In this study I want to look at the Scriptures that seem to suggest that you can lose your salvation because many believers think you can. There are over 80 Scriptures that would seem to support this view. Bear in mind either you can lose it or you can't, both arguments cannot be right, as the Bible is one harmonious body of truth without contradiction. The following two scriptures are completely unambiguous.
Ephesians 1: 13-14
John 10: 28-30
As it is very hard to interpret those verses any other way, the scriptures that would seem to suggest you could lose your salvation must be being misinterpreted or misapplied. There are three major errors that people make.
- They misapply the Scripture
Galatians 5:4
Some people will say the Bible says you are in danger of falling from grace and if that is true we are in danger. But this passage has nothing to do with salvation. It is talking about the teachers that the Galatian church were listening to at that time, who were telling them that in order to be saved, they had not only got to believe, but start living under the law. Paul's reply to the Galatians was you foolish Galatians who has deceived you.
- They quote it out of context.
Galatians 5: 1
This whole passage has to do with how to live as a Christian nothing to do with salvation whatsoever.
- They quote Scriptures about other subjects that have nothing at all to do with salvation
Galatians 5: 3-4
Paul is saying that any person who is trying to live under their rules and establish their own righteousness is fallen from grace.
So let us now deal with some difficult verses and then you should be able to take the others in your stride when they come. There are four major principles.
The first reason people go wrong in dealing with "Can you lose your salvation" is they use passages that deal with fruit and the judgment of believers' works.
What they do is instead of keeping them to fruit and judgment of believers' works they say that these passages are talking about salvation. These passages are talking about production in your life and the judgment of that production.
Matthew 13: 1-9
& 18-23
The first thing we need to note is there are four parts to this parable.
The first one is the sower sowing seed and the seed is the word of God. So here we have a piece of ground and the Word of God falls on to it but it does not go in because the ground is hard so it just stays on the surface and the birds come and eat it. Verse 19 this is the unbeliever who hears the Word of God, but is so hard he does not take it in, and therefore can never produce anything.
The second part verse 5-6 the seed goes into the ground but there is not much depth to the soil. Verses 20-21 This is the type of "believer" who starts on fire for Jesus, and has great potential, but then they find that their friends do not like them anymore or they do not have the same social activities that their friends have, and they have to make a choice between their old way of life and the life with Jesus. Fruit production soon falls to nothing at all.
The third one is verse 7 the interpretation is in verse 22 the seed goes into the ground but grows up among thorns. These sort of "believers" want to be in the world and fit in the things of God when it suits them and soon the fruit in their lives starts drying up
The fourth one is verse 8 the interpretation in verse 23 the seed goes into good ground and the result is "believers" producing varying amounts of fruit.
This parable has nothing to do with salvation; it has to do with production.
The hardest passage for Christians to sort out is
John 15: 1-6
Verse 1 Israel was always talked of as the vine in the Tenakh (Old Testament) and Jesus was the true vine and the Farther is the vinedresser.
Verse 2 this is where the believer comes in we are the branches and it looks as if the branches that do not bear fruit are removed and thrown out. The words "Take away" are not two words as in English, but in Greek it is one word "Airo." which has two meanings depending on the context. If it has a preposition with it like "throw out," or "throw away" then it means to take away.
Let us have a look at a few examples
Luke 8: 12
So there you have the word Airo with the word "out of" and that means to take right away.
Matthew 22: 13
This is talking about unbelievers; they are taken away and thrown into outer darkness.
Matthew 24: 39
All of those are Airo but with a preposition or a verb, showing that there is movement. In this context "Airo" means to lift up. Look at
1 Timothy 2: 8
Here is the word Airo and you would be hard put to make this say, "Take away." You cannot have people "taking away hands" in this passage. There is no preposition or verb to show that it is movement so what have we got lifting up holy hands? All the early Christians used to raise their hands to heaven when they prayed.
Luke 17: 13
John 11:41
In both of these verses, the word is Airo used in the context of lifting baskets of bread, or lifting stones in fact anything that had to do with lifting. So what is it to do with in John15: 2?
It is to lift every branch in me that does not bear fruit. He lifts and raises it up. In ancient Israel all the vines were grown on trellises and for the winter months when they did not produce they were all laid flat on the ground but as soon as spring came they were lifted up again. They do this with the vines in Sussex vineyards training them to spread upwards. When a person is saved God always lifts them up from the ground and sets them where He is in heavenly places that they might bring forth fruit.
Ephesians 2: 6
The reason that we are set where Jesus is seated is that we might produce fruit. With a vine if you have a branch hanging down the sap is restricted and the fruit is either non-existent or is very small and the answer is to lift that particular branch up. As soon as you lift the branch up it starts to produce fruit. So any branch that does not bear fruit God does not throw it out He lifts it up.
In
John 15: 2 every branch that bears fruit God prunes them to produce more fruit. The emphasis in this passage is to do with fruit nothing to do with salvation. How are we cleaned and pruned verse 3?
Verse 4 the emphasis is fruit and if we are out of fellowship with God we are not producing fruit.
Verse 5 the emphasis is on fruit nothing to do with salvation.
The first part of the verse 6, up to the word "withered" is a description of a person who is out of fellowship. If we get out of fellowship with God we will experience a "withering" or poor production of fruit. Before we were saved it was possible to enjoy the world, afterwards try as you cannot enjoy the world. So this casting out is talking about someone who is out of fellowship and discipline will follow.
What about the second part of the verse from withered until the end? The end of this first would seem to contradict all that I have just said so how do we deal with it? Have you noticed something between the first part and the second part of the verse, which is all one sentence? You get a change of number in the middle of the verse and that is very bad English and may I say very bad Greek. It starts out "if he" a man and that is singular and up to "wither" it is singular. The last half of the verse changes to plural. Now that is very important because in Greek you never get a change in number part way through a sentence as we have in this sentence unless it is telling you something. The "they" and the "them" are referring to something else other than what was being said at the start of the sentence. Listen to this and you will see. I think Roger Price gave the best example of this I could find so I will use his one. Roger gave two sentences:
I used to grow rose bushes. I had a helper until they dug them up. Helper singular so does the "them" mean helper? No it could not possibly mean that. The "them" refers to the rose bushes. So when you get a change of number in a sentence it shows the thing you are talking about has been talked about before.
What we have in verse 6 is a change in number and the "them" is not referring to the person who does not abide in the Word it is referring to the fruit that the person is producing. What verse 6 is saying is you have got a believer who is out of fellowship and the fruit is gathered up and thrown out and burnt. If you know your Bible that should not be a surprise to you because in
1 Corinthians 3: 12-15
Here we have the judgment of believers' works. When believers die they are not judged but all the works that they have ever done in their life are gathered and the fire is light underneath them the gold and precious stones go through but the wood, hay and stubble are all burned up and there is nothing left.
So in:
John 15: 6
It is a deliberate change of number so that no one can confuse the issue, but nearly everyone does. The plural there is concerned with the production of fruit and the whole section there is dealing with the production of fruit nothing at all to do with salvation. Look at
John 15: 8
So this section is on fruit and if we get out of fellowship our fruit production is reduced or not very good fruit.
Hebrews 6: 7-8
In this passage the earth is the believer and it is productive, so verse 7 is a believer producing fruit. Verse 8 deals with a believer who is out of fellowship with God. What kind of earth produces thorns and briars? Desert land or mainly desert land. Earth that does not receive the rain or blessing starts producing other things, thorns and briars. We then have the Greek word Adokimos that does not mean thrown out, or rejected, but "not approved." God does not approve the earth that brings forth thorns and briars and that is why the works are burned up. Also it says it is "near to cursing", it does not say it is cursed it is near to cursing? Why "near to cursing", because the world is going to be judged for producing thorns and briars.
The tragedy is that blood bought believing Christians, who are saved by grace, have the same output as non-Christians. The writer is saying to these believers "Do you not know that the judgment of God is coming on the earth for these things? You are not going to be judged so how dare you produce the same fruit as the world."
It is a disgrace for someone who is going to heaven to be producing worldly fruit. Peter tells us that after the harvest the stubble thorns and briars are left, so they burn the fields, or rather the stubble. The field is not burned otherwise it could not be used next year. So what is burned? The production is burned.
Hebrews 6: 9-10
What accompanies salvation are all the works of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit. What is the fruit of the spirit?
Galatians 5: 22-23
So all of the passages that talk about loss of salvation seem dangerous until you see them in context and compare them with other passages that you know.
1 Corinthians 9: 27
The word Adokimos is used in this passage about athletics, and some people believe that Paul in verse 27 is saying he could lose his salvation and end in the Lake of Fire. All Paul is saying in verse 27 is, "I am concerned that I have preached to you and got you going on the right path, while I myself am disqualified as far as my works approval is concerned." It has nothing to do with salvation Paul is talking about the approval of works and the judgment of works.
The Discipline of Believers
These passages have to do with discipline. Once we are saved we become children of God and like any Father, He will discipline us till the day we die. Discipline does not mean you have lost your salvation in fact it means the opposite, because if you had God would not be your Father, and it would not be any of his business what you did. You do not discipline another person's children.
Hebrews 12: 5-15
1 Corinthians 11: 29-31
They are the two main passages and I will deal with them in another study in more detail but I want to take one verse that causes Christians a lot of difficulty.
1 John 5: 16-17
This is the sin unto death and we know from what we have studied this is not the unforgivable sin. Here we have what the Bible calls a sin unto death so the question is what is the sin unto death? Sin unto death is maximum discipline for the Farther. In 1 Corinthians 11 the sin unto death was the people's attitude over communion.
The sin unto death is being out of fellowship time and time again despite all the warnings that God gives us.
Acts 5: 1-10
We do not know the background to this but this is the sin unto death. The question is, does the sin unto death mean you lose your salvation? Well obviously not because if God is still judging you up to the point when you die then you are still His child when you die. There is a person who committed the sin unto death and he was still God's child.
King Saul was a believer and he reigned for 40 years. For one year he was he in fellowship with God, for 39 years he was out of fellowship with God. After the first year Saul was rejected as king because of his disobedience to God at Gilgal. He finally committed the sin unto death when, having passed a law that all mediums should be put out of the land, he went to consult a witch of Endor.
1 Samuel 28: 15-19
Verse 19 tells us Saul will be with Samuel and where was Samuel? Samuel was in paradise and this is like the words of Jesus on the cross in
Luke 23: 39-43
What is the sin unto death? Loss of salvation? Definitely not, proof of salvation.
These are passages that are just taken out of context
Matthew 24: 13
You hear preachers say, "Unless we endure to the end we shall not be saved", and they say that is Scriptural. Yes they have got it from Scripture and they have got it wrong from Scripture. If you know your Bible you will know the word saved does not always have to do with salvation it also means to be "delivered" or "saved from drowning". In many cases it has nothing to do with salvation and it is evident from the context of this passage that this is one of those occasions. The whole of Chapter 24 is about a time when Jewish evangelists are hard pressed during the Tribulation because they are surrounded by enemies. Thousands of Jews will be martyred, but this verse promises that some of them will be saved from death. We know the story; Jesus comes down from heaven and lands right in the middle of Jerusalem. He delivers the believers and they go through into the millennium and repopulate the earth.
Matthew 7: 21-23
What is the context here and where are we? We are on judgment day now
Philippians 2: 10-11
Tells us something about judgment day. So we know one thing on judgment day every tongue is going to confess Jesus as Lord. So when you get a passage dealing with judgment day of course they are going to call Him Lord.
Matthew 7: 22
Some religious people today call Jesus Lord but you have got to be born again to get into God's kingdom it is not what you say that counts it is what you believe. Is Jesus Lord and Saviour or not? That is the question. In verse 22 says these people have done a lot of miracles. That is no problem for us as the Bible tells us in the last days there will be all sorts of signs and wonders going on all over the place. We have some of these people around today, White Witches and Spiritualist healers who think because they see people healed that makes them automatically correct and verse 22 deals with them. They are not correct. Unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Hebrews 6 1-6
People who believe you can lose your salvation should never quote these six verses because these passages are to encourage believers to be in fellowship.
Repentance what does the word mean? In verse 1 we have Christians who are out of fellowship. Repentance is used again in verse 6 and it means repentance from dead works. It is not talking about salvation it is talking about getting back into fellowship.
Verse 4 is about believers and we know that because of the Greek tenses that are used. In Greek the term "once" means "once and for all", it is a proof of eternal security.
Verse 6 is what is called and Airis Participle in the Greek, that's what "If you should fall away", is. In Greek the Airis participle comes at the beginning of the sentence not at the end as they have put it here. If you have a revised standard version of the Bible they have put it the correct way, beginning with, "having fallen away." So the correct translation of verse 6 is this
"Having fallen away, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted once (and the once in both places is once and for all) the heavenly gift and were made partners with the Holy Spirit and have tasted of the good word of God and the power of the world to come, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they are crucifying the son of God afresh."
That is the correct translation and if we miss out the bit in the middle we end up with a perfectly obvious statement. It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance seeing they are crucifying the Son of God afresh. What it is saying is, if a believer is constantly sinning you cannot get them back into fellowship.
Peter rightly made this point and the writer of Hebrews is also addressing believers, and not trying to live under the law. In this passage you have a two-part message to believers, not a proof of the loss of salvation.
Firstly you cannot live under the law as proof of salvation, in other words it is enough to believe in Jesus for your salvation and nothing else, no legal requirements.
Secondly it is talking about fruit in our lives, and it is impossible to have fruit from a believer who is out of fellowship with God, who is continually sinning, thus making it impossible for them to get back into fellowship.
Proof of loss of salvation? Not at all in fact it is a proof of salvation.
Hebrews 10:10, 14, 17-18
Jesus died for all our sins past, present, and future He did it all.
Hebrews 10: 26
These people after having sinned were off down to the Temple, killing these lambs and the writer is saying you cannot do that. The sacrifice of Jesus is all-sufficient; there is no other sacrifice that is needed.
We need to know that the book of Hebrews was written to the Jewish believers before the fall of the Temple when the Romans were used by God to judge the Jewish people, who were scattered (fifth cycle of discipline). It was a warning to the Jewish believers to get back into fellowship otherwise judgment would affect them as well and some would die because they were committing the sin unto death. The "sin unto death" was to those believers who were sticking close to the Temple to sacrifice their lamb, and were caught by the Roman armies and killed along with the unbelieving Jewish people. The warning was given to get back into fellowship otherwise maximum discipline from God was going to happen.
Hebrews 10: 27-30
God will judge His people, the Jewish unbelievers, and those out of fellowship. These verses are no problem when you keep them in context.
Lastly have a look at any other verses that would seem to imply you can lose your salvation and put them in context.
Let us have a look at a couple of verses.
Revelation 3: 5
The church at Sardis, just like today's church, is made up of believers and unbelievers and the letter was written to believers. In verse 5 John tells us that "he that overcomes" will be dressed in white. Who is an overcomer?
1 John 5: 4-5
Here is a definition of an overcomer.
1 John 5:11-13
This proves eternal salvation.
2 Timothy 2: 11-13
If someone quotes "If we deny Him He will deny us" tell them to read on. The word deny in verse 12 is used in the sense of denying some blessing or benefit or reward. If as a believer we deny God the blessing of our life, and the use of our body as God's Temple, or a holy and upright life, or whatever, God will deny the blessings that we should get in this life. Do not expect the blessing of God if we are out of fellowship.
In verse 13 we are dealing with the person who temporally seems to lose faith in Jesus. Do they lose their salvation they do not! If they are faithless He is faithful. My salvation is God's work and as long as He remains faithful I am all right. The "deny" there is used in the same sense as verse 12. The truth is we are the glorious rewards given to Jesus for His good work and because Jesus did a good work he will get His reward, you and me.
We come back to the challenge of holiness in my life so that Jesus gets some of the reward now while I am on the earth.
Jude 24-25
