This is a pretty deep conversation and usually brings with it deep emotions from the participants. So in the spirit of levity, let me just say that we don’t, for example, lose our salvation the way we lose our car keys. Like, “Oh man, I’ve lost my salvation! Where did it go?!” [Wife asks:] “Did you check the sofa cushions?”
My first point in this discussion is that no one can take our salvation from us. It is a free gift between our Creator and us that no creature can come and remove from us. Not Satan, or any other entity can come between you and your God. How do we know this? There are verses that speak to the eternal gift of salvation, offered through faith. The Lord said:
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
(John 10:28-30, NLT)
He is saying that no third party can come in and wreck your faith. Plus, the gift has no time limit; it is eternal.
My second point is that our salvation is not dependent upon our performance. We cannot earn our salvation through performance (or deeds), and we cannot maintain our salvation through performance either. Therefore, our salvation will not be taken from us by way of not performing up to a standard. It is all based on faith.
This concept is very foreign to anyone in any religious system that is built upon a performance and reward ethic. And since every religion that I can think of is predicated upon some performance and reward system, there is no religious system that is valid before God in making us “right” with him. Christianity, if done right, is not a religion, but a relationship. It should not be based on performance and reward.
Rather, our relationship with God is based (in part) on our attitude toward Him. A particular attitude is not synonymous with performance. Here is the breakdown on becoming right with God:
- Acknowledge that you are imperfect and in need of some help from God in this regard.
- Acknowledge that God became a man (Jesus) and that His death on the cross was to satisfy God’s need for justice regarding the human race (one person at a time).
- Realize that this sacrifice that Jesus made (by way of His death) is the only thing that will satisfy God’s need for justice, and that it is completely sufficient for that. There is nothing else that any human can do to add to or take away from that sacrifice of atonement.
- Ask that His sacrifice be credited to you before God.
- Give yourself over to Jesus in return for His atonement for your imperfection. Let Him be your Master (Owner) over you for the rest of your existence.
- That’s it.
Notice that nothing above requires any particular performance on your part. The reward (a right relationship with God) is based entirely on the sacrifice of Jesus.
I truly believe that the gift of salvation is eternal, based on faith in the cross of Christ. If we attempt to supplant our faith with our own goodness, we are in danger of wrecking our relationship with God.
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law [or religion].
(Galatians 5:1, NLT, comment added)
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision [meaning religion, or your own goodness] to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses [which is impossible to do]. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. (Galatians 5:2-4, NLT, comments added.)
God is interested in our hearts, not our deeds (so much). If we approach Him with an attitude of performance and reward, He will reject our efforts – even if we first approached Him with faith in Christ.
My third point is this: mankind was created with the capacity to turn from God and ignore Him and His commands. God has not imposed Himself on the human race by forcing us to perform in any way to satisfy His requirement for justice. God willingly lets us walk away from His offer of reconciliation. He has always shown this attitude toward us. And since He does not change, He will always have this attitude toward us. He is gentle and allows us to ignore Him. There is no scripture that I have found that speaks to a person being unable to turn from Jesus. In fact, everything about this in the Bible (that I know of) points to man always having the ability to turn from God – and God letting him.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
(Isaiah 53:6, NLT)
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 10:32-33, NLT)
Here’s another point I‘d like to add. God will not be the One to walk out on us. He is faithful to the very end and will never deny us, if we have come to Him through the cross of Christ by faith and not our deeds. Many verses speak to God ignoring our “goodness” or deeds, but being very interested in our attitude toward Him. He cares a great deal about our heart, and less about our résumé.
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
(Deuteronomy 31:8, NLT)
My final point is in contrast to this previous point, but similar to my third point; although God is faithful, we are not. Can He help us to be faithful? Yes. Does He? Yes. Will He force us to be faithful if we don’t want to be? No. So my final point is that God does not force Himself upon us. (See Matthew 10:14 for an example of this.) I think that the parable of the lost son illustrates how God lets us go off away from Him, but is always eager to receive us if we come back (See Luke 15:11-32)
…be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
(Ephesians 4:32, NLT)
Let us never underestimate the human heart (which is wicked above all things – Jeremiah 17:9) and its capacity for fickle and feckless behavior. If we allow ourselves to lose our passion for God; if we fall out of love with Him, and turn toward other gods He will allow us to do so. Is there a point where we can go beyond His willingness to chase after us and hold onto us against our will? I would submit that as soon as it is no longer our will to be with Him He will let us go. Why do I say this? It is because of His attitude toward us from the very start. He has always allowed us to walk away from Him. And I don’t see it making any difference if we have loved Him at one time before turning away from Him or not. To turn from Him is to turn from Him. How is there any manner of being faithful to Him if we turn to other gods after tasting His love? And why would He act any differently than He has always acted, as in holding onto us when we don’t want Him to?
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
(Hebrews 6:4-6, NLT)
Allow me to recap (with scriptural references):
- No third party can remove our salvation from us, or come between God and us.
Romans 8:31-39, Hebrews 13:5-6, Psalm 136:26, Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 John 4:4, Isaiah 41:13 - Our salvation is not based upon our performance; it is based on our faith in the cross of Christ.
Ephesians 2:8, Romans 10:9-10, John 3:14-16, John 5:24, John 6:40, John 8:24 - We are created with the ability to turn from God at anytime.
Hebrews 6:4-6, Isaiah 59:2, Hebrews 10:26, John 6:64-69, Isaiah 53:6, 2 Timothy 2:12, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 - God will not leave us.
Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:5, Psalm 94:14, Matthew 28:20, John 14:16 - God will not force us to be with Him.
James 3:17, Matthew 10:14, Luke 15:11-32
I don’t think that we “lose” our salvation against our will, but I do think that we can toss it in the trash at anytime. Will He woo us back to Him? I think so. Will He force us to come back to Him? I don’t see any precedent for that. Is there anything in the Bible that supports this claim (other than Hebrews 6)? Yes.
“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:9-14, NLT)
But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root.
“Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.
Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong. (Romans 11:17-24, NLT)
And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. (Revelation 22:19, NLT)
I believe that when this verse says “anyone” it means believers as well. The same must be true about this one as well:
Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11, NLT)
So, can believers lose their salvation after receiving it? There seems to be enough biblical evidence to say, “yes”. But only we can wreck our own faith; no one else can do it for us, and God refuses to.
Know that you are both secure and free in God’s hands when you are saved by Jesus. And once you are saved by faith you will always be saved by faith – just don’t deny your faith or replace it with an expectation of repayment from God for your “goodness” – to do so places your soul in jeopardy.
With much love,
Gary
