Can We Lost Our Salvation?

Author:Sangam Shrestha.

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Can We Lost Our Salvation? 

What think of the Biblical theologians and what does the Bible say? 

"A genuine born-again Christian cannot lose salvation. God has fulfilled His promise of salvation through His Son. God has the authority to secure salvation of His beloved children through the sanctifying work of His Spirit."[1] A Christian life is new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"[2] And this new creation have enteral life because Jesus Christ says "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them of my hand."[3] Also He Says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” "[4] Here Jesus is saying that everyone who believes in him will be saved. Jesus did not say that some people could not be saved.  Because He says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."[5] Here, too, Jesus is saying that those who follow him will receive everlasting life. Apostol Paul says, "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."[6] Yet Paul says that there is no punishment for those who are in Christ.[7] When a person is saved by believing in Jesus, he is forgiven of all his sins. When Jesus died, He paid the penalty for all sin. But the past is a sin, whether it is a present or a future sin. The Lord Jesus is the atonement for all sins. When he died, we did not sin because we were not born. Yet he died for our sins and paid the ransom for all our sins. God is the Judge. We find no sin in punishing believers and throwing them into eternal darkness, because the Lord Jesus paid the price for all these sins when He died on the cross. Steve Lawson says "Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.”[8] Salvation is not something we earn by working ourselves. Salvation is a free gift from God to mankind. If this salvation is given by God, there is no possibility of losing salvation. As in other religions, salvation could be lost only by doing good deeds, but the Bible clearly states that to do salvation one does not have to do anything but believe in Jesus.

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.[9]

If salvation is a gift from God, does anyone give it back? There is no such example in the world. "The New Testament is full of evidence that we cannot lose our salvation. Jesus said that the new life we have is eternal, not temporal, and we will never die."[10] Luke says "nor die anymore. They are the same as the angels. They are God's children who have come back to life."[11] Similarly, about 13 Bible books writers, the apostle Paul, argue that salvation is not lost. He says "In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory."[12] Again, he says, our call and gift will never be lost. "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."[13] Similarly, the author of the book of Hebrews says that God will never leave us "…I will never leave you nor forsake you."[14] Because we are safe in God's power, says the writer as well as the apostle Peter "who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."[15] Again the author of the book of Hebrews says that "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."[16] Jesus Christ also wanted to save everyone because He said "And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day."[17]

            Karl Barth says "No one can be saved in virtue of what he can do. Everyone can be saved in virtue of what God can do"[18] So the Bible also makes it clear that salvation is not a man's work, but a gift from God's grace to mankind. If we believe that the gift of grace is lost, what else can we expect from God? That is, we say that our salvation can never be lost. Rick Warren is a successful Christian writer He also said that "Through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured."[19]  Various theologians, writers and Christian scholars believe that salvation is not lost because it is not man's teaching or doctrine but the truth of the Bible. One-time security is security forever.  Bill Graham, the world's greatest Christian evangelist, also says that salvation is a free gift from God. He said "Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have."[20] Tom Smith give four reasons we can't lose our salvation.[21]

1. The eternal life the Lord gives us will never run out. (John 1:12-13)

2. The hands of the Father and the Son will never fail. (John 10:28-29)

3. God’s eternal will that initiated our salvation will never change. (Ephesians 1:4-5)

4. Christ’s promise to never cast us out and to keep us cannot be broken. (John 6:37-39)

Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a “Christian” has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1 John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was never born again by the power of God. “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong “to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).[22]

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[1] Philip Wijaya, Can a Christian Lose Salvation?, Accessed Date July 10, 2021, Publics Date May, 19, 2020, https://www.christianity.com/wiki/salvation/can-a-christian-lose-salvation.html.

 

[2] 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

 

[3] John 10:28 (NIV)

 

[4] John 6:38-40 (ESV)

 

[5] John 10:27-29 (ESV)

 

[6] Romans 8:30 (ESV)

 

[7] Romans 8:1

[8] "Salvation Sayings and Quotes" accessed date October 15, 2020, https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/salvation-quotes/.

 

[9] Kevin Hall, "Calvinism" accessed date October 19, 2020, http://www.BibleStudyGuide.org.

 

[10] Andrew Farley, "You Can Never Lose Your Salvation, and Here's Why!" Publics date Jun 3,2019, accessed date October 19, 2020, https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/you-can-never-lose-your-salvation-and-heres-why.html.

[11] Luka 20:36 (GOD'S WORD Translation)

 

[12] Ephesians 1:13-14 (World English Bible.)

 

[13] Romans 11:29 (English Standard Version.)

 

[14] Hebrew 13:5 (THE GIDEONS)

 

[15] 1 Peter 1:5 (New American Standard Bible)

[16] Hebrew 7:25 (New King James Version )

 

[17] John 6:39 (New Living Translation)

 

[18] Salvation Sayings and Quotes" accessed date  July 1, 2021, https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/salvation-quotes/.

 

[19] ibid.

 

[20] Salvation Sayings and Quotes" accessed date October 19, 2020, https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/salvation-quotes/.

 

[21] Tom Smith, "Four Reasons Why We Can’t Lose Our Salvation" accessed July 4, 2021, https://holdingtotruth.com/2012/03/07/4-reasons-why-we-cant-lose-our-salvation/.

[22] Got Question, "Can a Christian lose salvation?" Accessed Date July 10, 2021, https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-lose-salvation.html