You Can Not Lose Your Salvation And The Bible Verses Which Support It
I have spent 30 years, assuring others of the doctrine “once saved, always saved”. This doctrine is also known as “Eternal Security”. This blog will help point you to the Bible verses which support it, so that you can know “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”.
Want to be part of a real Christian revival? Pass on this post to your friends and loved ones.
Eternal or Temporal?
Think about it, if eternal life was not eternal, it would be called “temporal life”.John 3:16says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life“.
Eternal life and eternal security are the essence of the New Covenant. The authors of the New Covenant wanted to assure us that once we are saved, we are always saved. But unfortunately, there are many pastors, teachers and bloggers, who teach that this doctrine is erroneous and provides a false comfort and a deceitful feeling of security. Ugh.
For a Christian to lose their salvation, God would have to erase the mark on a Christian, withdraw His Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, lie, revoke the guarantee, remove the gift, and keep His inheritance.
Salvation Defined
And guess what Adam and Eve did? Yep, they did exactly what God told Adam not to do. That day, the whole human race was given a spiritual death sentence.
In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul again writes….
That is the bad news.
From Death to Life
Can it get anymore clearer than that?
Raising Them Up On The Last Day Is Not Only For The Christians
It is true that all people will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. The wicked will be judged and cast into eternal damnation and the righteous into eternal life but in the context of what Jesus is speaking, of the ones raised are only the believers. Please take a look at the following verses:
- No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day, .
- He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, .
In John 6:44 Jesus is talking of those who come to him. Those are believers. In John 6:54 he says that those who have eternal life He will raise on the last day. Therefore, the context is speaking of the believers resurrection to glory.
Can You Lose Your Salvation If So God Would Have To Reverse What He Has Already Done And Planned
- They are reborn
- A new believer is regenerated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:17You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
You May Like: Lovers Of Themselves Kjv
Of Interpreting The Bible
Calvinism generally uses the former passages to arrive at the doctrine of unconditional eternal security and proceed to interpret the latter passages in that light i.e. they argue that since the Bible clearly teaches eternal security, those latter passages cannot be teaching otherwise. They very often come up with the most feeble and dishonest interpretations of those scriptures.
Arminianism does much of the same. They arrive at their interpretation of the latter passages, and then question the traditional interpretation of the former passages.
I consider myself to be somewhere in between. The problem with both Calvinism and Arminianism is that they are man-made attempts to create a self-consistent system of beliefs regarding salvation and eternal security. They are self-consistent in that they do not contradict themselves, but there are numerous scriptures that contadict them.
I prefer a position that fairly considers all the relevant scriptures, even if it is not logically self-consistent.
Essentially Calvinism and Arminianism formulate their theology like this:
Theology Parts of Scripture the rest of scripture
This is how I formulate my theology:
All of Scripture Theology
I prefer to give all the scriptures honest consideration, and let the chips fall however they may. Scripture trumps theology.
Conditions Are Often Implied
Scriptures like John 10:28,29 etc. emphatically teach Gods sustaining power. This is a favorite scripture of Calvinism to argue that Christians cannot lose their salvation under any circumstance. In those two verses, there are no conditions attached, so Calvinism readily latches on to that fact to teach that eternal security is unconditional. But because a condition is not expressly stated, does not mean that a condition is not implied. God makes promises both with and without expressly mentioning conditions.
Deuteronomy 33:27,28God says to the people of Asher, The eternal Godwill drive out your enemy before you, saying, Destroy him! So Israel will live in safety alone Jacobs spring is secure in a land of grain and new wine where the heavens drop dew.
The promise is presented as if there were no strings attached. Earlier in the book, however, God lays down stringent conditions for receiving such blessing and protection . There is no contradiction here. The promises are to be understood in the light of conditions, even in those places where the conditions go unmentioned.
John 10:28-29 does not eliminate the free moral agency of man. It is inconsistent to suggest that someone may willingly come to Christ but not willingly depart. Or that someone can be saved, then not able to draw back because God would not let him. God would drag him to heaven screaming and kicking.
You May Like: Old Testament Stories In Chronological Order
Does God The Father Fail
If some of the ones that are given to Jesus by the Father end up being lost, then wouldnt that mean God the Father himself failed because some of the ones the Father decided to give to the Son for the Son to keep ended up being lost? Doesnt the Father, in all his omniscience, know who to give to the Son so that they will not be lost? And, does the Father also know that the Son will accomplish His will and not lose any? Of course, he does. Does not the Son know how to carry out the will of the Father and keep those given to Him? Of course, he does. So, to say that some of the ones given to the Son by God the Father will be lost is to accuse God the Father of making a mistake in his judgment of whom to trust with those he has chosen to have eternal life.
Do you see the humongous problem that is laid at the feet of those who would say that they can lose their salvation by saying they have to keep the law and/or remain faithful? The verses that were talking about here speak of the work and the will of God the Father giving to the Son a special group of people and not giving others to Him. If they can be lost, then Jesus failed to do the will of God the Father and it would also mean God the Father made a mistake in giving those to the Son for safekeeping.
Not Everyone Who Calls Jesus Lord Lord Will Make It Into Heaven
This next powerful verse is coming direct from Jesus Himself. He specifically states that not everyone who calls Him Lord, Lord is going to make it into heaven, but only those who do the will of God the Father.
The key word in this verse is the word will the will of God the Father. What is the will of God the Father?
One of His definite wills is that we stay out of serious sin, especially some of the specific sins mentioned in the above two verses.
When Jesus is using the words of those calling Him Lord, Lord is He referring to Christians or nonbelievers?
I personally believe that He may be referring to Christians. How can you truly call Jesus Lord, Lord unless you have become saved and born again by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior.
If Jesus is specifically referring to Christians with this phrase, then this is another verse that is showing that a Christian could possibly lose their salvation.
Once you have become saved, and then you go back and start to enter into some of these heavier sin areas which would be going against the will of God the Father then I believe you could be in danger of losing your own personal salvation with the Lord.
I believe this verse is also telling us that God will not be mocked! You cannot accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and then turn around and start to enter into some of these heavier sin areas and then think you can get away with it and that God will just look the other way.
Here is the verse:
Don’t Miss: What Does The Bible Say About Cremation Of The Body
The Key Term In 1 Corinthians : 27 Is Disqualified
The key term in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is the word disqualified which is the opposite of the word qualified or approved.
The Greek word used in the biblical texts which use this word is dokimos. The word approved is a good translation of this Greek word, but it can also be translated as acceptable or pleasing.
What is most important is that the word was often used in connection with money. The ancient world did not have paper money, but used coins as currency. The precious metals used for these coins were melted down and poured into molds. Once the metal cooled, the coins would be put into circulation. Some people, however, would shave the edges off these coins so they could take the shavings and make additional coins.
But since the coins were valued based on weight, such a practice would reduce the value of the coins that had been shaved. This was such a problem that during one year in Athens, over 80 laws were passed to try and stop the practice of coin shaving.
Not surprisingly, there were people who had the job of examining coins to make sure they had the proper weight. If you were selling something for 10 silver coins, and you suspected that you were getting paid with shaved coins, you could take your coins to this person and have them weigh the coins to make sure that they were the proper weight.
This helps us understand several of the New Testament texts where God is described as the dokimos of men.
But this is not what the word means at all.
Back To The Original Question
So what about the Christian who sins and dies before he can repent? If the person is genuinely saved, then his sin is not going to affect his salvation . The only factor determining whether he goes to heaven is whether he is a genuine Christian or not. As long as he is a genuine believer, he does not have to worry about losing his salvation because of sinful acts.
If you are unclear how to identify a genuine Christian, please check out my other article addressing that subject.
Also Check: What The Bible Says About Being Rich
What Are The Arguments For Losing Your Salvation
Although the Bible presents a solid scriptural ground for the security of the believer, there are biblical passages that have caused the newest baby Christian and the most educated theologian to tread carefully. These verses offer strong warnings about apostasy and the hazards of falling away from the faith .
Many believers have hung their hats on these scriptures as proof that we can lose our salvation. Others contend that these verses refer to those who made a simple profession of faith but were never born again. No easy answer exists for many of these questions. Scripture does, however, make it clear we need to study the Word without ceasing so as not to be swayed by teachings that could pull us away from our faith, explains Hope Bolinger in What Is Apostasy?
To take these challenging verses lightly or explain them away haphazardly would be a mistake. Were told in 2 Timothy 3:16 that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, not just the passages that affirm our doctrinal beliefs. Throughout history, great men and women of the faith, skilled in hermeneutics and devoted to rightly dividing the Word of God, have vehemently disagreed about the interpretation of these scriptures. In fact, the verses in question have become the ink by which denominational boundary lines are drawn.
Anchor Of Our Assurance
This leaves, I think, only one key question that people always have and should have: Well, what about people who are in the church? They have been deacons or elders, and they look like they were saved in college. Here they are five years later, and they have thrown it all away. Some of them die in that condition. What about them?
I think there are two key verses that people should think about long and hard. First John 2:19: They went out from us, but they were not of us for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. The words of us in that verse surely mean born again with us, grafted into Christ with us and they werent. They looked like they were. They said some of the right things. They had tasted . . . the powers of the age to come . But they were not born of God.
You will wake up a Christian tomorrow morning because God is faithful.
Additionally, Hebrews 6 is a big stumbling block for people about the kinds of spiritual experiences a person can have and still be lost. But Hebrews 3:14, I think, is an absolute key verse in that book: We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Recommended Reading: Do Not Be Afraid Bible Verse 365
A Sin Leading To Death
This next verse is very interesting. It talks about a sin that could lead to death and a sin that will not lead to death. I believe the word death could be referring to the deaths of our souls once we die and cross cover, which would mean going straight to hell when we die. Again, is this verse referring to Christians?
If it is, then it is definitely delineating between certain types of sins. It is implying that some sins are obviously worse than others. Some of these sins could cause us to lose our salvation and other types of sins will not. Here is the verse:
There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
God will obviously be the final judge on what sins could lead to death and which ones will not. But again, as a Christian, I would not want to be tempting my eternal fate with God the Father by engaging in some of the heavier sins mentioned in the above verses, thinking that He will look the other way just because we got saved earlier on in our lives.
Does Revelation 2: 19 Show Us That A Person Can Lose Their Salvation As Some Are Teaching
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Q: Does Revelation 22:19 show us that a person can lose their Salvation as some are teaching?
A:No.
In this verse we see the book of life is mentioned. It also states God shall take away the persons part from the Book of Life. So it is a Salvation issue to be sure. The question is, does this apply to believers?
First, notice that it does not say if any believer or if any brethren shall take away the words. No it states if ANY MAN shall take away. So this applies to ANYONE, not just believers.
Second, this verse does not state if any man take away any words from the entire Bible We see here that this verse of warning is very specific to the words of the book of THIS prophecy. This is a warning about changing the words in the Book of Revelation in specific. The Book of Revelation has very specific language and imagery that can only be understood by comparing other Scriptures in the Bible to it. It is then that we can get clearer pictures of what it is saying in the prophecies for the end times in particular. Change the words, and the meaning can be said to be anything a person wants. As with all Scripture, God preserves His Word!
Recommended Reading: What Does The Bible Say About Isolation
Final Note Regarding The Comments
This post has generated some theological controversy. While comments arewelcome, please remember that if you make a theological argument withoutsupporting it from the Bible, you really havent made much of an argument youve only stated an unsubstantiated opinion. Please support each majortheological point you make with scripture. If you dont, I reserve the right toedit or delete your post.