Is My Salvation Secure?

Years ago, after I was saved, there was a question which many baby Christians would ask and probably still do. That question was, "Is my salvation secure or can I lose my salvation?" It was a question some of us wrestled with for quite a while. In the early years of my Christian faith, I was taught that I could lose my salvation but it never sat right with me as I read through the Bible. I simply accepted it because it was what the pastor taught. But there came a time when I began to dig into this doctrine of eternal security and discovered that I had been listening to a wrong interpretation of eternal security. 

We used to mock people who believed they were saved for eternity and called them the "once saved always saved" crowd. What we didn't realize was what we were saying was absolutely true. We are saved one time and it is for eternity. Once I began to study and read commentary on this doctrine, I was able to see why I could never reconcile the teaching with the Bible concerning this. It was one of those things that used to bug me but I couldn't figure out why. And, until the Lord took those blinders off of me, I was at a loss as to why this teaching just didn't seem right.

Allow me to share just a few verses to support that when we  are saved, we are saved for eternity.

 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”  JN 6:37-40

 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”  JN 10:25-30

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  JN 3:16

There are others but I think these show us that our salvation is secure in Jesus. Notice in JN 3:16 where it says 'will not perish'. What does that mean? Every Christian is familiar with this verse but how many just cruise right by that phrase? If you believe in Jesus as your savior, you will never parish. 

Of course, when this topic is discussed, the passage in Hebrews 6 will always be used to defend the position of being able to lose your salvation. I will admit that this can be a difficult passage to understand or interpret when a Christian really digs into it and doesn't take it at face value. First, we don't know who the writer is addressing or why he would bring this up. We also don't know who the writer is.  But let's look at the passage in Heb 6:4-6.

For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

First, those who believe a Christian can lose their salvation believe this passage is speaking of those who have lost their faith and turned away from God and have lost their salvation. But if you read it closely, that doesn't add up or make sense. If it were true that we could lose our salvation, walk away from it or simply throw in the towel, why would it be impossible to bring them back to repentance? Of course, we would assume that when believing this way that those referred to in this passage were saved and then lost their salvation. So, why wouldn't they be able to repent again? Then again, according to the passage, the reason is they would be crucifying Jesus again and holding Him up to public shame. But why would that be? Is it saying that it would portray Jesus' death on the cross as inadequate to save one forever?

Let's just take this passage for what it is really saying. The passage is actually speaking of those who have never been saved. I can hear the skeptics booing now. But nowhere in this passage does it say these people believed in Jesus or they had placed their faith in Him. Here's what it says: They experienced the things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit. In a Church service, Bible study, evangelistic crusade or any other event where the gospel is preached, everyone present will witness some heavenly activity and see the Holy Spirit move or work. A person doesn't have to be saved to witness a miracle or even a person getting saved. It can happen anytime in the presence of a non-believer. But let's go a step further; this non-believer has been attending church for months and has witnessed many heavenly events and has witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit. They might have been involved in activities, Bible studies or other events where the Holy Spirit has been active. They have experienced everything except salvation.

They have heard the word of God preached and taught and had a lot of it stored in their head but it never made it to their heart. This individual might have come right up to the point of receiving Jesus as savior but then turned away for one reason of another. Some might think this is an exaggeration but I have seen it. I have seen people involved in a ministry inside a local church and then just walk away. And, not just from the church but his family. Could I tell he wasn't saved? We don't and can't know people's hearts so to make that judgement call isn't right. But I had questions. Keeping a close eye on that person is a wise decision and be willing to step in and help when this person decides to quit. 

This person, or persons, walked away but were never saved. They can't be brought back to repentance because they were never saved. They can't be brought back to something they never experienced. Also, we have to consider what might have been going on with these people the writer is communicating with in this letter. In Galatians, we see that they were convinced by the Judaizers that they needed to be circumcised as well as believing in Christ for their salvation. This often is referred to as a works + Jesus salvation requirement. So, they were reverting back to a part of the Law. Also in 1 John, he writes concerning the Gnostics and how they have no part in the formula for salvation. Their theory was one of a distorted belief of Jesus not being fully man and fully God plus some other hang ups.

So, we don't know exactly what the issue was with the people this man was writing to but it could have been one of this issues. These Judaizers would follow Paul around and when Paul moved on these guys would move in and begin to tell the people they needed this or that part of the Law to add to the gospel. So, how does all this pertain to crucifying Christ again and bring shame to Him? RC Sproul, in his book, Can I Lose My Salvation? says this about that.

But what does it mean to crucify Christ anew? Christ obviously has only been crucified once. When He was crucified, Christ took upon Himself the curse of the old covenant. When a person turns back to keeping the law as the primary mode of relating to God, he rejects the work of Christ, who took on the curse on behalf of others. Having repudiated the work of Christ as a vicarious sacrifice, he in fact condemns Christ as been justifiably killed on the cross and makes himself complicit in the death of Christ. Such a person takes the curse upon himself again and cannot be saved.

This writing by Sproul assumes these people have turned back to the Law or parts of the Law. We must always, in our studies, yield to the history surrounding the time of the writing. The use of grammatical-historical hermeneutics is always best. The bottom line on this passage is a Christian cannot take it or any other passage at face value without digging into it. When proper hermeneutics (interpretation) are used, many times, the true meaning will be much different from the surface interpretation. But this passage does not end this topic. The reader must continue on to verses 9-10 where the writer addresses the Christians he is actually writing to.

 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 

The writer says, "...talking this way" and "....don't believe it applies to you..." He is telling them that he is basically setting an example of people who were never saved but was not talking about them. He was simply using this as a scenario concerning those who might believe that way. Actually, looking at and digging into this passage would reflect information that would be in opposition to the belief that one can lose their salvation.

When a systematic study through scripture is done concerning this topic, the scripture will prove out that salvation is for eternity and cannot be forfeited or lost. Just think about it for a moment; after the sacrifice Jesus made for us and knowing we are sinners with deceitful hearts, would Christ trust us to maintain our own salvation?  He doesn't save us and walk away. We have His Holy Spirit residing within us and He guides and directs our lives daily. He prompts us when we are doing wrong and gets our attention when we are sinning. Jesus would never allow us to be in charge of our salvation and throw it away. He doesn't work that way.

Christians in the Church today don't know what the Bible says about a lot of topics. Not all Christians but far too many. And, many are like I was as a young in the faith Christian; they believe what they're told and fail to search the scriptures for themselves to see if what they are told is true. Bible study and pray are two important tools for our Christian life and we should never allow rust or dust to collect on them. And know that Jesus made that sacrifice once for all people for all time. There is no getting saved multiple times because a person sinned and lost their salvation. The Bible doesn't teach it and it's a false doctrine which far too many people believe.

Bill Petite

Sproul, R. C. (2015). Can I Lose My Salvation? p.37 (First edition, p. 38). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.