another passage Jesus said:

Luke 6:46
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

The responsibility of a servant is to do the will of the one that he works for. Read particularly what follows next in the parable of the servants:

Luke 12:45-46
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

This unfaithful servant begins to do his own will and not the will of his Lord. He believes that his master will be gone for a long time and therefore he rationalizes, says to himself, says in his heart that he has time to do his own will, before going back to being a good servant before his master gets home. Because of this disobedient servant, the lord's household is in an uproar. He abuses his fellow servants and feeds his fleshly appetites out of the abundance of his lord's house. But he is surprised! His lord returns at an unexpected time. The lord 'cuts him in sunder!' He casts him out of his household, fires him, terminates his employment in modern day terminology and Jesus said that he, "will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers."

Are all the people that Jesus is talking about unbelievers here? What sense would it make to say that you were going to appoint unbelievers a portion with unbelievers? That makes no sense. Jesus is talking about the household being filled with believers. Believers are those who had taken the position of a servant of His in His household. They are then, because of their actions, going to be cast out and treated just as if they do not believe.

Another fascinating passage follows: Luke 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.

The servant who knew better and did wrong anyway, is going to be treated more harshly, his punishment is going to be worse than the person who had not been taught better. It is clear that it is considered a more severe crime to know the Lord's will and then to not do it, than it is to not know the will of the Lord and thereby do wrong in relative ignorance. It is clear that there are still consequences to doing bad things regardless of how much you know about the will of the Lord, but it is also clear that the Lord will be especially harsh with those who know what they should do and how they should behave, those who know the will of the Lord and yet still choose to ignore it.

Luke 12:48. . . . For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Those who have greater knowledge. . . those who have greater revelation. . . those who walk in greater light. . . those who know greater truth. . . those who have been blessed more. . . to those who have been entrusted more. . . to those who have been given greater responsibility. . . of those is greater expectation. . . of those is more demanded. . . . of those is more required. . . .of those is greater punishment given if they fall away. . .

It then is apparent, you cannot deny this doctrine. . . once you are saved you truly are always, eternally saved. . .with a condition. . . as long as you continue to do the bidding of your Lord!. . . as long as you remain a faithful servant!. . . as long as you are a servant in good standing in His household! If you do not do His bidding, He is not your Lord. Those are the words of Jesus. If you walk away, if you betray the trust that your Lord and master has put into you then. . . no one can say it better. . . Jesus said: The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

I love you my God. . .
I'm trying my Lord. . .
I'm trying. . .
I'm trying to do your will. . .
Please help me to be a better servant. . .

Dave