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What Does the Bible Teach?

1. Can those born of God leave Christ?

1John 2:19

“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.For if they had belonged to us, (Once Saved)they would have remained with us; (Always Saved)but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”

John indicates here that leaving Christ indicates that one had never been born of God

2. Can those born of God live a lifestyle of sin?

1John 3:6

“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” According to the second part of this verse, no one who lives a lifestyle of sin had ever been a “real” Christian. He had never known Christ. He had never been born of God. Furthermore, according to the first part of this verse, of those who do “live in him” (are born of God – are real Christians) not one of them lives a lifestyle of sin. Why is that? John explains a few verses later in 1John 3:9 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” The word “cannot” is the greek word “dunamai” where we get the English “dynamite” and it refers to ability (see its usage in Hebrews 7:25). Those who have been born of God have lost the ability to live a lifestyle of sin because God’s seed (the Holy Spirit) lives in them. The word “remain” is the word “meno” which in 1John 3:6 is translated “lives” and means the same thing here. (see “meno” study further down) See also A comparision of interpretations of 1John 3:9 Conclusion:

The basic resolution to the objections that both the Free Grace believers and Arminians have against Calvin’s 5th point concerning the Perseverance of the Saints is to simply say that

once born of God, a Christian loses the ability to chose to leave Christ and he loses the ability to chose to live a lifestyle of sin.

If he does either of these, such is an indication that he had not yet been born of God. This is what the Bible teaches. Both the Free Grace believers and Arminians tend to object to this idea in that both groups believe that after being born of God, there is no change in your free will.