“Can I lose my salvation?”
This is a topic that I see come up a lot, mainly on social media. Some people ask this question looking for an answer and others simply post stating that you can or can’t while citing their reasons for their belief. Where do I stand? I don’t just believe that you cannot lose your salvation, but am firmly assured by correct interpretation of scripture that this is the case.
Why the lie?
Before I dig into the scriptures, let me share some reasons with you as to why this is a commonly disputed doctrine among Christians:
Satan is a thief (John 10:10) and the father of all lies (John 8:44), but he doesn’t just lie because he enjoys it, he lies to fulfill a purpose. Satan’s purpose with saved Christians is to do everything he can to derail your Christian life, to distract you, steal your security and stop you from serving the Lord. He will do this in any way that he can while being as subtle and invisible as he can. What do I mean by this last sentence? He wants to achieve these ends while making you think that it isn’t him doing it. As soon as you realize that he is behind something, his cover is blown and his methods bathed in light.
Now, picture if you will a Christian that has any doubts about the permanent security of their salvation. What will manifest in this Christian’s life?
- They now believe that their salvation which was 100% a gift of the grace of God now requires works to keep.
- Their eyes will no longer be 100% on Jesus, they will now also be on themselves to make sure they don’t “slip up” and jeopardize their salvation.
- They now have to deal with the anxiety of “What if I mess this up?” as well as the pride of “My salvation was a pure work of God’s grace, I can mess it up, but I haven’t yet!”.
Let me ask you a direct question: Does the above sound like a gift of God’s grace to you?
Burden of Proof
With these statements the burden on me now is to prove this position from the scriptures, so let’s get to it!
(13) And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
(14) who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV
This one verse, when properly pulled apart and interpreted, proves permanent salvation all day long.
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” – What does this mean? The truth of Christ, the gospel, included you in Christ, this is your salvation.
“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” – When you were saved God gave you the gift of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised in John 14:15-18. The Holy Spirit was a seal, a mark set upon you to prove and confirm that you are now “in Him”, in Christ, a child of God, redeemed and claimed back from your previous marriage to Satan (Romans 7:4).
“who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” – The Holy Spirit is God’s deposit paid to you, this deposit is a GUARANTEE of the inheritance you are now GUARANTEED to inherit as a child of God and heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). You are “God’s possession”. All of this is in praise of God’s glory!
The promise of the gospel is a covenant, covenants have “seals” or “tokens” which are guarantees that the terms, conditions, blessings and curses of the covenant will stand!
I’m sure there will be some that will read that last paragraph and say “Aha! Curses! There is your salvation loss!”. Let me be clear here also as to what each component of the New Covenant (or Testament) consists of:
- Terms & conditions: John 3:16, to be eligible for the “blessings” you must believe.
- Blessings: Being saved from the death grip of sin and your fallen nature, receiving the Holy Spirit, being sanctified into the image of Christ, spending eternity with the Lord. I could add so much more, but don’t want to get of track and I’m sure you get the picture!
- Curses: This is a covenant which God made, therefore the curses are on Him if He breaks it. Not gonna happen.
What’s that? You want more proof? If you insist:
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Romans 11:29 NIV
The above fact is shared by Paul in relation to God’s covenant with Israel, however, the fact stands on it’s own. God’s gifts and callings are irrevocable, they can’t and won’t be taken back. Salvation through Christ is a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), that gift cannot be taken back. You were also called to belong to God (2 Peter 1:3, John 6:44), that gift cannot be taken back either.
How about this one?:
(28) 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.
(30) I and the Father are one.”John 10:28-30 NIV
The above verses from John 10 don’t even require any explanation, they speak very plainly for themselves.
But Hebrews says you can!
Let’s be thorough and look at some verses that are commonly used to prove that salvation can be lost, and share their correct interpretation:
(4) 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 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 6:4-6 NIV
This verse from Hebrews 6 is used for this purpose a lot. What is it really saying? Let’s break it down:
“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…” – At first glance, this sounds like it is referring to someone who has been saved, however, we need to look a lot closer at the language. If you’ve been enlightened, you’ve been told the truth. Note that it says “tasted the heavenly gift”, when you taste something you are assessing it, you haven’t decided that you’re going to consume it yet. Also, note that it says “shared in the Holy Spirit”, as Christians we don’t “share” the Holy Spirit we “have” the Holy Spirit living and dwelling in us! When we show our new nature and the blessings of our Holy Spirit given gifts to non-believers, we are “sharing” the Holy Spirit with them. The next section uses the word “taste” again in the same context in reference to “the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age”.
Hebrews 6:4-6 doesn’t refer to someone who has been saved and then lost their salvation, it refers to someone who has seen and been offered the chance to accept the gift, but didn’t.
Conclusions
The next time someone tells you that “salvation can be lost”, comfort them with the truth of scripture. If we agree that someones salvation could be lost then we would be agreeing with the blasphemy that Satan is strong enough to push the Holy Spirit of God out of us!
Some will claim experience as proof, that they know someone who was saved and then fell away. The biblical truth of experiences such as this is that either they were deceived and never saved in the first place or that they have strayed and are fighting the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Our relationship with God is a two handed grip, even if we let go God has still got us.
Satan will try everything he can to derail your hope and comfort, sometimes even deceiving true believers.
We serve a perfect God who doesn’t hand out imperfection.
