Christians only, please. Can a born again Christian lose their salvation?

Question

In other words is it possible for a saved person to go to hell or not inherit eternal life? It seems to me that if we are a new creature, already passed from death to life, that we can't have it taken from us. If we have been justified, isn't it complete and forever? Yet we ar always in the process of growing, being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14 says : "Because by one sacrifice he has MADE PERFECT FOREVER those who are being made holy."
What do you think?

Answer 1

No! A Born Again Christian can not lose there Salvation. When you get saved, You accept the righteousness of Jesus Christ to pay your sin debt for you. At that moment in time you are made perfect in Gods eyes. Now we still live in the flesh and still sin, sometimes even horrific sins but you cannot lose your salvation because it is based on the perfection of Christ and not on you at all. When I am witnessing people I like to take a blank 3x5 card or for you maybe a blank piece of white printing paper fold it in half and cover a red pen. The red pen represents us in our sins, and then I fold the card or paper and put it over top of the pen to show them how God sees us once we accept Him(Perfect). Isaiah 1:18
Plus The Bible says Romans 6:23 "But the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE". Eternal means you don't ever have to worry about loosing it. You are right! after you get saved it is a matter of growing up as a Christian from a babe to maturity-having a relationship with Him, not on keeping you salvation.

Answer 2

We can only lose that salvation if we're inclined to follow the teachings of an untrue spirit, namely Satan.

There have been many times when people fall from grace, but God is forgiving. When you are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, if you make a mistake, He will most certainly convict you. In other words, that mistake will attack you and you come to an immediate realiziation that you made the boo-boo and repent that error immediately. Or, if you have been saved and then sit in on a conversation where people are talking against someone they know. If you carry on that conversation, and the gossip leads to attacks on that person, then you will be convicted by the Holy Spirit and you should want to immediately repent those feelings.

Once you're a born-again believer, Satan will attack around every corner. He'll force ill feelings on you...your mind may drift to a spe cific event that caused you anger and you can't escape the hatred or feelings you had for the situation. You then must call on the Lord to help you, and to send the Holy Spirit. Then you must bind and rebuke Satan and tell him that he no longer has control of your life and in the name of Jesus he must depart from you and take those feelings with him. Satan is the author of lies and deceipt. Don't let him trick you into anything, be it ill thoughts of someone else or anything negative. If he had a chance, he'd kill everyone, every single day. Don't let him make you believe you will fall from the grace of God's salvation. Always go to the Lord immediately and ask for help through the Holy Spirit.

Daily reading of scripture will make our way to eternity. It's very, very important and should always be a part of our regular routine for the day. Even if it is only 'one line.' It will give us food for thought...in a Godly way.

Answer 3

I think if a person was to question whether or not they could lose their salvation they may need to ponder on whether or not they had it in the first place. I believe as you that once saved always saved. As someone said we are saved by the grace of God, not by our own actions.

So the real question isn't whether the person can lose their salvation, it's whether they had it in the first place. I think you can tell the difference between the two in the person's attitude. Is it one of repentence when they sin or is it an attitude that shows no remorse. Do they tend to follow the "it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission" and think that since they are saved they are free to sin?

Answer 4

This was a question I struggled with for a while after becoming a Christian because when I 1st understood the "good news" and accepted Jesus' sacrifice for my sins I was under the impression that it only covered my past sins and from that time forward I was to be sinless. I simply didn't understand that that was impossible as well as incorrect, but because I didn't-every time I sinned I felt I was going to go to hell. I'm assuming you've read Hebrews 6, which is the very verse that made me think that I had returned to unsaved status. I went to church and asked others and one lady pointed out that I wouldn't be so concerned about it if I was not of the saved group. She said that the unsaved tend not to be concerned, and the fact that I longed to have my heart right with God showed that I was not lost. I had been blowing it bi time though, and since then have rededicated my life to Christ.
I recommend you get yourself a good bible commentary. Regarding Hebrews 6 and losing salvation my commentary says, "...some point to this passage to prove that a backslider cannot be restored. But backsliders are not the subject here. This passage refers to people who walk with Christ for a while and then deliberately turn around and walk the other direction, rejecting Christ. These people can never be restored because they will not want to be restored....It is not impossible for God to forgive them, but it is impossible for them to be forgiven because they won't repent of their sins. "

John 6:37 says All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.....
John 6:39 ...and this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Romans 5:10 For is when we were God's enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Answer 5

I think you made your own case for "once saved, always saved" with that verse. This position is well supported scripturally, but then again I'm a Calvinist. By the way, I noticed "being made holy" in the last part of the verse supporting the doctrine of irresistible grace.

Edit: Jim M., to me 1 Cor. 9:24-27 reads fervor, not fear.

Answer 6

If you are born again you are one with Christ. This is a relationship with the Lord, you are one with Christ. This relationship requires work. He sends His Holy Spirit upon you and the Holy Spirit will guide you. If you ignore the Holy Spirit then you deny God's active force. You cannot be born again, and go on doing whatever you want and think that God will save you because you once saw the light and now it is gone. It has to be an ongoing relationship.

Answer 7

This is a question of supreme importance because it leads directly to the whole question of Christian assurance.

You can hope for heaven, you can believe in heaven, you can do your best to get there, but in the end you can never be sure.

If God saved you, you can't lose it because it depends on God and If you saved yourself, you can lose it because it depends on you.

Let's see what the bible says,

"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)

Salvation cannot be lost, but it can be forfeited. This is the nature of covenants in the bible.

Receiving salvation involves man's will, and not works. Forfeiting salvation involves man's will, and not works. In the same way the Lord did not force His salvation on anyone, He neither forces anyone to remain in the covenant.


What do you think?

Answer 8

It has been said many places that faith in Jesus Christ will give you eternal life as stated in Romans 3:22 and Galatians 2:16

I believe that by continuing in unrigheousness one can lose thier salvation, I don't think that by works that you can keep it either. It is a gift that you can recieve by faith in Jesus or reject by continuing in obvious sin (unrepentant) and not keeping the faith.

To carry on without works or very little works I believe this scripture applies;

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

To carry on in unrighteousness and not by faith not I believe this scripture applies;

Ephesians 2:1

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Answer 9

If you choose a life of sin instead a life of holiness you certainly will not inherit eternal life. The Scripture you give alludes to Christian perfection. Through His atonement we may be completely delivered from sin.

Answer 10

The Bible says "for by grace you have been saved through Faith, and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph 2:8,9) So does that mean if we are saved through Faith, and if one loses His faith in Christ, he no longer has a relationship with the Father until that individual repents and turn back to Christ, Correct? So in other words, b/c we do have Faith in Christ should we not also want to practice walking as He walked and produce good fruit?

However I was once told:


"OSAS is a very divisive question. It serves no purpose but to divide Christians. Therefore the concept is a work of the devil. I don’t mean you godannointedme2. You obviously are not the devil. I mean the concept. Who cares? Maintain and protect your faith. If you believe that you are always saved and you turn away (and are still saved) your life will still be meaningless in the eyes of God. I believe that the very idea of OSAS is dangerous in itself. It allows even the most faithful Christian to expose himself to temptation. We are commanded to guard our faith. If you believe that you can’t lose your salvation, you will be more careless with your lifestyle and choices as well as with the people you associate with. This puts you on that slippery slope to losing your faith. Even if YOU personally won’t go to hell if you lose your faith, your purpose for God becomes limited.

Please remember this when this topic comes up. The concept itself is meaningless and only serves the devil. Even asking the question divides Christians. ESPECIALLY when you say things like "if you were once saved and lose your faith, you were never saved to begin with."