Can Believers Lose Their Salvation?
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There is an erroneous teaching in some parts of the church that has caused many believers to stumble. The false teaching that I am referring to, is that once someone is saved they can never lose their salvation. In other words the error that is taught is that once someone has made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, that decision can never be reversed. Most that teach this error also teach that God does not allow mankind to have a free will, and that we are all essentially sophisticated robots programmed by God to do as He pleases. The truth however, is that God does create mankind with a free will, and it is with our free will that we choose to either accept or reject God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. Obviously all believers, of their own free will, choose to receive salvation through the shed blood of Christ. Those same believers still have their free will intact after they are saved however, and so to say that they cannot reverse their decision cannot be true, for that would imply that God has removed the free will of believers. In support of their argument, those who teach that it is impossible for one to lose their salvation will use scriptures like the one quoted above. In this passage the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul lists various entities which cannot separate us from the love of God. And so the argument is made that this passage plainly declares that there is nothing and no one that can separate us from the love of God. Nevertheless, while the list that Paul mentions seems to be fully inclusive, there is one person that is excluded, which is the believer themselves. And so while it is true that no external entity can separate believers from the love of God, nevertheless because of free will, it is still possible for believers to separate themselves from the love of God.
John 10:28-29 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.”
Another passage of scripture that is used to support the argument that it is impossible for one to lose their salvation, is the one quoted above. In this passage our Lord Jesus taught us that no one is able to snatch us out of our Father’s hand. And so the argument is made that because this passage plainly declares that no one that can snatch us from our Father’s hand, that it is therefore impossible for anyone to lose their salvation. Nevertheless while it is true to say that no one is able to snatch us out of our Father’s hand, it is not true to say that we cannot therefore leave of our own free will. For unlike the devil, God does not hold individuals captive in His kingdom against their free will. And so any believer that chooses, of their own free will, to leave the kingdom of God is free to do so.
1 Corinthians 8:9-11 “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. (10) For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? (11) And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?”
The above quoted passage of scripture describes weak brothers in Christ as perishing, because of stumbling blocks placed in their way by more “knowledgeable” believers. And so as I have already mentioned, when some try teaching the church that it is impossible for believers to lose their salvation no matter what they do, they put a stumbling block in the way of weak believers. So why do I say that? I say that because the weak believers become deceived into thinking that there is no sin and no amount of sin, which can cause them to lose their salvation. And so while the weak believers continue in sin and are slowly hardened and enslaved by sin, they continue to believe the lie that no matter how much sin they commit they can never lose their salvation. Sadly because of the deceitfulness of sin the weak believers are eventually overcome by sin, resulting in their turning their backs on Jesus to go back into the world. When that happens, then the believers, who taught the weak believers that it is impossible to lose their salvation, claim that they were never saved to begin with. And so while these particular believers are always convinced that they are saved, they tend to view others with suspicion, because in their minds you can never really know who is and who isn’t saved. These particular believers tend to become very judgmental of other believers, and when they see them committing sin, rather than pray for them as John instructs us to do (1 John 5:16), or restore them in spirit of gentleness as Paul instructs us to do (Galatians 6:1), they judge them by claiming that they confessed Jesus as Lord and Saviour in pretence only, and were therefore never saved.
Matthew 7:15-16 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (16) You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?”
The above quoted passage of scripture is a favourite passage that judgemental believers like to use, to justify their view that believers that practice sin were never saved to begin with, for in this passage our Lord Jesus said that we would know them by their fruits. And so their argument is that if they do not see fruits of righteousness in the weak believer, then that individual must not be saved. In context however, our Lord was not teaching us in this passage how to determine who is and who is not saved. He was teaching on how to determine who the false teachers and false prophets are, for although they pretend to be righteous in that which they teach, their lifestyles declare their true nature as being sons of the devil. And so it was never our Lord’s intention that we should look at fellow believers with suspicion, and that when we see them committing sin then we should judge them by saying that because they are not producing good fruit they must not be saved. In all the epistles the apostles taught us to pray for and restore those who are sinning, not judge them and pronounce that they must not be saved. We do that because weak believers need to be strengthened in the Lord, so that they can learn to overcome sin and thus walk in righteousness.
1 Corinthians 11:30-32 “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (31) For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. (32) But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”
Some will argue that one, who is born-again, will never want to reverse their decision to have Jesus as their Lord. If that is the case, then why does our Lord Jesus judge certain believers so that they will not be condemned with the world? In writing to believers in the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that our Lord Jesus judges some of His saints in this life, with weakness, sickness and even early death. So why does He do that? The apostle Paul teaches us in this passage that the Lord judges us because He is concerned about our eternal destination, for He does not want us to be condemned with the world. And so when the Lord sees that if we were to continue down a certain path that will lead us to being condemned with the world, He then steps in and judges us, rather than allowing us to be eternally condemned with the world. And so if it was not possible for believers to lose their salvation, then it would not be possible for believers to be condemned with the world. The Lord Jesus obviously knows that it is certainly possible for believers to lose their salvation, which is why He intervenes in the lives of His saints by judging them, some even with early death.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father's wife! (2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. (3) For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (5) deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that, because of his unrepentant sin, the apostle Paul instructed the church at Corinth to judge a fellow believer with physical death. This passage reveals to us that this particular believer was practicing the sin of adultery, and when confronted by the elders of the church he refused to repent of his sin. So why did Paul deem it necessary to instruct the church to hand this believer over to Satan for early death? Paul answers that question for us by telling us that he did it so that the spirit of the believer would be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In other words Paul recognised that they needed to make this intervention before it was too late, for Paul understood that if they left this believer alone that they would eventually become so hardened by sin that they would turn their back on the Lord Jesus and thus lose their salvation. It is important to note that even though this believer was practicing the sin of adultery there was never any doubt in Paul’s mind that this believer was saved, which is why he instructed the church to make this intervention. Sadly those who teach that it is impossible to lose one’s salvation would normally look at an individual like this and accuse them of never having been saved to begin with, and thus become instrumental in their ultimate destruction. And so we have seen in this section that scripture plainly teaches us that it is certainly possible for believers to reverse their decision of accepting the Lordship of Jesus, and that the Lord warns us about this. I also want you to notice the very important truth that in all the scriptures quoted in this section that the Holy Spirit is writing to born-again believers. So why is it important for us to see that truth? The reason is because those who teach the false doctrine that no believer can lose their salvation; claim that people that fall away were never really saved to begin with. The Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit however, know the difference between those who are saved and those who are not saved, and in these scriptures they are warning those who are saved.
Michael E.B. Maher
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