I don’t remember who it was or where I first heard this phrase, but I like it - “I’m so saved I could swing over hell on a rotten cornstalk”. But since most things need clarity – and since I believe Scripture alone is the final authority for what I should believe and practice (sola scriptura) – I think it would be helpful to explain just why I would dare utter or believe such a statement.

Once Saved, Always Saved, if Saved
The question seemed rhetorical – “Are you one of those Baptists that believe once you are saved you are always saved?” My answer was an unhesitant – though puzzled he would ask such a question – “Of course.” I was a twenty-year old soldier at Fort Campbell at the time. Like many believers, I knew what I believed, but not exactly why. So when my fellow soldier pressed me on my answer and began to quote warning passages from the book of Hebrews, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Little did I know that this interaction would lead to a significant period of spiritual growth as I searched the Scriptures to see if what I’d been taught as a child about the permanence of salvation were indeed true.
As I studied the warning passages in Hebrews, I began to understand that true believers persevere in faith. As Ligon Duncan correctly states, “The aim of Hebrews is not to unsettle the assurance of true believers”. The effect of the warning passages is to cause true believers to examine themselves to see if their lives reflect what they profess to believe and to continue to look ultimately to Jesus’ finished work.

No License to Sin
A one-time acknowledgment that you’re a sinner who needs Jesus followed by praying a sinner’s prayer does not necessarily mean a person’s heart has been changed by the Spirit. Sadly, there are many false converts within the church. Those who do not continue to follow Christ were never born again to begin with – 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Furthermore, the born again believer receives no license to sin. Justification always results in sanctification (Romans 6). The person who says, “I am saved and cannot lose it” and then proceeds to live like the world can only be assured he never had it to begin with.

Once Justified Always Justified
Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Does Jesus’ blood satisfy the demands of God’s justice or does God look at the death of His Son and say “There must be more”? When a person is declared to be right with God on the basis of faith alone in Christ, Scripture teaches that this person has been justified and will be gloried. The status of being declared just in God’s sight can never be reversed by man’s work for it was never man’s work to begin with, but rather the grace of God.

Jesus Saves
Hebrews 1:3 says that after Jesus made purification for sins He then sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus truly became the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). So does Jesus save by His finished work on the Cross or do we ultimately become our own savior by our own works? If salvation can be lost then it is not a gift, but more of a loan. If I can truly be saved, yet later on be lost, then Jesus’ work on the Cross has only made salvation possible. Rather than sing the old hymn, Jesus Paid It All, I must change the lyrics to Jesus Paid Some of It. Rather than Christ get all the glory and praise for my salvation, some of that credit will end up going to me for doing my part.
“I’m so saved I could swing over hell on a rotten cornstalk”! Is it arrogant or presumptuous to exclaim such confidence? Not if I believe Jesus saves. What makes the gospel good news is that Jesus saves to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).