Is it possible for someone who has repented? Been baptized and adopted the ways of the Lord to at some point down the line lose their salvation? The answer to that question really depends on what you mean by “lose their salvation”. Is the question asking can it be taken from you? Or that you can decide to give it up?
Each of those questions gets a completely different answer. It’s true that no one can ever take your salvation from you. That being said it is possible for you to let go of your salvation. Making all that you did before null and void. That can be a hard pill to swallow but it is what the Bible teaches throughout the Old and New Testaments.
God’s Message Through Ezekiel
In fact, the best passage we have to argue against the false doctrine of once saved always saved comes from the Old Testament. In Ezekiel chapter eighteen we learn how a wicked man can be saved by turning away from his sinful ways. This leads us into how the righteous man can turn away from the right way and ultimately forfeit or lose his salvation.
Ezekiel 18:20-21 (ESV)
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:24 (ESV)
24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them, he shall die.
This teaching is so important that God says it once through Ezekiel. Only 15 chapters after starting it the first time. We must understand that just as quickly as we can be saved we can once again return to the rank of the lost world.
Ezekiel 33:17-20 (ESV)
17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”
New Testament Examples
While Ezekiel makes it abundantly clear that you can lose your salvation. Scripture in the Old Testament is often viewed as though it does not apply to those of us who live today. Interestingly enough this seems to come up more when the verse referenced is one that’s not pleasing to the ear. In the case of losing your salvation, the New Testament aligns with the teaching of the Old Testament.
In Colossians 1 we read how we were once alienated from God because of our sinful actions. But we have been reconciled because of the death of Jesus Christ so that we can be presented blameless. That is as we see in verse 23 if we continue in the faith. Not returning back to our old ways.
Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV)
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
James teaches us that someone can walk away from the truth. Even telling that another believer can bring this person back and save them from death. This verse shows that we truly can turn away from our faith and by doing so we are giving up the eternal life we received.
James 5:19-20 (ESV)
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
In 2 Timothy Paul uses both a soldier and an athlete to show us how we are supposed to live as Christians. As soldiers of Christ, we can not get distracted by the things of this world and still expect to please God. If we want to receive the reward (salvation) for completing the race of life then we must follow the rules set before us.
2 Timothy 2:4-5 (ESV)
4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.\
One saved always saved seems to teach that you can continue to live in sin because of God’s grace. Paul disproves this belief in his letter to the Romans. We only have two options serve sin and lose our salvation. Or obey God and receive the gift of eternal life. The Bible does not leave room for any other options.
Romans 6:15-16 (ESV)
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
The Truth Of The Matter
All of the scriptures listed above reinforces the fact that you can lose your salvation. We must leave our sinful lifestyle in the past and continue in the ways of the Lord until the end. Otherwise, we cannot expect to be saved. While it may not be pleasing to the ears this is simply the truth as laid out in the Bible.
Please see that this article is not meant to condemn anyone for their beliefs. We simply feel as though it is necessary to share the truth of the Gospel with everyone. To hold back the truth in order to protect someone’s feelings only causes more harm than good. Softening the truth leads the lost to believe they will receive salvation when in reality they are still headed toward the same destruction.
We hope this article has helped to shed some light on this very important issue. If you have any questions about anything you have read please feel free to email us at [email protected]. Help us out by sharing this article with others so they too can see the truth of the Gospel. Thanks and God Bless!
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I asked the Lord if it was true that I would ever lose my salvation. What He gave me was a vision. I saw a desk with an open book. On the pages were names written. He said “this is the lambs book of life.” He then took hold of a pen and dipped it into a an inkwell filled with blood. And the Lord said “this blood is of my son that died on the cross that was shed for you.” then God proceeded to write a name in the lambs book of life. and God said “I am proud to write down each name in this book for my love is eternal.” The devil is not going to give something like that no way becuz i do believe that is from the Lord and no one can tell me that I can lose my salvation, ever. and I was later given more confirmation if you want to take the time to read. If you don’t that will be between you and God.
Have you ever wondered if you can lose your salvation? Or if you can be “unsaved” if you do something wrong or sin?
It’s extremely important for us believers to be clear about several fundamental matters. One of these is having the assurance that we’re saved once we believe in Christ. Another fundamental matter we must be clear about is the security of our salvation. Just how secure is our salvation? What safeguards it? Does its security depend on us? Can we lose our salvation?
Let’s get into five points that address the security of our salvation.
1. God initiated our salvation, and His calling is irreversible
Not a single one of us initiated our salvation. Ephesians 1:4-5 show us that God initiated our salvation before we were even born:
“Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
Our salvation didn’t start with us; it started with God. He chose us before the foundation of the world. And Romans 11:29 gives us this reassuring word:
“For the gracious gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Irrevocable! This means our God-initiated salvation is irreversible, permanent, final, and unalterable.
2. God’s love and grace are eternal
We may withhold our love from others if they don’t love us in return, or we may want others to meet certain conditions in order to gain our love. But God isn’t like that. He loved us when we were His enemies, even dead in our offenses and sins. First John 4:10 tells us:
“Herein is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.”
God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins. His love for us is so great, and it’s also eternal. In Jeremiah 31:3 God says, “Indeed I have loved you with an eternal love.”
God’s grace to us is also eternal. Second Timothy 1:9 says:
“Who [God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages.”
God gave His grace to us before the times of the ages—that is, in eternity past. Our salvation is not based on our love for God or on our works, but on His eternal, unchanging love for us and on His eternal grace.
3. God is righteous in regard to our salvation
God’s salvation surely arises from His love for us. But it is also a matter of His righteousness. Our sins violate God’s righteousness, and legally we should pay the penalty for them.
But Christ fulfilled the demand of God’s righteousness by paying the penalty for us. He died in our place for our sins, bearing them in His body on the cross. Because Christ died for our sins, God must righteously acknowledge that our debt has been paid; He can no longer demand that we pay it.
As an illustration, let’s say we violate a traffic law and a police officer gives us a ticket. But we have a problem: we can’t pay the fine. However, say someone pays it for us. Since that person paid the fine, a judge can’t require us to pay it again. The judge has to acknowledge that the fine was paid.
The righteous God can never take away our salvation because our debt was fully paid, once and for all, by Christ’s death on our behalf. We’ve been forever redeemed by His precious blood.
4. God begot us with His eternal life
When we were saved, we were born again with the life of God. John 1:12-13 tell us:
“As many as received Him [the Lord Jesus], to them He [God] gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Once we’re born of God as His children and receive His eternal life, we can never be “unborn,” even if we do things that aren’t pleasing to God. The life we’ve received from God is eternal, and our life relationship with God is also eternal.
To illustrate, let’s say our son or daughter isn’t behaving well. While this makes us unhappy, it can’t cancel or undo the fact that they are our children. Their bad behavior can’t annul the fact that they share our human life.
In the same way, we’re children of God. We were born with His eternal life, and nothing can undo that.
5. God holds us in His hands
Furthermore, John 10:28-29 tell us:
“I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
Once we receive the eternal life of God, we’re held in the strongest hands in the universe. No one, not even Satan, can snatch us out of these hands! Our salvation could not be more secure.
The dangerous consequences of thinking you can lose your salvation
Thinking you can lose your salvation at any time makes progressing in the Christian life extremely difficult, if not impossible. In fact, this thought can undermine your entire Christian life.
Let’s see how this could happen.
When we sin, we naturally feel ashamed and regretful. This is a healthy reaction. But if we don’t know that we can confess our sins to the Lord to be forgiven and washed, then we don’t know what to do about our sins. Our conscience becomes weighed down. And when we commit more sins, as we inevitably will, we may begin to think the accumulation of all our sins undoes our salvation.
A question starts to eat away at us: “Am I still saved?”
With this question constantly bothering us, we become disheartened in our Christian life. Instead of rejoicing in our salvation, loving the Lord, and pursuing Him with an unburdened heart, we feel unworthy. We find it difficult to pray to Him or read the Bible. We become focused on ourselves, on our behavior and our failures, and begin to lose sight of Christ and all He’s done for us.
And in spite of our best efforts, we sin yet again. So our unconfessed sins continue to pile up, burdening our conscience even more and making us feel hopeless.
Sadly, at this point, some give up on following the Lord because they’re convinced their Christian life has suffered irreparable damage. Feeling they’re already lost, they think to themselves, “What’s the use? I’ve already lost my salvation. Why try anymore?”
So they give up, go back to their old life, and live as they did before they were saved.
They don’t realize that the blood Jesus shed on the cross redeemed them and saved them eternally. And they don’t know that same precious blood of Jesus can also wash them of every sin they commit and confess to Him AFTER they’re saved.
Sunny, thank you for taking the time to read and reply to this article. I greatly appreciate your kindness and desire to share your experience as well as your position with me. I hope I can be clear and concise as I match some of the objections to my position you have laid out from other sources. My position being that you cannot lose your salvation or have it stolen from you. But by turning your back on the Lord and returning to a lifestyle of sin you can give up your salvation.
First and foremost I must take issue with you using a dream or vision as the foundation of your belief. As an Apostolic Pentecostal, I believe that the gifts of the spirit are still for today as it seems you do. Meaning that I do believe that God can speak to His people through dreams, visions, and prophecy. That being said though such things are not what we build doctrine off of because the enemy can and will use such things to lead Christians astray. The Bible makes it clear that the devil disguises himself as an angel of light. He will make false truth look righteous in order to lead many astray.
2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
For the very same reason we are told not to sway from the faith received first from the Apostles. Regardless of where the new idea came from. Only the scripture itself should be used to form belief and doctrine. Personal extra-biblical revelation is not what our beliefs should be founded on. That being said I do understand that you are also digging into the scripture. But I want to emphasize that we must be careful not to use our preconceived notions to shape how we see the scripture. Scripture should be what shapes our beliefs not the other way around.
Galatians 1:8–9 (ESV)
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
2 Corinthians 11:3–4 (ESV)
3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
Jude 8 (ESV)
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
I do not disagree with much of the information stated in your comment. The five points sourced from one of biblesforamerica.org’s article’s are all biblically accurate. Nothing we have done or ever will do earned us salvation. It is the free gift of a loving merciful God. God’s love is eternal and surpasses all that we understand. Nothing can separate us from God’s love and even those whose lives result in an eternity in hell are still loved by God. No matter what we do or don’t do it will never change the fact that God loves us. We have been made members of the family of God and truly are held in His hands.
All that is truth directly from scripture. But I must take issue with the conclusions they and you draw from this information. None of the verses quoted or the points made are able to explain away all the scriptures that show you can lose your salvation. In the biggest picture, you must ask yourself why we have any of the letters written to the churches in our BIbles today. If the life lived after salvation doesn’t matter because you cant lose salvation then why try to correct sin issues in the church?
Why does Paul write to the Galatian church that had already received salvation and warn them that those who live sinful lifestyles won’t inherit the Kingdom of God? Why does he tell them of the need to rescue other believers from sin? While also warning them to be careful they don’t give in to the same sin? Or why did he say to the Romans to be careful because if God didn’t spare the natural branches he won’t spare them either? Why does John in his first letter make it clear that those who keep living in sin don’t know God?
Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 6:1 (ESV)
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Romans 11:19 (ESV)
19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
1 John 1:6 (ESV)
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1 John 3:8 (ESV)
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
The answer is very simple those passages and many more are in our Bibles to warn us. To make it clear that in order to receive salvation we must continue to live a God-focused life. In order to see the glory that is in Heaven, we must stay on the narrow path and not return to the wide path of sinful living. We must not turn away from God and back to the world that He saved us from. Because by doing so we don’t lose our salvation but we do throw it away as worthless. Making it of no effect.
Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Does that mean if we mess up and walk away from God that we can’t come back and still be saved? Of course not! As we have both made clear we serve a loving, merciful, and grace-filled God. One who is always happy to accept us back with open arms if we will only turn back to Him. The very same illustration made with the prodigal son.
To be honest the articles you reference contradict themselves. Effectively making my case for me by stating multiple times the need to confess the sins you have committed after salvation. That is the key to deconstructing the whole argument of once saved always saved. Because if you are forever saved and nothing can change that then you only need to confess your sins once. Anything after that would be taken care of and you would have no need to confess again. But that isn’t what we are taught in the Bible
2 Corinthians 7:9 (ESV)
9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
Revelation 2:5 (ESV)
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Revelation 3:19 (ESV)
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Repentance is not a one time act but a continued act. When we sin even after receiving salvation we must repent for those actions. Not doing so shows a lack of respect towards God and is the first step back into a lifestyle of sin with no remorse. Which as we have seen makes us ineligible for Heaven.
Now if we lost our salvation because we messed up or fell to sin once after being saved Heaven would be empty. Because we are all to human and will at times give in to temptation. But as John said the goal is to not sin. Yet, if we do sin we know we have an advocate with the Father and can be forgiven again.
1 John 2:1–2 (ESV)
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Salvation is dependent upon a lifestyle of repentance and faith towards God. If either of those two things are missing then we cannot believe we will be saved. Regardless of what we have done in our past in terms of the plan of salvation.
If one day I turn my back on the faith and begin to live a sinful lifestyle I cannot expect to still be saved. If I live in sin but still claim to know God I cannot expect to be saved. Or if I decide everything I believe is a lie and no longer hold to the faith but remain sin free I still can’t expect to be saved. Because in any of those situations I am not living in accordance to the way God has called us to live. In the only way that results in Heaven. Only those who place their faith in Him and who continually repent of their sins will receive salvation.
Once saved always saved sounds great but is the very kind of deceitful teaching we are warned about in the Bible. Pleasing to the ears but bad for the soul. As it tricks people into believing something that sounds nice but simply isn’t true. Ultimately leading them farther away from the truth, God, and salvation. The very same dangerous teaching that causes people to believe they know God but ultimately hear depart from me I never knew you on the judgment day.
2 Timothy 4:3 (ESV)
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
I truly hope you are able to better understand my point in saying that you can give up your salvation. Moving from the saved to the unsaved is a decision made by the individual. No one can take away your salvation and you can’t lose it. But you surely can choose to give it up by returning to sin and walking away from the God who first saved you.
Please continue to pray over this issue and spend time in the Bible. Don’t simply take the word of any article on such a serious subject of faith whether mine or someone else’s. Instead, search the scriptures on your own asking God for the wisdom needed to see the truth. Follow the righteous example of the Berean church who didn’t even take the Apostle Paul at his word. But first searched the scripture to see if all he claimed was true.
Acts 17:11 (ESV)
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
The simple truth is that issues such as this are far too large to fully break down in one simple article. The articles you referenced leave out any scriptures that contradict their point. Failing to explain passages that clearly state those who live sinful lifestyles won’t be saved regardless of their past time spent living for God. At the same time, I am unable to share every scripture that proves my point. Or address all those that may seem like they contradict my position.
As Christians, we must make it our goal to find the truth from the scripture firsthand and not rely fully on others. Articles like mine are meant to guide others and explain tough subjects. But they are not meant to form the beliefs of others without personal time spent in prayer and study. So again take the time to fully search this out for yourself in God’s word. All the while not leaning on your own understanding. Instead, do so praying for His wisdom and guidance to lead you.
Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
I hope this reply finds you well. If you would like to discuss this more please feel free to leave another comment or email me at [email protected]. I do hope to hear again from you soon. God Bless!