Subject: Can you loose your salvation? |
Bible Note: Greetings BradK! I have dealt with this topic many times in the past, so anyone interested can simply search the archives. However, I would to highlight two points. 1) No one 'loses' his salvation! 'To lose' something implies an accident. I am walking down the street and I lose my wallet. It falls out of my pocket while I am unaware and don't realize that it is gone until later. So, I despise this term in connection with salvation. :-) 2) Our 'works' have nothing to do with us getting saved and they have nothing to with us 'losing' salvation (there is that word again :-) ). So many will argue that we have to 'do' certain things to keep salvation. This is clearly contrary to Scripture. As you mentioned, I do believe that some one can 'willfully' reject salvation. I believe this is the person mentioned in both Heb. 10:26-31 and Heb. 6:1-6. Both of these passage mention an individual who knew the grace of God but rejected it. But, how common would this be? I think not very common at all. I could not conceive of ever willfully turning my back on my Savior. But, I have know of one individual who seems to fit this picture. My brother-in-law was a dedicated Christian for many years, until he met a woman, and married her, who was into new age garbage. Now, he has turned his back completely on Christ. The key difference with my view and that of those who say that one can 'lose' his salvation is that the change occurs because of an act of will, not an act of sin. I thoroughly reject the notion that anything we 'do' can effect our salvation. By 'do', I mean actions or inaction. Finally, I have also posted several times that Heb. 6 has been misinterpreted by many. The tense of the verbs in Heb. 6 makes it clear that some one cannot be brought back to repentance 'while' they are crucifying the Son all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace. If these actions cease, there is nothing in the verse which would indicate that they could never be brought back to repentance at that point. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |