One of the questions I’m asked a lot—in fact, in my 25+ years of pastoring, it’s one of the most asked questions—is can I lose my salvation? It’s an interesting question, and I’m going to share several points with you that I believe will answer this for you once and for all.
You Will Be Saved
Let’s take a look at what Scripture says about being saved. The Bible says that Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost (Luke 19:10), so we know that Jesus came to save. In Acts 16:30-31, there was a man so convicted about his lost condition that he said to the disciples, “What must I do to be saved?” They responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” In Romans 10: 9-10, we read that, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Not you might be saved, you will be saved. Here’s one more, Ephesians 2:8-9: “8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”
There are many scriptures about salvation and being saved, and there’s nothing in this life that can be compared to that moment when you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and you’re adopted into the family of God. You’re broken off from the wrath of God, and instead of being eternally separated, you’re a son or a daughter the living King. What can be better than that?!
But few Christians go all the way through life without having any doubts about their salvation.
Over the years, I’ve been asked many questions about salvation, like, “Do I have to live right or to a certain level to keep salvation?” or, “Can I sin my way out of salvation?” (that’s a crazy one, but I’ve been asked that), or “Can I walk away from God? Can He walk away from me?” or “What if God changes His mind about me?”
These questions all fall under the same heading, “Can I lose my salvation?” So let’s take a quick look at what Scripture says about the permanency of this awesome gift from God.
First of all, in John 10, Jesus compares saved people to sheep, and one of the things He talks about is the protection of those same sheep from falling away, or even rebelling away, from God. Jesus establishes that salvation is a gift that makes us “sheep of his fold,” or family, in the first place. It’s a gift. We’re adopted in through that belief and that faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross. In John 10:7-9, we read: 7Therefore Jesus said again,
“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
There it is again in verse 9—will be saved.
I have been asked, Pastor Rob, sheep often wander off and thieves steal them. Or what if the shepherd just gives them away? Jesus addresses the security of the sheep in verses 28-30.
“28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
Here, Jesus is saying that we can’t pry open His hands and leave the family. We can’t sue God for parental separation, nor does God ever let go on His end.
Let me draw your attention to a few other key points about that passage. Jesus says:
- I give them eternal life, not temporary
- They shall never perish, not they might not
- No one will snatch them out of My hand, not some might be able to snatch them out of My hand.
Now, there are other Bible passages that seem, on face value, to say the polar opposite of what we’ve just been talking about. Let’s look briefly at a few of these. In Hebrews 6:4-6a, we read that, “4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.” And there’s another scripture, in Matthew 24:13, where Jesus says,
13But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
I don’t believe that these Scriptures point to our losing our salvation. If a person professes faith in Christ, and yet falls away, I don’t believe it means he has lost his salvation. Instead, it more likely reveals that he was never truly converted in the first place.
Salvation is a Free Gift, Not Something We Can Earn
So, if we can “lose” our salvation, that means we can also “keep” it by making sure we simply never do the things that it takes to lose it again. But how realistic is that? I think it’s not at all realistic. In fact, it’s impossible.
But more than that, it makes salvation at least partially dependent on our own merits, and it flies in the face of Scriptures teaching that salvation is a miraculous work of God, and it depends on Him, not us in the least. If we can lose our salvation, how can we lose it? How can we keep it? And what does our answer say about the nature of salvation and on whom it depends?
Randy Alcorn, a great author and theologian said it like this: Is salvation a 50-50 proposition? Is it 10% us and 90% God? Maybe it’s 10% God, 90% us? Rewards are earned by our work for God done depending wholly on Him, but salvation is not earned. It’s not a reward. It is a gift, earned only by Christ, not us.”
I know this is a stressful question, and it’s one that has bothered many believers. But if it’s caused you to stop and think, then that’s a good thing. That’s the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That’s probably God saying He wants to get closer to you, that He wants you to press into Him and get to know Him more. And isn’t it wonderful to know that God wants to be closer to you?!
I hope this brings comfort to you. It’s not a matter of whether you can lose something you’ve been given. If you put your trust in Jesus Christ, and you truly repented of your sins, you cannot be de-adopted. And that’s good news.
I’d like to invite you to stay encouraged with more good news by checking out my new video series, “Ask P-RO,” on my YouTube channel. I address questions just like this one and others in a real and relevant way. And don’t forget to check out The Summit’s weekly online worship experiences, every Sunday morning at 9am and 11am Mountain time.
Until next time, go out, and live all out, for Jesus Christ.
~Pastor Rob
aka, “P-Ro”