No, once you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you cannot lose your salvation.

We realize that there are verses in the Bible that clearly support this answer and that there are other verses that seem to teach otherwise. So, we’ll look at what actually happens when you trust Christ, and then we’ll discuss, briefly, some of the verses on either side of the question.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU GOT SAVED

When you trusted Jesus Christ to save you, the Holy Spirit immediately entered you and did at least seven (7) things.

• He gave you eternal life, and thus you were born again (Jn. 3:3-7)
• He took up residence inside of you and made you the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16)
• He spiritually circumcised “the body of the sins of the flesh” from your soul (Col. 2:11)
• He baptized you into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13) {this was not a water baptism}
• He made you a member of the flesh and bones of the Christ’s body (Eph. 5:30)
• He raised you up and seated you in heaven in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6)
• He sealed you unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30)

For you to lose your salvation in this age, God would have to amputate you out of Christ’s body and kick you out of heaven where you are currently seated.

WHAT GOD PROMISED YOU WHEN YOU GOT SAVED

There are solid promises from God that assure you of your salvation. Of course, when people who believe you can lose your salvation see these verses, they generally reply with, “Yeah, but what about…?” and run off to another verse. When you got saved, God promised that:

• You had already passed from death unto life (Jn. 5:24)
• You would in no wise be cast out (Jn. 6:37)
• You were already made a son of God (1 Jn. 3:1-3)
• You would never perish (Jn. 10:28)
• You could not be separated from the love of God (Rom. 8:38,39)
• You know, right now, that you have eternal life (1 Jn. 5:13)
• Christ would never leave thee nor forsake thee (Heb. 13:5)

WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT LOSING SALVATION

There are verses throughout the Bible, which are often quoted to prove that you can lose your salvation. Commonly, these verses are found in one of three categories:

• Old Testament, before Christ completed the work of redemption on Calvary
• New Testament, dealing with the tribulation (still to come)
• A context that has nothing to do with salvation

Some good examples of these are:

• A man turns from his righteousness and dies in his sin (Eze. 18:24). Problem: Old Testament, pre-Calvary, it was his righteousness, not Christ’s.
• A man does wonderful works in Christ’s name and is told to depart from him (Matt. 7:21-23). Problem: He was not saved, “I never knew you,” (2 Tim. 2:19).
• A man blasphemes the Holy Ghost (Mk. 3:28-30). Problem: Only done when Christ is on earth and He is accused of doing His work by the power of the devil.
• A man has to endure to the end to be saved (Matt. 24:13). Problem: Tribulation verse (Matt 24:21). Deals with 2nd Advent not the end of a man’s life.
• A man must overcome to be saved (Rev. 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21). Problem: Tribulation verses. You have already overcome (1Jn. 4:4; 5:4).
• A man can be cut off (Rom. 11:20-22). Problem: Context is Israel, not individual believers, and all Israel will be saved at the 2nd Advent (Rom. 11:25-27).
• A man can be cast forth as a branch and burned (Jn. 15:6). Problem: He was never saved. Notice, “not in me” and “as” a branch. He wasn’t a branch.
• A man is entangled and overcome after he had knowledge of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:1, 20-22). Problem: He was never saved (believers are sheep not “dogs”). The context of the whole chapter is false prophets and false teachers.
• A man can be a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27). Problem: The whole chapter is on the ministry. The castaway is out of the ministry, not lost (2 Tim. 4:7-8).
• A man can be disinherited and therefore lost (Gal. 5:19-21). Problem: Every Christian is entitled to an inheritance (Rom. 8:17) and can lose it at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10-11) for not walking in the Spirit.

The problem with most of these verses is that you can make them teach what you want by just lifting them out of their context. That’s dangerous business. Best to trust what God “said” not what you want Him to “teach”, for whatever reason!

Hope this helps,

Pastor Bevans Welder