“Once saved, always saved” is a common quip used in Christian discussion concerning salvation. Karlo Broussard, Catholic Answers Apologist, discusses the Catholic Church’s teaching on eternal security. Karlo focuses on one biblical passage from Galatians that has rich meaning.
This clip was taken from the July 26, 2023 episode of Catholic Answers Live.
Transcript:
Eternal Security would conflict with what we believe as Catholics, and I would argue it conflicts with what the Bible teaches as well. I’ll share one passage with you that perhaps you’ve examined before, but maybe not within this context, and that’s Galatians chapter 5 verse 4. Paul tells the Galatians, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace, for through the Spirit by faith we wait for the hope of righteousness.”
Now there are three elements, three details here that are relevant to our conversation here.
Number one, Paul says the Galatians are severed from Christ. Now if you think about that brother, what does that imply? That implies that the Galatians, the Christians in Galatia, were once in Christ. And what does it mean to be in Christ? That means to be saved. You’re a saved individual if you’re in Christ as a member of his mystical body with grace dwelling within your soul. But Paul says that they’re severed from Christ. So they once were in Christ and thereby saved, but now because they’re going back to the old law and trying to be justified by it, they’re no longer in Christ and thereby no longer saved. So that gift, that initial gift of grace which puts them in a saving relationship with Jesus is now forfeited. It’s lost for these Christians in Galatia.
Second detail, Paul says you have fallen away from grace. That implies they once were in grace. And what does it mean to be in grace? That means to be in a saving relationship with Jesus, to be in friendship with Jesus. But for these guys, because they’re trying to be justified by the old law, they’ve fallen out of that relationship with Jesus. They’ve fallen out of good grace with Jesus. And to fall out of good grace with Jesus, guess what? You can’t be saved if you die in that state. So they’ve fallen from that saving relationship.
And then finally, the third detail, and Paul says that we – notice Paul includes himself here, a born again, justified Christian, right? – We wait for the hope of righteousness. In the Greek word, there’s the word that’s used throughout Paul’s writings with regard to justification. Now think about this. How can Paul and those in Galatia who are with him and not severed from Christ, how could they hope for righteousness if their righteousness, right relationship with God or justification is secure in such a way that they could never lose it? If they could possibly lose that justified state and having peace with God, well then there would be no room for hope. But there is room for hope in with regard to our justification. Therefore, their justification is not eternally secure.