This is day 9 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 John 6:35-40:

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen Me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40 KJV)

This may be the ultimate passage for proving Once Saved Always Saved, that once we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ, we are saved for all eternity and can never lose our salvation. In this passage, Jesus Himself declares Once Saved Always Saved not once, not twice, not three times or even four times, but five times Jesus says once we’re saved, we’re always saved. Salvation can never be lost or forfeited. So, let’s break this passage down.

The passage begins with Jesus making the bold statement:

“…I am the Bread of Life…” (John 6:35 KJV)

Jesus had just miraculously fed the 5,000. People were amazed that He had just produced physical food enough to feed them. But more than that, Jesus said that He is the real Bread of Life. He is the One who gives not just physical life but eternal life to everyone who comes to Him.  

This great passage is one of 7 times in the book of John where Jesus uses the phrase, “I AM” to describe Himself. In Exodus chapter 3, God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush.

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3:13-14 KJV)

By God giving Himself the Name, “I AM,” He was stating that He is the eternal God, the self-existing One Who has no beginning or end. So, when Jesus used this phrase, “I AM the Bread of Life,” in John chapter 6, every Jew there knew that He was claiming to be God. Jesus Himself was saying that He is the eternal God, the self-existent One, Who gives eternal life to those who believe in Him.

The Apostle Paul gave this same testimony, when he said of Jesus in Colossians chapter 2:

  “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9 KJV)

Jesus is God Himself, Who came in the flesh to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. 

In John chapter 6, Jesus gives five statements that declare Once Saved, Always Saved. He begins with this:

“I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; ” (John 6:35 KJV)

To come to Jesus means to place your trust in Him, to turn to Him in faith, believing that He can save you and give you life for all eternity. Jesus said that everyone who comes to Him shall never hunger. “Never hunger” means eternal life. There are no conditions on this statement other than to come to Jesus. Jesus didn’t say, “he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, as long as they obey all my commandments, get baptized and put an end to sin in their lives to prove their worthiness.” No. He said that we were just to come to Him, and to all those who come, they will never hunger. If you never hunger, you will never die.

Jesus’ second statement of Once Saved Always Saved is this. He said:

“…he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 KJV)

If you never thirst and you never hunger, that means you never die. You have eternal life. Again, there is only one condition: to believe on Him. The words, “come” and “believe” have the same meaning. To “come” to Jesus is to believe in Him. To “believe” in Jesus is to come to Him. This is more than intellectually agreeing with things Jesus said. It is believing in your heart that you stand before a perfectly holy God as a sinner who needs to be saved. It is coming to Jesus, believing that He is God, who took on flesh and died on the cross, shedding His own blood to pay for your sins so that you could be forgiven and saved. It is believing that He died in your place, that He died for you, to pay your debt of sin. It is believing that He then rose again on the third day, so that you would not just be forgiven of sin, but that you would have eternal life, as He is life. 

Whoever believes in Jesus shall never thirst. Nothing else is required to receive eternal life. And if you never hunger and never thirst, then you can never die. This means you can never lose your salvation because, once you believe, you will never hunger, never thirst, ever again for all eternity.

But there’s a problem: Not everyone believes. Jesus Himself said:

“But I said unto you, that ye also have seen Me, and believe not.” (John 6:36 KJV)

Those who says it takes more than just believing in Christ, that you must also obey commandments and rid yourself of sin to be saved are rejecting the Gospel. They are rejecting the simple Gospel that salvation is a free gift that you can have for all eternity just by coming to Him, just by believing in Him. Lordship Salvationists say, “No, you must also make Jesus the Lord of your life and obey Him to be saved.” Such people have rejected the Gospel and, instead, are trying to prove their own worthiness before God as if they can establish their own righteousness before a perfectly Holy God. They have rejected the Gospel. They believe not.

But Jesus makes it clear that eternal salvation is open to all who come to Him and that salvation can never be lost. For He then said:

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37 KJV)

In this statement, Jesus boldly declared that He will never cast out anyone who comes to Him. By Jesus’ own words, this means you can never lose your salvation. Jesus will NEVER cast you out. 

But what if we sin too much? Sin has already been paid for on the cross. It is finished.

But what if we lose faith and stop believing? Can’t I forfeit salvation and give it up? No. We dealt with this in earlier lessons in this series. The moment we’re saved, we are permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption when we will be given our eternal bodies. If we should start drifting away into unbelief, the Holy Spirit remains sealed in us with the express purpose of leading us and teaching us in the truth. He’s not going to stand idly by and do nothing as you slip into unbelief. He will be right there correcting you and leading you constantly to the truth about Jesus. Therefore, there is no such thing in the New Testament as a saved believer who loses faith and becomes an unbeliever or an apostate. It won’t ever happen, not even once. We are secure in Jesus and Jesus Himself said that He will never, ever cast out even one person who puts their trust in Him. 

Once Saved, Always Saved.

Then Jesus said,

“For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” (John 6:38 KJV)

Here, we see that the whole plan of salvation originated with the Father and is then executed through the Son. It was the Father’s idea to save you through Jesus. Jesus came to do His will so that you could be saved. The Father is a good Father Who dearly loves every one of His children and will never abandon them. That is why salvation can never be lost. He is not vindictive, ready to strike you down the moment you disobey Him. He is longsuffering with us and patient with us, just as a faithful and good parent is with their children. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Then we have the fourth statement of Jesus supporting Once Saved, Always Saved in verse 39:

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:39 KJV)

Again, Jesus said that He will not lose even one person who places their trust in Him. Not even one believer in Christ will be lost. Not one. Everyone who believes in Christ will be saved, by Jesus’ own Words. 

But Lordship Salvationists say, “No, Jesus was only referring to His 12 disciples, that He will not lose any of THEM.” But that’s not how this verse or the next one reads. It says, “ALL which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” All means ALL. In the context of this entire passage, it is clear that Jesus is continually referring to everyone throughout all history who turns to Him. All who turn to Him will be saved. 

But what if I’m not baptized? 

ALL who trust in Jesus will be saved. None will be lost. Not even one.

Jesus then doubles down on this very point with His next statement, which is the fifth statement supporting Onces Saved, Always Saved. Jesus said:

“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40 KJV)

“Every one” means everybody. It is all inclusive. All who believe in Jesus have everlasting life and will be raised on the last day, speaking of the day when we will be raised to life in our eternal bodies. Jesus said that this is the Father’s will that all who believe in Him will be saved. If it’s the Father’s will that all who believe in Jesus will be saved and none lost, will Jesus not accomplish this then? It is the Father’s will that none be lost.

Someone who does not believe the Gospel once said, “But this verse just says that those who SEE Him, who physically see Him, will be saved. He’s only talking about those who were physically there at that time and saw Him.”

No. That’s not what the Greek word means. When Jesus said, “every one which seeth the Son,” the word, “seeth,” is the Greek word, “theōreō,” which means, “to see, to behold, to perceive.” I can behold Christ and perceive Him without actually physically seeing Him. 

But people argue this point because they don’t believe the Gospel. They take that stand because this entire passage completely demolishes their belief system that they have to obey commandments and live a good life to be saved. They don’t believe the Gospel that we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith in Christ. They think that’s not enough, that they have to prove themselves before God, establishing their own worthiness themselves instead of trusting in Christ.

Yet, here it is. Not one, two, three, four, but five times Jesus Himself declared that once we’re saved, we’re always saved. Salvation can never be lost or forfeited. It is a free gift to everyone who comes to Him, believing that He is God’s Son Who died for them, shedding His blood to pay for their sins, believing that He died in their place and rose from the dead to give them eternal life.

The question is: Do you believe the Gospel, the good news, that eternal life is available simply by believing in Jesus.

It 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.

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

If you are not certain about this, 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. You can know with certainty that you have eternal life today. Do it now before it’s too late.

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.