Can salvation be 'revoked', or 'lost'?

Question

this is meant for Christians, but I'm interested in anyones views on this topic.

Answer 1

There is no "once saved always saved" that is very unbiblical. God will never take His gift of salvation from us, but we with our God given free will can reject it at any time.
1 Tim 4:1: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."

This text shows that Christians can loose their salvation if they follow deceiving spirits.

2 Peter 2:20-22: "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'"

The apostle Peter indicates clearly here that it is worst for someone who has accepted Jesus in his life to return to his old ways than "not to have known the way of righteousness". Why? The book of Hebrews explains this for us.

Heb 6:4-6: "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."

This text describes Christians who not only accepted Jesus by faith into their life, but also personally tasted God's Holy Spirit. What happens to them if they "fall away'? This text is clear. It is impossible for them to be brought back to repentance, and thus obtain eternal salvation, because they did sin against the Holy Spirit. They have lost it!

Heb 10:26-28: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."

Here we see clearly that once we have accepted Jesus in our life, we just can't go on living as if He did not exist, and "deliberately keep on sinning". What would be the result if you did? Would you still obtain eternal salvation? The Bible says that these will have "a fearful expectation of judgment". There again, they have lost their salvation.

The apostle Paul confirms this in 1 Cor 15:1-2: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain."

In other words, if someone does not hold on firm to God's word, he/she has "believed in vain".

An example that one can loose his/her salvation is King Saul. He was chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. He was filled with God's Spirit at first (1 Samuel 10 6), but because of his pride and evil actions, never repenting from what he did wrong, eventually God's Spirit departed from him 1 Sam 16:14 "Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul…" NIV King Saul had been saved, but he lost his salvation due to his unrepentant heart. How sad!

Salvation on our part is an on going process,day by day, not a one time thing.

"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)."

Answer 2

If it cannot, then Christianity has a serious problem. It's too easy to say, "Those who fall away never were Christians," but then blasphemy as defined by most becomes a literal impossibility, so why would Yshua have spoken so harshly about it? It would have been a non-issue.

Only someone who once truly believed to the point of knowledge, by the definitions of the NT, could commit blasphemy. As blasphemy is an unforgivable sin, this means that the belief has been sacrificed forever, and that salvation that flows from that belief must have been lost as well.

Jesus also used the parable of the scattered seed. Some landed on the path and never grew -- these would be non-believers who never had life. Some landed on the shallow soil and had life, but lost it because their roots were not deep enough -- but all the same, they DID have life. And of course the deep soil for those who lived and thrived.

"Once Saved, Always Saved," is a biblically untenable position.

Answer 3

Thank you for including me, as I'm not Christian, but I do like to learn more about what others believe. The diversity of answers is rather awesome. I have no idea what "salvation" could mean, as, salvation from what? (Rhetorical question.) Say that I accept this premise, I "sin," I repent, someone forgives me, I do the same thing again. I am threatened with the Lake of fire. (Or worse.) Because the Christian God is patriarchal, could I make an analogy? My child does something clearly beyond the bounds of "acceptable" morality, (time place & culture.) The child understands, & is grounded, or whatever. They do it again & again. If they "repent," are they forgiven each time? I feel that the rules are human in concept, all people being unique, with their own standards, how could there be one entity that dictates all the rules, with both love & horrible wrath? This seems to me to truly be a DICTATORSHIP, & I could not accept any god who would act in such a human fashion! Obviously, I don't believe in "salvation," thus it could not be acheived, revoked or lost.

Answer 4

Through forgiveness of sin, available by God's grace (Romans 3:24), a Christian finds freedom in obeying God's law (James 1:21-25). Rather than being enslaved to sin by disobedience, we serve God by obedience and walk the path God intends, to be led to eternal life in His kingdom by His generous and undeserved gift (Romans 6:16-23).

To return to a former life of sin is a serious matter in the sight of God (2 Peter 2:20-22). However, the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the willful rejection of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, by which forgiveness of sin is made possible (Hebrews 6:4-6). This sin is described by Christ as "blasphemy against the Spirit" (Matthew 12:31), a knowing rejection of the power and authority of God. After every human being has had a full opportunity for salvation, those still unrepentant will be destroyed (Revelation 20:14-15), thus fulfilling the ultimate penalty of sin, the second death. Although every person is responsible for his own sin (Ezekiel 18:4, 20), Satan the devil is identified as the deceiver of mankind and the one ultimately responsible for leading humanity into sin (Revelation 12:9; 20:1-3).

Answer 5

Is this a query? I see not anything that resembles a query in those many paragraphs on what you think to be the reality. We don't lose our salvation as soon as stored. John three:sixteen says that God so cherished the sector that He gave His handiest begotten son (Jesus ) that who ever believes on Him could no longer perish however have permanent existence. A character has to simply invite Jesus to come back into their lives via Faith to be stored. No subject what after that one remains to be stored. Un repented sin can rate anybody a well existence with Jesus, in the world and fairly have to repent and get forgiveness from God. Once we repent in line with 1John a million:eight, and 1John a million:nine the Lord forgives us after which forgets it ever occurred. The presents and calling are given with out repentance has to do with the nine Gifts of the Spirit. And no longer Salvation.

Answer 6

Yes. Once saved is not always saved

Heb. 9:12 - Christ's sacrifice secured our redemption, but redemption is not the same thing as salvation. We participate in and hope for salvation. Our hope in salvation is a guarantee if we are faithful to Christ to the end. But if we lose hope and fail to persevere, we can lose our salvation. Thus, by our own choosing (not by God's doing), salvation is not a certainty. While many Protestant churches believe in the theology of "once saved, always saved," such a novel theory is not found in Scripture and has never been taught by the Church.

Rom. 5:2 - we rejoice in the "hope" (not the presumptuous certainty) of sharing the glory of God. If salvation is absolutely assured after accepting Jesus as Savior, why would Paul hope?

Rom. 5:5 - this "hope" does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Our hope is assured if we persevere to the end.

Rom. 8:24 - this "hope" of salvation that Paul writes about is unnecessary if salvation is guaranteed. If salvation is assured, then why hope?

Answer 7

You bet your sweet bippy it can be revoked.
Mark 13:13 "...he that endures to the end will be saved."
If someone does not endure to the end, no guarantee.
1 Corinthians 9:27 Paul says:
"I pummel my body and lead it as a slave, that, after I have preached to others, I myself should not become disapproved somehow."
He was concerned about not having his salvation revoked.
1 Corinthians 10:12 "Let him who thinks he is standing beware he does not fall."
Phillipians 2:12 "keep working out your salvation."

Answer 8

Depends on your point of view.

As a Catholic, I do not believe that I am "saved" while I am here - I view salvation as a journey and I will not know if I am saved until I stand before God and He says so.

Others believe that all you have to do it say a little prayer and you are saved, forever.

Others, and I kind of like this as it makes some sense, believe that you can claim salvation, but if you turn away from God, you were never really "saved" in the first place.

Answer 9

For me i think salvation can be lost. I Will explain this.
When I repent from my sin and come before Lord i am under the umbrella of salvation which is offered freely from Jesus. But once i step out of faith and go astray from Lord Jesus, I loose my salvation as I myself choose to come out of the umbrella. It can be revoked if we again come back to His presence as earlier. Once you are Saved..it is not a guarantee from Lord that it will remain with you unless you choose to walk in His ways.

Answer 10

Christians may have their own views, as they seem to believe in an external "salvation" from something they fear but I know nothing of, apart from what I've read in tracts I find alarmist and unconvincing. Instead, I look inwards to review what I do, and why, that affects others harmfully - and I rely on myself to do something about it. For the rest, I just entrust myself to life, death, and the universe.

Answer 11

NO! Oce you're saved! you're saved! And that's forever.

Just imagine this: you're saved, walking down the street. Suddenlly you slip and fall on your *** on the middle of the street, the scene is ridiculous and you're bruised. Although you're a good Christian, as you're trying to stand up, you scream away a couple of curses, and that's it you just sinned! You suddenly turned away from God and lost your salvation, and on that instant you're hit by a and die! Are you not still saved? Does it seem fair if you're not? Think about it...