I had a great conversation the other day with someone about whether or not a believer can lose his/her salvation, fall away, back slide, etc. Here are some verses that have informed my own conclusion on the matter...
Exodus 32:31-32, "...Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me." The record of who is saved and who isn't is kept in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:7). That is what is being referred to here. Anyone whose name isn't found in the Lambs book of life doesn't go to heaven (Revelation 21:7).
1 Kings 11:1-3, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women...The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, 'You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway...And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord." Solomon's heart couldn't turn away from the Lord, unless his heart already belonged to the Lord. It appears here that Solomon backslid.
Jeremiah 3:8, "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries." There came a point, due to unrepentant sin, where God rejected his people. One cannot live in perpetual unrepentant sin and think they are ok with God because they once said the sinners prayer.
Luke 8:13, "The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. They believe for a little while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow." According to Jesus, people can believe for a little while but then stop believing.
Luke 13:6-9, Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ” God expects us to bear fruit (see Galatians 5:22). If we don't, there comes a point where we are cut down. As Matthew 3:8-10 says "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
John 15:5-6, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Jesus says "...you ARE the branches." These are saved people Jesus is talking to. And Jesus says to these believers "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Is this not a picture of hell?
I Corinthians 8:9-11, "But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble. You see, this is what can happen: Weak Christians who think it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating in the temple of an idol. You know there’s nothing wrong with it, but they will be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been dedicated to the idol. So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian, for whom Christ died, will be destroyed." According to the apostle Paul, a Christian’s faith can be destroyed.
Galatians 5:4, "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been aliented from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Paul was writing to Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians who accepted Christ and received the Spirit apart from knowledge of the law. After Paul came false teachers who were saying these Gentile Christians had to keep the Jewish law (i.e. circumcision, etc.) to be truly saved. Paul wrote Galatians to reinforce what he taught in the first place - that salvation is by God's grace through our faith in Jesus. To those Gentile Christians who were now trying to find right standing with God through keeping the law, he says "...you have fallen away from grace." According to this verse, Christians who stop trusting in God's salvation by faith in Jesus Christ can fall away (i.e. if they start trusting in earning their salvation by keeping the law).
Colossians 2:18-19, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” This verse teaches believers can lose connection with the head (who is Christ). A physical body disconnected from its head will die. In the same way, someone cut off from Christ is spiritually dead.
Hebrews 6:4-6, "For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened - those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tested the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come - and who then turn away from from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame." According this verse believers can repent, receive salvation (be enlightened), but then choose to “turn away from God.”
James 5:19, "My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins." This verse speaks of the Christian who gradually moves away from the will of God. The Old Testament term for this is “backsliding.”
2 Peter 1:10 says, "So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away." According to the apostle Peter, you can fall away from the faith.
2 Peter 3:17, "...be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position." What does it mean to be carried away and to fall from a secure position? If you look at the context (i.e. v.15) salvation is what's being discussed.
Revelation 22:18-19, And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book." According to this verse, a believer’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city (a reference to heaven) can be taken away.
In light of these verses I believe: As a Christian's salvation is received, not by an act of righteousness but by an act of faith, so the Christian's salvation is maintained, not by acts of righteousness but by a life of faith. Being a Christian then is not a matter of works; it is a matter of faith. While it is true that the Christian's salvation is not earned by his righteous deeds nor his salvation maintained by them, it is equally true that as the Christian obtains his salvation by faith, so he can lose it by unbelief. In other words: If “believers” stop believing, by definition they are no longer “believers”.
Exodus 32:31-32, "...Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me." The record of who is saved and who isn't is kept in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:7). That is what is being referred to here. Anyone whose name isn't found in the Lambs book of life doesn't go to heaven (Revelation 21:7).
1 Kings 11:1-3, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women...The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, 'You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway...And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord." Solomon's heart couldn't turn away from the Lord, unless his heart already belonged to the Lord. It appears here that Solomon backslid.
Jeremiah 3:8, "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries." There came a point, due to unrepentant sin, where God rejected his people. One cannot live in perpetual unrepentant sin and think they are ok with God because they once said the sinners prayer.
Luke 8:13, "The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. They believe for a little while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow." According to Jesus, people can believe for a little while but then stop believing.
Luke 13:6-9, Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ” God expects us to bear fruit (see Galatians 5:22). If we don't, there comes a point where we are cut down. As Matthew 3:8-10 says "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
John 15:5-6, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Jesus says "...you ARE the branches." These are saved people Jesus is talking to. And Jesus says to these believers "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Is this not a picture of hell?
I Corinthians 8:9-11, "But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble. You see, this is what can happen: Weak Christians who think it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating in the temple of an idol. You know there’s nothing wrong with it, but they will be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been dedicated to the idol. So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian, for whom Christ died, will be destroyed." According to the apostle Paul, a Christian’s faith can be destroyed.
Galatians 5:4, "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been aliented from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Paul was writing to Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians who accepted Christ and received the Spirit apart from knowledge of the law. After Paul came false teachers who were saying these Gentile Christians had to keep the Jewish law (i.e. circumcision, etc.) to be truly saved. Paul wrote Galatians to reinforce what he taught in the first place - that salvation is by God's grace through our faith in Jesus. To those Gentile Christians who were now trying to find right standing with God through keeping the law, he says "...you have fallen away from grace." According to this verse, Christians who stop trusting in God's salvation by faith in Jesus Christ can fall away (i.e. if they start trusting in earning their salvation by keeping the law).
Colossians 2:18-19, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” This verse teaches believers can lose connection with the head (who is Christ). A physical body disconnected from its head will die. In the same way, someone cut off from Christ is spiritually dead.
Hebrews 6:4-6, "For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened - those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tested the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come - and who then turn away from from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame." According this verse believers can repent, receive salvation (be enlightened), but then choose to “turn away from God.”
James 5:19, "My dear brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back again, you can be sure that the one who brings that person back will save that sinner from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins." This verse speaks of the Christian who gradually moves away from the will of God. The Old Testament term for this is “backsliding.”
2 Peter 1:10 says, "So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away." According to the apostle Peter, you can fall away from the faith.
2 Peter 3:17, "...be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position." What does it mean to be carried away and to fall from a secure position? If you look at the context (i.e. v.15) salvation is what's being discussed.
Revelation 22:18-19, And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book." According to this verse, a believer’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city (a reference to heaven) can be taken away.
In light of these verses I believe: As a Christian's salvation is received, not by an act of righteousness but by an act of faith, so the Christian's salvation is maintained, not by acts of righteousness but by a life of faith. Being a Christian then is not a matter of works; it is a matter of faith. While it is true that the Christian's salvation is not earned by his righteous deeds nor his salvation maintained by them, it is equally true that as the Christian obtains his salvation by faith, so he can lose it by unbelief. In other words: If “believers” stop believing, by definition they are no longer “believers”.
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