Answers

By   •   June 1, 2004   •   Topics:

Q:

Can a person be saved more than once?


A:

Some people who truly repent of their sin and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord fall into sin and then feel that they must be saved all over again. This is not the case. The Bible says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). Also, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Mr. Graham has said, “Christian conversion is the transformation which we experience when we are born of God. Since one is not born over and over again, we must think of Christian development in two phases: birth and growth. A child, for example, is born once. True, he falls down many times, but when he falls he doesn’t need to be born again. His falls, his bumps and bruises are all part of growing. So it is in the Christian life. Birth is sudden, once and for all, but development is the work of an entire lifetime. We can be converted in a moment: the precise moment that we accept Christ. But it takes a lot of prayer, Bible reading, church-going, and Christian service to make a mature Christian.”