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Author: Ron Graham

Tulip

If Jesus Prays for Your Salvation...
—Can you possibly be lost?

This lesson addresses an argument sometimes presented in favor of the Once Saved Always Saved doctrine. This doctrine says that salvation is unconditional and once granted cannot be revoked.

1 The Argument

The doctrine holds that once you are saved you are always saved and can never be lost; once in grace, you cannot fall, regardless of what you do. An argument for this doctrine is drawn from the fact that Jesus prays for our salvation. If Jesus prays for something, his Father will grant it. So if Jesus prays for our salvation, then saved we will be, and it is impossible for us to fall.

It has been the prayer of Jesus that the saved remain saved.

The Calvinistic Argument

The argument made from the above facts is as follows. If any of the saved become lost, then the Father has refused to grant the prayer of his Son. His prayer has failed. Since it is inconceivable that the Father would reject his Son's prayer, the saved cannot be lost. That is the argument. Now let's see the false basis on which this argument rests.

2 The False Basis

The argument rests on the assumption that God would never refuse to grant a prayer of his Son. However that assumption is not correct.

The Argument’s False Basis

The basis for the argument is false because it assumes that the prayers of Jesus are unconditional, and God grants his requests unconditionally. That is not so. There are certain conditions under which God will or will not grant Christ's prayer for the saved. Let's now show what these conditions are.

3 The Conditions

Fortunately, the scripture is very clear about the conditions which must be met by us, if our Saviour's prayer for us is to avail rather than fail.

The Argument Sidesteps Conditions

The Calvinistic argument does not take into account that God imposes conditions or things we must do. We receive the answer to Christ’s prayer if we subject ourselves to God. God actively, yet conditionally, assists us, thereby answering his Son’s prayer for us (1Corinthians 10:12-13).

If we set our hearts upon what Christ prays for, then God actively works in us and for us. Under those conditions, he will not let anyone snatch us away from Jesus our Saviour (1Corinthians 10:12-13, John 10:27-30).


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