Can a Christian Never Lose Salvation?
God loves all people, and salvation through Jesus Christ is a free gift, received through faith, not of works, but does that mean it can never be lost?
Not according to Jesus, who warned His followers several times and explicitly said to the church at Sardis names could be blotted from the Book of Life:
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. – Rev. 3:5
Some may retort Jesus did not address the “elect” or true “sheep” but an honest reading of this scripture does not indicate that interpretation would be correct.
Jesus would not have acknowledged and addressed them in a special revelation eternally preserved in the Bible (Rev. 3:1-6) if they were lost. He speaks to them as His own.
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die,” said the Lord.
Things can only “die” if first already alive, and the Lord told them why He was unhappy, “for I have not found your works perfect before God.”
This is the entire passage of Rev. 3:1-6 (NKJV):
3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
The Lord said there were a few names who had not already defiled their garments. Again, this is a word to badly straying sheep, as those who are lost (not in Christ) never had holy garments in the first place to defile. The Lord also says their works were not perfect: “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. …”
Does this mean we must “work” to “earn” our salvation since Jesus says He objects to their works? Isn’t salvation by faith alone? Is it of works or grace through faith?
It is of faith, but works are expected of us, but those are of faith.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Eph. 2:10
This verse saying God looks to us to walk in works, and others saying we will be judged, and could “draw back to perdition,” or “be a castaway,” and many more, may be tough to reconcile in light of the verses that came before it.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. – Eph 2:8,9
By now, some might say, OK, which is it? By works, or not?
Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2) and the whole answer to the true Way of salvation in Christ can seem contradictory to our natural minds, but if you pay attention, this will try to unravel some of the seeming contradictions.
Indeed, nuances of precious spiritually discerned truths pertaining to salvation have often been butchered by people trying to prove a point on one side or another. One root cause is fear –– there is much at stake. Another can be people like to win an argument, and some want to prove points regardless what the absolute truth may be in God’s estimation.
But the Gospel still is the Good News, and we hope to present it more clearly here.
Our prayer is by God’s grace this necessarily long article will help all who want Christ’s whole truth – as indicated also by early Christian writings – to avoid falling into common mental and spiritual traps.
Good News / Bad News
Like Abraham was from the beginning, Christians are justified by faith, and this is good news! Unfortunately, the gospel as it was once understood may be presented with error mixed with truth.
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it! – 2 Cor. 11:4
Here the apostle Paul said people even from the beginning 2,000 years ago might preach “another Jesus” – misrepresenting who He is, or impart a “different Spirit” – that may claim to be the Holy Spirit, but was not, or a “different gospel” – here too, misrepresenting it. And, Paul said, people “may well put up with it!”
This, we submit, has happened and all who love the truth will want to take care lest you think this can only happen to others, and not to you.
Since the days of Luther and other reformers who liberated millions of mentally enslaved people with the message of “justification by faith,” coupled also with Calvin’s “preservation/perseverance of the saints,” many have come to believe in unconditional Eternal Security.
Luther is not as commonly thought of as staunchly stating that believers could never lose salvation if they left the faith, but John Calvin was. Beyond pure Calvinist teachings, today’s general unconditional Eternal Security teachings borrow from the legacy of Protestant reformers.
Also known as “once saved always saved,” Unconditional Eternal Security has one condition: Receive Jesus once, and you are saved for eternity, and if you read the scripture as unequivocal, it can seem to say this:
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Rom 10:13
Unconditional Eternal Security says once a person is born again (saved) through repentance and confessing Jesus as Lord, he/she receives the gift of God’s Spirit and becomes a child of God in Christ – under grace, preserved for life, no matter what.
This is all true except the “no matter what” clause.
That said, people have felt the very idea that a person could then be “unborn” violates the spirit of the truth, and nature of a loving God –– and indeed God is faithful throughout a person’s life –– but mixing falsehood into what was to bring life can yield poison.
At the extreme, Unconditional Eternal Security advocates have said a Christian may even commit dastardly willful sins up to murder, suicide, adultery, live in unforgiveness, and more. Or, one may fall away and live an ungodly lifestyle and still be guaranteed by Jesus to go to heaven, they say.
A “tree is known by its fruits,” and fruits of a lopsided “false grace” message yields a kingdom of God lived in “word” but not “in power,” but Paul the apostle said it was supposed to be the other way around.
Jesus warned also against being “lukewarm,” but how many today would be counted as just this? Without the motivation that any more is needed in order to go to heaven, a “saved” person may have been taught the worst-case scenario of disobeying God and sinning will be forfeit of “rewards.” To people focused on this life and themselves, feeling they have locked down a ticket to heaven may be enough, even if they don’t come out and say this. The Bible however teaches that sin in the heart is deceitful, all humans have natural self interest that deviates from God’s interests, and the Bible warned against false teachings from the beginning.
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. – 2 Pet 2:18
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.- Jude 1:4
Of course godliness is always the goal for Unconditional Eternal Security teachers, and “fruit” – or perceived fruit – is taken as a sign one is “truly born again.”
This too may be completely correct, but the Bible does not teach this as a 100-percent guaranteed scenario. Defenders of Unconditional Eternal Security however do often argue that people who fall away may never have been really born again.
When confronted with scriptures that challenge this wrapped-tight worldview, they may ignore them as not-applicable to Christians under grace, but does the Bible really teach this picture is what the Christian life should look like?
Selective Interpretation
Eternal Security is conditionally promised, but not unconditionally guaranteed.
As it is commonly and falsely taught, “once saved always saved” is a picture of the Christian life derived from several very strong scriptures that appear to unequivocally support the theory.
That view however was not endorsed by the writings of early church fathers well before the period of dominance by the Roman Catholic Church, nor does the Bible explicitly state it is as it’s commonly taught.
Either/Or?
Martin Luther offered his doctor’s cap to the person who could reconcile Romans 3:28 and James 2:24 which he saw as mutually opposing between either works or faith.
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. – Romans 3:28
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. – James 2:24
In short, it was an “either/or” question between “works” and ”faith” for Luther who was wise enough to know the two scriptures – if God-inspired – needed to be reconciled but the problem was they do appear to contradict each other.
Romans 3:28 says we are justified by faith. James 2:24 says we are justified by works and not only faith.
Luther’s “solo fide” – by faith alone – doctrine shows which scriptures he sided with, and which he threw out.
The reformer called The Epistle of James “an epistle of straw” while grasping at straws to force a view only partially true. Luther correctly saw that Paul wrote a person is saved by faith, and these were scriptures today’s “once-saved-always-saved” message is selectively centered around.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. – Eph. 2:8
[K]nowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” – Gal. 2:16
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Rom. 5:1
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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Rom. 8:38,39
Because these and other verses seemed so clear, anything that seemed to say we had to do works to go to heaven was overlooked or filtered out.
Faith is Not a Work – But Is Required!
Past faith – a prior born again experience – while surely the beginning of our life in Christ and the time in which we receive the Holy Spirit – does not in and of itself save you. Required also is a continual faith through life with that Spirit’s enablement.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him … ” – Col. 2:6
No where does the Bible teach believing once upon a time in Jesus guarantees permanency with no other conditions, but the spiritual book that must be spiritually discerned does seem to say this.
[W]hoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Rom. 10:13
This “shall be saved” sounds unequivocal but it is a future promise that begins at a point in time –– and must be maintained by faith. The Bible says Christians are being “redeemed.” The Holy Spirit by which we are “sealed” (Eph. 4:30) is an “earnest” down payment for what God promises to collect later.
But “justified by faith” does not mean we must exercise faith only once or for a limited period, but for one’s entire life. We are continually justified as we trust in the Blood and the Cross through life; this is “walking in the light.”
FAITH ≠ WORKs
The Bible repeatedly says the just (those justified before God) shall live by their faith.
So take care against other peoples’ mental gymnastics — saving “faith” must not be twisted into being redefined as a “work.” That is, no one should turn around and say an act of believing Jesus as a requirement for salvation is now a ”work.”
Faith is of the will; it expresses the heart.
The New Testament distinguishes “faith” and “works” as two separate things.
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. – Rom 4:4
Of course the scriptures speak of a “work of faith,” (1 Ths. 1:3) but this does not say faith equals work, but rather the work is produced by faith – so they are still distinguished.
Faith is required, which is what Paul said in Romans 3:28 that confounded Luther – and it produces works, which is what James was saying in 2:24 – and Paul says works are needed elsewhere also!
‘Working out salvation’ ≠ ‘earning’ or ‘works-based’ salvation
To put a finer point on it, Paul who said we are “in Christ” (1 Cor. 1:30,31), crucified with Christ (dead to the old man in Adam (Rom. 6), and called us to “walk according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8, Gal. 5). In John 15, Jesus said “without Me you can do nothing,” but Paul also said “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)
Paul also said the salvation we “work out” is an act of submitting to God, and allowing Him to do His works in us.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. – Phil. 2:12
Without even getting into how “fear and trembling” has been redefined by modern theologians to mean nothing more than “holy reverence and awe,” we are called to abide in Christ by faith. And, by faith we live and walk in this life in Christ “who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” on the same basis as we first received Him.
By faith we walk in the Spirit. By faith our works are done in Him. Under this paradigm, God gets all the glory (1 Cor 1:31).
And, under this paradigm, we are doing works by faith with the Holy Spirit as the one who does them in us.
Thus it is no contradiction that we are not “earning” our salvation by works, but works – by faith in Christ – are required! Put bluntly, our works are done in Him, so it is not we in Adam (like the Old Testament Jews) who are doing anything.
This is what James meant when he said he would show his faith by his works!
Jesus said “without Me you can do nothing,” remember? So “we” even if doing “works” are not doing them alone. Instead, it is to be Christ in you, who is the “hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)
Grace = Empowerment ALSO
To live a life that brings glory to God, faith is essential. Again, the New Testament says, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6).
Evangelicals are taught grace is “unmerited favor” and that is true, but grace is also the power to do works we are called to do.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Eph. 2:10
To accomplish such works, the other aspect of grace is essential.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.- 1 Cor 15:10
Do you see it? The word “grace” here speaks of spiritual empowerment; enablement. A similar idea is echoed in Colossians.
To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. – Col. 1:29
It is God who “works in you” so this is not an injunction for the old man in Adam to do anything but be crucified (Rom. 6), and the new man to believe God beyond static “faith without works,” which “is dead.” (James 2:14-26).
We will have more insights further in but we’ll continue …
Salvation: Past, Present, Future
Where the “once saved always saved” teaching violates clear teaching of the scripture is extrapolating the theory that all future sins are forgiven with the same faith that someone once applied in the past to accept Jesus Christ as savior.
What can trip up some people into believing this includes the idea of “eternity” never having a beginning or end, so if “eternal life” is promised, it has no ending, and is entered into the day one is born again.
This too is true, but the New Testament says if we keep the faith, then God promises to keep us throughout this life as His precious children.
Salvation is more than “getting saved,” and the Bible indicates one continuous work of a faithful Father, and His children are told they must by faith abide in Christ, and endure to the end of life.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. – Col. 1:21-23
As he says elsewhere, the apostle Paul states what modern Christians love to emphasize: “yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight” He also however says: “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard.”
Where does God draw the line on someone who goes too far? That’s His call, and we’ll address this further in, but we are under grace, and it may be easier to determine who is in the faith and the Bible says judge nothing before the time.
Within this grace is God’s longsuffering and accounting for the possibility of a person to be hot and cold in the faith to a certain point, and with the ebbs and flows of a challenging and even troubled life. Paul addressed this in 1 Timothy 2:
11 This is a faithful saying:
For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
In verse 13 the apostle does say God is faithful, and He is! He is a faithful Father! And “He cannot deny Himself.” We are saved in Christ, the Spirit of Christ is in us, and He is faithful, but we must not take for granted what we have as we rest on the merits of Another.
Verse 12 above this also says that “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”
The balance point is ultimately the Lord’s determination. We can know God is faithful to us even if we do lose faith, so it is not like the moment you have a crisis of faith, you are lost to hell, this is God’s grace.
However, we cannot throw out the scripture that says immediately preceding it that if we do actually deny Him, He will deny us, and we are to “endure.”
We are called to endure in faith obviously – not test the limits – and we will have more on this question further in.
Pressing on then, an examination of how the word “save” is used shows Jesus saves a person so that he/she may be called “saved,” but there is also an ongoing “saving,” scripture teaches, and a final “salvation” in the end.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:9-10)
Here we see Paul speaking of being first “justified” (past) and we “shall be saved” (present and future) by His life.
His life is the uncreated “life of God.” A true Christian is given the same Spirit Jesus had, the Holy Spirit. All are told to walk according to the Spirit which is the same as Christ living in you, and you living in Christ (Jn 15). Paul clearly taught that faith was needed to receive and walk in this “life” that is also known as “the exchanged life” in which the believer gives up living for self, sin, and Satan, and surrenders to God to live in Christ by His grace and enablement. Paul the apostle summarized this “normal Christian life,” as some call it, in the epistle to the Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. – Gal 2:20
This speaks of a state of being – walking (or proceeding through life) – by faith.
Jesus also spoke of a future salvation requiring endurance:
And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. Matt 10:22
This endurance thought is echoed in Hebrews 10:36-38:
“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
“For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
It says God has no pleasure in anyone who draws back from faith – this is at least not a good place to be! Indeed, the writer of Hebrews continues:
“But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul,” (vs. 39).
“Perdition” means destruction and speaks of eternal damnation.
Hebrews 12:1,2 also says this:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We must lay aside sin, it says, “run” with endurance which speaks of a sense of urgency, and look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of this faith. He will finish what He started, but we have a part to play too – and this is faith, which is an act of the will.
Paul was the one to whom Christ fully revealed justification by faith, but Paul did affirm a vital necessity of keeping the faith, not resting only on a gift from the past. Rather, with that intact, he said we are to press on with faith.
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. – 1 Tim. 6:12
He told his protégé Timothy to fight the fight of faith in order to “lay hold on eternal life” speaking of a goal, not an accomplished past-tense and eternally present attainment.
Salvation is not just spoken of in the past as Christians mean when they say they “got saved,” but the New Testament speaks of a present, ongoing sense for those who are being saved.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – 1 Cor. 1:18
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. – 2 Cor. 2:15
At the end of his life, when Paul was about to be executed in Rome, he said he had kept the faith and therefore he could expect to go to heaven.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. – 2 Tim. 4:6
Present and Future Salvation – Faith with Works
Remember James and his “epistle of straw?”
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:14-26
James was speaking of the past faith that did save you – he would have agreed with Paul on that – but he was saying faith that does not produce works is dead. Works are a fruit of faith, but the scriptures say we are required to bear fruit, thus works.
How you parse this can lead to heated debates, but as Christian History For Everyman points out, the Apostle Paul who spoke of “justification by faith” also spoke of works as what we’d be judged by.
With reference to salvation in the future tense, Paul consistently speaks of works.
For this you know: that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Eph. 5:5
The word “works” is not stated, but the context is clear the conduct of the person is to be measured determining whether a man has an inheritance in the kingdom of God. There is no “by faith alone” here, and other verses say the same.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad. – 2. Cor. 5:10
[God] will repay every man according to his works. To those who seek after glory, honor, and immortality by patiently continuing to do good, [he will repay] eternal life. – Rom 2:6,7
He that sows to the Spirit shall reap everlasting life from the Spirit. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap [eternal life], if we do not faint. – Gal 6:8-9
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. – 1 Cor. 9:27
Note the great apostle says after he preached to others, if he lapsed, he could be a “castaway.”
In the future tense, Paul always refers to the life of Christ working in us — by the Spirit and by grace — and he always refers to works as required.
The apostle also speaks of consequences of not doing right. Paul is absolutely consistent on the life of faith for a Christian requiring works, and the New Testament gives many more scriptures besides exhorting, encouraging – and warning – God’s people to obey and do His will.
This article includes many such scriptures throughout, and an honest heart will prayerfully contemplate these before God.
Christians are not exempt from judgment for their actions. Christ’s “life” is to enable us to do well. Yes we have grace to find our way, and catch us if we fall, provide forgiveness when we repent, but if we willfully and persistently sin or utterly abandon godly pursuits and life, then what?
No where does it say we may deliberately and continually sin, live as to ourselves, and we are instead called to seek the fullness of God’s Spirit to live this life, and we’ll have more on this below.
What’s Salvation About?
Let’s pause a moment and get clearer on salvation. It is a free gift. We shall be saved by faith through Christ if we hold fast, but why did God give it to us?
It is part of this website’s namesake, the “eternal purpose” that God loved us, and wanted us. And, He wanted to bring about a pure, spotless, virgin bride for His Son Jesus. There will be a “marriage feast of the Lamb.”
This is a deep spiritual mystery, Paul said (Eph. 5:32), and not a base or crass question for self-focused carnally minded people to fight over, but we should have more reverence here.
Salvation is actually an entering into a life with its aim in view of living a life that is “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). As David the psalmist also spoke of being sheltered under the Lord’s wings, we are expected by our Father to grow under His care and providing in the grace He has bestowed. It is not a static or passive existence, but a very active one in which we, as alive from the dead, “present yourselves a living sacrifice.” (Rom. 12:1)
There is an upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The path of the just grows brighter and brighter. We are called not to remain babes or immature, but to grow up; to know God, know His voice, obey and love Him in all things.
God can demand this because He at the Cross gave us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).
It bears repeating that God can expect this because really, He is not trusting us – as the Old man in Adam. Rather, He asks us to do His whole will because He is trusting Himself – His own Spirit planted in the believer whose job is to only obey and take this calling absolutely seriously.
If a Christian believes God, trust, and obeys, he may be enabled to know what Paul meant when he said “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)
The earmarks of a godly Christian life – a right one “well pleasing” to God could be much more extensively outlined – comes down to a core motive of loving God, dying to the self life and its will, and doing what God says without reservation. It involves trusting Him and accepting His account of things in accordance with the New Testament as His Spirit deals in our heart and life with anything that would interfere in the mission.
The “Royal Law,” says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
Salvation makes this – and keeping Jesus’ and the apostles’ commands – possible by giving us Christ’s own life in us to live a life the Old Man could never live.
Paul said: “The love of Christ constrains me,” and we are to be known for our godly love that transcends earthly standards or ability of the flesh of man to produce.
People who come to the question of “can a person lose their salvation” will want to take care what their heart motives are.
Your motives ought to be first to love God, and to know Him. John equated “eternal life” not with only having said a sinner’s prayer and “getting saved” but in knowing God!
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. – John 17:3
The carnal mind may however be more interested in self-preservation and personal gratification, but this is never taught by scriptures as a primary focus of Jesus’ sheep. Yes, God promises great and wonderful things for eternity to His children, but He always addresses their heart intent.
Such a God wants intimate close spirit-to-spirit oneness with His children. He does not want selfish flesh-minded people to remain self-interested –– seeing salvation primarily as a ticket to escape hell and have pleasure.
(Note “pleasure” can include self-focused worship that even though it reaches to God, is reveling in how it makes one feel, and thus can be primarily self-pleasing in focus. Such a spirit is at best immature, and at worst selfish and soulish, and not really Christ-centered even though it names Christ. God may be long-suffering over this, but we ought to not stay there indefinitely. We ought rather to seek God to work real love in us; agape in spirit and truth.)
When Jesus was resurrected, the Father sent His Spirit to the Christians to teach, help, guide, and give that “life” that Paul spoke of, and Jesus did too.
He gave His all, and He wants us to give our all in return – and He is here to enable that!
Abide in Christ
Remember that “faith” this article has been discussing? The purpose is to abide in Christ. Real “eternal security” is hiding ourselves in Christ as touched on in the section above, not some static belief sans fruit or inward witness.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. – John 15:5-8
Jesus says we can do nothing apart from Him, and this is done by abiding. He says to one who does not abide in Him, that person would be “cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Abiding is spiritual unity with God. Spiritual oneness is what Jesus prayed would be possible just before He went to the Cross.
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. – John 17:20,21
In His mercy and love, the Lord uses metaphors in simple language that speak of deep eternal spiritual realities that begin now in time. He may interchange “abiding,” with “walk” with “hide” in Christ. It speaks of unity in the spirit in the bond of peace which we are to know with our Lord, as well as with His people.
Abiding in Christ is not just theological verbiage. Nor is it casually lived or known by one not properly postured in heart and spirit. The term gets bandied about loosely by people who speak of a precious truth they may demonstrate they barely know in living reality. Take care Christian!
By this, we may walk in victory over sin inherited from the Adamic nature.
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. – John 8:35.36
The New Testament does not say abiding is optional.
“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” – 2 John 2:4-6
Abiding is one and the same as to “walk in the Spirit” and then we shall not “fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. – Gal. 5:16
Abiding is thus a transcendent state requiring trust, childlike faith, surrender, believing, wanting God, knowing God – truly, not just with a mind that studies Him like any other subject.
There are levels of this, but a bare minimum would require having the inner witness of God’s Spirit that we are children of His.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. – Rom. 8:15-17
You see, “salvation” and “being saved” is a delicate balance of conditions. It is all of God from start to finish. Luther was right about faith, but he threw the baby out with the bathwater on conditions beyond the mere entering by the Door (Jesus).
Once we are “in Christ” we must stay in Christ by faith, and with all the conditions of heart. He Himself works in us to do this.
How Can One Lose His Salvation?
The New Testament speaks many warnings, exhortations, and commands that we may only do as we are enabled to in Christ.
Ideally, it speaks to people in the context of a local church in keeping with the spirit of the church in the time in which the New Testament was written.
We as sheep must distinguish the Master’s voice from the many false teachings of the world, and evil spirits.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one. – John 10:27-30
This scripture often gets used as a proof text for eternal security. But while it is true “neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand,” He did not say a person could not willfully step out of His hand.
Abandoning the faith is a serious no-no, as are sins we shall be judged for unless we repent.
It is a requirement of the will – to walk in Christ as you received His salvation, by faith.
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. – Col. 2:6
Given Christians are under grace, and God is sovereign and the perfect Judge, it is not as clear, particularly on certain fine-point case examples what the Lord will judge in the final Judgement, but sin is not to be trifled with.
The New Testament says we shall be judged at the judgment seat of Christ and our one “security” is to hide ourselves in Him now, in this lifetime. If we abide in Him, He keeps us.
If we stray, and live in sin, God remains a faithful Father, He has been known to bring people back to repentance, but it is lunacy to take chances with this grace.
The New Testament spells out many sins and says those who practice such will “not inherit” “eternal life,” or “the kingdom of God,” but instead “corruption.”
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. – Galatians 5:19-21, 6:7,8
Even just the sin of unforgiveness, if maintained, could mean God does not forgive in return, and could at worst lead to hell.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matt. 6:14-15
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. – Mark 11:25</blockquote >
And, hatred in the heart – which can be a kissing cousin to unforgiveness – is likened to murder.
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. – 1 John 3:15
To take a chance that God will wink at the day of judgment and extend grace is to play Russian roulette with your eternal life.
Actually, if you have a revolver, it may be like playing Russian roulette with five bullets out of six. Other Bible teachers have said it is guaranteed spiritual suicide and God must judge you.
We are inclined to believe so too, but draw the line in saying God is sovereign. It is true He “knows the heart” and He is the infinitely just Judge. Paul said he would not judge himself before the time, and we “see in part and know in part” and only the righteous God knows all.
A wise person however knows pushing the limits is for fools.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. – Heb. 10:31
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. – Matt. 10:28
How far one can push God’s grace is NOT something anyone wants to find out the hard way! Nor is it even the point of why God sent the “Just to die for the unjust.”
Again, people who think of doing the bare minimum are thinking wrongly already!
Salvation was never offered on the condition as an insurance policy so people could go on sinning, but grace is the space God gives as unmerited favor to come to their Creator!
See: How Christians May Pray Deeper It is to be a life union. Where is your heart in this? If your heart is for God, that is a good sign, but it is not all God wants.He wants us seek His face, and learn what it means to abide deeper and deeper in Him, and not be dishonest with the truth. Paul says loving the truth is a condition needed to keep us safe, as he spoke in context of the great falling away
[A}nd with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. – 1 Thess. 2:10,12
More Warnings
With all this said, following are scriptures that can make sense if you take the blinders off that selectively cherry pick verses, and exclude verses that don’t seem to apply to Christians.
Such a “doctrinal filter” shows what a poison false teaching can be – it can be lethal or at very least does not create a sense of urgency to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”
God is gracious, longsuffering and kind, not willing that any should perish, but He wants us to press in and “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Bear in mind also –– the time of the early church was brutal. Historical accounts indicate some abiding Christians did not fear death by martyrdom – their writings show they could actually glory in it!
They were kept by the power of God, but the one thing that could frighten a person who did not fear death of the body is the “second death” of the spirit in hell.
To such a people, in such a time, the Lord told the church in Smyrna their faith would be tested by persecution. Some have taken these as prophetic and symbolic, but this was a historic church and a specific word from Jesus:
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’ – Rev. 2:10-11
Jesus warned “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” This word was to Christians. Jesus did not write in the eternal Word this warning to those who were already spiritually dead. He told them to be “faithful until death” which is to His sheep.
Do not let anyone explain away this verse to you. We must accept all the scriptures, and it is the Holy Spirit who brings them alive in the proper context.
Jesus did die for His sheep, but sin that sent Him to the Cross is not now OK! God is righteous, and He says “be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16)
This is what He said to Israel:
But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. – Eze. 18:24
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the New Testament also says the righteous (Christians) are “scarcely saved.”
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? – 1 Pet. 4:17
Early Church Fathers
By now you may see that “once saved always saved” as currently taught is an invention of the Protestant Reformation? It actually may also be a revival of ancient heresy the Bible alludes to in its warnings about false teachers (2 Pet 2:18. Jude 1:4).
More certain is it was the Gnostics (heretics) who believed one could never lose his salvation, but this was not taught in the beginning by the true church following the spotless’ doctrine.
As it is, people during the Reformation were coming out of darkness, and while they did seek the truth they did not restore it in full. Sadly, formerly blinded Catholics could not fully grasp all the Bible says, and made things an either/or equation, or succumbed to seeing certain verses as being unequivocal when the whole Bible speaks of many conditions, and a balance or truths –- ultimately spiritually discerned.
Everyone likes nice easy answers. Everyone wants to feel safe. God does offer security but not without limits. Jesus said we are to utterly die to self, take up our cross and follow Him.
Accept No Substitutes!
Believe it or not, we cut around 2,000 words from this monumental-length article, and more could be brought to support the truth, but it is vital you see it!
We’ll end this with quotes from early Christians wrote on the notion of unconditional eternal security:
We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation. Otherwise, the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, may hurl us forth from our life. . . . The whole past time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger. . . . Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called, we fall asleep in our sins. For then, the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, will thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. . . . And you should pay attention to this all the more, my brothers, when you reflect on and see that even after such great signs and wonders had been performed in Israel, they were still abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found to be, as it is written, the “many who are called,” but not the “few who are chosen.” Epistle of Barnabas – (c. 70-130), 1.138, 139.
[Written to Christians:] Since all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him and forsake those wicked works that proceed from evil desires. By doing that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For where can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Clement of Rome (c. 96), 1.12.
The apostates and traitors of the church have blasphemed the Lord in their sins. Moreover, they have been ashamed of the name of the Lord by which they were called. These persons, therefore, at the end were lost unto God. Hermas (c. 150), 2.41.
I hold further, that those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation [i.e., the Mosaic Law], and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death—you will by no means be saved. Justin Martyr (c. 160), 1.218.
Knowing that what preserves his life, namely, obedience to God, is good, he may diligently keep it with all earnestness. . . . Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons. Irenaeus (c. 180), 1.522, 525.
He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the Gospel not turn back, like Lot’s wife, as is said—even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation. And let him not go back either to his former life (which adheres to the things of sense) or to heresies. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), 2.550.
God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning the past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out. For only the Father is the one who is able to undo what is done. . . . So even in the case of one who has done the greatest good deeds in his life, but at the end has run headlong into wickedness, all his former pains are profitless to him. For at the climax of the drama, he has given up his part. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), 2.602.
The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins. Tertullian (c. 198), 3.673.
Some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised [to give]. So they turn His liberality into His slavery. . . . For do not many afterward fall out of [grace]? Is not the gift taken away from many? These, no doubt, are they who, . . . after approaching to the faith of repentance, build on the sands a house doomed to ruin. Tertullian (c. 203), 3.661.
A man may possess an acquired righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away. Origen (c. 225), 4.266.
It is clear that the devil is driven out in baptism by the faith of the believer. But he returns if the faith should afterwards fail. Cyprian (c. 250), 5.402.
No one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end. Tertullian (c. 197), 3.244.
