There is an age-old debate as to whether a person can lose their salvation, once they’ve truly been saved. Well-intending people are on both sides of the fence. However, one view can be used to control, the other can be used to assure.
If you’re a true believer and you wonder if you’re still secure, what must you do? How will you ever know if you’ve been good enough? Our salvation is not based upon anything that we’ve done or will do – it is based solely upon what Jesus has already done for us on the cross. He took our sins: past, present and future and nailed them to the cross, in order to provide forgiveness. He doesn’t get back up on the cross again every single time that we mess up! There is not a thing that any of us can do that will catch Him by surprise.
Those who teach that a person can lose their salvation like to refer to Hebrews 6:4-6, where it says “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” Enlightened, tasted and shared are not the same as salvation. (How many people do you think sit in a church service every Sunday, yet are not saved?) Also, those verses merely address repentance, not salvation.
Another thing to consider: where the verse says “if they fall away.” Do these proponents of an ability to lose your salvation believe that any of Jesus’ 12 Apostles are safe? Because, in Mark 14:27, it says that all 12 will fall away!
Read through Ephesians 1:13-14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having 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 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 11:29 “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”
2 Corinthians 5:5 says “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
In John 10:27-30, Jesus says that those who believe are His sheep and states twice that no one can snatch them from His hands. (That includes us.)
1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. “
In Revelation 3:8, Jesus says “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”
Those who believe that you can lose your salvation must exclude even the Apostle Paul from Heaven, as well as the other Apostles, as indicated above! If those guys aren’t there, then what chance could we possibly have? Come on! Just read what Paul wrote in Romans 7:15-25! Kind of sounds a little bit like me…and if you’re honest, probably you, too.
Remember Satan’s question to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Did God really say…?” Why would you want to listen to those who try to put a question mark where God has put a period? On the cross, Christ said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) We should believe what He actually said and not make up our own conditional rules.