Can Christians Lose Their Salvation?

Christian Post ^ | 05/14/2015 | Shane Idleman

[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.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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.

[Elsie]

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reissued March 22, 2015
 
 
 
Remember to stay on our mantra: We ARE Christians!!

We've been taking a beating on the Internet - especially from those hateful ANTIs on FreeRepublic!
 
We MUST keep the media constantly informed of those things the world considers christian.

We must NOT allow our MORMONness to show thru, as it has gotten a really bad rap thru history - lord only knows why...
 
Tommy
 
 

 

[Mark17]

Ah ha, I see you are up. It is late Wednesday here. The Limericks seem to write themselves don’t they?

[Elsie]

Do you know for a fact that David went to hell?

It is what Mormonism teaches: Blood guilt.

---

The Mormon Church teaches that the sin of murder is considered so bad that the one who commits this sin can never find forgiveness. The following SCRIPTURES illustrate...

"And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come." (Doctrines & Covenants 42:18).

"The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord." (Doctrine & Covenants 132:27).

Bruce R. McConkie, in his work Mormon Doctrine, said:

"...a sin for which there is "no forgiveness" (D&C 42:79), meaning that a murderer can never gain salvation. "No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." (1 John 3:15) He cannot join the Church by baptism; he is outside the pale of redeeming grace." (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 520).

[Elsie]

He does laugh, eh? Usually at us --

Oh; yes!

As a father and a grandfather; I can state that kids ARE just so darn enjoyable to watch at times.

(Other times; they are just unbearable to be AROUND!)

[Elsie]

You do err, knowing neither thr Scriptures nor the power of God.

Ouch!

[Elsie]

Furthermore, Uriah was a Gentile, and should not have been marrying a Jewish girl.

Uriah, the Hittite could have been Jewish.

Solomon Goldberg; the American; is.

[Elsie]

That last line was like pulling teeth.

I had to resort to ...

http://www.rhymezone.com/

[Mark17]

I did not know there even was such a thing as rhyme zone. I will check it out. Come up with a good JW Limerick. 😂

[Elsie]

Me either.

I just typed in ‘rhyme with later’ and there was a bunch of them!

[Elsie]

The Book of Alma

The Son of Alma

The words which Alma, the High Priest according to the holy

order of God, delivered to the people in their cities and

villages throughout the land.

Beginning with chapter 5.

Chapter 5

To gain salvation, men must repent and keep the commandments,
be born again, cleanse their garments through the blood of Christ,
be humble and strip themselves of pride and envy, and do the works
of righteousness—The Good Shepherd calls His people—Those who
do evil works are children of the devil—Alma testifies of the truth of
his doctrine and commands men to repent—The names of the righteous
will be written in the book of life. About 83 B.C.

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/5?lang=eng

 

 

[imardmd1]

It says "killed," not "murdered." Nowhere in the Bible does it say David murdered anyone.

Furthermore, when God forgave David, he put that sin away.

You haven't, and it's time you did, or else put your Bible down and walk away from it.

Doubtless, like the rest of us, you have sinned literally or in your mental processes in ways that are unacceptable to The God, that would make you wholly rejected by Him save for your trust in the shedding of the Innocent Blood of Jesus, the Christ, whom God had us "murder," and upon Whom He Himself poured out His fiery, righteous wrath in our place.

I hope you can appreciate David for what he said, in humbly extolling the priceless value of God's forgiveness, as reported by Paul:

"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom 4:6-8 AV).

In time to come, David will be the Vice-regent for Christ over all the earth, and also doubtless you will see him. Will you be willing to walk up to him and indict him with, "Ah, the man that murdered Uriah!"

I hate to scold you, mm, but feel I must; though I also love you at the same time.

With foreknowledge, The God Jehovah chose David as "a man after His Own heart," in both the OT and the NT (1 Sam 13:14, Acts 13:22). So let's give David a break, eh? The time will come when you'll be glad you did --

[af_vet_1981]

You do err, knowing neither thr Scriptures nor the power of God.

"And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2 Sam. 12:13 AV).

When God forgives, He also forgets. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9 AV)

David abjectly confessed/repented and God completely forgave.

Essentially true and there are consequences; David remembered and we remember. Are the scriptures eternal ?

Furthermore, David did not lay a hand on Uriah, therefore Uriah was not murdered. He willingly died in battle. Furthermore, Uriah was a Gentile, and should not have been marrying a Jewish girl. The sentence for that alone was death.

David was guilty of killing Uriah. In Jewish tradition Uriah is viewed as Jewish, either by birth, or as a convert. For example, Hiram of Tyre is thought to be a convert when the scripture called him a brother to Solomon.

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house, (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
Second Samuel, Catholic chapter twelve, Protestant verses seven to nine,
First Kings, Catholic chapter nine, Protestant verses ten to fourteen
Ezekiel, Catholic chapter thirty six, Protestant verses twenty two to thirty two,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[Mark17]

I was also able to get a free app from the Apple Store, for my iPhone 6.

The witnesses were from Kingdom Hall
At times they were known to stonewall
Charles Russel was their man
Even preached as far as Japan
But false doctrine was his final downfall.

[imardmd1]

David was guilty of killing Uriah

Good thng you usd the past tense. For us, as for David, when God the Judge forgives, it is more--it is cleaning of the slate.

As a child of God, brought into His Presence by the reconciliation purchasewd by the Risen Jesus as High Priest placing His Incorruptible Living Blood Once for all upon the True Mercy Seat of Heaven, God extended His invitation to be Father to me if I would accept the transaction of exchanging my sins for His Son's Righteousness, and upon my irrevocable agreement, He declared me judicially, "NOT GUILTY!" thus instantly and permanently justifying me by the rising of His Christ from the dead ones, and sealing the bargain by the gift of His Spirit.

As for David, Jesus has borne my sins in His Body on the Tree of Calvary. They are paid for, eternally.

Sanctification initiated and in process under the guidance of The Comforter and Counselor, The Holy Spirit, yes! Justification completed! Salvation, ongoing, with the end guaranteed! Free and freed indeed!

For David, the processing has long been over, and his soul and spirit now in the Paradise of Heaven, no longer known as a killer of men, but an author of soul-healing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs glorifying his Maker and Lord.

As to Uriah and Hiram being of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I think it's a bit presumptuous to claim that. Personally, I would estimate it to be not so. The Hittites are a tribe of Gentiles, not a location; and Hiram was a king of Gentiles when David and Solomon were Kings of the Jews. God could have saved Uriah out of battle had He so chosen, and He did not. Why was that, eh?

[Elsie]

bump

[Zuriel]

**You do recall they had already believed He was the Son of God....the only condition for salvation.**

The big factor is what you consider ‘believing’ in Jesus Christ; you have to include: believing the words that he spoke. You can’t believe on him while being selective with his words. In John 3:3, He said a man must be born again. People quote John 3:16 regularly, but many couldn’t begin to quote 3:8. Likewise, many overlook (as it seems you did) the following verse:

Jesus said to Peter, in Luke 22:31,32, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and WHEN THOU ART CONVERTED, strengthen the brethern.”

[Zuriel]

**Like when Johnny stops being a boy and decides to be a girl.**

Some go as far as medical science can get them to change. I used to drive semi for a company, that had a driver that went to Thailand for the surgery. He was on hormones for several years prior. I just cringe thinking about it.

Just a really sad story.

[Zuriel]

**Lazarus (the unfortunate one)**

Ya mean, ‘the rich man’ was the unfortunate one, that wanted his brothers warned by ‘Lazarus’.

(off subject; Today, I left a new 12 row John Deere corn head, at a dealer on US 31, about 20 miles north of Indy. It was the snazziest JD dealership I’ve ever been to. They have their own cafe inside, serving breakfast and lunch there. The cook even wears a chef’s tunic, but of course, a John Deere hat. It will sure be nice for the locals when the US 31 project north of the ‘circle’ is finished.)

[Elsie]

bump again

[Zuriel]

**Furthermore, Uriah was a Gentile, and should not have been marrying a Jewish girl. The sentence for that alone was death.**

Rather than debate Uriah’s bloodline, I will note this:

It must have been okay when the genders were opposite:

Salmon married the harlot Rahab of Jericho, and his son Boaz, married Ruth the Moabitess. All were ancestors of Mary and Joseph. But, you prolly knew that there tidbit.