This is day 16 of a video series called 21 Days of Once Saved Always Saved Salvation Assurance. It’s January 2022 and, in honor of the new year, my church in Marietta GA has asked us to dedicate 21 days to the Lord to draw closer to Him.  Over these 21 days, I’m going through 1 passage of Scripture a day that proclaims our salvation assurance in Christ and shows how salvation can never be lost or forfeited but is held securely in place for us by our heavenly Father so we can have confidence that we are eternally saved.

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 11:32:

“But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

This passage is a strong statement of salvation assurance from Paul that no believer in Christ will be condemned. Instead, God chastens us or disciplines us as His children so that we will NOT be condemned with the world. If those who place their faith in Christ will not be condemned, that’s a guarantee of Once Saved, Always Saved. So, we can have confidence that God will never reject us, and we can never be lost. Let’s break this verse down.

Paul begins with this phrase:

“But when we are judged” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

It’s not a question of if we are judged but when we are judged. This word, “judged,” is the word “krinō” in the Greek and it simply means, “to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong.” It’s not referring to the Great White Throne judgment or any judgement as to whether a person will go to heaven or hell. It’s referring to God observing our daily lives and evaluating whether what we’re doing is right or wrong, much like a parent watches over his or her children to see if they are doing right or wrong. It’s the idea of real-time correction as we are living our lives. God isn’t just there for the big picture at the end of our lives. He’s there every day to help us and, when necessary, correct us so that we stay on the right path.

Paul says, 

“But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

This word “chastened” in the Greek is the word, “paideuō.” It means, “to train up a child” and that can involve instruction, correction, reproof, admonition, punishment, or even scourging. So, when we are chastened by the Lord, it can range from a very gentle form of instruction to a severe punishment or scourging, depending on the severity of the offence. What is not in view here is eternal punishment. This chastening has nothing to do with our eternal state, which has forever been settled on the cross. It has everything to do with “training up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). 

Every single believer will experience God’s chastening and it is always done out of love:

“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:6-7 KJV)

The moment we believe in Christ for salvation, all of our sins (past, present and future) are forgiven, God’s Holy Spirit indwells us for all eternity, we are declared righteous, holy and sanctified in God’s sight, and most importantly, we are adopted into God’s family. We become His child. From that moment forward, God makes it His responsibility to train us in righteousness. That will involve instructing us and disciplining us, or chastening us. God never does this out of anger but as a loving parent Who disciplines us for our good.

“He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:10-11 NASB95)

God, our loving Father, disciplines us so that we may share in His holiness so as to produce righteousness in us. His goal is always for our good, that we might learn how to conduct ourselves in holiness and righteousness, even as we are already righteous in His sight because of what Jesus did and our faith in Him.

But there’s another reason why God chastens His children, for Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 11:32:

“we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

God chastens us so that we will not be condemned. We looked at this in a couple of the earlier lessons on salvation assurance, how God uses many means to keep us in the faith so that we will not be condemned. Chastening is one of those means. 

When we are saved by placing our faith in Christ for our salvation, God doesn’t take away our free will. Instead, He uses these means and others to keep us in the faith and to secure us in our salvation so that none are lost. God knows how to persuade us to stay on the right path without violating our free will. There are many means God uses to do this, among those including:

• Warnings in His Word
• The sealing of the Holy Spirit inside a believer
• The work of the Holy Spirit to lead & teach us
• Warnings & encouragement from believers
• Teachings in the Word and in the church
• The Body of Christ working in your life
• God’s chastisement and discipline
• Allowing consequences of sin to happen
• Allowing sickness or disease
• Angels working in our lives
• Intercessory prayer
• Lifting God’s protection, allowing spiritual oppression into our lives
• Early death – “There is a sin unto death:” 1 John 5:16

So, when we look at 1 Corinthians 11:32, where Paul says:

“we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

we can see that this chastening is but one of many means God uses to train us in righteousness so that we stay in the faith and are not condemned with the world. The result of all this correction and leading by God is that not even one of His children will be lost. God is a good Father Who knows how to keep every one of His children safe and secure in their salvation. Absolutely none of His children will be lost. This is why it is impossible for a saved believer to lose their salvation.

And for those of you doubters who might point at this verse and say, “Wait a minute, it says “that we SHOULD not be condemned with the world.” The word, “should,” makes it all conditional, not guaranteed.”

Well, NO! When you look at the Greek text, there is no word in the Greek that means, “should.” The word, “should,” was added by the English translators to make the statement flow better in English. In the Greek, the verse reads, word for word: “When we are judged, but of the Lord, we are chastened that not with the world condemned.” This sounds a bit awkward when you say it that way, which is why the English translators tried to smooth it out. But there is no conditional element in the original Greek. God chastens us so that we will not be condemned with the world. If we will not be condemned with the world, then that means Once Saved, Always Saved.

Another way we know this means that we will not be condemned is that God has given us His Holy Spirit. Looking back at our list of the many means God uses to keep us secure in the faith, God’s Holy Spirit indwells us the moment we believe and, from that point forward leads us and teaches us. The Holy Spirit indwells us forever.

Jesus said:

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;” (John 14:16 KJV)

This Comforter is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never leave us, which means we can never lose our salvation. Now again, some of the doubters of eternal security may look at this verse and say, “Wait, it says He MAY abide. It’s not guaranteed.”

But once again, looking at the Greek text clears this up. In the Greek, the phrase “He may abide” is just one word, the word “menō,” which means, “abide.” So, the verse literally reads: He shall give you another Comforter, that abide with you forever. 

If the Holy Spirit indwells us from the moment we believe in Christ and abides with us forever, then that means two things:

1. We can never be condemned to hell – God is never going to send His Holy Spirit to hell, so if the Holy Spirit is forever abiding inside us, then we cannot be sent to hell. This means we can never be condemned.
2. We can never fall into unbelief and become apostate – The Holy Spirit’s mission inside us it to lead us and teach us in the truth. If we, as immature believers, start to drift into sin or unbelief, the Holy Spirit is still right there inside us, leading and teaching us in the truth. This means a believer can never end up as an unbeliever or an apostate. A believer cannot be deceived so as to fall back into unbelief because the Holy Spirit will continually reveal truth to that believer.

There is no such thing in Scripture as a Christian who is once saved and then sent to hell or falls into unbelief! It is impossible.

Let this verse 1 Corinthains 11:32 sink in.

“But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32 KJV)

This is a strong affirmation that once we are saved, we are eternally secure. God will chasten all of His children to train us in righteousness, that we may share in His holiness, so that we will not be condemned with the world. He uses many means to keep us secure in the faith, especially chastening but also the work of the Holy Spirit.

If we are chastened by God for our good
and the Holy Spirit is inside us forever
and we will not be condemned with the world,
then that means
Once Saved, Always Saved!

The real question then becomes, are you a child of God that God would do all this to secure your salvation forever? Do you know with certainty that you are saved?

Being saved comes down to this:

Salvation = God’s Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Nothing more. Nothing less. There are no other requirements to be saved than to believe in Jesus. The question is: do you believe this? Or are you like those who are not trusting in the finished work of Christ but are trying to prove yourself worthy through your own obedience. Well, let me give you some help: You’re not worthy! You never will be. None of us are. It is Christ who is worthy. We stand in His obedience by faith, not our own. We stand in His righteousness by faith, not our own. He makes us worthy. He makes us righteous.

Once you believe in Him, you are born again, and you are forever a child of God. Our Father is a good Father Who will never abandon you but will preserve you in the faith and never let you go. 

If you are not certain about your salvation, time is getting very late. Don’t take the chance of missing out on God. Prophetically, the current “Age of Grace” where God is giving people time to turn to Him for forgiveness is almost over. When it ends, it will be too late. God’s judgment is coming. Those who are not saved will be separated from God for all eternity. Don’t take chances with God. Don’t play with Him. Take Him seriously.

If you are not 100% sure you are saved, don’t put it off any longer. 

Making Sure You Are Saved Is As Easy As ABC

Admit to God that you have sinned.

Believe that Jesus, God’s Son, died to pay for
your sins 100%, was buried and rose from the dead.

Call upon Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and save you.

If you make that decision to call upon Him, God gives you this assurance:

“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13 KJV)

If you are still not sure, I’ll include a link to a video I did called, “What is the Gospel (in 6 Words)?”

Thank you for watching.