Can Someone Lose Their Salvation?

I’m often asked the question, “Can a person lose their salvation?”  What I’ve tried to do here is give you a summary of what the Bible teaches in a question and answer format.  Hopefully, as you read you’ll be encouraged and challenged!

What is the state of all mankind at birth?

  • Sinners…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23
  • Under God’s wrath…but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. – John 3:36b
  • Spiritually dead and held captive by Satan…As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. – Ephesians 2:1-2
  • Awaiting our final judgment…The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. – Revelation 20:13

 

What is salvation?

  • A divine rescue from God, A transfer of allegiance, A redemption or payment for sins…For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13,14
  • A free gift unearned and undeserved by mankind…For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
  • A spiritual re-birth…Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” – John 3:5
  • A justification apart from the law or good works…But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. – Romans 3:21-24
  • God bringing glory to himself by adopting us as His children, even prior to our choosing Him…For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. – Ephesians 1:4-6

 

What is the process of salvation or how does it happen?

  • God the Father’s eternal and unending love is expressed…But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
  • God the Son willingly sacrificed himself paying for our failure…When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. – John 19:30
  • Man, under the power of the Holy Spirit responds to God’s call…The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. – John 6:63
  • The Spirit gives us new life and regenerates our soul…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit – Titus 3:5
  • The Spirit places God’s unbreakable seal of redemption on us… And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. – Ephesians 4:30
  • Christ becomes our divine Advocate or defense attorney…My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. – 1 John 2:1
  • Jesus Christ grants us eternal life that will never fade or disappear and God the Father holds our salvation securely in His hand… I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. – John 10:28-29

 

So, can a Christian lose or forfeit his salvation?

  • If God can lie, yes… God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? – Numbers 23:19… Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time- Titus 1:1-2
  • If salvation was based on our actions, yes… not by works, so that no-one can boast. – Ephesians 2:9

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