Once Saved, Always Saved and Ezekiel

As any Bible reading Christian knows, a frequent theme throughout scripture is doing good - not evil. From the Ten Commandments to the Beatitudes, we are given rules and actions to emulate. It can't be a coincidence, then, to consider ourselves purposefully instructed to continue our quest for sainthood. We mustn't slack; we mustn't rest on past laurels - we are admonished to take the path less taken, the hard road.

Remember the young man, who kept all of the commandments but pressed Jesus for the way to Heaven? (Mark 10:17-22)

In keeping with this mindset, I find myself wondering about our Protestant brethren who cling to the 'once saved, always saved' philosophy. That's the point that leapt to mind when I heard the reading from Ezekiel during yesterday's Mass.

"But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die. "Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it; for the iniquity which he has committed he shall die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die." Ezekiel 18:21-28

If we remain kind, I wouldn't mind a charitable discussion on this topic. What say you?