Can a Believer "Lose" His Salvation?

Question

"Has God indeed said...Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away."? (Luke 8:13) And Please, dont say that he or she was not saved to begin with, "you cannot fall away from that what you never possessed.

Answer 1

if they turn away from god.

Answer 2

I believe some people are saved, and have full assurance of their faith, me included. They will never fall away. Did you ever read that those that do not believe in the son are condemmed already. Those that believe in the Lord Jesus are saved. Remember it didn't say will be saved, it said are saved. If they are currently saved how could Christians ever lose it? If people think that they can lose their salvation then their not very confident in their beliefs. Since the holy spirit dwells in the saved, there is no way to turn away, since you know it to be the truth. People on rocky soil, although might be saved for a short while, don't have full assurance. They are more about the religious experience. Whenever temptation comes they flee from the truth. People on good soil...will not turn away..

Answer 3

Well, let's get something straight right off, salvation is a gift from God, not something we do to obtain. Once the gift has been given and received, God is not going to withdraw it. Once we are truly saved, there is nothing we can do to give back the gift. We may backslide, or fall into sin, but we are still saved, although our fellowship with God is cut off and can only be restored through repentance. Now, you seem to be stumbling over "fall away", lets look at the Greek word for this:

aphistēmi
af-is'-tay-mee
From G575 and G2476; to remove, that is, (actively) instigate to revolt; usually (reflexively) to desist, desert, etc.: - depart, draw (fall) away, refrain, withdraw self.

What I believe is being described here is someone who hears the words of Christ, receives it until it gets tough. The message never sank in past the surface. Unless the Gospel sinks into our innermost being and penetrates our heart, we are not saved. Many loved hearing about going to Heaven, but few accepted the cost, the change in lifestyle, the sacrifice required to put Christ first and foremost in their lives. So I would say, no, these individuals represented by the rocky soil were never saved.

Answer 4

Believing in God is one thing... getting a "good feeling" because you think you know what/who God is is another thing... But, The only thing that matters to God is that you come to him in The Way He proscribes... many think they are "saved" because they have done what some man told them to do... not what God says to do...For those of the True Christian Faith TheTruth of their Salvation by the Promise of God is an absolute... and once of The Church... always of The Church. Once Saved... always Saved... no one of The True Church of which Jesus The Christ is The head , No one will ever leave that and"fall away"... To be truly of The Church is to know The Way, The Truth, and The Life... any who says he or she was once saved and now is not...is deluded or lieing.... that just do'nt happen...period

That said... it dose happen that one who is saved will backslid for a time, as it is called... but that is not the same as turning from The Church...to reject The Church to the point of becomeing an enemy of God is proof that the one so stating was never of The Church... that is the way it is... if you think otherwise that is your privelege.

many "receive the word with joy" but never come to God in that joy... recieving the benifits of association in the worldly sense but never truly recieveing God's free gift of Salvation... that is what the passage yourefer to is talking about.

Answer 5

James 5:19-20 (KJV)19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

That right there tells us that we can fall away from God. But that if we do we can also come back

There are examples of people who walked away from God in the bible like this one

2 Timothy 4:10 (KJV) For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

We can loose sight on God and turn our backs on God if we are not careful

Matthew 13:1-9 (KJV)1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

That also shows that some after hearing and recieving the word walked away from it

Answer 6

LOL (Laughing out Loud)
One can be a Yo-Yo.
Saved one month and damned the next and then again saved and out again and back and out.

In a way you do not get "saved" again you seek redemption of your sins and forgiven for you foolishness

There are those who are very weak in spirit. The sad thing is, is that it will come to a point where they no longer seek redemption nor forgiveness, they may play church even but it becomes that it is more a game, next week the big game in Detroit and wooo the girls booze can't wait!

As you can see one can obtain salvation and then loose salvation.

There is one other thing. The unforgivable sin. It is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. To Blaspheme it you must have it!

There will in the last days be some individuals who will be preachers and teachers, they will have the holy spirit when they speak all who hear will hear in there native language.
If one of these is brought before the anti-Christ they are to allow the holy spirit to speak through them. If one of these do not allow the holy spirit to speak then he has blasphemed the holy spirit and has condemned himself to death in the lake of fire.
So even one of these can lose his salvation!

Answer 7

Let me ask you this...say that you work out and got in to a great shape and you keep that body for a while b/c you keep working out at regularly. Lift weights and do a specific amount of cardio and and such...However, say that one day you just stop going to the gym or maybe even just lessen your time there. So its reasonable to say that over time if you dont work out as much, start eating unhealthy things and such, then your body is going to reflect that right? So regardless of how great of a shape you were in once, you can always go back to your old "unfit" self if you stop trying right? Well spirituality is just like that. Just because you are saved once doesn't mean you're always going to be saved. I'm not going to say that you didnt' experience salvation, but unless you keep your body, mind and soul right with God, then you're going to loose that salvation just like you can loose a good body when you dont work out regularly. Hope that analogy helped :)

Answer 8

Notice the words "No Firm Root", these means that, they had joy in their head, but the Word of God did not go deep into the soul. And I know you don't want to hear it, but the truth is the truth, and they were not saved, because Jesus doesn't Live in the head He Lives in the soul in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Answer 9

Once you accept Christ into your heart, you cannot lose him. He will never let go of you because you let him know that you believe in him and love him with all your heart. He never lets go. It says in the Bible. A counselor from my Christian camp described it to me like this, she put her ring into her hand and squeezed it so hard that it was impossible to take out. I mean impossible. That's how it is with God. He won't let go of you. Your name i think i read is written in a book. There's no "magic eraser". You accepted him and then he has accepted you to Heaven as well.

What your verse is saying that people will be strong believers and do all the right things but when tempted might go off the path of righteousness and sin. It doesn't mean you're not accepted anymore. God will always forgive you.

If you want to talk more in depth of your question, feel free to e-mail me!!!
Here is a verse....this is probably the most famous verse in the Bible.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17) Now try instead of whoever believes in him, put your name in. It's pretty clear then also.

Hope i was helpful!! please e-mail if any questions of if you want to talk about God.

God bless!

Answer 10

Actually I believe we were all pure when we were born so for instance if a child were to die, he would go to heaven for sure. This would be without having to be accountable for his/her deeds in this life.
When we get older our actions are what help us decide wether we get to Heaven or Hell.

There is a saying that the Man that seems the closest to God can go to hell with the blink of an eye. This goes as well for the Man/woman who seems the farthest away could go the opposite way in that amount of time as well.

We can't judge where we are going because we don't know. Only God knows, we just have to make sure that we are repenting continuously for our misdeeds.

Answer 11

When you are saved, you are a baby christian. You have to study the word and stay focused on living your life for Christ. If you don't do that you will not mature in your spiritual life, and sometimes you fall back into old habits. You will not loose your salvation, but you will loose blessings. There are different levels of heaven, depending on your works.