"Everyone who makes a profession of faith is saved." Many people seem to think that if someone goes to an altar, cried, and gets back up professing Christ, that person is saved. While this is sometimes true, it is often an unjustified assumption. Jesus told us that we will know believers by their fruit (Matthew 7:16). He also told us that sometimes the seed is thrown in stony soil, where it springs up quickly by dies just as soon because it has no root (Matthew 13:5-6). What is this root? The root is saving faith in Christ. These people make an outward appearance of salvation, but it quickly dies out and reveals a missing root.
As you can see, then, there is no reason to think that everyone who professes Christ is actually saved. Most of the people who have supposedly "lost their salvation" were likely never saved in the first place. Now, here are the some main proofs of eternal security.
Romans 8:30
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (ESV)To me, this verse settles the whole issue. Here, the Bible explicitly states that those God justified He also glorified. When does justification happen? It happens at salvation. This is evident throughout the New Testament, especially in Romans. It is also logical: when we are justified, we are declared innocent. If we are not innocent, then we will be condemned and thus are not saved. Okay, so justification happens at salvation. So when does glorification happen? It happens at the end, when the believers are taken up with Christ and given new, incorruptible bodies to go with our perfected spirits (see 1 and 2 Corinthians). Thus, anyone who is glorified is saved at the end, and will not go to Hell.
What is the end of all this? God said that everyone who is justified will be glorified. Justification happens when you are first saved, and glorification happens at the end. Thus, no one can lose their salvation. If someone is not glorified, then, by applying the converse logic of Romans 8:30, he was never justified. Since justification is the first step of salvation, no one who is not saved at the end was saved at any previous point.
1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (ESV)This, like Romans 8:30, seems to me enough to settle the issue. It explicitly says that those who abandon the faith were never actually part of the body of Christ. I am not sure what else there is to say about this verse. It is very plain and demonstrates the main principle of eternal security: once you have accepted Christ, you stay in Christ. If you abandon Christianity, you were never truly saved. Read what John Wesley, the famous preacher of the Great Awakening, had to say about this verse (adapted to contemporary English from his Bible commentary):
"They were not of us" – When they went out, their hearts were already departed from God. "…if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." – That is, this was made evident when they went out.
The Aorist Tense
I personally believe that, if we read the Bible in the original Greek, the idea of losing your salvation would not exist at all. Why is this? The aorist tense. See, the aorist tense is a certain tense of Greek verbs that is used at a certain point in time to refer back to a specific action that happened at a certain point in the past, more precisely than our past, perfect, or past perfect tenses. Here is a list of verses that use the aorist tense to prove eternal security (all ESV).- I am the door. If anyone enters (aorist) by me, he will be saved and will (future) go in and out and find pasture. – John 10:9.
According to this verse, if there was a certain time in your life that you entered Christ, you will most definitely be saved.
- And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls (aorist) upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (future). – Acts 2:21.
The word "calls" is also aorist. If there was a point in your life that you cried out to God on the name (includes power, authority, and person) of Jesus Christ, you will most definitely be saved.
- And they said, "Believe (aorist imperative) in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (future), you and your household." – Acts 16:31.
Here the Bible tells you to have believed, at any point in the past, in the Lord Jesus, and you will most definitely be saved.
- If we have been united (aorist) with him like this in his death, we will (future) certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. – Romans 6:5.
Here I do not even have to specify the certainty of salvation. According to this verse, if you have, at any point in the past, been united with Christ, you will certainly be united with Him in the resurrection.
Loss of Salvation is Nonsensical
There are several problems with the idea of losing you salvation. These are essentially insurmountable, and leave eternal security as the only option.
The Spiritual Reality Problems
At salvation, our old self dies and a new self is brought to being. To lose our salvation, our new self would have to die, and the old self would be resurrected. This would mean we would need to choose to resurrect our own old nature. How can we do that? God is the only one who can make a spirit alive. If we can resurrect out own selves, why do we need God? We could resurrect our own spirits without the Holy Spirit.Another issue: when we are saved, we are born again in the Spirit. If you lost you salvation, would you be born yet again, according to the flesh? The Bible never mentions a third birth. On the other hand, if we, as born again believers, die in that new life, then what life do we have? We would no longer have a born again life, but we would also lack an old life.
The Logical Problem
There are a couple of simple logical problems with the idea of losing your salvation. First, the word saved, in its dictionary form, only applies if someone is actually delivered from some danger. If you can "lose you salvation" and go to Hell, you are not delivered from Hell. Thus, that does not fit the definition of the word "saved."
The Timeless God Problems
There are a couple of problems with the idea of losing your salvation as they apply to the timeless spiritual realities of God. First, the future already exists to God. This includes death in Hell. So, then, if God already sees and knows the people who are in Hell, then what sense would it make that He is saving them in the present, only for them to lose their salvation later on?There is also the problem with the timeless sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus died for all sins, past, present, and future. If Jesus' sacrifice does not apply to sins in the future, then how can anyone who sins after the crucifixion be forgiven? On the other hand, if it applies to sins in the future, why would its application stop at the present if you sin? After all, the past, present, and future exist simultaneously from God's vantage point. Why would God only see part of your sin as forgiven if Christ died once for all, as the Bible clearly states.
The Eviction Problem
There is a final logical problem with losing your salvation. The Holy Spirit indwells within believers, so to lose your salvation you would have to evict Him. How could one do that? He is greater than Satan, and we are weaker than Satan. How, then, could we possibly force the Spirit out of us? There is no reason to believe He would live of His own accord, and He follows God's will above our own, so there is no reason to think He would leave at our wish, either.
How Would One Lose His Salvation?
There is no consensus among those who believe you can lose your salvation regarding how that happens. There are at least three views, but most views are tied to one of these three. However, each is fallacious, thus, none of them can be correct. If none are correct, there is no reason to believe you can lose your salvation. So, then, let's examine the ways people think you can lose your salvation.
Completely Turning Away From Christianity
This is probably the most common way people think you can lose your salvation. This is generally based, when people try to base it on any Scripture, on Hebrews 6:4-6.It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (ESV)They say that the people referred to here are Christians who turned their backs on the faith. However, there is no reason to think so. None of the terms here indicate actually becoming saved, but being brought to a point where they are completely on the verge of being saved. See the qualifiers here:
- Enlightened – Of what were these people enlightened? Their sin was revealed to them. Jesus is the Light who shines in the darkness, revealing wicked deeds. This enlightenment refers to conviction of sin, not salvation.
- Tasted the heavenly gift – Does this say the people actually took the heavenly gift? No, it merely says they tasted of it. The figurative meaning of the Greek word is to experience. This phrase speaks of those who were shown the glorious life and forgiveness Christ has to offer. However, it does not say they actually took it. The same word is used when Jesus tasted of the sour wine on the cross: He tasted it, but instead of actually drinking it, spit it out and refused any more. That is the same thing these people do.
- Who have shared in the Holy Spirit – This is referring to the cause of the previous two things. Who enlightened them and gave them a taste of the heavenly gift? The Holy Spirit did. The Holy Spirit comes to these people and shows them all God has to offer. The people outwardly participate in the worship and such going on around them, but the Holy Spirit does not enter them.
- Tasted the goodness of the word of God – This is the same concept as tasting of the heavenly gift. Instead of accepting it, they refused to take any more than the taste given them.
Committing a Terrible Sin
This is the most thoroughly flawed of the ideas for losing your salvation. It depends on a subjective division of sins. While I do believe that the Bible teaches some sins are worse than others, I do not believe salvation regards the different levels of sin. As well, no one has a list of sins from bad to worst. How would we know where the dividing line is? The idea is logically flawed.
Committing Any Sin at All
This, although not as common as the first view, is still oddly prevalent. A friend of mine says his belief this way: "if you die with unconfessed sin, you go to Hell." However, the Bible makes no indication of this. There are actually a few different problems with this idea.- No one knows all of their sins, thus they cannot confess all of them. The Bible confirms this idea on many occasions. In Job, Job asked for God to reveal his sins to him (Job 13:23). In the New Testament, we are told to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our sins. Obviously, Job was right with God then, but there were sins in his life he did not know about. The same goes when we first ask God to reveal sins to us.
- What happens if a strong Christian is about to get hit by a car, cusses, and then dies? He will go to Hell because, while generally walking with God, he lost a bit of control at the sight of instant, approaching death? I think not.
- We all have unconfessed sin in our lives at all times. This is unfortunate, but true. For example, none of us are truly holy, as we cannot yet completely abandon the ungodliness of the flesh. However, God specifically commands us to be holy like He is (1 Peter 1:16). This is a sin of omission: it is sinful for us to be less than completely righteous (1 John 5:17). Since we are never completely holy, however, that sin is perpetual until our glorification. Unfortunately, few people, even Christians, consciously realize this sin. Thus, they often do not confess it. This would make almost all professing Christians doomed to Hell.
Also note that, if you can lose your salvation every time you sin, then salvation is worthless. If sin takes away your salvation, then you are not delivered from the power of sin. If sin takes away your salvation, then whether or not you are saved is based solely on whether or not you die in between prayers. If sin takes away your salvation, then the Holy Spirit goes away every time you sin, and thus will not convict you to pray or get right. The list goes on and on. If you lose your salvation whenever you sin until you confess it, then salvation has no meaning. It is merely a state based on your works: based on what you have done, not based on what Christ did for you.
No Way
If you cannot lose your salvation by abandoning God, committing a terrible sin, or just general sinning, then there is no way left. You cannot lose your salvation is there is no way to lose your salvation.
The Example of Judas
Judas is probably the best example of someone not losing salvation, but instead never having been saved. Some people may object, saying that Judas was naturally saved as a disciple of Christ, but later lost his salvation when he betrayed Jesus. However, this is not the case. Jesus made it clear throughout the Gospel that Judas was never saved. From the start of His ministry with the disciples, He said that one of them was wrong. Here is the best example from John 6:70-71.Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) (ESV)Notice Jesus said that Judas "is a devil." The Greek is actually in the present tense. He did not say that Judas would become a devil, or was later to be a devil. Judas was still not saved in Jesus' early ministry. Judas is a perfect example of the belief of eternal security: those who abandon the faith were never saved to begin with.