Losing Salvation

What think ye? Can a born-again believer in Jesus “lose” their salvation? The wording here is critical. For example; if asked, “What was the fruit Adam and Eve ate that got them kicked out of the Garden of Eden?” What’s your answer? The Bible doesn’t say! Our adversary, the devil is a cunning foe who seeks to trip us up in order to kill, slaughter and destroy (John 10:10). He only has three tricks – lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

Losing salvation isn’t like losing a wallet, glasses or keys. The renouncing of salvation is what’s described in Hebrews 6:4–12; the abandoning of faith, turning away from allegiance to Christ, or severely deviating. This is done on purpose; the person wants Jesus out of their life. This is not motivated by God, but by satan much like a divorce. It would be like burning the wallet, glasses or keys, not “losing” them.

It's VERY serious to renounce our relationship with the LORD. God will grant it, though He doesn’t want any to perish. We always have “free will” whether or not to follow Jesus. We must heed the warnings He gives to us in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) doesn’t mean we’re working for it. We know we are “saved by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9), salvation is a gift from God, and no one works for a gift. However, we are faced with choices every day, all day long. Are our choices reflecting the best of what God is desiring for us?

It’s not that God cannot restore the ones who blatantly and emphatically choose not to

continue to follow Jesus, but that He leaves them in their state of a hardened heart, much like He did with Pharaoh. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 and 1 Timothy 1:19-20, these believers were delivered to satan to be disciplined physically in hopes of true repentance, sincere conversion, that their spirit may yet be saved. Thin ice, indeed!

Read these passages using the You Version Bible online or download the app. Then use The Passion Translation, which is the original Aramaic language. Open the “bubbles” to gain insight as to the meaning behind the words. And please, let me know if you have questions! We always learn better when we learn together.

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