My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27-30, ESV)
I've heard of people who tell me that salvation can be lost. I know disillusioned Christians who aren't so sure anymore. So how exactly affect our outlook on living as Christians if salvation can be lost? Let's take a look.
If salvation can be lost, how sure can you be that you are saved?
If salvation can be lost, what can we do to ensure that we don't lose it?
If salvation can be lost, what assurance do we have in the death of Jesus Christ?
If salvation could be lost, I think we would be working very hard to keep our salvation, without ever knowing whether what we are doing is ever good enough. How different would it make us from our musl!m cousins?
What does the Bible have to say about salvation?
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14, ESV)
What we see here is that when we are born again, we receive the promised indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is God's guarantee that He who began a good work in us will complete it (Phil 1:6) In order for us to lose our salvation after receiving the promised Holy Spirit, God would have to break His promise or renege on His “guarantee,” which He cannot do. Therefore the believer is eternally secure because God is eternally faithful.
At the same time, what of people who claim to have believed in Jesus Christ then eventually turned away, even to the extent of denying the existence of God? Will they lose their salvation? At first glance, it would seem so.
What does the Bible have to say about this?
Jesus said that that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-22). This shows that not everybody who professes to be a Christian, really is. 1 John 2:19 puts things into perspective for us: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. What we see here is that these people have not lost their salvation, but rather have not even been saved!
Now having see that we have an assurance in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the He will never let anything separate us from God, we don't have to live in fear of screwing up because of the hope we have: ... you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. We will be conformed to the image of Christ through sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV). When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit breaks the bondage of sin and gives the believer a new heart and a desire to seek holiness. Therefore a true Christian will desire to be obedient to God and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when they sin. They will never “live any way they want” because such behavior is impossible for someone who has been given a new nature.
How awesome is this assurance?!
