once saved always saved?

i just wondered what people thought about the comment "once saved always saved" because its an area i bounce around a lot.

for example, my dad would say he is a christian. the reason why my mom and him split up was because he cheated on her. i accept that we all mess up and Jesus forgives us if we seek his forgiveness. the thing is my dad has cheated again (and again in fact!). this shows that he is repenting of his sin, so does that mean he is not saved? but was he once or was he never saved?

but then i think that there is no heirarchy of sin in God's eyes, therefore if i lie or im too proud over and over then is that the same as the situation with my dad?

you can see my confusion Confused

thoughts please

This is an interesting one, and something I think most people battle with internally, t points of the day you feel justified and forgiven by grace, when for example you do something 'good' but then if you do something wrong in a day you feel condemned...and lets face it, we all screw up no matter what the scale...

I would put it out there that I think we are ALWAYS saved by the death of Jesus Christ - no matter what you do wrong. His blood covered ALL sin...but, you have to accept this, and I believe, that if you accept that Jesus Christ is your savious - truly in your heart then you are covered by this.

However! I don't think this is something you can 'rely' on per se - in that you think oh im saved its fine...I believe that if you do something wrong, and it is biblcal hat you need to repent of your sin and God will always forgive you, but you need to mean it. If it is a recurring sin, its not impossible that he repented and meant it, because if its a weakness specific to the person its hard to steer clear. I always think God is a just God and a fair God, and not only does he see your actions, he sees your heart and your intentions. and I think he will judge you accordingly....

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ok so just to clarify your saying once you become a christian then thats it, your always saved and u cant be "unsaved"? am i right in saying that is what you think?

thanks for your thoughts i think i tend to agree with you (at least for the moment... as i said in my first post i bounce around a lot regarding this subject!)

anyone else got any thoughts?

This is a topic that was brought up recently at one of my church's unofficial youth group meetings. Okay, it was a kickback.

Faith in Christ is what saves. No one comes to the Father except through Christ (someone PLEASE help me with the Bible verse). Therefore, faith will save.

Living one's life is another matter altogether.

Faith will save a person, let's make sure that's established. So long as the person has an unwavering faith in Christ and the forgiveness that He's brought about, then that person is saved. Saved by grace after all. How one lives life will not affect this. Why? Because good works does not affect one's saved/unsaved status (again, please help with verses). Instead, what the person does in life affects the rewards that will be given when one meets with the Lord. Either you live somewhere near the Holy Palace, or you're out by the Kingdom walls hahahaha.

Yes, it sounds funky, but that's the conclusion our group came to.

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Lord, forgive us who commit crimes against You not knowing what we do, but please forgive us who do such things knowingly. And more importantly, please forgive Your followers who mar Your beautiful name.

Love,

Your son.