Posted on 05/17/2015 5:59:53 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A common question for many is, "Can I lose my salvation?" I've heard both sides of the argument, and only God truly knows a person's heart, but I can share a few thoughts. The reason there is a debate is because the Scriptures teach that salvation is a gift from God that cannot be earned, but they also offer warnings about falling away. There should be a healthy tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. This issue should not create a spirit of division, elitism, or theological superiority.
One school of thought suggests that salvation cannot be lost, as in losing your car keys, but that it can be left, as in walking away from it. This may be why Jesus spoke of the man who said in his heart "my master delays His coming; therefore, I will turn from living a godly life". When the master returned unexpectedly, the servant was banished because he chose to turn from what he knew to be right.
In another passage, Jesus said, "You have left your first love," when speaking to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:4). James 5:19-20 adds, if anyone wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, a soul is saved from death. If anything, these Scriptures, and many more, reinforce the fact that we have certain responsibilities.
We should never turn from what we know to be right. Jesus encouraged His followers to be watchful, prepared, and ready for His return. Are we watchful? Are we prepared? Are we ready? (Read Matthew 24:45-51; Luke 21:34.) The Scriptures offer a healthy tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.
The other school of thought suggests that some of those passages are dealing with people who never fully surrendered to Christ. As a result, they fell away. They heard the gospel, but never fully embraced it and turned from their sins; they only had "intellectual" knowledge of salvation. According to this view, the real question isn't, "Can a person lose their salvation" but "Was the person really saved to begin with?"
Titus 1:16 and James 2:14 both conclude that many people "say" that they know God, but deny Him by their lifestyle. I John 2:19 suggests that those who acknowledge Christ initially, but deny Him later, are not saved to begin with: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us."
When it comes to salvation, we all agree that God gets all the glory and all the credit. Salvation is His work. We are never outside of His sovereignty and control: "It is God who makes us stand firm in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:21). I am convinced, like Paul, "that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can separate us from God, but we should never ignore the strong warnings about turning from Him.
When we believe the gospel and repent of our sin we "are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession" (Ephesians 1:13-14). These promises are not based on anything that we do; they are based on what Christ did. John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." Jesus adds, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28). Again, "It is God (not us) who makes us stand firm in Christ." For this reason, I don't believe that we can lose it.
Our salvation is guaranteed based on the assurances found in Scripture, but we also must "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (cf. Philippians 2:12). My goal is to be faithful to the command to preach, witness, and proclaim while understanding that God does the drawing, saving, and sealing.
Again, I believe that there should be a healthy tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. This issue should not create a spirit of division, elitism, or theological superiority. At the heart of the division is Calvinism vs. Arminianism. Sadly, brother is shooting brother and sister is wounding sister. Have we forgotten how to show grace to those in the Body who we disagree with? Those who believe you can lose your salvation should not chide those who believe in eternal security - "once saved always saved" is by no means a license to sin - it's a belief in God's guarantee. But on the flip side, those who embrace eternal security should not mock those who disagree.
I can hear it now, "But what about Hebrews 6:4-6." It says, "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."
Based on my understanding of terms such as "enlightened," "tasted," and "shared," they are not necessarily words linked to salvation. Judas Iscariot was enlightened—he knew a great deal. He also tasted and shared in the ministry of Christ, but we all know his fate. When he fell away, repentance was elusive. His fate was sealed. However, this verse should force all Christians to take inventory.
We all sin and fall short, but the important question to ask is what is the condition of your heart—have you truly repented and believed in Christ as your Lord and Savior, or are you trusting in false assurance? This may be why Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?"
Our actions reveal a great deal about our relationship with Christ. A.W. Tozer said: "When people find that after being in the church for years they are not making much progress, they ought to examine themselves and wonder whether they have been truly converted."
Has your heart become so hard as to reject Jesus Christ? If so, you can change that today. I'm aware that I'm driving this point home, but I'd rather err on the side of speaking too much about a committed relationship with Jesus than too little. It's never too late to get back on track: "Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord (Micah 3:7). God is sovereign but man has a responsibility to repent and return.
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Shane Idleman is the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California, just North of Los Angeles. He just released his 7th book, Desperate for More of God. Shane's sermons, articles, books, and radio program can all be found at www.wcfav.org.
Yes; you MAY say it with certainty; but it certainly does NOT mean that they dis-believed it.
Strangely; a Messenger from GOD told an angel to tell John to WRITE the message down: seven times.
Here is just one...
Revelation 2:1
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
HMMMmmm...
Rome made SURE that this verse was in the Bible:
Mark 16:18
They shall take up serpents;
Hasn't Hebrews 6:4-6 been mentioned a LOT of times in this thread already?
The Bereans SEARCHED the Scriptures to see if what they were TOLD matched up with the Word.
Why do we Prots get such scorn heaped upon us for doing exactly the same thing?
Is this a Hand-in-the-Cookie-Jar question?
Well; after 490 plus ONE sins you'll be in REALLY big trouble!
Bruce: not John...
The Ideal?
Or the Actual??
I am not sure, but I will take a guess. Maybe they figure the scriptures will take people away from the RCC, and they don't want the competition?
Strangely, the Messenger from GOD didn't tell an angel to tell John to NOT use oral TRADITION after writing the message down. Hence, the angel was not promoting the idea of SOLA scriptura. SOLA sciptura wasn't promoted until after the printing press was invented. Scripture AND Tradition, on the other hand, existed during the time of the Old and New Testament, and was used by Jews and Christians alike.
Baptism happens only once in your life. If you've had a legitimate baptism in another Christian denomination and then convert to Catholic, you CANNOT be rebaptized. To baptize someone another time would be meaningless since the first baptism permanently removes original sin.
You can, however, be CONFIRMED in the Catholic Church. This is a separate sacrament and does not involve the pouring of the water. It does NOT remove original sin, but ratherm it fills the person with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
That is my understanding too. The writer was quick to say, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. (Hebrews 6:9a) I don't buy this stuff about being required to work to maintain our salvation either. Then it becomes a works based religion. I already left a works based religion. I have no desire to go back to it.
Isn’t that Lily Tomlin, forwarding all those prayers to Mary?
Wow Mark17, your brain works just like mine does. Are you into math and/or physics by any chance?
I got saved while in the Army on TDY in Honduras. I was a serious atheist when I joined and right up until I asked a Christian Captain "What do I have to do go to heaven?". He said "Believe in Jesus". I asked "And what else". He said "If you believe you will be saved". I asked "What would I even call myself if I did?". I was that ignorant about all things Christian. He said "If you believe just call yourself a Christian".
I turned around, walked away and in about 20 steps, like a bolt of lightning, the words "IT'S TRUE!" entered my mind.
I was given eternal life via the Holy Spirit at that instant.
For the next 2ish years my #1 worry was "Can I die again?".
Then I met a Christian from a group that was an offshoot of John Darby. "The Tunbridge Wells Plymoth Brethen". The man knew the bible better than any other I've met since and he explained to me about election and security. It's a very important doctrine to me. I keenly remembered my lost state that I had been in for my first 22 years and I feared going back to that state of being dead.
Thank God for his gift of grace through faith. I have nothing to boast, it is all Him.
Only Mary Poppins was perfect in every way. 😂😎😇
Amen, brother!
And this is based on what??? Aesop???
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