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.”
And I trust you notice what they are appealing to for their salvation?
Their WORKS.
And those works they are appealing to are the very ones that today the Emergent church and the Pentecostals claim are signs of a believer: casting out demons, prophesying, and miracles.
But obviously, those are not the signs of a believer. The FRUIT of the Spirit is not works, but the Christ like character being developed in us.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The gifts can be imitated by the enemy. He cannot imitate the character of Christs in someone's life.
Certainly! By free will, we choose everyday if we are going to live in God’s grace, or not.
Like a child, who through the day can be both stubborn and cooperative, so we sinners are the same. We can be bullheaded, sin, then seek forgiveness. We likely do this many times a day, in matters great or small.
His Salvation was once and for all, and is available for the taking. We just have to conform ourselves to God’s will to keep it. Fortunately, He is always there to accept our apologies, and encourages us to amend our lives.
That’s the thing about conversion. Accepting responsibility for our faults, feeling true contrition (penitence), and seeking to amend our lives, that’s what conversion is all about. We are called to do that everyday. We were born again in Baptism, and should be born again each day, as we strive to conform ourselves to God’s will, and not our own will.
False piety is very hard to discern, unless the Spirit does so as a gift of the Spirit. Look at the sexual degenerate priests and pastors. Too many are duped by such frauds.
No, neither Hebrews nor the Catholic Church teaches what you claim. As long as there is life, there is the possibility of repentance and forgiveness.
A person who DIES in the state of mortal sin goes to Hell.
The fact remains that you have just condemned a book of the New Testament for teaching error.
Nonsense. Trying to get this thread erased also, priest?
“There are millions who think they are Christians, but are actually enemies of God, who will wake up in the fires of Hell, and say, didn’t we do many good works in your name?”
I assume your referring to those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and savior but have become “backsliders”, as the passage you site is from Matthew which was before the cross. So from a salvation standpoint if you’re saying salvation must be earned with works, then you have to ask what differentiates the sins of those people from your own? Do you believe that the Bible passages in the book of John as well as in the Epistles that state God’s gift of salvation for those who believe in the Lord Christ Jesus are too good to be true?
So, will we have this same free will in Heaven?
Even though evidentially it is unlikely Paul wrote it, but God inspired it.
Backsliders is a term I learned in the Baptist Church. Once saved, the old nature still exists nd can caused ‘backsliding’. But a person born from above will not remain ‘backsliden’ for the Spirit deposit from GOD into their human spirit will hound them to repentence. God raises up His children in the way that they should go, even if it takes a lifetime to git er dun.
If someone is going to use that verse to claim that a person can lose their salvation, then they also have the problem of dealing with the fact that it says that if they fall away, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be brought back to repentance again.
That means that salvation is a one shot deal.
Once you fall away, and it doesn’t even say deliberately sin, but simply fall away, then you are lost forever.
And who doesn’t fall at some point in their lives?
And so are you now saying that the Catholic church does NOT teach that a person can fall from grace?
Though doing all to His glory means nothing selfish, or otherwise "as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:25) but it means that "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
And salvation by grace, for man could not and would not believe on the Lord Jesus or follow Him unless God gave him life, and breath, and all good things he has, (Acts 17:25) and convicted him, (Jn. 16:8) drew him, (Jn. 6:44; 12:32) opened his heart, (Acts 16:14) and granted repentance (Acts 11:18) and gave faith, (Eph. 2:8,9) and then worked in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure the works He commands them to do. (Phil. 2:13; Eph. 2:10)
But which works, resulting from faith, do not appropriate justification, but as saving faith is that which effects obedience, this fruit justifies one as being a believer, with "things that accompany salvation." (Hebrews 6:9)
Thus man owes to God all things, even the ability and motivation to obey Him, and in justice man only actually deserves damnation, since what man must take credit for for is resisting God, whatever the level of grace given him is. (Prov. 1:20-31; Lk. 10:13; 12:48; Rv. 20:11-15) Yet under grace, which denotes unmerited favor, God has chosen to reward faith, (Heb. 10:35) in recognition of its effects, which God is actually to be credited for.
Which thus means that God justifies man as one "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6) not on the basis that his works merit this, and which is what Romans 4:1-7ff teaches, with works of the law including all systems of this justification by the actual merit of works, for, "if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." (Galatians 3:21)
No, as in conversion, you only have to believe, which effects obedience, including repentance when convicted when not doing so. But the effects of faith are not what appropriates justification, though works justify one as being a believer. (Heb. 6:9) Faith - as enabled and motivated by God - appropriated justification, thus if one denies the faith just as surely as once embraced it then he forfeits what he appropriated. Which means resisting God who works to effect repentance, lest we be condemned with the rest of the world. (1Co. 11:32)
Agree. And God knows our hearts. .
Roll TIDE! Baet ‘em all, not just Auburn.
Plus it appears some posters have forgotten the words of Jesus to the apostles (especially Peter):
“Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained”
Sighhhhhh!
And he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (John 20:22–23).
And he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (John 20:22–23).
And he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (John 20:22–23).
Not very logical, for if it is a matter of odds that is to determine choice, then it is far more risky to presume you will be able to repent in faith the last minute. Meanwhile, it is not simply messing up that is the issue here, but in contradistinction to conversion, having "an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God" (Heb. 3:12) versus persevering in faith, which includes repentance when convicted of not doing so.
One means choosing to co-operate with God, who alone deserves the credit for that ability and motivation, while the other means resisting God unto denial of faith, which what man must take credit for. You cannot believe and obey except by grace, but you can resist the same.
And he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (John 20:22–23).
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