Jun 14, 2016
Have you ever asked yourself questions like these: Can I lose my salvation? What if I do something wrong? What if I sin? Can I be “unsaved?” Have I already lost my salvation?
If we’re hounded by fears that we’ve lost our salvation or that we might lose it someday, it’s nearly impossible for us to progress in our Christian life.
Today we’ll cover five points addressing how secure our salvation is and whether we can lose it.
As a starting point, we need to see that God isn’t a changing God. Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that whatever God does, it will be forever.” So, our salvation in Christ is irreversible and cannot be undone. It’s solidly founded on the unchanging nature and person of God Himself, “with whom is no variation” (James 1:17).
Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and predestinated us (meaning, marked us out) for sonship. He’s the One who initiated our salvation before we were even born. Since this is the case, our salvation doesn’t depend on our behavior, good or bad.
Not only was God the initiator of our salvation, but Romans 11:29 also says that the calling of God is irrevocable. This means our God-initiated salvation is irreversible, permanent, final, and unalterable.
Our salvation is a matter of righteousness. To illustrate this, let’s say we violate a traffic law and a police officer gives us a ticket. But we have a problem—we can’t pay the fine. However, someone pays the fine for us. Since that person paid the fine, the judge can’t require us to pay it again. He has to righteously acknowledge that the fine has already been paid.
This illustrates how Christ fulfilled the righteous requirement of God’s law for us by dying for our sins, bearing them in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Therefore, the righteous God can never take away our salvation. Our debt was paid! We were redeemed with the “precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
God is righteous, and because Christ paid our debt on the cross, God cannot demand that we pay it, too. His righteousness would never allow Him to do that.
Our salvation in Christ isn’t a membership in a society. If it were, our membership could be canceled because of our poor behavior. By contrast, if we give birth to a child, our biological relationship with our child can’t be canceled. Even if our child’s behavior isn’t pleasing to us, as the parents we can never cancel or undo the fact that our child shares our human life.
It’s the same with our salvation. John 1:12-13 says that “as many as received Him [the Lord Jesus], to them He [God] gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten (born)…of God.” Since we were born of God as His children and received His eternal life, we can never be “unborn,” even if we do things that aren’t pleasing to God. The life we received from God is eternal, and our life relationship with God is also eternal.
The Lord Jesus said that we are His sheep, given to Him by His Father. He, our Shepherd, holds us in His hand, and He’ll never let anyone snatch us out of His hand. He also says that the Father who has given us to the Son is greater than all, and no one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29). These strongest hands in the universe hold us fast, and no one, not even Satan, can snatch us away. This should comfort and reassure us.
So, can we lose our salvation? No, we can never lose our salvation!
We may be discouraged by our failures, but at those times, we must realize that regardless of our condition or how we feel, our salvation is eternally secure.
Praying a simple prayer like this can help:
“Lord Jesus, thank You for saving me eternally. I know that whatever You do is forever. Since You initiated my salvation, I know my salvation is eternally secure. Thank You for paying the debt for my sins with Your own precious blood. God can never claim my debt again from me. Lord, thank You, I was born of God with the eternal life and am now a child of God. I can never be “unborn!” And I praise You that Your hand and the Father’s hand are stronger than anything. No one can snatch me out these strong hands. My salvation is so secure! Thank You, Lord Jesus!”