I hate hearing it.
Not because it’s altogether wrong, but because it’s damaging. It insinuates a contradiction. A true life oxymoron.
I hate hearing the question “Can I lose my salvation?”
It’s like nails on a chalkboard. It’s a contradiction because it insinuates that it can be done apart from our will. When I lose something, I’m always upset about it because I never wanted to lose it in the first place.
I currently find myself in the midst of several home improvement projects. My house is a disaster area. In the mix of attempting to work from home, advise contractors and field questions from my wife; I lost my car keys. Did I want to lose them? Not at all. Did I reject that the car keys were effective in starting my car or unlocking my front door? No. I simply lost them. The next reasonable question is why did I lose them? On the most simplistic level, I lost them because I am a sinful fallen creature that is encapsulated in this body of flesh until death or Christ’s return. I lost them because I’m forgetful. I lost them because my mind wanders.
I lost them because they were mine to lose.
This begs a rather large question. Do we own Christ or does Christ own us? Let’s go to scripture for answers.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Corinthians 12:27 – Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it
John 15:5 – I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
These passages makes it very clear that we are the possession of Jesus Christ; not the other way around. In addition to these verses, there are many more that speak of our new position in Christ as children of God. Simply put, that is more evidence that we are His possession. Therefore, in my case, I lost my keys not because I wanted to, but because I am a sinful fallen creature AND because they were mine to lose. Christ Jesus on the other hand is not sinful nor is he a creature. He is the one and only God-Man who is the Second Person of the Trinity and is of the same substance as the God the Father. Therefore Jesus can never lose me. His perfection won’t allow it. We are secure in Christ.
This opens a whole new can of worms.
I can hear the premature victory chants from the Calvinists alongside feigning shouts from the synergists.
My encouragement is to bear with me because we’ve only just begun.
If you look back to the beginning of this post, you will see that my issue was with wording. This is why proper phrasing is key. The phrase “lose your salvation” completely irks me primarily because it is not possible for anyone to lose their salvation. However, I do think it is possible to forfeit your salvation. There is an important difference between lose and forfeit.
Webster defines lose as “to be unable to find, to fail to win or to fail to keep or hold (something wanted or valued).”
Webster defines forfeit as “something that is lost or given up as punishment or because of a rule or law.”
In order to lose something, one must be in possession of it. I have already established evidence that Jesus Christ is the one in possession of our salvation and thus cannot lose it because of His perfection. On the contrary, one who receives a possession from the possessor has the right to forfeit the rights and privileges that are being given from the possessor. You don’t have to be in possession to forfeit or give up your rights to the possession. Therefore, speaking directly of salvation, Christ is the possessor of salvation and whether you initially forfeit those rights in unbelief or you lay hold of salvivic rights through faith in Jesus and then forfeit them at some point later (Ephesians 2:8 states that faith is also a gift, and thus can be forfeited) the right to forfeit is freely given to all as is defined by the term forfeit. The second part of the definition states that forfeit occurs by punishment of a rule of law. This also works perfectly within the constraints of biblical reason. If the gift of salvation is passively received through faith in Jesus, then active rejection of the gift through unbelief obtains the wage we earned which is punishable by separation from God in hell since the law demands perfection (James 2:10). So when salvation in Jesus is forfeited through unbelief, punishment in eternal hell is earned. This presents two distinct categories of people who actively forfeit the gift by grace through faith won by Jesus upon the cross; those who always will reject the gift of faith and those who passively receive the gift of grace through faith and eventually actively reject through unbelief. Both categories forfeit the free gift that is offered. The first category containing those who always reject faith and live in unbelief thus forfeiting their salvation is generally accepted as a normative doctrine amongst most denominations within the church catholic. The second category is someone who comes to faith in Jesus and eventually forfeits said faith and becomes apostate. Whether this category is possible is often debated between brethren. The bible is clear that though it is uncommon, the possibility does exist. The following verses provide clear evidence for this position.
Hebrews 10:19-39 – Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
This Hebrews passage is crystal clear in its warning to the church. The person described in this passage has “received knowledge of the truth.” The phrase itself forces the idea that the knowledge received was true to the person who received it. If the person did not agree with the knowledge they received they would not label it as truth therefore the person receiving the knowledge must have agreed at one point that what is being received is true or the verse completely falls apart. A few verses later in this passage the same person is labeled as being “sanctified” (meaning made holy) and then trampling Jesus underfoot. It was already made abundantly clear in verse 26 that there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins for the this person. Several verses later the writer of Hebrews warns the reader to not “throw away their confidence” in like fashion. Why would the writer of Hebrews give an example of a sanctified believer that received knowledge of the truth and turned from that through rejection of Jesus by trampling Him underfoot through deliberate sin thus nullifying the forgiveness of sins that was gifted through the original reception of the knowledge of truth AND THEN warn of us not to do the same? If falling away isn’t a possibility, this passage would simply be a lesson in futility. The Hebrews passage is abundantly clear and thus doesn’t need further explanation. The only reason one would attempt to twist these verses to mean anything other than what they clearly state would be to form them into a doctrine of human creation.
John 15:1-11 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15 provides further evidence concerning real possibility of forfeiting salvation. This is the famous passage about Jesus being the vine and Christians playing the part of the branches. Verse 5 tells us that if anyone doesn’t abide in Jesus, the true vine, they will be cut off and thrown into the fire. To be in the vine is to be in Christ. Jesus gives the answer on how to stay in the vine. A person stays in the vine by abiding in Christ. A couple verses later, Jesus says that we abide by loving Him and we love him if we keep his commandments. The Greek word for “keep” is “tereo” which does in fact mean keep, however, not in the sense that it is most often understood. “Tereo” means keep-in-tact or guard. We keep Jesus’ commandments in tact when we believe that they are right and true. We guard them against false teaching because they are right and true. Therefore we keep His commandments by trusting in Him, i.e. faith. Once again, faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins receives the promise of forgiveness of sins while unbelief forfeits the gift that is offered. One cannot be cut from the vine if they were not or were never in the vine to begin with. The argument that those who are apostate were never really saved doesn’t hold water because if they never had faith, they would have never been in the vine in the first place.
These two passages are clear texts that show that we must be on guard against apostasy (forfeiting our salvation). Apostasy is always the result of unbelief expressed through continual, unrepentant sin. One doesn’t accidentally fall into apostasy as it is a premeditated active exchange of forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ for the pleasures of this world through temporal desire for instantaneous satisfaction. This doesn’t mean that when someone sins they are apostate or if someone fails to repent of each and every sin they have forfeited their salvation. It simply means that if someone comes to a place where they find themselves consistently choosing /living in sin and when confronted with that sin, has no contrition, remorse or desire to repent, then forfeiture of salvation has occurred. There is still hope for these people (as long as they have breath in them) that through the hearing of the word, God could bring them back to repentant faith in Him.
(Side Note: I am aware that Hebrews 6:4-8 states that is impossible for anyone who has ” been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come” to be restored again after falling away. I wholeheartedly agree with this passage as it is scripture and I readily confess that all scripture is God breathed. I’d like to take a moment to harmonize this passage with my thoughts pertaining to hope for those who have fallen away. What is exposed in this passage is “blasphemy of the Spirit” also known as the unpardonable sin. This sin is also discussed in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10. The writer of Hebrews paints a vivid picture of one who truly believes and experiences the complete fullness of the Christian life with great understanding and then falls away, rejecting all that they factually know to be true (we are not dealing with standard unbelief, but true belief that results in them rejecting all they know be true). Since we do not know the heart of those we minister too, we cannot go forward with the attitude that all who have fallen away fit this description of having blasphemed the Spirit, therefore we must treat all as if there is hope. I have actually met some people who thought they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit and were wrecked thinking that they were hopeless. Their contrition proves their heart has not completely hardened (Acts 28:27). I initially considered removing the statement concerning hope for those who have fallen away out of the post as to avoid confusing people or starting a debate, but I decided to leave it as a way to give hope to those who may have thought they unintentionally committed blasphemy of the Spirit. After thinking about it i decided it would be better to add this side note for clarification.)
The argument put forth in this post is why I get worked up when I hear of someone terrified of losing their salvation and equally upset when they believe they are eternally preserved by the Calvinist doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints. You see, either end of this spectrum will bring you doubt instead of comfort. Either end of this spectrum forces you to look within yourself to determine if you have either lost your salvation or to answer internal doubts about whether you are indeed elect (or not). Whenever we look to ourselves for proof of salvation, we take our eyes off of Jesus Christ, the possessor of our salvation who will never lose or forfeit our salvation because of his perfection. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark when Peter walks upon the water to meet Jesus, he only begins to sink when he takes his eyes off of Jesus. Likewise, looking to ourselves takes our eyes off of Jesus which causes us to sink into the miry depths of depression and soul searching while leaving us in constant limbo as we continually question our salvation. Both the Calvinist position of perseverance of the saints and the synergist position of losing your salvation are two sides of the same coin and the effects are equally damning to any confidence that we have in Jesus Christ. They both draw you away from Jesus by turning your eyes from His promises to introspective mind games of self doubt and insecurity. It’s my encouragement for you to stop looking in the mirror. Stop focusing on yourself so much because ultimately it’s not about you; it’s about what Jesus Christ has done for you. That should be the focus of your attention. Rest in his perfection.