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Can a believer lose their salvation?
As much as those reading this might want me to give a quick yes or no answer, such a response would be reckless and not in keeping with the clarity of God’s Word.
Christians have been debating this question for a very long time. Typically the two schools of thought surrounding this issue come from Calvinists—who argue persuasively that once a person is saved they can never be unsaved—and Arminianists, who believe that since we are saved through an act of our will, we are also free to exercise our will to reject that salvation at some point—thus becoming unsaved.
Of one thing I am certain: there is no power in the universe, spiritual, material or otherwise that can effect a separation between us and the love of God. The Apostle Paul makes that abundantly clear in Romans chapter 8:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
And as Jesus said, “…no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28 (NIV)
So the Bible reveals that believers have wonderful security and safety in Christ. We need not fear for our salvation, and wonder if Satan or anyone or anything else might rob us of the life that we have in Christ.
But the question we need to ask ourselves is this: is there anything that we ourselves can do to risk our own salvation? The Apostle Paul seemed to think so. As he addressed the believers in the region of Galatia he passionately warned them of their flirtation with adopting certain aspects of the Law in addition to their faith in Christ as the Savior. Specifically the believers there were being convinced by certain false teachers that circumcision was a necessary element to salvation. In response to that belief the Apostle wrote the following words:
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Galatians 5:2 (NIV)
Notice what is being said here. Paul recognized that the believers in Galatia were very close to adopting the belief that circumcision was necessary in order to be saved. Paul warned them in no uncertain terms that if they allowed that belief to continue and they submitted to the rite of circumcision then the result would be that Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Remember, Paul is writing to born again believers! Why in the world would he say to Christians that Christ would be to them of no value? How could those words possibly apply to a Christian?
A thorough reading of his letter to the Galatians makes the answer clear. The Apostle does more than infer that to move from a complete faith in the shed blood of Christ as the only means of being saved and toward placing one’s faith in other things—such as works of the flesh or any other person or means of having a righteous standing before God—is to stand perilously close to losing everything.
So, can a person lose their salvation? No…it cannot be lost. Can a person place their salvation in jeopardy by placing their trust in something other than the death of Christ on the cross? The Apostle Paul seemed to think so. And why would we jeopardize something as precious as the faith we’ve received at the cost of Christ’s own blood? |
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