Whether you can lose your salvation, or what some people call Eternal Security, is a very misunderstood subject. It can have a wrong emphasis if you are not very careful, and it is a subject that generally gets people hot under the collar when you mention it.
Basically we can encompass the whole concept of eternal security, by asking the question that we all ask at times, and that is
Is it possible for a person who has truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, or who is born again to lose their salvation? By losing their salvation I mean that they will end up in the Lake of Fire forever, completely separated from God.
To answer this question we have got to make sure that they where truly born again believers in the first place, and not, people who used to attend church, or even still do because as
John 3: 3
This is Jesus speaking so if a person was truly born again is it possible they can be lost?
In answering this question one thing is clear; once you are a born again believer God expects holiness in our lives. God expects a level of righteousness to start showing in our lives. In fact the purpose of the Christian life is that we should be conformed to the image of Jesus, i.e. represent Him in every way.
Ephesians 5:
Tells us the way to walk with God.
Galatians 1: 15-16
That is the whole purpose of the Christian life, that Jesus is revealed in us. Christianity is not meant to be a nice little club; neither is it to go out on the street and hand out tracts here there and everywhere. The best form of evangelism is Jesus in me, fully revealed, and it means we show Jesus in every aspect of our daily life. All the problems and dealings of God in our life are for that purpose, namely that Jesus might be revealed in us. If you do not see that, then nothing that happens to us including the suffering makes any sense. God is at work producing the image of Jesus in us, and as believers that is what all the things that come our way are for.
When we accepted Jesus as Saviour He did not only deal with our sins. God is positive righteousness, absolute righteousness. So when our sins were dealt with God is at work producing the image of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5: 21
Our sin was put on Jesus and Jesus' righteousness was put on us. Now when we die we will meet God on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus, but what does God want from us now? God wants righteousness in our lives now, and that is the aim of the Holy Spirit at work in us. If we bear that in mind it will help us avoid the ridiculous extremism that comes from some people who believe that as a Christian it does not matter what you do in your life. There are some people who believe once you have received salvation, and the righteousness of Jesus, you can live as you please. Keep that in mind because I will come back to it. God wants righteousness from each one of our lives. We are not a free agent to live as we want to live.
The whole concept of eternal security falls between two major views. These views are named after the people who founded them.
John Calvin founded the camp called the Calvinists.
Jacob Arminius founded the Arminists.
The problem is if you say you hold either view, you not only get associated with their truths, but with their extremism as well.
Calvinism
The Calvinists believe "once saved always saved", and they believe that God foreknew every believer. Because God foreknew every believer He called and chose every believer and because He chose every believer, we are going to be saved. In other words it is God who has done all the work as far as salvation is concerned. In the past He chose us, and since He chose us before the foundation of the world, we are going to be saved in the future. That is fine except for one problem.
That view tends to leave out the present, and if we are not careful some Calvinists tend to imply that because it is all based on the past, it does not matter what you do in the present because God has chosen us. So what happens is you jump from the past right through into the future, and the present gets lost. Because of the loss of the present, you get extremists in the Calvinists camp, people who just live as though the present does not matter, you can live as you please.
If you take the Arminians on the other hand they believe more in the present. They believe that God has called us, and chosen us, but that the calling only operates providing that we believe, everyday of our lives. They concentrate on the present. So the Calvinists are past and future, and the Arminists tend to concentrate on the present all the time.
They have their extremists, who work under a very legal system. In fact it is a bit like the religious Jewish people, who tried to justify themselves by keeping the Commandments.
What we have got to do, is to see what the Biblical view is, and follow it. It is true that God has foreknown us, and that He has called, and chosen us, and because of that election we are going to be saved.
Romans 8: 29-30
These verses show us that Jesus does not begin a work without bringing it to completion. So as far as that is concerned the Calvinists are correct. It is also true that we have been promised salvation.
John 3: 15
All of that is true, but often what the Calvinists miss out is the fact that there is a present commitment as well. My Salvation is not only on the basis of what God did before the foundation of the earth, it is also the fact that today Jesus has interceded for me. There is a present part of our salvation, a very present part. What that means is that if any day passed and Jesus did not intercede for me, I would definitely end up in the Lake of Fire. We need Jesus' intercession everyday.
Hebrews 7: 24-25
That is saying that we need someone to intercede for us, and Jesus does that everyday. Israel always needed a high priest to represent them before God, and we need our High Priest, Jesus.
That present part of our salvation means that God today, expects something of us. Some Christians get this idea that because Jesus died 2000 years ago He somehow deals with sin differently today, than He did then. That is not true. Every sin that has, and is, and will be committed, God hates. We may forget it, or gloss over it, but Jesus has done neither of those things, and He intercedes for us before God. If we put all our salvation in the past, we do not understand what it is all about. It is the present day intercessions that count. My sin counts today, because Jesus has to intercede for us, which is why God wants us to live a life of holiness before Him. In
Ephesians 4: 30
Sin in my life causes the Holy Spirit to grieve. That verse is a call to holiness, and we have got to realize that the sin we commit today, causes a reaction up in heaven, and requires Jesus has to intercede for us. We have got to get that clear in our thinking. Our future may be eternally secure but everyday God expects righteousness in our lives. That is the Biblical view. There is a present, everyday part of our eternal security. I am only eternally secure because of the "Calling of God."
Because Jesus ever lives to made intercession for me
Holding that firmly in mind, keeps us from extremism, and mindful of our salvation. So what God wants from our life is holiness. Do the passages that inspire us to holiness have a threat of the loss of salvation contained within them? What is it that leads us to holiness?
Titus 2: 11-12
What is it that teaches us holiness? Well verse 11 tells. What Jesus did for us on the cross is the greatest incentive to holiness.
Ephesians 2: 8-10
The fact that we are to reveal Jesus to the world should be the thing that motivates us to do the works of God, and inspire us to personal holiness.
Romans 6: 11-15
None of these verses show that loss of salvation is related to the way we live. The Arminian view that unless there is a threat of the loss of salvation people will not live a life of holiness is not in the Scripture. What calls us to holiness is the grace and love of God for us, not the threat of the loss of salvation.
1 Corinthians 6:15-20
Paul is saying here the revelation that we are joined to the body of Jesus, should be the motivation to live a life of holiness. By the way, if there was a church that Paul could have talked to about a loss of salvation, it would have been the Corinthian church.
Ephesians 4: 1
This is a call to holiness. What was the basis of that call? A loss of salvation? No, let us look at what went before
Ephesians 1: 4,5,7,11,13
Ephesians 2: 6, 19, 22
Ephesians 3:19-21
So Ephesians 4: 1 is a call to holiness based on truth, not based on fear.
1Thessalonians 2: 10-12
Paul did not come to the church preaching a call to holiness based on fear, of the loss of salvation. Paul said he came like a father to his children. Jay Adams who is a Christian physiatrist has estimate that 80% of all Christians who have nervous breakdowns, or have mental illness after they have been saved, are people who have an Arminian viewpoint, who think it is possible to lose your salvation. And if you are of the view that you can lose your salvation, then you can easily become preoccupied with sin, instead of the Saviour.
Colossians 3: 1-5
There is no "If you continue" or "If you remain faithful".
2 Corinthians 6: 14-17
Notice here it is talking about believers, married to unbelievers. Does that result in the loss of salvation? Not at all. God has laid down what should happen, but He does not say, "If you marry an unbeliever you will lose your salvation".
1 John 3: 1-3
Now of course we have a present responsibility, but Jesus is always interceding on our behalf, and that should produce holiness in our lives.
Now I did say right at the beginning that we have to beware, because there are some people who say they are Christians but in fact they are not. They give mental assent to Christianity, identify with Christian principles, but they never were believers. When you meet these people, they may look good on the outside, but it is the new nature on the inside that produces the holiness on the outside. The best example I can give of this is found in
Matthew 26: 17-25
You have to beware, because these people can live a so-called Christian life for a little time, but their nature has not been changed inside. That was the case with Judas. In the early church they were dogged with these people, and the church is dogged with these people today look at
2 Peter 2: 19-20, 22
This is probably the worst written Greek found anywhere in the Bible. And this whole chapter is about false teachers. Peter says these people never had a change on the inside, and did not receive Jesus as Saviour.
