Can a Christian lose his or her salvation?
Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 01:55AM Can a Christian lose his salvation? I get asked that question a lot, although often in some variation. Someone might say: "So and So is no longer a Christian." Or, one might ask: "If I die with unconfessed sin in my life, will I go to Heaven?"
It's clear that the Bible teaches that Christians can fall away. Peter denied Jesus. Moses fled to the desert for 40 years. Jonah fled to Tarshish. Throughout history, God worshipers have strugggled to maintain a faithful walk with God. So, it's normal to wonder what happens when someone moves into eternity not having finished well.
The good news is that the Bible clearly teaches that when I commit my life to God, he forever saves me. In Ephesians, chapter 1, and verses 13 and 14 tell us: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory."
These verses clearly state that those who have believed the Gospel have received God's spirit, which is a guarantee of our redemption. Folks, God never breaks His promises, and certainly, when he guarantees something, it happens.
So, what happens when someone who previously believed, either recants his or her salvation, or simply gets caught up in doing wrong and wanders away from God? Well, the best way to explain it is through the use of a parent/child relationship. When one of my children chooses to disobey my instructions, even saying "I'm no longer your child", that, in and of itself, does not mean he or she is no longer my child. Having been born into my family, the child will always be my child. But, our relationship is broken. He or she won't have much to do with me, and certainly won't receive the best that I have to offer until the child confesses the wrong, and apologizes. That's the way it is with a Christian. When we recant our salvation, or wander away from God, our relationship with Him is broken. He can't and won't bless us, or guide us at that point. The next prayer that God can hear from us is a prayer of confession. As long as we are walking in disobedience our prayers cannot be heard by God. The Psalmist, David, put it this way in Psalm 66:18: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."
But, that has nothing to do with our eternal salvation. Some might say: "Well, then why should I live for God? As soon as I believe, I'm guaranteed eternal life, so I can just go on and live my life any way I choose. Right?" Well, technically that's true. But think about it for a moment. The Bible says that at the end of time, each person, Christian and non-Christian, must give an account of his life, to God. For the non-Christian, that accounting includes the eternal destination of Hell. But the Christian doesn't stand at that judgement. Romans 8:1 says: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because Jesus paid the price for my wrongs with his death on the cross, it would be double jeoprady for me to have to pay for them at the judgment. No, the judgment that Believers will stand for is one where we get rewarded for the things we did in this life for God's glory, not our own. For the person who decides to recant of their faith, that will be an empty appointment. And, although enjoying eternal life with Jesus, they'll have nothing to show for their earthly existence, and this will be for all of eternity. So, does it make sense to do that? No!
I hope I've answered this question for you. If not, why not respond to this blog, and we'll strike up a conversaiton about it. I promise not to give you my opinion, just God's Word. Why not drop me a line?
Reader Comments (4)
Someone I really respect once suggested that perhaps the person in question was never a true believer or never understood what that meant, and that is why they fell away or left... What is your take on that?
First, the example you gave is a common one. We see someone fall away, or even deny the faith, and we can't reconcile it, so we assess that they must not have really been saved to begin with. My personal opinion is that it is quite possible for someone to fall away completely, and still have been genuinely saved. The Bibllical example I would use is the story in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11 - 32. In this story, entitled "The Prodical Son", we are told of a son who walks away from his family and lives a life that in every way opposes his father's values. In the middle of the story, the son changes his mind and returns home. In verse 20, it says that "the father, having compassion on him, and seeing him a long way off, ran to him." The story makes it very clear that even though the son had "fallen away" the father still considered him, his son. I believe this is an accurate description of how God looks at those of us, who have been adopted into his family and then leave. In this story, the "happy ending" is that the boy returned home. Unfortunately, in real life, some fall away and never return. Why is it so hard to believe that God would still consider that one His child? I think it has something to do with our concept of how we become a Christian. Most would say that they believe in Jesus. But how many understand that their salvation has nothing to do with how they live, before, or after they profess Jesus as Lord? We, as humans, judge based on outward evidence. But God judges the heart. I believe that one can at one point be saved, and then at another point either fall into an addictive sin, or just drift away. God doesn't break his convenant with us, even when we break our covenant with Him. In the book of Malachi, chapter 3, the prophet by the same name is writing for God. And God is upset that the nation of Israel has stopped worshipping in the temple, and has begun to worship false gods. And right there in the middle of God's warning that Israel will suffer for it's disobedience, in Verse 6 of chapter 3, we read: "I, the Lord, do not change, therefore you oh Israel are not already destroyed." That would have been the perfect time for God to say: "You know, if you don't continue to obey me, and live like believers, I'm going to deny your eternal life." But, in the midst of His anger, He said just the opposite. Ultimately, it boils down to this: "How much of your sin did Jesus attone for with His death on the cross? Some of it, or all of it? And if he attoned for all of it, doesn't that also include the sins we commit after we're saved, as well as the sins we commit before we're saved? I hope this answers your question.
Here's a couple of interesting questions. Is it eve right to tell a lie? Is it ever right to not tell the truth? Is it ever right to deceive someone?
In looking up deception or the act of deceiving, there are 72 references in the NIV of decieve, deceived or deceiving - there is not one instance where it was for good or where it was for God's glory. There is mention of God warning not to be decieved - God using the reference as a warning. In the garden, the woman tells God that she was deceived by the serpent in eating the fruit of the tree of life. The first act of disobedience (sin) to God was committed by the choice to eat the fruit. The method Satan used to convince the woman to go against God's instruction - DECEPTION - 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." That method has strategically been used by satan ever since to keep a broken world from knowing God and it has also kept the believer from growing in a deeper love with his God. How many times have you listened to deception? Aww it ain't going to hurt anybody, nobody will know, its just a little bit, its okay, it will make you feel better, you will be able to stop another time, everybody's doing it so it must be ok - insert your own sin to the above listed deceptions and I am sure all of us could add many more to the few that are listed above.
As far as lying - never a good idea. We serve a Holy God who is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotence. He knows all, sees all and is everywhere. What good could come from lying? You will have a broken relationship with your creator, you will have a broken relationship with the person or persons you are lying to. You may be able to hide it very well and make it seem like everything is fine but I am going to speak on my own experience here and say that when I have lied to someone or to God and have not repented I am unable to have the intimate relationship with God or the people I have lied to. There is always that nagging feeling "conviction" holding me back, what if they find out, what if they stop talking to me, what if they judge me, what if they look down on me. That might be what would go through your mind if you were holding back the truth from a person - we rarely consider what effect lying has on God our Holy God - now some may point out the fact that Rahab lied to protect the Israelites or when the midwives in Egypt told the Pharaoh that the boys were born before they got there - These are the only two examples of where lying was recorded for good - does that make it ok? The only correlation I can come up with, without more prayer, is that both instances involved the potential loss of life - the spies to a pagan people and the male babies in Egypt. If the lie is to prevent the loss of one or more of God's dearly loved children does that make it ok? tough question and I do not know tha answer to that - definitely comes down to heart position.