01/08/2023
๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ก
First, the term Christian must be defined. A โChristianโ is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8โ9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Itโs a crucially important question. Perhaps the best way to answer it is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation and to study what losing salvation would entail:
A TRUE Christian is a new creation. โTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!โ (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV). A Christian is not simply an โimprovedโ version of a person; a Christian is an entirely new creature. He is โin Christ.โ For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be destroyed.
A TRUE Christian is redeemed. โFor you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defectโ (1 Peter 1:18โ19). The word redeemed refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. We were purchased at the cost of Christโs death. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase of the individual for whom He paid with the precious blood of Christ.
A TRUE Christian is justified. โTherefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christโ (Romans 5:1). To justify is to declare righteous. All those who receive Jesus as Savior are โdeclared righteousโ by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and โun-declareโ what He had previously declared. Those absolved of guilt would have to be tried again and found guilty. God would have to reverse the sentence handed down from the divine bench.
A TRUE Christian is promised eternal life. โFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal lifeโ (John 3:16). Eternal life is the promise of spending forever in heaven with God. God promises that if you believe, you will have eternal life. For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be redefined. The Christian is promised to live forever. Does eternal not mean โeternalโ?
A TRUE Christian is marked by God and sealed by the Spirit. โYou also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you 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 Godโs possessionโto the praise of his gloryโ (Ephesians 1:13โ14). At the moment of faith, the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance. The end result is that Godโs glory is praised. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory.
A TRUE Christian is guaranteed glorification. โThose he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorifiedโ (Romans 8:30). According to Romans 5:1, justification is ours at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification comes with justification. All those whom God justifies are promised to be glorified. This promise will be fulfilled when Christians receive their perfect resurrection bodies in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
A TRUE Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Christ would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation is the gift of God, and Godโs gifts are โirrevocableโ (Romans 11:29). A Christian cannot be un-newly created. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. Eternal life cannot be temporary. God cannot renege on His Word. Scripture says that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a โChristianโ has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1 John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was never born again by the power of God. โBy their fruit you will recognize themโ (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong โto him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for Godโ (Romans 7:4).
Nothing can separate a child of God from the Fatherโs love (Romans 8:38โ39). Nothing can remove a TRUE Christian from Godโs hand (John 10:28โ29). God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He has given us. The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and, โwhen he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes homeโ (Luke 15:5โ6). The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one safely home.
Jude 1:24โ25 further emphasizes the goodness and faithfulness of our Savior: To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joyโto the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.โ
