Can You Lose Your Salvation?

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.