There is a school of thought that says that a Christian cannot lose his/her salvation even if he/she turns away from Jesus. For them, this is an important and non-negotiable principle.
But, is that what the Bible teaches?
Each side of this debate can quote scriptures that appear to support their position. And people on both sides can be equally desirous of faithfully understanding the scriptures. However, the views are irreconcilable; we cannot say both that a Christian cannot lose his/her salvation and that he/she can.
Personally, I think there are many passages that teach that a person can lose his/her salvation. The counter-view seems to be built on an over-inflated understanding of grace (i.e. God is so gracious he will save even the apostate). They explain passages about people falling away by saying "Well, they cannot have been real Christians in the first place".
I believe the Bible teaches that it is not about starting the race, but finishing the race (Matthew 24:13).
But what do you see in the Bible?
To be clear, "losing one's salvation" necessarily refers to a person who has genuinely trusted in Jesus and has been born again. Can that person lose his/her salvation?
John 10:28-29: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
Romans 8:29-30: For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:31-39: Several threats are listed but Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14: When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
Philippians 1:6: He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
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John 5:24: Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 6:37-40: All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Romans 11:29: ...for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
This verse refers to God's ongoing love for the Jews but is the principle more generally true?
2 Timothy 2:13: if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
But note that this follows directly v.12 that says, "if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
Hebrews 7:25: Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
1 Peter 1:3-5: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 John 5:13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Matthew 10:22: You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Also Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:19.
These verses are in the context of persecution. Is Jesus stating a general principle that endurance is necessary for salvation or an encouragement to those being persecuted to stand firm because, at the end, that will be saved? What if they do not stand firm?
Matthew 24:10-13: At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
John 15:1-6: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Romans 11:22: Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Galatians 5:2-4: Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13: Paul says that we should take warning from the the Exodus story. He emphasises that the whole community experienced deliverance, even to the point of saying they drank from the rock that was Christ, but most died in the desert because God was not happy with them.
[Note that this follows immediately after 1 Cor 9:27 where Paul talks about himself possibly being disqualified. We are to take warning from the example of the Israelites. The warnings lead to 10:12: So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ]
1 Corinthians 15:1-2: Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
2 Corinthians 13:5: Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
[The Greek word translated "fail the test" is the same one used in 1 Cor 9:27 where Paul talks about himself being disqualified.]
Colossians 1:21-23: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
1 Timothy 1:18-20: Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
1 Timothy 2:12: If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.
1 Timothy 4:1: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Hebrews 6:4-6: It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrews 10:19-39: This whole passage is a call to persevere. It says we have confidence to come into the presence of God but calls us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (v.23) and to spur one another one (v.24). If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, we must expect judgement (26-27).
V.29 says, "How much more severely do you think those deserve to be punished who have trampled the Son of God underfoot, who have treated as a an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who have insulted the Spirit of grace? [Note that they have been sanctified by Jesus' blood.]
v.36: You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
v.39 speaks of those who shrink back and are destroyed.
James 5:19-20: My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
2 Peter 1:10-11: Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 2:20-22: If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
2 Peter 3:17-18: Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
1 John 1:6-7: If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. [Note the condition: if we walk in the light...]
Revelation 3:5: The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. (Suggests the possibility of being blotted from the book of life for those not victorious.)
Ezekiel 18:24-29: “But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Perseverance is possible the main theme of the whole book of Hebrews and also 1 Peter.
Examples of people who seem to have lost their salvation.
Hymenaeus and Alexander. See 1 Timothy 1:19-20 above.
Demas: Described as Paul's fellow worker in Colossians 4:14 but is later described as having loved the world and deserted Paul (2 Tim 4:10) (although that does not explicitly say that he had lost his salvation).
Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8). Simon "believed and was baptised" but, after having thought he could buy the gift of God with money, Peter warned him that his heart was not right with God and that he should repent and pray in the hope that God might forgive him.
The people of Hebrews 6:4-6 above.
The Ephesian church who had lost their first love and were in danger of having their lampstand removed (Revelation 2:4-5).
The Israelites who escaped Egypt. The Exodus is often seen as a type of the Christian life. They were delivered from slavery (c.f. being born again), endured struggles but eventually entered the Promised Land. Crossing the Jordan into the Promised land has been seen as representing dying and entering heaven. But the Jews who escaped Egypt did not (with two exceptions) enter the Promised Land. This is what 1 Corinthians 10 (above) warns us about.
The Jewish people. The Jews are the Chosen People, a people with whom God established covenants, but have rejected (by and large) the Messiah.
Romans 11 addresses this saying that, while there is a remnant, some Jews are branches that have been broken off because of unbelief. He warns the Roman Christians to tremble, conscious that they too could be broken off.
While not explicit, consider also Judas, King Saul, Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).
Parables that seem to speak of people who have been saved but loose it.
The Sower: Three lots of seed sprouted and began. Two of them gave up because of hardship or distractions.
The Vine and Branches (John 15:1-8): Unproductive branches are removed from the vine. Those branches are thrown into the fire and burned. The emphasis is on remaining in Jesus, meaning that these people have started in Jesus. The evidence of our discipleship is our bearing much fruit.
Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13): Can be interpreted differently but all ten were initially part of the wedding party and had oil at the beginning.
Stewardship parables: Servants of the master who do nothing, or who stop serving, are confined to hell with very graphic language.
See Matthew 21:33-41; 24:454-51; 25:14-30; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48; 19:11-27
How are we to understand the teaching of scripture when there seem to be conflicting passages? What is our method for hearing what God is saying?
Can a Christian lose his/her salvation?
How should we relate to those who come to a different conclusion?
Is It True For Christians That "Once Saved, Always Saved"? - Dr Roger Barrier (CrossWalk)
Personal note: I find this article so weak that it persuades me of the opposite. Dr Barrier cites various passages about people falling away from Jesus but, somehow, concludes that it cannot happen. What do you think?
Eternal Security Or Faithful Faith? - Bobby Harrington (Renew.org)
Offers a good overview of the different positions. Argues that a person can lose his/her faith
There are equally devout people on both sides of this debate, all seeking to be faithful to the scriptures. A person's conclusions will not cause me to doubt their salvation nor to reject them. We are likely to agree on 99% of things. I respect people who want to be faithful to the scriptures. Some of the people I respect most, have a different view than I have on this issue.
Obviously too, those on either side of the debate know the scriptures that are going to be quoted to them, and they have answers. in that sense, there is no scripture that is incontrovertible. There is room for disagreement. And most arguments, whatever their strengths, also have weaknesses.
However, I do have my own view on what the Bible teaches.
It seems to me that most of the passages quoted to defend eternal security speak of the faithfulness of God protecting the Christian and preserving his/her inheritance. God's will is that everyone is saved. He will work to enable the Christian.
Secondly, those passages say that no external force will be able to capture the Christian. No one can snatch the Christian out of God's hand. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God. Again, this talks about the faithfulness of God. God will hold onto His children and no one can defeat God. In that sense, we are secure and we can have assurance.
But that leaves a question: Can that Christian turn his/her back on God?
In my understanding, there are too many scriptures that talk about the possibility of losing one's salvation to say that that is not possible. If some people have lost their salvation, then clearly it is possible. The presence of strong warnings in the Bible shows that there is something to be warned against, and those warnings should be taken very, very seriously.
Even if we could not resolve the issue, wisdom would dictate that the possibility of losing one's salvation should motivate us to avoid that possibility at all costs.
It seems to me there are two lessons. The first is that God is absolutely faithful and His will is that all people are saved. That should assure us, especially when we fail. God is willing to forgive. He does desire our salvation. He will continue to work to get us to the finishing line.
The second lesson is that we can turn our backs on God and, if we do, we like many before us, can walk away from our salvation. If that is true, then once saved does not mean always saved.
What would we have to do to lose our salvation? I think the answer is stop following Jesus. There is no suggestion that one sin will cause us to lose our salvation, or even a series of sins. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). But, if we turn away from God so that sin does not distress us and we do not confess it to seek forgiveness, then we would seem to have not only chosen to no longer follow Jesus but we have rejected the forgiveness made possible by His death on the Cross. It is not failure that disqualifies us; it is choosing to go our own way, not God's way.
The common response to the passages that seem to indicate that people have lost their salvation, and to the people we know who seemed to be following Jesus and then abandoned Him, is that their defection shows they were not really Christians in the first place. That is based on 1 John 2:19: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
My first concern is that many of the passages cited indicate that the people involved had been genuinely part of the family of God. Hebrews 6:4-5 labours the point: "those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age". Many of the other passages, likewise. The branches are removed from the vine; it is not that they were never part of the vine. Look again at those passages. The indications consistently are that the people believed and were united with Jesus but then turned away.
My second concern is that it is an almost circular argument.
"A person appears in every way to be a Christian but then abandons his faith; that shows he was never really a Christian."
"On what basis do you say that he wasn't a Christian? How do you know that?"
"Well, because Christians cannot lose their faith."
That does not prove the argument; it simply repeats it. It is a little like me saying that all pigs are pink. You reply, "But here is a black pig", to which I reply, "Then it isn't a pig because all pigs are pink".
To the person saying that the backslider was never really a Christian, I might be tempted to ask, "What, in your mind, does indicate that a person really is a Christian? Is perseverance a key requirement?"
1 John 2:19 simply indicates that the particular people John was referring to had never really been a part of the church. It doesn't say that everybody who leaves a church was never a Christian.
What do you find convincing in this video?
What do you find unconvincing?
Hebrews 6 4-6 is one of the key passages in this discussion. Do you find the arguments in this video compelling?
Note that the speaker starts with the assumption that a Christian cannot lose his/her salvation so he comes to the question with his mind already made up.
But, what do you think of his arguments regarding how to interpret this passage?
How convincing do you find this?