Greg Alston (3
Oct 2021) "How Secure is Your
Salvation?"
How Secure is Your
Salvation?
By
Watchman G
Romans 8:39
says, "For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor
principalities, nor
powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord,"
and 1 Peter 4:9, "...love covers a multitude of sins."
These
scriptures and our Lord's own promise that He "will never
leave us nor
forsake us" provide ample evidence that our salvation is
not dependent
upon our works or our walk - but rather on His grace (Romans
5:20, Ephesians
1:7; 2:8,9).
We need to see
both the
fullness and finality of Christ's atonement: "...through
His own blood,
He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained
eternal redemption ...
but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been
manifested to put
away sinby the sacrifice of Himself. And
inasmuch as it is
appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
so Christ also,
having been offered once to bear the sins of many"
(Hebrews
9:12,26-29).The
Bible says that all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God and, according
to I John 1:8,
that includes "born-again believers!" If our salvation
depended upon
whether or not we sinned, all of us would be lost. That is
where Calvary comes
in. Only the shed blood of the spotless lamb of God can answer
the sin question.
His blood is sufficient for all sins - past, present and
future.
"What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under
grace? May it never
be!" (Romans 6:15). No, grace
is not an excuse to sin; for if we go on sinning we will incur
great loss, the
details of which will be discussed shortly. For now, please
know the Bible
teaches that sin, in and of itself, cannot sever us from
Christ (I Corinthians
5:5) - He personally saw to that.
The
Difference Between Sin
and Unbelief
So what can
cause us to
"lose our salvation?" The answer to that question is unbelief.
"Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief,
but you
stand by your faith (belief). Do not be conceited,
but fear; for if God
did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare
you. And they also,
if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be
grafted in..."
(Romans 11:20,21,23).
"Unbelief" is
much different than "sinning." Sin relates to our
"behavior," whereas unbelief has to do with our "will."
Jesus often rebuked people for their "unbelief," but rarely,
if ever,
did He rebuke people for "sinning." Why? Because He knows that
the
fallen nature has an inherent propensity toward sin (see
Romans 7). And,
unfortunately, we're not freed from our fallen nature until we
leave this
world. You can lose your salvation (2 Peter 2:20-22).iBut
only by renouncing your faith (I Timothy 1:19), which is the
exact reverse of
how you obtained it (Romans 10:9,10).
What precisely
does it
mean to "lose your faith" or more precisely, "disbelieve?" "For
in
the case of those who have once been enlightened...and then
have fallen
away...it ends up being burned." These are excerpts
from Hebrews
6:4-8. This passage, while clearly showing that one can lose
their salvation,
says nothing about "sin." The key words here are "fallen
away." These two words come from the Greek word PARAPIPTO,
which according
to Dr. Albert Barnes and the Dake Reference Bible, means "to
apostatize,
to reject Christ." The Revised Standard Version says, "commit
apostasy" and the Amplified Bible, "if they deviate from the
faith." This is not a passive or inadvertent action, as the
words
"fallen away" imply. The Zodhiates Hebrew-Greek Study Bible
says that
the word PARAPIPTO conveys assertiveness. In other words, one
must knowingly
and purposely renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. This is a
decision of the
heart and mind (unbelief), not a behavioral action (sin).iiJude 5 reminds
us "that
the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of
Egypt , subsequently
destroyed those who did not believe." The issue
is
"belief" - not "sin."iii
What About
Habitual Sin?
Galatians
5:19-21 says that people who
"practice" the deeds of the flesh "shall not inherit the
kingdom
of God ." And verse 24 of the same chapter says those who
belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Some interpret
that if a Christian "backslides" and falls into sin, they will
automatically "lose their salvation." Not only does this
teaching
contradict the above scriptures from Hebrews 9, but it also
presents a great
number of other problems. For instance, did the prodigal son
lose his sonship
as a result of his "riotous living?" Absolutely not! In the
midst of
his "habitual sin," he still acknowledged his "father" and
his father still referred to him as "his son." The foregoing
scripture in Galatians says that those who practice the deeds
of the flesh
shall not inherit the kingdom of God . Do the "works of the
flesh"
include drunkenness, gluttony and drug addiction? If so, then
Christians who
smoke (drug addiction/impurity) and/or overeat (gluttony) will
not enter
heaven. If that were true, Charles Spurgeon is in hell (he
smoked cigars) and
many Christians will never enter heaven because they are
overweight (the result
of gluttony, an habitual sin). It was probably the smokers and
gluttons that
were ready to stone the woman caught in adultery. That's why
Jesus handled that
situation the way He did. Her sin did not condemn her
and the others
were exposed for their "sins." It is not sin that condemns us
- it is
unbelief (I John 5:10-13). Maintaining our salvation is not
dependent upon what
we do (Isaiah 64:6). If that were true, none of us
would ever get to
heaven!
Those who
"practice sin," without remorse, are already lost. They have
already
reached the point of apostasy (willful rejection of Christ)
and, therefore, no
longer experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit (I Timothy
4:1,2). They
have seared their conscience and rejected Christ. Hebrews
12:5-13 reveals that
our disobedience (sin) will bring God's discipline to our
lives. If we persist
in our sin, God will continue to "scourge" us in order "that
we
may be healed."
But not everyone
turns
from their sin; there are many who are "put out of joint" by
hardening themselves against the conviction of the Holy
Spirit. Eventually they
sear their conscience and renounce Christ - thereby "losing
their
salvation." This renouncement must take place in order to
sever one from
Christ and damn him to hell. Sin is merely a "stepping stone"
to
apostasy. It begins the hardening process which may or may not
lead to apostasy
(the loss of one's salvation). The following depicts the
stages of
"falling away:"
1. Occasional sin
2. Habitual sin
3. Hardening of the heart
4. Searing of the conscience
5. Rejection of Christ (Apostasy)
You must
reach
stage number five, apostasy, before you actually "lose your
salvation." Once
you have
"apostatized," you will no longer experience the chastening of
the
Lord because you are no longer a son (Hebrews 12:8). It is
after that point (1
Corinthians 6:11) that you become one who "practices
unrighteousness," void of conviction and/or remorse and,
therefore,
"fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4-21). If after rejecting
Christ, one
"blasphemes" the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:8-10), he can never be
restored
(1 John 5:16). However, should he repent and seek to be
restored, having not
blasphemed the Holy Spirit, God will graft him back in (Romans
11:19-23,
Matthew 18:21,22).
Truth or
Consequences
Let it not be
said that
I am condoning sin in the life of the believer. As Paul said
in Romans 6:15, Certainly
not! Neither do I say there are no penalties for
unconfessed and/or
habitual sin. Works of the flesh will send us into the Great
Tribulation rather
than escaping in the Firstfruits Rapture (Hebrews 12:14, 1
John 3:2,3, Luke
21:34-36, Romans 2:5-11). It will cause us loss at the
Judgment Seat of Christ
(I Corinthians 3:15, Revelation 22:12) and disqualify us from
ruling and
reigning in the age to come (2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 2:26;
3:21). Indeed, a
lukewarm, carnal life as a believer will have eternal
consequences. 2
Timothy 2:19-22 informs us that impurity in our lives (which
results from
unconfessed sin) will prevent us from being a vessel of honor
in the house of
God, though still in the house. "There is one glory of the
sun, and
another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars;
for star differs from
star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead" (1
Corinthians
15:40-42).
Carnal living
and
indulgence of the flesh, though causing great loss, will not
consign us to hell
for eternity. Although the fires were felt by the man in I
Corinthians 3:15,
he, himself, was saved and the lukewarm who are spewed
into the fiery
trials of the Great Tribulation can also be restored to God
(Revelation
7:14,15; 20:4). Only apostasy (the renouncement of one's
faith) will condemn a
Christian to an eternity without God (Hebrews 3:12-19, 1
Corinthians 15:1,2);
on the other hand, sin (a behavioral deficiency), in itself,
can never cause
the loss of our salvation (Romans 5:17-21, 2 Corinthians 5:21,
Isaiah
53:5,6,10-12). We excel in knowing the difference - may God be
praised
forevermore!
Arguments for Once Saved Always
Saved
Advocates for never losing your
salvation point to three Scriptures in the Gospel of John;
John 3:15; 6:37-39
and 10:28.John
3:16 is used to make the
statement that salvation is eternal.In
other words, a person can never be severed from their
salvation because it never
ends.However,
John 3:15 says only that whoever believes in
Him will never
perish, and that is true so long as we
continue to believe (Hebrews 3:6, 1 Corinthians 15:2).But what if we
choose to stop believing?Yes, salvation is eternal and will never
end.But the
salient question is: will
we hold fast to that salvation or will we, for whatever
reason, choose to
revoke our decision for Christ?
John 6:37-39 states that it is the will of
the Father (not a
guaranteed outcome) that Jesus should lose no one who comes to
Him.However,
though it is God’s will to lose
none, He will not force
man to
believe or continue to believe: “…I kept
them in your name. Those whom you gave me I have kept; and
none of them is lost
except the son of
perdition…”
(John 17:12).Jesus’
statement here is
that He lost Judas because Judas chose to turn away, as have
thousands of
others throughout history. God honors man’s free will.
John 10:28 states that no one can
snatch us out of the Father’s hand and we will never perish.That is true and He
will never leave us, nor
forsake us.“I give them eternal life and they shall never
perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of my hand.” Although no one can
snatch us out of the
Father’s hand against our will, we still have the option to premeditatedly
walk away.He
will not forcibly restrain
us.
We
cannot lose our salvation – however, we can forsake it.
ENDNOTES
___________________________________
iThe following scriptures show
that a believer can (through
apostasy) lose their salvation:
ii Romans 11:22, 1 Timothy 1:19,20,
Hebrews 3:12-4:2
iii The following scriptures reveal
that "sin" does not
cause the loss of salvation; there is a remedy for
"sinning:" Ecclesiastes 7:20, 1 John 1:8-10;
2:12, Romans 4:7,8; 7:17,20,
Hebrews 9:26-28.