Can you lose your salvation?
Theresa asked me this question today, citing 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."
... and I don't think i've honesly thought about it until now. After some research and some prayer, here's what i came up with:
Can you lose your salvation? It's either a yes or a no, yet it's probably one of the hardest questions i've ever thought about. That passage in Hebrews seems to point to the notion that salvation can be lost. Think back to when God freed the Israelites from Egypt. People from the generation that left Egypt never made it to the so-called "promised land". Why? Disobedience. Also, remember when Jesus said in Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Jesus was speaking to his disciples, who we can readily assume were the "Christian" equivalents of the time. Jesus also mentions that at the time of Judgment, there will be those who claim to have done works in His name, and yet Jesus will turn them away from the Kingdom of Heaven.
Were those people ever saved in the first place? Were they once saved and then lost their salvation? At the very least, they thought they were saved.
Here's how one might picture it. Life is like one side of a 4-lane highway. And at the end, the 3 left lanes hit a brick wall and the far right lane, the exit lane, leads to another road. Every now and then we like to take the fast lanes. But we know that only one lane leads to the continuing road. So, we remind ourselves, "When the exit comes, i want to keep right." The problem is, like many of us have experienced on a road trip, we don't know when the exit is coming. So what would be the smart thing to do? Stay in the right lane, of course! But we don't.
So, as life progresses, we switch in and out of the right lane, the exit lane, sometimes further to the left than other times. But every time we decide to switch back to the right lane, can we honestly say we've been saved from smashing into the wall at the end of the highway? Can we say that we'll never venture out into the faster lanes ever again? That's one hefty claim, wouldn't you say?
I'm no biblical scholar, but I think Jesus never told anyone they would definitely be saved. He only told them that their sins were forgiven and to go and sin no more. He died for our salvation. He "paved" (haha) the way to Heaven. All we have to do is believe that there is such a road and take it.
So, can we lose our salvation? It seems to me that salvation is only experienced when we actually exit off the highway and never look back. And in that sense, no, we cannot lose it. But, while we're still moving through life, there are definite roads that lead to definite destinations. And we can definitely travel on whichever road we choose and switch at any time, for better or for worse.
If you read further on in Hebrews, the writer qualifies what he said earlier, "Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case - things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:9-12
"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."
... and I don't think i've honesly thought about it until now. After some research and some prayer, here's what i came up with:
Can you lose your salvation? It's either a yes or a no, yet it's probably one of the hardest questions i've ever thought about. That passage in Hebrews seems to point to the notion that salvation can be lost. Think back to when God freed the Israelites from Egypt. People from the generation that left Egypt never made it to the so-called "promised land". Why? Disobedience. Also, remember when Jesus said in Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Jesus was speaking to his disciples, who we can readily assume were the "Christian" equivalents of the time. Jesus also mentions that at the time of Judgment, there will be those who claim to have done works in His name, and yet Jesus will turn them away from the Kingdom of Heaven.
Were those people ever saved in the first place? Were they once saved and then lost their salvation? At the very least, they thought they were saved.
Here's how one might picture it. Life is like one side of a 4-lane highway. And at the end, the 3 left lanes hit a brick wall and the far right lane, the exit lane, leads to another road. Every now and then we like to take the fast lanes. But we know that only one lane leads to the continuing road. So, we remind ourselves, "When the exit comes, i want to keep right." The problem is, like many of us have experienced on a road trip, we don't know when the exit is coming. So what would be the smart thing to do? Stay in the right lane, of course! But we don't.
So, as life progresses, we switch in and out of the right lane, the exit lane, sometimes further to the left than other times. But every time we decide to switch back to the right lane, can we honestly say we've been saved from smashing into the wall at the end of the highway? Can we say that we'll never venture out into the faster lanes ever again? That's one hefty claim, wouldn't you say?
I'm no biblical scholar, but I think Jesus never told anyone they would definitely be saved. He only told them that their sins were forgiven and to go and sin no more. He died for our salvation. He "paved" (haha) the way to Heaven. All we have to do is believe that there is such a road and take it.
So, can we lose our salvation? It seems to me that salvation is only experienced when we actually exit off the highway and never look back. And in that sense, no, we cannot lose it. But, while we're still moving through life, there are definite roads that lead to definite destinations. And we can definitely travel on whichever road we choose and switch at any time, for better or for worse.
If you read further on in Hebrews, the writer qualifies what he said earlier, "Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case - things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:9-12
posted by Dave at 10:31 PM
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