Is it possible for me to lose my salvation? Could a person who has been born again, forgiven of sin, and adopted as a child of God ever miss out on heaven? Can I just get saved, live a life of sin, and then go to heaven anyway? This is a matter of utmost importance to how we look at salvation and our relationship with God, but it is a question on which many churches differ. Even among conservative evangelical Christians, there is no consensus on this issue. Nevertheless, I believe the Bible makes it very clear that salvation is permanent and unconditional. We call this doctrine eternal security, or the perseverance of the saints.
(The difference between the two terms is that "security" emphasizes the status of our forgiveness, whereas "perseverance" also includes the idea of persistent growth in godliness. I prefer to call this doctrine the preservation of the saints (a term not original with me), for it is God who has secured our forgiveness and who causes us to persevere to the end, if we are truly saved.)
Unfortunately, this is a doctrine that both sides have handled badly. Opponents of "once saved, always saved" tend to base their arguments (1) on fear that it will lead to persistent sinners thinking they are Christians because of a once-upon-a-time religious experience, and (2) on a misunderstanding of how God works through us to keep us in the faith. On the other hand, teachers of eternal security have too often left themselves open to their opponents' fear. Many evangelists make too little mention of repentance and give the impression that people are eternally saved by praying the "sinner's prayer." The casualties in this battle are twofold. There are millions of Christians who cannot live with joy and confidence, because they do not have the assurance that they will go to heaven when they die. They fear that they might fall into sin and lose their salvation. But there are also millions of churchgoers (and non-churchgoers) who made a "decision for Christ" but never moved away from their life of sin, and they have been told that they are forgiven. When ministers from both sides give an account of their ministries before God, I imagine there will be quite a bit of regret for how they have mishandled the gospel.
First, it is necessary to establish that salvation is not obtained only upon the believer's death. There is a point in the believer's life when he is "saved" and receives benefits of that salvation. The question at hand, therefore, is whether one can actually, truly be saved in this fashion, and then lose that salvation. The Bible usually uses saved in the future tense, but not always.
There are also many other instances in which those who have believed and are still alive are already at peace with God and have received forgiveness for their sins. Just a few examples will be given here.
In the Bible, the act of believing on Jesus (which involves faith and repentance) is associated with the moment of salvation, and those who believe are forgiven of their sins and will be saved in the ultimate, future sense.
Those who believe are also said to have eternal life and are promised resurrection in the last day. Salvation in this future sense is promised to those who believe.
The Bible directly promises that those who are truly saved will not lose their salvation.
When people abandoned the church or the teaching of the apostles, the Bible indicates they were never truly saved.
The New Testament contains many warnings, addressed to Christians, not to shrink back or abandon the faith, or else risk losing their reward. We are told to persevere, and that those who endure to the end will be saved. Do these warnings not imply that Christians have the ability to lose their salvation?
Rather than deal with the warning verses one by one, I prefer to address them as a group. These warnings must be taken in conjunction with the promises God has given us. Just as we are told to "make every effort" to work out our salvation and develop Christian character, we are also told that it is Christ living in us, and that the Spirit is the one who produces our fruit. Remember also that the Spirit that indwells us is the same Spirit who inspired these warnings. The warnings may function as a means by which the Spirit preserves us.
As a real life example, imagine a mother walking with her son on the sidewalk, along a busy street. Left to himself, the child is prone to wander out into the street and get hit by a car. But the mother will not let that happen. She tells her son not to go out into the street, or he will be in danger. She also holds her son's hand and guides him forward. If he pulls away toward the street, she will only hold him that much tighter. There is no way she will let him end up in the street, for she loves him. In an extreme case, the mother may actually have to carry her son to keep him safe. Does this invalidate her warning? No, the warning may make him more cooperative, so that his keeping to the sidewalk is more pleasant for him and for the mother. Our Christian journey is very much like that. There are indeed perils, and were we to fall from our salvation, there would be nothing but judgment for us. In fact, Hebrews 6:1-8 teaches that if we were to lose our salvation, we could never get it back. But, as Hebrews 6:9-11 says, "we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end."
If you are unconvinced, consider also the import of the verses in the biblical case I've given. For one thing, if we have believed, we have forgiveness of sins. What could possibly cause us to lose our salvation and place us under judgment? More sin? But our sin is forgiven. Jesus also says that we have everlasting life. Can that be revoked? If so, then it is not everlasting. Jesus also promises that whoever believes in Him will be raised on the last day when He returns. Have you believed in Him? Then you will be raised on the last day when He returns.
(Legitimate warning passages–addressed to Christians, warning of loss of salvation: Rom. 11:19-22; 1 Cor. 8:11; 9:26-27; 10:7-10; Heb. 2:1-4; 6:4-19; 10:25-31, along with others.)
There are other claimed warning passages that either refer to the lost, have to do with loss of reward or temporal punishment, or simply say that repentance is necessary for salvation. They not only encourage Christian obedience, but help to distinguish true believers from false ones. Taken in context, they are not warnings that Christians may lose their salvation. These passages include Matt. 5:22; 10:28, 33; 18:1-3; Rom. 8:13; 1 Cor. 10:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:9; Eph. 5:5; Jam. 1:14-15; 1 John 3:10; Rev. 2:10, 21:8, 27; 22:19.
Many people believe that this "once saved, always saved" doctrine is dangerous, because it could seem to imply that a person could make a one-time commitment, perhaps as a child, and then live a life of sin, rebellion, and unbelief, and then go to heaven. What incentive is there to pursue obedience if our salvation does not depend on it? On the contrary, the Bible gives us every reason to believe that those who live like this were never saved in the first place. Whatever profession of faith the sinner made was not genuine.
The Gospels emphasize repentance–turning away from sin and toward obedience to God–as central to Jesus' teaching (Mark 1:15; 6:10; Luke 5:32). Luke 24:7 connects repentance with forgiveness of sins. John's Gospel does not use the word repent, but implies such a change of life throughout his book. In John, Jesus says, for example, "If God were your Father, you would love Me," (John 8:42), and "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word," (John 14:23). James also says that "faith" and religion that are not accompanied by good works show themselves to be false and worthless (James 1:26; 2:14-26).
The warning passages cited above–both real warnings to Christians and more general warnings of judgment–also make it clear that those who live lifestyles of sin are not really Christians. In addition, the Bible commands the church not to tolerate as members those who manifest no evidence of their salvation (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:1-13; Titus 3:10-11). However, should they repent, they should be readmitted to the church, their expulsion either having brought them to faith or disciplined them as believers (2 Cor. 2:6-8; Gal. 6:1; 1 Tim. 1:19-20).
In short, the biblical promise that those who endure to the end will be saved (e.g., Matt. 10:22) is harmonious with preservation of the saints, because it asserts that those who are saved will endure to the end.
The question then arises, how do I know that my conversion experience is genuine? It is good for all Christians to test themselves (2 Cor. 13:5), and the letter of 1 John contains the most complete series of tests. They fall into two main categories: obedience to Christ and belief in the truth.
(First, some background on 1 John. The audience, a church, had apparently suffered a defection of individuals who had forsaken the teaching of the apostles and who claimed to be the true followers of Christ. John writes to assure that those who remained were in the right, and were saved (5:13). The tests give clues as to what kind of people the defectors were, but also apply to today's believers.)
If you, reader, once made a seemingly sincere decision to become a Christian, but are currently living a sinful life, then you are right to test yourself. Until you repent, you may not be able to have the assurance that you are saved. That does not necessarily mean that you are not saved, but consider this: God disciplines His children, and your desire as a person with a changed heart ought to be to follow Christ. If you are comfortable in your sin, if you do not long to return to a righteous life, or if you have never changed your behavior since you became a Christian...you were probably never saved. The solution? Repent and believe.
But suppose you surrendered to Christ, and He rescued you from a terrible life of sin. You served Him faithfully for a while but then got lazy. You may have fallen into all kinds of sin since then. Now there is something drawing you back to God, and you are feeling very guilty. I would take this as evidence that you are genuinely saved–but not as an excuse to stay in that sin! My pastor has explained it this way: some fear that eternal security means you can sin all you want to. In reality, we who are truly Christians sin much more than we want to. When we are saved, God changes our "want to," so that our true, abiding desire is to follow Him.
I would like to stress to all readers–both those for and against eternal security–that salvation is not just about going to heaven. Faith, repentance, holiness, and a godly character are all spiritual benefits of salvation that were secured for us by Christ's death. When the Spirit regenerates us (makes us born again), we receive a new heart fitted for all these things. As Paul says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). God did not send Christ to die the most agonizing of deaths, send His people to share the gospel, often under threat of persecution, and send His Spirit to convict men of sin, just to have those men pray the "sinner's prayer" and then continue living as if God did not exist.
It does bother me when I hear assurance promised to a person at the very moment of his conversion. How does the one sharing the gospel know whether the decision was a genuine work of the Spirit? Recall the parable of the sower (Matt. 13), and the seed that failed to grow because it fell on poor ground. Too often I've heard the gospel presented as if all I have to do is believe Jesus died for my sins, and then ask Him to forgive me, and all is taken care of. (That, simply put, is NOT the gospel.) The evangelist then leads people in a prayer to that effect, and then says, "If you prayed that prayer just now and meant it, I say to you by the authority of God's word that you are saved eternally. All your sins are forgiven, and you will go to heaven when you die." This is what people who oppose the teaching of eternal security are really afraid of. It is much better to tell the person that salvation involves repentance and Lordship (i.e., turning from your sins and making Jesus your master). Whether the person really "means it" depends not on the emotional state at the time, but on the evidence of a changed life. A church may–and should–take a convert at his word and baptize him without any kind of probation. But the church should also keep its members under discipline, holding them to a standard of belief and practice that gives evidence of true salvation.
The best biblical defense of eternal security I have read is by John Gill, in his Body of Divinity. You can read his chapter at this off-site link.
For a concise statement of my beliefs about salvation, see my Declaration of Faith.
