Can You Lose Your Salvation?

• A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer, or walked down an aisle, or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what “makes” a Christian. A Christian is a person who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior.
• So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? Perhaps the best way to answer this crucially important question is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation, and to study what losing salvation would therefore entail. Here are a few examples:
• A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”. This verse speaks of a person becoming an entirely new creature as a result of being “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be canceled and reversed.
• A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”. The word “redeemed” refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase that He paid for with the precious blood of Christ.
• A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. To “justify” means to “declare righteous.” All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and undeclare what He had previously declared.
• A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. Eternal life is a promise of eternity (forever) in Heaven with God. God promises, “believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal life would have to be taken away. If a Christian is promised to live forever, how then can God break this promise by taking away eternal life?
• A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified”. As we learned in Romans 5, justification is declared at the moment of faith. According to Romans, glorification is guaranteed for all those whom God justifies. Glorification refers to a Christian receiving a perfect resurrection body in Heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, Romans 8 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
• Many more illustrations of what occurs at salvation could be shared. Even these few, though, make it abundantly clear that a Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says occurs to a person when he/she receives Jesus Christ as Savior would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation cannot be reversed. A Christian cannot be un-newly created. Redemption cannot be undone. Eternal life cannot be lost and still be considered eternal. If a Christian can lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and change His mind – two things that Scripture tells us God never does.
• The most frequent objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation are: (1) what about those who are Christians and continually live an immoral lifestyle? – and – (2) what about those who are Christians but later reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these two objections is the assumption “are Christians.” (1) The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a continually immoral lifestyle. (2) The Bible declares that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he/she never truly was a Christian.
• No, a Christian cannot lose salvation. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love. Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand. God is both willing and able to guarantee and maintain the salvation He has given us. “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

This Man – Would you take his place

The Word of God – Active, Living, and Speaking

The Bible as God’s Word

 

• If Scripture is to be our sole authority, on what authority do we know which books belong in the Bible – since the Bible does not state which books should be in the Bible? This is a very important question, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the chain of communication from God to humanity, is there a weak link? If so, then the whole chain fails, and the communication ultimately cannot be trusted.
• Consider the various “links” comprising God’s communication to us: first came God’s desire to communicate. This was rooted in His love, for the most loving thing a good God can do is reveal Himself to His creation. Next came the actual transmission of God’s Word through human writers. This involved a process the Bible calls “inspiration,” in which God breathed the words that the human agents recorded (2 Timothy 3:16). After that came dissemination, as the Word was delivered to its audience through preaching or other means. Then came recognition, as God’s people distinguished Holy Scripture from other religious writings. And then, preservation, through which God’s Word has survived to the present day, despite many attempts to destroy it. And finally, illumination, as the Holy Spirit opens the believer’s understanding to receive the Word.
• And that’s the “chain”–the demonstration of God’s love in the inspiration, dissemination, recognition, preservation, and illumination of His Word. We believe that God was involved in each step of the process, for why would God go to such lengths to inspire His Word and then not preserve it? Why would He speak to us and then fail to guide us in recognizing His speech?
• This recognition of God’s Word is usually called “canonization.” We are careful to say that God determined the canon, and the church discovered the canon. The canon of Scripture was not created by the church; rather, the church discovered or recognized it. In other words, God’s Word was inspired and authoritative from its inception-it “stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89)-and the church simply recognized that fact and accepted it. 
• The criteria the church used for recognizing and collecting the Word of God are as follows:
• 1) Was the book written by a prophet of God?
• 2) Was the writer authenticated by miracles to confirm his message?
• 3) Does the book tell the truth about God, with no falsehood or contradiction?
• 4) Does the book evidence a divine capacity to transform lives?
• 5) Was the book accepted as God’s Word by the people to whom it was first delivered?
• Of these criteria, the one of most importance was the first one-was the book written by a prophet? Its corollary, did the book receive apostolic approval?, was the chief test of canonicity in the early church. This criterion is a logical result of knowing what an “apostle” was. The apostles were gifted by God to be the founders and leaders of the church, so it is reasonable to accept that through them came the Word governing the church.
• The apostles were promised the Spirit of truth who would bring to their remembrance what Christ had said (John 14:26) and guide them into “all truth” (John 16:13). After the ascension of Christ, the apostles received supernatural gifts to enable their work and confirm their message (Acts 2:4). God’s household is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20). Given the apostles’ special commission, it only makes sense that the church made apostolicity the number-one test of canonicity. Thus, the Gospel of Matthew was considered canonical (it was written by an apostle); and the Gospel of Mark, with its close association with the Apostle Peter, was also accepted.
• When the New Testament was being written, the individual books and letters were immediately accepted as God’s Word and circulated for the benefits of others. The church of Thessalonica received Paul’s word as the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Paul’s epistles were circulating among the churches even during apostolic times (Colossians 4:16). Peter recognized Paul’s writings as inspired by God and equated them with “the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15-16). Paul quoted the Gospel of Luke and called it “Scripture” (1 Timothy 5:18). This widespread acceptance stands in stark contrast to the few debated books, eventually rejected as non-canonical, that enjoyed a limited favor for a time.
• Later, as heresy increased and some within the church began clamoring for the acceptance of spurious religious writings, the church wisely held a council to officially confirm their acceptance of the 27 New Testament books. The criteria they used allowed them to objectively distinguish what God had given them from that of human origin. They concluded that they would stay with the books that were universally accepted. In so doing, they determined to continue in “the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42).

Remedy

Body, Soul and Spirit.

• Genesis declares, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”
• These verses indicate that there is something distinct about humanity from all the other creations. Human beings were intended to have a relationship with God, and as such, God created us with both material and immaterial aspects. The material aspects are obviously those that are tangible: the physical body, organs, etc. and are considered to only exist as long as the person is alive. The immaterial aspects are those which are intangible: soul, spirit, intellect, will, conscience, etc. These characteristics are considered to exist beyond the physical lifespan of the individual.
• All human beings possess both material and immaterial characteristics in their existence. It is clear that all mankind has a body, containing flesh, blood, bones, organs and cells. However, it is the intangible qualities of mankind that are often debated. What does Scripture say about these? Genesis 2:7 – states that Man was created as a living soul. Numbers 16:22 – And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? This verse names God as the God of the spirits that are possessed by all Mankind. Proverbs 4:23 – Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. This verse indicates that the heart is central to Mankind’s will and emotions. Acts 23:1 – And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. It can be seen that there are various aspects of the immaterial part of humanity, and that all human beings share both material and immaterial qualities. This list of references just scratches the surface.
• So, while much of the discussion of the immaterial aspect of humanity focuses on the soul and spirit, Scripture outlines far more than those two. Somehow, the aspects mentioned above (soul, spirit, heart, conscience, and mind) are connected and interrelated. The soul and spirit, though, definitely are the primary immaterial aspects of humanity. They likely comprise the other aspects. With this is mind, is humanity dichotomous (cut in two, body / soul-spirit), or trichotomous (cut in three, body / soul / spirit). It is impossible to be dogmatic. There are good arguments for both views. A key verse is Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This Scripture tells us at least two thing about this debate. (1) The soul and spirit can be divided. (2) The division of soul and spirit is something that only the Word of God can discern. We can be sure that as human beings, we possess a body, a soul, a spirit, and much more! However, rather than focusing on these aspects, it is better to focus on the Creator, because of Whom we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

Could You Sacrifice Your Own? God Did it for Us!!!

His Name will Always be Blessed

Nicole Tell it Like it is!!!