person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in
a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the
Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian
is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior
and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31;
Ephesians 2:8–9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? It's
a crucially important question. Perhaps the best way to answer it is
to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation and to study what
losing salvation would entail:
A Christian is a new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians
5:17). A Christian is not simply an "improved" version of a person; a
Christian is an entirely new creature. He is "in Christ." For a
Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be
destroyed.
A Christian is redeemed. "For you know that it was not with perishable
things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty
way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter
1:18–19). The word redeemed refers to a purchase being made, a price
being paid. We were purchased at the cost of Christ's death. For a
Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His
purchase of the individual for whom He paid with the precious blood of
Christ.
A Christian is justified. "Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Romans 5:1). To justify is to declare righteous. All those who
receive Jesus as Savior are "declared righteous" by God. For a
Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and
"un-declare" what He had previously declared. Those absolved of guilt
would have to be tried again and found guilty. God would have to
reverse the sentence handed down from the divine bench.
A Christian is promised eternal life. "For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Eternal life is the promise
of spending forever in heaven with God. God promises, "Believe and you
will have eternal life." For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal
life would have to be redefined. The Christian is promised to live
forever. Does eternal not mean "eternal"?
A Christian is marked by God and sealed by the Spirit. "You also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of
your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to
the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13–14). At the moment of faith,
the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was
promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance.
The end result is that God's glory is praised. For a Christian to lose
salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit,
cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the
inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory.
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. "Those he predestined, he
also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified,
he also glorified" (Romans 8:30). According to Romans 5:1,
justification is ours at the moment of faith. According to Romans
8:30, glorification comes with justification. All those whom God
justifies are promised to be glorified. This promise will be fulfilled
when Christians receive their perfect resurrection bodies in heaven.
If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error,
because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He
predestines, calls, and justifies.
A Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible
says happens to us when we receive Christ would be invalidated if
salvation could be lost. Salvation is the gift of God, and God's gifts
are "irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). A Christian cannot be un-newly
created. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. Eternal life cannot be
temporary. God cannot renege on His Word. Scripture says that God
cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose
salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians
who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians
who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these
objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a
"Christian" has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a
true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1
John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is
demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He
may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was
never born again by the power of God. "By their fruit you will
recognize them" (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong "to him who
was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God"
(Romans 7:4).
Nothing can separate a child of God from the Father's love (Romans
8:38–39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God's hand (John
10:28–29). God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He
has given us. The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and,
"when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home"
(Luke 15:5–6). The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the
burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one
safely home.
Jude 24–25 further emphasizes the goodness and faithfulness of our
Savior: "To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present
you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to
the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen."
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