Soteriology - Q 24 - Can anyone lose their salvation?

Question

I have a paper due, over what I believe about Soteriology, or the study of salvation. The questions are drawn from a catechism. There are 24 total questions within this paper that I will answer. On executive decision, I chose to post each of these on Answers! but.... I am going to do them about once each day. They will be titled "Soteriology - Q # ______ . " I am going to poast the remaining bit of questions today. If you would like to answer all 24, search them through my name, and answer as many as you would like to. PLEASE BACK YOUR ANSWERS UP WITH REFERENCES TO SCRIPTURE, THOELOGICAL QUOTES, ETC. I want you to be as creative as possible, and I want as many people to participate as possible. Thank you for your participation! I do not want you to do my research. I want more opinions than just people I can quote. think of it as an interview.

Answer 1

I believe that once a person exercises saving faith in Jesus Christ, he or she is forever in the family of God. God never kicks anyone our of his forever family. A number of Scripture passages support this view. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12:13 we are told that at the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit places us in the body of Christ. Once we are infused into the body of Christ, we are never excised from the body. In fact, Ephesians 1:12 and 4:30 indicate that at the moment of believing in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are permanently "sealed" by the Holy Spirit. At that point, we are God's everlasting property. That seal guarantees that we'll make it to heaven.
Moreover, we read in John 10:28-30 that it is the Father's purpose to keep us secure despite anything that might happen once we have trusted in Christ. Nothing can snatch us out of His hands. God's plans cannot be thwarted (Isaiah 14:24). Further, Romans 8:29-30 portrays an unbroken chain that spans from the predestination of believers to their glorification in heaven.
Another fact we need to keep in mind is that Christ regularly prays for each Christian (Hewbews 7:25). With Jesus interceding for us, we are secure. (His prayers are always answered!)
Of course, the fact that a believer is secure in his salvation does not mean he is free to sin. If the Christian sins and remains in that sin, Scripture says that God will discipline him or her just as a father disciplines his children (see Hebrews 12:7-11).

Answer 2

Those whom God has saved cannot TOTALLY nor FINALLY fall away from the state of grace because the decree of election is immutable, flowing from God, Christ's intercessions, the abiding of the Holy Spirit, the seed of God within his children, and the nature of Covenant grace. It does not depend on our own free will. However, individuals may sin grieviously, and for some time, receiving God's displeasure and chastening. Yet they can never again become a child of wrath and of eternal destruction (Jn 3:36, 5:24, 10:28, Jer 32:40).

Certainly some individuals can apostasize from the Christian faith, renouncing Christ, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit (for which there is no forgiveness - Lk 12:10) and Judas Iscariot may be a prime example of this. In light of the scriptures it can only be concluded that such ones were never saved in the first place, despite all appearances to the contrary. A true believer, as distinct from a pretender, will, by God's grace, see the battle won and the goal reached. "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mat 24:13). Because God finishes the work he begins in his elect, we can know our salvation is secure (Phil 1:6).

An interesting Roman Catholic view on salvation is this: "The truth must not be obscured that God is not moved and his mind is not changed by history... Original sin... cannot be repented of [or] arouse [man] to a sense of his need of redemption... When 'habitual' sin is explained as man's inability to love God perfectly... it could be a way of arousing man's... sense of his need of redemption." (Karl Rahner - Encyclopedia of Theology p1528) Although this does not comment on losing salvation, it seems to show that whatever happens in history, God will not change his mind. Also, that if a person is redeemed from 'original sin', later 'habitiual sin' will not prevent his salvation. That's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

Answer 3

Yes, one can lose his salvation.

With all due respect and holy charity towards my Protestant brethren here............

The evangelical teachings of "once saved always saved" and "accept Christ as your savior and you will go to Heaven" are NOT supported in Scripture and Tradition, and they are doctrines NEVER taught by Christ or His Church. They were only introduced during the the Protestant revolutions in the 16th century. That's 1600 years after the death of Christ. "Once saved always saved" is therefore a novel and man-made doctrine.

Scripture teaches that one’s final salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. As Jesus himself tells us, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 24:13; cf. 25:31–46). One who dies in the state of friendship with God (the state of grace) will go to heaven. The one who dies in a state of enmity and rebellion against God (the state of mortal sin) will go to hell.

Regarding the issue of whether Christians have an "absolute" assurance of salvation, regardless of their actions, consider this warning Saint Paul gave: "See then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise YOU TOO WILL BE CUT OFFf" (Rom. 11:22; see also Heb. 10:26–29, 2 Pet. 2:20–21).

When a "born again" Christian asks me "are you saved?" this would be the right answer:

"As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the HOPE that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13)."

I am a Roman Catholic, in case you were wondering. If you also need quotes from the Church fathers, let me know. [e-mail]

God bless you.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

To say that you can lose your salvation somehow implies that you did something to gain salvation. We are saved by grace(undeserved favor or merit) through faith in Jesus Christ. God is not like a man, and does not change His mind. Salvation is a gift, we cannot make God give it to us nor can we make Him take it back. 1 John 5:13 says " I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" John said that we can know that we have eternal life. We do not have to live in fear of loss of salvation. If you think that you can lose your salvation then you are dependent upon works and not grace.