Can You Lose Your Salvation?

I have sat trembling in church to the point of breaking the poor plastic chair as the minister narrates how many true believers like myself have spent their lives being faithful to the faith only to fall away in the end – died in that state and gone to hell. I try to wonder about the condition of my own soul; what if the same will happen to me? Just a little thought of that is enough to chill my spine; to imagine myself screaming in the land of the damned!

Still, the question is; what will it take for me to hold on to my faith until the last moment; is there a faith-keeping secret ingredient somewhere? What if I die unexpectedly without confessing all my sins? Let me admit; this is very depressing! As a matter of fact; there is nothing joyful about being a Christian if we are to live with the constant fear of a God who is always ready to send us to hell the moment we mess up.

Who is responsible for my salvation?

If we are the ones that save ourselves by any means, then it means we are also responsible for keeping ourselves saved – It’s all about our efforts. However, Scripture clearly teaches that salvation is of the Lord. No one comes to the Son except the Father draws him (John 6:44). It is the Lord who grants repentance (Act 11:18). This means it is God who pities us dead in our sins (what can a dead man do?), and quickens us unto life. We are lost until found, blind until given sight; this is all a supernatural work from heaven.

Question; if the good Lord has Almighty power to save us, through the same power can He not also keep us saved until the last minute? – so said Apostle Paul (2 Tim 1:12). The simple language that the Bible uses to describe that you can’t lose your salvation is that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ (Rom 8:1). It’s because they that are in Christ are sealed by the Spirit until the last day (Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30). I mean, didn’t Jesus say that He loses none of His sheep because He gives them eternal life – not temporal life? Who then can pluck us out of His mighty hand; I mean what can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? (John 10:28-29, Rom 8:33-35). A simple reading of Revelation 17:8 will teach you that the names of believers were already written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. It means He doesn’t have to keep writing and erasing, then writing and erasing again those who belong to Him. What do you think?

God has predestined His elect (selected them before He created the world), and then He calls them by the preaching of the Gospel. He then follows up with justifying them (salvation), so that He could continually sanctify them until one day He glorifies them when the Saviour appears (Rom 8:29-30). Indeed, He who began a good work in us will finish it (Phil 1:6). Think of it this way; as we are sons and fellow heirs of this heavenly home, would a Father ever banish His own son out of the family because they mess up a few times? On the contrary, we have a Father who has adopted us, not so that He could un-adopt us again but so that He works the best in us, bringing us back to Himself and picking us up every time we fall. Even more comforting is the promise that Christ our great High Priest always lives to make intercession on our behalf (Heb 7:25), just like He prayed that Peter’s faith might not fail (Luke 22:31-32). This is glorious my dear friends! This is what gives us joy unspeakable.

“Once saved always saved Satanism”?

A misunderstanding of this has led many of our well-meaning brethren to label this beautiful eternal salvation as a “once saved always saved satanic doctrine” According to them, Jesus will take back the salvation He gave you as soon as you commit a sin. Just a moment of thought; already as a believer you have committed sin – many times, have you not? Aha! Then why have you not lost your salvation?

The mindset that you can lose your salvation comes from the idea that you need to be always perfect without sin and work so hard to maintain that salvation. This is actually another version of salvation by works. It is blasphemy to God to say that He cannot give permanent and eternal salvation to His people. It is also a denial of the power of the Holy Spirit who is able to save and seal His people until the last day. Tell me then, which is the satanic doctrine between the two? 

Once saved always saved, yes – because it’s not dependant upon my efforts to keep myself saved but upon the power of my Father. If it was all up to me, I would choose Jesus in summer, then neglect Him so I could freely enjoy the Christmas holidays, and choose Him again on New-year’s Day, then cast Him away again when I get fired from work, then invite Him to my heart for the 10th time when my daughter is sick. Do you see that anything dependent upon human ability is nothing but failure from the start? It’s a sad thing that you think you are standing in faith today because of your strength. This is what the Bible describes as beginning in the Spirit, then attempting to be perfected by the flesh (Gal 3:3). It is to believe that you are saved by the Spirit of God then you abandon that Spirit and try to keep yourself saved by the power of your flesh – such arrogance!

Does once saved always saved allow for immorality?

Not a chance, in fact, those who use this as an excuse for their sins are proving that they are not saved at all. A truly saved person has been transformed (changed) into a new creature that hates sin and loves righteousness; in the same way, a pig-like creature that has been transformed into a human-like person cannot go back and eat pig food. How can you that have died to sin live any no longer in it (Rom 6:2)? Is there a need to explain further?

What is to work my salvation with fear and trembling?

Philippians 2:12 suffers a lot of abuse from those folks who adhere to a temporal kind of salvation. Just a simple understanding of English grammar will give us a good sight of this verse. Notice it doesn’t say, “Work for your salvation” but it says, “Work-it-out”. We don’t work for our salvation because salvation is a free gift (Eph 2:8-9). However, it is helpful to constantly examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith; to calculate, to test, to work out your lifestyle with fear and trembling (seriousness) to see if there is proof that you are saved. Notice something again; just the next verse from “Work out your salvation” are the words, “It is God who works in you”. It all points out that as we work out our salvation, it’s actually not us, but God who works in us. Did you catch that? 

Let’s conclude this with a summary; you cannot lose your salvation if you are truly saved because the God who saves you gives you eternal life, not temporal life – it’s all dependant upon His power to preserve a people for Himself just like the 7000 of Elijah’s time. In the end, all glory points back to Him for perfecting this work of redemption on behalf of His people. Therefore we don’t have to live our lives in the depression of fearing hell but we can now rejoice always in our hearts because we are safe in the arms of Jesus. Hallelujah!

There is a part 2 of this article as we dig into this issue further. Here is the link  

I lost My Salvation: Part 2

Sinothi Ncube