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Category Archives: Can Christians Lose Their Salvation?

Can Christians Lose Their Salvation Pt3

Rom 11:22

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (Rom 11:22 NKJV)

At a first glance these verses definitely seem to indicate that a believer can lose their salvation. When we understand the context though, it’s an entirely different story.

Paul was writing here about the temporary hardening of Israel’s hearts and about God extending His grace to the Gentiles under a new dispensation (called the New Covenant) so that they too might be included in His plan of glorious redemption. Paul admonishes however that even though God’s favor is glorious and vast, the Gentiles should never take it for granted and always remember that it was by God’s unmerited favor alone that they have also been attached as a branch onto the main tree, which was Israel.

And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. (Rom 11:17-18 NKJV)

God allowed a season of “hardening” of Israel’s hearts to allow the full number of Gentiles to come into the Kingdom. Yet even in spite of their hardened harts (unbelief in Jesus), if any Jew were to forsake their unbelief they would be grafted back in.

And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Rom 11:23 NKJV)

And here is the most important point to grasp: Paul was not addressing the church (believers) in this passage – he was talking about the Gentiles, those who had not yet accepted God’s free gift of forgiveness which had been extended to all mankind for a certain period, a period in which we are still living today. Here is a paraphrased version of Rom 11:22 (compare to the original above):

Think about God’s grace and His firmness: to the unbelieving Jews (just like all other unbelievers), He is their judge; but to the unbelieving Gentiles He has extended His hand of goodness for this season. If the Gentiles however do not wish to accept Jesus as their Savior during this season, they too will be abolished.

The Bible Believer’s Commentary says: “Nothing can ever separate the Body of Christ from the Head, and nothing can separate a believer from the love of God, but the Gentile peoples can be removed from their present position of special privilege.”

Just like there was no promise or covenant which protected the Jews from the consequences of their unbelief, exactly the same applies to the Gentiles.

Let’s look at another often misunderstood example:

John 15:2

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2 NIV)

Let’s look at the meaning of the words “cut off” in the Greek:

G142 airo

A primary verb; to lift; by implication to take up or away; figuratively to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); specifically to sail away (that is, weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare [H5375]) to expiate sin: – away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

Any wine farmer will substantiate that when a branch is not bearing fruit, such a branch is lifted up and tied back onto the main stem or support structure to aid it in baring fruit. However due to an unfortunate misinterpretation of the Greek word airo?, “cut off” has been more commonly used by the translators.

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Can Christians Lose Their Salvation? (Pt 2)

[Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?]

These verses are probably the no. 1 misquoted portion of scripture which cause believers to doubt their eternal secure position in Christ. These scriptures have been quoted out of context, abused and exploited to manipulate the body of Christ for centuries. Let us take a closer look at the context.

The book of Hebrews was written to the 12 tribes of Israel, many of whom still held the Old Testament Law system in higher regard than Christ’s sacrifice. Most of the book of Hebrews is dedicated to illustrating the superiority of Christ and the New Covenant over Moses and the Old Covenant rule keeping system with its traditions and rituals. Some examples are:

[Heb 3:3 For this One (Christ) has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house].
[Heb 7:28  The Law of Moses appoints men who are imperfect to be high priests; but God's promise made with the vow, which came later than the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever] (GNB).
[Heb 8:6  But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second] (ESV).

Now in this context, with the Jewish nation still preferring their ritual sacrifices over the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews was showing them the folly of their ways. The “sin” mentioned in Heb 10:26 was referring to the sin of refusing to believe in Christ, just like the Israelites continually doubted God’s goodness when He led them out of Egypt, always suspecting Him of wanting to kill them in the desert  (Heb 3:7-12). Here in Heb 10 the writer was admonishing the Jews for still relying on their own ability to keep the law and perform the ritual sacrifices to make atonement for their sins, rather than accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness which was appropriated by Jesus’ sacrifice. A little further up from our key verses we see the context:

[Heb 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified].

It suddenly becomes very clear what the writer actually meant in Heb 10:26-29. Here is a paraphrased version:

Heb 10:26 If we purposely reject Christ’s sacrifice after He has been clearly shown to us as the only way to Heaven, then there is no other sacrifice which can be offered as an atonement for our sins. 27 There remains only judgment and punishment for God’s enemies. 28 If a person was killed for disobeying the Old Testament Law, 29 of how much worse punishment do you think a person is worthy if they trample Christ’s sacrifice underfoot, despising Jesus’ blood which was shed for the forgiveness of their sins, regarding it as a common thing, and threw God’s gift of Grace back in His face?

Whenever a Bible verse seems to condemn us, we need to remember that there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1). All scripture has to be interpreted through what Christ accomplished at the cross, reconciling us to Himself (2 Cor 5:18) and making peace between us by removing the demands of the law (Eph 2:15). Anything that appears to contradict this, most likely has been taken out of context.

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Can Christians Lose Their Salvation? (Pt1)

It would be foolish to approach this heavily debated topic without caution, as there appears to be as much division about this subject as there seems to be about diets, abortion and religion itself.

Very few people have taken the time to consider what it would actually take for a Christian to lose their salvation. Everything that happens at salvation has to be undone. We will therefore start by looking at what happens at salvation (there’s actually a lot more than only the following few examples):

1)    Our sinful nature (old self) is removed. It is killed, crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20).

2)    After it is killed, the old self is buried with Christ (Rom 6:4).

3)    We are placed IN Christ (John 17:20-21; 1 Cor 1:30).

4)    The Spirit is given to dwell and reside in us (John 14:16; Gal 3:14; Eph 1:13).

5)    Our spirit becomes one Spirit with the Lord (1 Cor 6:17).

6)    We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6).

7)    We are forgiven all our sins (Heb 10:16-18; Ps 103:12).

8)    We are given SON status (Rom 9:26; 2 Cor 6:18).

9)    Our names are written in the Book of Life (Rev 3:5).

Now for a Christian to lose their salvation, all nine the above points have to be undone:

1)    God has to take a shovel and dig the rotten corpse of our old, sinful nature back up from its grave.

2)    God has to resurrect our dead, sinful nature back to life and place it inside us again. This in itself poses a problem because the Holy Spirit who lives inside us cannot exist in the same place as sin – God and sin cannot co-exist!

3)    God has to tear us out of Christ.

4)    God has to take back His Spirit, who He promised would stay with us forever.

5)    God has to take a knife and “cut” His own Spirit away from our spirit, since they have literally been “fused” into one.

6)    God has to kick us out of heaven (and if God somehow failed to tear us out of Christ previously, He now has to kick His own Son out of Heaven as well, because we are IN Christ).

7)    God now has to go against His promise to forget all our sins, fetch them back from wherever He hid them and allow Himself be haunted by them for all of eternity.

8)    God has to revoke our position as His own children.

9)    God has to blot our names out from the book of life, just to scribble our names back in and repeat steps 1-9 again whenever we confess our sins.

It actually becomes ridiculous when we take a close look at point 9. What happens if a believer who supposedly loses their salvation, decides to repent and God forgives them again? This would imply that God sits in heaven with the Book of Life and 10 billion pencils and erasers, spending nearly all His time blotting out the names of those who lose their salvation and then rewriting their names when they repent and receive eternal life again. Sounds rather crazy doesn’t it? Yet this is exactly what those believe who claim that God can revoke our “Saved” status. Now there may certainly exist some scriptures that “appear” to contradict the believer’s eternal, secure position in Christ, however all Bible verses have to be interpreted through the viewpoint of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Did He not do a good enough job to keep those He adopted as His own? Does a child cease to bear their family name if they mess up?

Over the next few weeks we will take a look at some of the scriptures that seem to imply that a believer can lose their salvation. In the meantime this article from Paul Ellis’ website, entitled “Does God use a correction pen?” (http://escapetoreality.org/2010/12/08/revelations-35) may shed some further light on this topic.

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