Can I lose my salvation?

Many religions that teach that a person is saved by their own efforts, also teach that you can lose your salvation by not maintaining good works or by committing sins.

On this basis it is dreadfully upsetting

 and troubling for many people as they realize they could lose their salvation because of their negligence or the suddenness of temptation.

 

At these moments, it would mean they become children of the devil and should they die at that time, they would be cast into hell for eternity. Such people also know that their hearts are deceitful and don't deserve heaven and the mercies of God.

 

This view is further supported by 240 New Testament scriptures that seem to show a person can lose their salvation.

 

Well ... can I

 or can’t I lose my salvation?

 

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AREN'T THERE VERSES THAT SHOW I CAN LOSE MY SALVATION?

 Unfortunately, many Christians see every verse in the New Testament as applying to them. This can't be done. Let me explain. Every verse in the King James Bible is inerrantly and infallibly true, but we need to remember that every verse falls into one or more of the following categories:

1.  It IS HISTORICAL

2.  It IS DEVOTIONAL  / INSPIRATIONAL

3.  It IS DOCTRINAL

 

Now some verses fall into all three categories and some only into one. For example a verse on Jewish genealogy in Chronicles or Kings would be #1 but not necessarily #2 or #3.

 

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF GOD

No Christian would think that they would have to be circumcised to be saved - this is Old Testament, but when they read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount – “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” - they go into `works mode' to purge themselves to be acceptable to God.

(Catholics have a field day here).

Christians will see God because they have trusted the work of Jesus for salvation - not the purity of their heart.

 

ARE THERE TWO CRITERIA TO SEE GOD?

No! Jesus was a Jew, who came for the pork abstaining, temple attending, Sabbath observing Jew. Jesus at this time was preaching faith and works to the Jews.

He was preaching the Kingdom of Heaven (the 1000 year millennial reign). For Christians saved by faith, this doesn’t apply.

We can get into a mess when not “rightly dividing the word of God”.

For example - everyone in the following chapters - Matthew 1-27, Mark 1-15, Luke 1-23, John 1-19 is under Old Testament Jewish Law and commandments as given to Moses.

Not one Christian pops his head out of the bushes!

 

CULTS AND HERESIES

All cults and heresies (Catholics, JW's, Mormons, SDA’s etc) build their foundations in Matthew, Hebrews, James and Acts 1-10.

They ignore the Pauline Epistles where Christian doctrine is found, as being of lesser importance.

ALL ERROR IS BASED ON BIBLICAL TRUTHS THAT HAVE BEEN MISPLACED.

 

LOSS OF SALVATION

Now the verses that refer to losing salvation are those addressed to Jews and Gentiles in the Tribulation.

Salvation in this time will be by faith and works - not by faith alone. This is why believers will have to endure to the end - meaning their death! (Matthew 10:22)

 

DIFFERENT TIMES - DIFFERENT SALVATIONS There are different periods used by God to save people different ways:

1.     ADAM AND EVE:
saved by “obedience by sight” (God was present on earth, no faith needed)

2.     OLD TESTAMENT JEWS:
saved by “faith in God + works

3.     CURRENTLY:
saved by “faith’ alone” in the work of Christ

4.     THE 7 year TRIBULATION: (this time of ‘Jacob’s Trouble’ will be a Jewish dispensation on earth) saved by “faith in God + works

5.     1000 YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST:
saved by “obedience by sight” (Christ will be present on earth, no faith needed)

 

CURRENTLY - the FAITH ALONE AGE Suppose you have rebellious children who turn away from you - they still are your children. Fellowship with them may dwindle to zero but the relationship of son ship is always there!

So it is with God. Christians will backslide, turn away from God, sin and do all sorts of horrible things.

What Is God's response?

The Bible says that He chastises those who He loves and the ultimate chastisement would be death at God's hand and to be taken home to heaven.

But the Christian isn’t judged for his sins - Jesus did that at Calvary!

He may lose rewards for lack of works but once a man is born again, he can never become unborn!

Once you are a son you never lose your son ship.

If it were possible to lose our salvation, we’d all be falling in and out of heaven 10,000 times a day.

 

 

LOSS OF SALVATION?

1.   How would you know if you’d lost it?

2.   What would cause you to lose it?

3.   How could you get it back again?

4.   If you died - would you go to hell?

 

Prior to his conversion from Roman Catholicism, the dilemma that drove Martin Luther (the great Reformer) to the point of insanity, was “I must be internally pure all the time lest I die and go to hell!”

Sin is sin in God’s eyes whether you’re aware of it or not. Not being aware of a sin doesn’t let you off the hook.

Now, God is not so cruel to allow us to be saved by faith alone, and then condemn us to faith + works.

The Bible says that our “righteousness is as filthy rags” - not our unrighteousness. “Man at his best is vanity.”

We have no hope by ourselves and people who think we can lose our salvation fail to understand what it means to be justified by faith alone. They hold to Roman Catholic theology of “big and little sins”.

 

TO LOSE YOUR SALVATION

DENIES TWO THINGS:

1.   The saved man has “sewer nature” till the day he dies. If loss of salvation were true, who would God throw back? Would it be those with only 50% of their “sewer” cleaned out or 99.99% clean? Where is the cut-off point?

2.   God’s love shown through the work of Jesus Christ. God wants us to stick our ‘spiritual thermometers’ into ourselves for the purpose of knowing our corruption, not to then set about getting rid of it ourselves.

 

We can never rid ourselves of our corruption in 999 trillion years, but God shows us Christ - who “Paid-in-Full”.

If you believe in the loss of salvation like the Roman Catholics, you detract from the work of Christ at the cross by dwelling on yourself and your own spiritual temperature.

A sewer is still a sewer despite air - freshener and minus 4 spade-fulls! Luther said we are “at the same time righteous yet sinful”!



TO FOCUS ON YOUR INTERNAL

 PURITY IS TO SAY:

 “MOVE OVER JESUS - YOUR BLOOD IS NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL –

I NOW DOWNGRADE YOUR WORK ON THE CROSS AND PROCEED TO DWELL UPON MY OWN TRINITY - ME, MYSELF AND I.”

 

 

NO MY FRIEND, YOU CAN TAKE HEART FROM

THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES:

1.  All believers possess everlasting life NOW. “...he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and shall not come into comdemnation...” John 5:24.



2.  All believers are SEALED by God.
“...whereby ye are SEALED unto the day of redemption...”

Ephesians 4:30.



3.  All believers are KEPT by the power of God.

“Who are KEPT by the power of God ...to be revealed  in the last time.”

      1 Peter 1:5.



4.  All believers can have KNOWLEDGE of eternal life. “... that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life...” 1John 5:13.



5.  All believers can have CONFIDENCE.

 “Being CONFIDENT .... that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6.



6.  All believers are SECURE.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” Romans 8:38-39.

 

7.  All believers shall NEVER perish.

 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall NEVER perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:28.

 

 

A STORY: “THE THREE BARRELS”

An old preacher put it this way: “Suppose you had three barrels - big, medium and little, and each one sat inside the other, with the largest on the outside and the littlest in the inside. In order to get to the little barrel, you’d have to smash open the big and medium sized barrels first.

Now God is the big barrel. Jesus is the medium barrel and I’m the little barrel. My life is hid with Christ in God! Before the devil could get to me, he would have to tear away God and Jesus, and before he could do that, I would have already slipped away to Glory!”


IF YOU’RE SAVED, THAT’S HOW YOU’LL STAY TILL THE RAPTURE OR DEATH - CONTRARY TO ANYONE’S FAULTY

INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURES.

Failure to understand this is failure to understand - JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE!

IT’S CHRIST’S WORK AND NOT OURS!



Harley Hitchcock

This website’s front page is:
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com



    STUDY THE BIBLE 69s  (STB-69s)  
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It has been said that all error and heresy comes from misunderstanding the blood. Like the tentacles of an octopus, many preachers and teachers in the past, have combated heresy by attempting to cut off the tentacles of heresy eg Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Seventh Day Adventism and all the other “-isms”, BUT THEY HAVE IGNORED the ink sac in the head of the octopus labelled “THE IGNORANCE OF SHED BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.”...







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