Posted on 05/31/2017 1:41:09 PM PDT by ealgeone
Question: "Can a Christian lose salvation?"
Answer: First, the term Christian must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8–9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? It’s a crucially important question. Perhaps the best way to answer it is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation and to study what losing salvation would entail:
A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian is not simply an “improved” version of a person; a Christian is an entirely new creature. He is “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be destroyed.
A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18–19). The word redeemed refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. We were purchased at the cost of Christ’s death. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase of the individual for whom He paid with the precious blood of Christ.
A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To justify is to declare righteous. All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared. Those absolved of guilt would have to be tried again and found guilty. God would have to reverse the sentence handed down from the divine bench.
A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is the promise of spending forever in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be redefined. The Christian is promised to live forever. Does eternal not mean “eternal”?
A Christian is marked by God and sealed by the Spirit. “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14). At the moment of faith, the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance. The end result is that God’s glory is praised. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory.
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). According to Romans 5:1, justification is ours at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification comes with justification. All those whom God justifies are promised to be glorified. This promise will be fulfilled when Christians receive their perfect resurrection bodies in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
A Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Christ would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation is the gift of God, and God’s gifts are “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). A Christian cannot be un-newly created. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. Eternal life cannot be temporary. God cannot renege on His Word. Scripture says that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a “Christian” has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1 John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was never born again by the power of God. “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong “to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).
Nothing can separate a child of God from the Father’s love (Romans 8:38–39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28–29). God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He has given us. The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and, “when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:5–6). The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one safely home.
Jude 24–25 further emphasizes the goodness and faithfulness of our Savior: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Yes, you know of course, that I was a member of a certain works based religion. I had NO assurance of salvation at all. Eventually, I thought I could never be good enough to "attain" salvation, so I chucked that works based religion, but at least I was interested in knowing the truth. I FOUND the truth. 😀
“I think that the point isn’t that those who persevere will be saved, but those who are saved will persevere. Otherwise, it would depend on our ability to persevere and not on God’s grace to endure.”
True. Perseverance is the work of God. The life of a believer begins by grace received through faith. It continues by grace which is operative by faith. These are not the works of the flesh but of the Spirit.
For clarification, we often do not use the term “salvation” in the biblical context. We talk about being “saved” as a status of someone who has repented of his or her sins and trusted in Christ. That event could be described as being born again. And it is part of the salvation process.
When we believe we are saved from the penalty of sin. As we continue to walk in faith we are being saved from the power of sin. When Christ returns we will be saved from the presence of sin.
The Bible does teach that we can have eternal life now, and know that we have it. But it also instructs us to examine ourselves to be sure we are in the faith. Peter tells us to be sure of our election.
2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
The test of this is not merely having done some single act like saying the sinner’s prayer, asking Jesus into our hearts, being baptized, etc. The initial response to the Gospel is important, but it is equally important to see the evidence of God’s indwelling Spirit, producing the fruits of righteousness, being obedient to His commandments, and so forth.
While there is a danger in a doctrine that could mislead a believer into thinking he or she must maintain their salvation through their own efforts and works from the energy of the flesh, there is an equally great danger of misleading those who think they are Christian already but really need to see that they are lost.
We don’t have to look very hard to see that the world is full of extremely wicked people who claim to be Christian. These people did not lose their salvation. They never had it. The doctrine of eternal security does not apply to them.
I posted more Biblical support in this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3556893/posts?page=119#119
Then we should blame Jesus and the Apostles for teaching us that we CAN be assured of our eternal salvation. It's THEIR fault if someone commits that sin of "presumption". Go ahead and pass judgment on them for doing such a thing!
I was in that same religion, too. But when I read this passage from the Bible for the first time...
...the Holy Spirit turned a light on in my soul and I knew I had been in the wrong religion. I never heard before that someone could KNOW they were going to heaven when they die - except if you were a "Saint" or a martyr for Jesus or you were a nun or a priest - I figured they could be pretty sure they'd be good enough to make it. But when I read that JESUS said He would give me eternal life, I would never perish and nobody could snatch me out of His hands, then I knew I could believe Him. I never once looked back or thought I made a mistake. The Holy Spirit does that - gives you a certainty that you are believing the truth and constantly confirms it through the word.
Same here. I never looked back either. No mistake made. It is nice to be totally, completely, 100% sure, forever and forever, of my salvation. I am totally glad I don't have to wait till I die, to see if I make it. I know right here and now. 😱 If some people don't have any assurance of salvation, that's on them. It doesn't have to be that way.
..” I never once looked back or thought I made a mistake. The Holy Spirit does that - gives you a certainty that you are believing the truth and constantly confirms it through the word. “......
AMEN!
Here’s another tool for remembrance when tempted to doubt our salvation.
There is a common denominator in each and every time we ever have sinned. Namely, when we sin, we are not acting through faith in Christ.
More explicitly, we aren’t resting upon what Jesus Christ actually provided for all humanity when He died on the Cross.
When we remember what He provided and have faith in that sacrifice, we have faith in Him.
When we confess our sins and name them through faith in what He provided at the Cross, where all our sins have already been judged, then He is free to Forgive us those sins and we are returned into fellowship with Him.
We don’t regain salvation, we regain His fellowship in post salvation confession of sin (see 1stJn 1:9).
The only way we can question our salvation or doubt our assurance, is if we step out of faith in what He provided on the Cross. In other words, we have slipped into sin, whenever we doubt His assurance of salvation.
There was nothing we could have done to earn that salvation and nothing we can do to lose it. We are part of His family.
Accepted Christ as my savior 1966 when James Robison visited as a then young evangelical pastor
A firebrand to be sure....a slew of us kids went down that night
And we're taught yes you can lose your salvation ...
Here's one way
Many believers have held that yes, true Christians can lose their salvation because there are several New Testament texts that seem to indicate that this can happen. I’m thinking, for example, of Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 1:18–20:
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Serious denial of Christ or abject rejection of Gods teachings even if baptized and the big one....blasphemous scorn of Christ without ever repenting will doom you even if baptized earlier
It takes effort to lose salvation once it's in your heart per what I was taught but yes it's possible
Baptism or christening is not absolute to us....behavior and acceptance are the indicators
There you go....simply said and cogent
Amen
I disagree
Yes, I think you are right. Without faith, we can't please him. Sometimes I have a doubt, here and there. When I do, the first place I go, is to the Word of God. You are correct. We don't regain our salvation. We regain our fellowship.
It's too bad some "religious people" have no assurance of salvation. It must be a real drag, going through life, not knowing what happens to them at death, finally sinking into the tomb, without one single, solitary ray of hope for Heaven. I don't know why anyone would do that, but I think if someone waits till they die, to see if they are going to Heaven or Hell, it is an almost 100% iron clad guarantee, that they will go to Hell.
That should put the fear of God into them, but most will continue down the wide road that leads to destruction. It doesn't have to be that way.
Fat Guy’s position sounds a little like a Calvinist view. But not nearly as extreme, since Calvinists pretty much say you don’t have any choice in the matter- the Elect, Predestination, dead in your sins and all that.
Yours is more typical of an Arminian view, found in some Baptist circles. Although some Baptists have the Calvinist position.
That's a good question BB. Maybe there will be goats 🐐 who will tell God that He must let them into Heaven, because they self identify as sheep 🐑
Well hey, it makes about as much sense, as having no assurance of salvation. 😆
God PROMISES to forgive our sin.
No nonsense about who to confess to and no nonsense to not forgiving, IOW retaining sin.
The concept of God refusing to forgive sin that is confessed does not appear in Scripture.
Only man is capable of that kind of hard heartedness.
Surely you have more than ONE verse taken out of context to hang a whole doctrine on. What are the other verses?
Did it ever occur to you that God WANTS to forgive people of their sin and WANTS to save them and take them to heaven?
God PROMISES to forgive our sin.
No nonsense about who to confess to and no nonsense to not forgiving, IOW retaining sin.
The concept of God refusing to forgive sin that is confessed does not appear in Scripture.
Only man is capable of that kind of hard heartedness.
Surely you have more than ONE verse taken out of context to hang a whole doctrine on. What are the other verses?
Did it ever occur to you that God WANTS to forgive people of their sin and WANTS to save them and take them to heaven?
Good grief, how did I miss that one?
Iscool: We may leave God but God will never leave us...He'll be right there waiting with open arms waiting for us to come home..
AMEN!!!!!!
Just like the prodigal son.
And those garments of white, the wedding garments, are what?
Tell us what they represent.
Do you KNOW?
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