Can you lose
your salvation? Is it possible to be
born again and then to do something to make you “unborn”? What does the Bible say about the concept of “Once
Saved, Always Saved”? What about “Perseverance
of the Saints”? Are they both the same
doctrine?
In John 3:16
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The life we receive at salvation is “everlasting
life”, but there are people who believe this “everlasting life” can be taken
away. They say since you decided to
accept it, you can also reject it. What
they don’t realize is the contradiction this makes. If this everlasting life is removed from the
recipient, then it cannot be truly everlasting life. Only life which lasts forever and can never
be removed can be called everlasting life, otherwise it would be temporary
life.
Another passage
speaking about the durability of salvation is found in Romans 8:38-39, “For I
am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” Clearly nothing
present, nor nothing to come can separate us from the love of God.
Believe it
or not, I have heard some people say, “Well, although nothing can separate us
from the love of God, it does not mean nothing can separate us from His
salvation.” OK, let’s look at this possibility
for a moment. For the sake of argument,
imagine you could lose your salvation.
How many
sins would it take to lose your salvation?
One? Five? Ten? One Hundred? What
scripture would you use to validate a certain number? How would you know your salvation was gone? Is there a warning? Again, what Bible passages would you use to substantiate
your theory? If you could lose your
salvation, wouldn’t the Bible be clear as to when and how it happens?
God
addressed the idea in Hebrews 6:4-6 when He said, “For it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And
have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again
unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and
put him to an open shame.”
Here the
passage says it is impossible, if you could lose your salvation to get saved
again seeing it would require a re-crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So if you could lose your salvation, don’t
bother getting saved again because it is “impossible” to get another Christ to
die for you. Clearly since it says, “if
they shall fall away,” it is referring to a “what if” situation.
Some may say, “But what about people who get
saved and then they go away from the faith?
Are they still saved?” They are
afraid if people start believing you cannot lose your salvation they will just
get saved and then go rob a bank or commit adultery since there is no fear of
losing their salvation. They believe the
doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” will cause great freedom to sin.
In 2
Corinthians 5:17,the Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” If a person becomes truly saved, they are a
new creature. If they claim salvation
and they live like the old creature, according to the Bible, they never really
got saved.
The problem
here is not if they lost their salvation, the problem is they were never truly saved. If they attended church, were moved by the
sermon, raised their hand, walked the aisle, prayed a prayer, and even became a
deacon, it does not guarantee they were ever authentically saved.
John warns
us about these people in 1 John 2:18-19, “Little children, it is the last time:
and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but
they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
Jesus said
it this way in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Jesus did
not say they were saved and lost it, He says He NEVER knew them. The people here were never saved. Jesus
promises to never cast out those who come to Him when He said, “All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out.” John 6:37
Later in
John 10:27-30 Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: 28 And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them
me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand. 30 I and my Father are one.”
When we are
saved, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as it says in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit
of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory.”
According to
this passage, how long are we saved? “Until
the redemption of the purchased possession.”
Since the Christian is the “purchased possession”, this means we are
saved and sealed until we are redeemed. The
Holy Spirit is there sealing our salvation until God redeems us. Ephesians 4:30 confirms, “And grieve not the holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Our sin can
grieve the Holy Spirit but never drive Him away. Why? Every
Christian faces discipline when they sin, and this discipline can be quite
severe. Hebrews 12:5-8 teaches, “And ye
have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My
son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you
as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”
According to
this passage, a Christian cannot enjoy sin for long because they will face
being rebuked and chastised by God who “scourges every son.” If there is no correction for sin, then, God
calls them, “bastards” and not sons.
Notice too, there is no loss of salvation mentioned. Either they are saved and they receive
correction when they sin, or they are not saved and are only claiming to be
saved.
What did
Paul say about his salvation? In 2
Timothy 1:12, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I
am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Paul did not fear losing his salvation, he
was confident, not in his own ability but in the ability of God to keep him. This was in spite of Paul’s claim in 1 Timothy
1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” If you could lose your salvation, wouldn’t the
“chief” of sinners have lost his salvation?
Jude
expressed the same confidence in verses 24-25, “Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his
glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and
ever. Amen.”
This doctrine,
often called, “Once Saved, Always Saved” is not to be confused with the
Calvinist philosophy of “Perseverance of the Saints”. The “Perseverance of the Saints” is based
upon the other points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election,
Limited Atonement, and Irresistible Grace. These five points of the “TULIP” are only able
to be taken as a whole and cannot be divided.
It is one inseparable chain of logic which proceeds from the Westminster
Confession of Faith. The primary
difference between “Once Saved, Always Saved” and “Perseverance of the Saints”
is found in their foundation.
“Once Saved,
Always Saved” is based upon the salvation covenant entered into by the sinner
and made available by the Grace of God, through the faith of the individual,
visible in repentance. “Perseverance of the
Saints” is based on the erroneous concept of Christian fatalism. Calvinists claim God has, in eternity past, chosen
who would be saved, and, because of His choice from before creation, the saved
will persevere in salvation. One is
based upon the concept of covenant, the other is based upon decision.
These two
views are similar, but they are clearly not the same. In salvation, God makes a covenant in the
blood of Jesus Christ concerning the forgiveness of the sinner. Jesus Christ is not only the Perfect
Sacrifice, but He is the Great High Priest who sprinkles His own blood on the
Mercy Seat and Atones for sin.
Salvation is
not based upon God’s choice applied only to some people. God wants everyone to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.” God does not want any to
perish.
This thought
is confirmed in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all,
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all
men; 2 For kings, and for all that are
in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty. 3 For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the
truth.”
No you
cannot lose your salvation, neither is this doctrine “permission to sin”. When we are saved, we are kept, not by our
decision, but by God’s Covenant. We are
kept in salvation not by our righteous living but because Jesus Christ applies
discipline until we repent and, once we repent, we are forgiven and
restored. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
May the Lord
bless you as you keep studying the Bible.
