Bible Study Can someone become unsaved?

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Eternal salvation?


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If one could lose his salvation, he would have to be re-born again, or re-regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Try as I might, I cannot find one verse stating this. And we have Scripture stating the opposite of this- that once one gains salvation, or has been cleansed from sin, he never needs to be re-cleansed! And this verse is right from Jesus. John 13:10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. What He meant was that one could not get saved again- 'ye are clean'. To be sure that this verse refers to salvation, we have a reference in Titus illustrating the link between the word 'wash' and salvation: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost does the work of salvation, not man).
 
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Can someone become unsaved

archer,

These verses which I quoted from the bible before seem to me still to show you can loose your salvation.


Hebrews
( 4) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5 )and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, (6 ) if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

Hebrews 10:26
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
 
If you look further down to verse 39 you will see that he excludes himself and genuine believers form this category.

  • Hebrews 10:39. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.[/*:m:d161a]
 
archer said:
Dime,
Your sarcasm just makes me more grounded in what I believe.
Lighten up, I said I was just being funny. Trying to lighten up just like the moderator said. :)

To me the test of what is Christ like is in how its presented. And Christ Emissaries do not make fun of or speak sarcastically to his Christian brothers.
We are supposed to enjoy the life that we have. If you are offended at my teasing, then I apologize and ask that you forgive me.

As for me not being grounded........ Thats your opinion.
Not sure what you are talking about. How about quote me so that I can make a proper defense of myself.

Paul makes it clear in chapter 7 of Romans that we are not in control of our destiny.There is a constant war going on in our bodies. In verse 24 there is no mention of you, we, us or any reference to anything we can do to save ourselves. Paul plainly says that even though you are saved you still have sin dwelling in you.
Let's read Romans 7:24:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
So what is Paul saying? Why did he make such a statement and what was his answer to his question?

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!
What point is Paul trying to make here? I believe what he is saying is that when he was a sinner and had a sinful nature before he was a Christian. And does he still have it? Well, yes, but not in the same sense. He now has a strong desire to do what God wants whereas he before had a strong desire to do what other people told him God wants.

And he finished up the question by saing that he was saved from that body of death! Paul lived a holy life after becoming a Christian and demanded that other Christians do the same.

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

Ephesians 1:4
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ephesians 2:21
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2:10
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
It is God's will that you be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should take advantage of him. The LORD will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man, but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit.

Grace, brother is what saved me.
Hey! Me too! :D

Salvation is a gift and it is UNCONDITIONAL.
HMMMM....what does the Bible say?

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
If you don't believe, you won't be saved. Belief is a condition for salavation.

Romans 10:9-10
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,†and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Belief and confession is required for salvation - these are conditions to receive salvation.

1 John 2:24
Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us-eternal life.
This text says we are saved IF (a condition) we abide in Christ and is a parallel passage to:

John 15:5-8
I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is also glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Note again that we are saved only if we abide in Christ. This is a condition.

1 Corinthians 15:2
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
We are only saved if we hold firmly. Another condition of salvation.

Once I was saved I was released from the law and a new man was born. I became alive and no longer was I dead.
Yes, me too!

If salvation was conditional there would be so much confusion in Heaven. God would have to have this unlimited supply of white out stored in Heaven.
Do what? I really don't understand what you are saying. I just showed you verses that use the word "IF" in them and say we are only saved "IF" we meet the condition. Besides, none of us know what heaven is like or will be like.

My question is, how can a dead man make a choice? Do you have the ability to quicken your own heart? Why is it so important to you that you have to have the "I" factor in your relationship with Christ? Remember "I" is in the middle of sin.
Yes, and in the word "team" there is a backwards me, but that doesn't matter. A play on words is by no means a proper way of finding proper Biblical doctrine.

Your point assumes that I believe that I believe that I save myself or "quicken my own heart" or that I focus on myself and that is just simply not true. I focus on Jesus first and only.

My suggestion to you is study the true meaning of Grace.
Didn't the moderator already close one thread because of language like this? And didn't you start this post by saying:

To me the test of what is Christ like is in how its presented. And Christ Emissaries do not make fun of or speak sarcastically to his Christian brothers.
Now I will respond to your next post:

Jonah 2:9- Salvation is of the LORD. Here we see that the Lord does the work of salvation.
Yes, I don't save myself, that is for sure. And thank God for that.

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 'He did'; again, God does the doing. Notice that this verse states those who are justified, i.e. saved, are also glorified. Glorified where? On earth? No, they are glorified in heaven. In God's eyes Christians are already seen as glorified.
Yes, I fully agree. I am not sure why this is seen as a potential problem.

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Jesus is doing the work here of salvation. Notice again the double reference to permanent salvation- 'they shall never perish'; 'neither shall any man pluck the out of my hand'. How much more plain can we get that salvation cannot be lost? And from Jesus' own words.
Yes Jesus did say that! And thank God! I need to know that I am secure in Christ. But look closely at verse 27 which gives the CONDITION that is required to be under the promise of verse 28: belief and following Christ!

What about those people who turn away from Christ and no longer follow Him?

John 6:66
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Such were disciples of Christ and therefore saved, but they turned away and forsake Christ.

What happened to them?
 
Can someone become unsaved

Judy,

Ok I see what you mean when I read that verse. Would you still maintain your salvation if you got angry with God. Say if someone you love dies in an accident or from a horrible diease and you become angry with God. I know some people have given up and say I dont belive in God anymore when things like this happens its greif talking , but will these people loose their salvation.? or will they maintain it?
 
Some will go out from us because they were never really saved in the first place.
  • 1 John 2:19. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.[/*:m:b9cc6]


Certainly true Christians can backslide, by that I mean they can regress into a period of spiritual dullness or disobedience. Those who do so will bring God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:6-11). That's because God disciplines those who are true sons (v. 8). But that doesn't mean that they lost their salvation.

While we are still in this body we will sin but it is what you do when you sin. Are you sorry and repent? We all have a thron in our side a weakness that Satan will time and time again tempt you with. For some of us it is drinking for other it is sex ( watching porno...ect) and some it is lying .... the list goes on. If you pay attention to your weakness you will see that is what Satan uses to temp you into sinning. But the more you resist that temptation the stronger you will be in Christ. If you resist the Devil he will flee from you.
But none of this means you lose your salvation.
 
Who imparts salvation? Who is it from and who gives salvation? Clearly, it is God who grants salvation. Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit upon a repentant sinner. Conversely, we see that man does not nor cannot do anything for his salvation- his part is to only believe by faith. Does a dead person have the ability to repent?
An often-quoted passage that supposedly supports losing salvation is John Ch 15. Verse 6. if you look at this verse in context of the chapter we see that Jesus is talking about bearing fruit, not salvation:
15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Notice the progression of fruit-bearing: no fruit; fruit; more fruit; much fruit; fruit remains. Not one reference to salvation.
Again, we can look at other Scripture to support this. Jesus uses the words 'fire' and 'burned' in verse 6. In 1 Corinthians we have the famous verse: 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Clearly this supports John 15:6 as referring to a loss of rewards and not salvation. Notice that this verse does say explicitly that his salvation will be preserved! It clearly distinguishes between works and salvation.
Romans 4:2-4 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about- but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Again, a clear verse no one has anything to boast about that he did works to gain salvation.
Look at all the verses that mention how to be saved. It is always God/Jesus who does the work. The believer only needs to believe and trust by faith. Nowhere in these verses does it mention something man has to do. So how can any other verse say that if man doesn't do something, he will lose his salvation?
All the verses believers fear they fear because they believe it might pertain to them losing their salvation. So they believe they must do something to not lose their salvation. But this clearly violates Ephesians 2:8-9. God knows better- He knows that left to our own devices, we will falter time and time again. How could Jesus exclaim on the cross, "It is finished' if it was not really finished if a believer must do/not do something/works/etc. to maintain his salvation? Jesus could've only exclaimed, "wait and see..." if this were so. But so many scripture make it plain that the moment we believe and place our trust in Him that we have gained permanent salvation.
 
Look at Christ's priestly prayer before His crucifixion. John 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. First, Jesus prays for them that God has given Him. Is any prayer of Jesus' not answered? No. Secondly, Jesus prays that God keeps them. Third, Jesus mentions that He kept them while He was on earth. Fourth, Jesus repeats that He has kept them. Fifth, He states that none of them are lost! Here we have five references that those who are saved will not and cannot lose their salvation!

2 Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 1:4-5 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Here we have four references to permanent salvation. We have an inheritance that is incorruptible; undefiled; and fadeth not away. These terms indicate permanence and completeness. We are also kept by God's power until the last time.
 
Fifth, He states that none of them are lost! Here we have five references that those who are saved will not and cannot lose their salvation!
He says none are lost (present tense) not that they cannot become lost. Jesus actually says that one was lost (Judas). The Bible nowhere says that one can never lose their salvation. If fact, why do you think Paul wrote all the epistles?
  • Consider the following passages that clearly teach a child of God can be lost: 1) Psalms 69:28 (compare with Philippians 4:3, Revelation 21:27 and Revelation 20:15). 2) John 15:3-6. 3) Romans 11:22. 4)1 Corinthians 10:1-14. 5) Galatians 5:4 (compare with Ephesians 2:8). 6) 1 Timothy 1:19-20. 7) Hebrews 4:1. 8) Hebrews 6:4-8 (compare with Hebrews 10:23). 9) Hebrews 10:22-27 and Hebrews 10:38-39. 10) 2 Peter 2:15-20. 11) 1 John 3:14-15.
There are many others but these are sufficient.
 
Whoooh Nelly!!!

Before we move on, why not attempt to discuss my post. I spent a lot of time answering each point and would appreciate it if I was not completely ignored.
 
I'm sorry! What has that question have to do with the topic at hand? Just because there is no verse that says "you cannot lose salvation"? Again, why do you think Paul wrote his epistles? They are addressed to the Christians in a particular place and he exhorts them to remain faithful. Why if they could not be lost?
  • In places like John 6:47, the Greek indicates an on-going belief. In other words, if we continue to believe then we continue to have eternal life, but what if we stop believing? Then according to this verse we would stop having eternal life.
My friend, it would be much easier to say and believe that we could never lose salvation. However, it simply is not taught in the Scriptures. Jesus said to be faithful up to death and then we would receive eternal life (Revelation 2:10). Does that sound like we cannot lose our salvation? The verses I posted previously all likewise show one saved can so sin as to be lost. That is not my teaching; it is God's.
 
The issue that it all boils down to is whether the person who is in question ever devoted his heart to Christ. This is a question God will answer when Judgement comes.

I know a way not to worry about this thought.

"Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul and Mind."

If you have professed Christ with your mouth and if your doing giving Christ your all, you can't lose your Salvation whether or not you are OSAS.
 
Brutus/HisCatalyst said:
If you have professed Christ with your mouth and if your doing giving Christ your all, you can't lose your Salvation whether or not you are OSAS.
I wish that 100% of Christians would really think about what you just said and take it to heart.

I could not agree any more than I do with your statement. Thank, B/HC.
 
I don't see anywhere in Scripture of born again believers losing salvation. Real saving faith cannot be lost, it is given by God to you. A faith without the work of the Holy Spirit is not a saving faith, as the Scripture tells us, even the demons believe...unless you believe the demons are saved?
 
Lets not confuse salvation with saintification. One's not "saved" by the uddering or nodding to four or five questions, but by the regeneration and baptism of the Holy Spirit through Gods incredible Grace.

We may stumble and fall many times during the process of saintification while trapped in our earthly-flesh, but that doesn't mean God won't finish what He's started. In fact He promised us that He would.

Unfortunately, not everyone who nods yes that Jesus is Lord, has been regenerated and reborn of the Holy Spirit.

As odd as this may sound, I have a hard time understanding why we worry so much about "our salvation" instead of Worshipping, Praising, Adoring, and being Friends with Abba-Father in Heaven.
 
We are told that when someone falls away they cannot be renewed unto repentance.

Hbr 6:4 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Hbr 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Hbr 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.

There is no way back for such.

The question is NOT "How can this be?" the question is "How often does this happen?".

Personally I have to admit the possibility is there--However, noone who continues in the Faith need fear.
 
Hbr 6:4 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Hbr 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Hbr 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.



This difficult passage is best understood in the context of 6:1-2; the writer is saying that if they do retreat back to Judaism, all the religious "repentance" in the world will do them no good - their forsaking of Jesus is tantamount to crucifying Him all over again; especially if they were to express their repentance in traditional Jewish forms: a resumption of animal sacrifice, denying the total work of Jesus for them on the cross.

Remember there is a great difference between falling and falling away; falling away isn't just falling into some sin, it is actually departing from Jesus Himself.


The message to these Christian who felt like giving up was clear: if you don't continue on with Jesus, don't suppose you will find salvation by just going on with the old basics that are common to Judaism; if you aren't saved in Jesus, you aren't saved!

If one falls like this, does it mean they can't repent? That God prohibits their repentance? Remember first that repentance itself is a gift from God; no one genuinely repents without God's enabling. Second, if one does repent, that in itself is evidence that they have not truly fallen away.

The idea is not that "if you fall away, you can't come back to Jesus ever," but that "if you turn your back on Jesus, don't expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the foundations of Judaism apart from the fullness of Jesus."

This passage has nothing to do with those who fear lest it condemns them. The presence of that anxiety, like the cry which betrayed the real mother in the days of Solomon, establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the possibility of renewal to repentance"