Sunday, July 7, 2013
Can a Christian Lose His Salvation?
That is a question that has led to many an argument over the years.
Can a Christian lose his salvation?
Further questions must be asked to get to the answer.
On whose work are you relying or depending. Yours or God's?
Are you relying on something YOU DID to be saved, or on
what GOD DID to save you?
YOUR WORK
Are you depending on a "decision" you made years ago, when you
studied the evidence that Jesus was who He said He is, and you
"decided to invite Him into your heart?"
Did you walk the aisle at church and repeat the sinner's prayer,
and "accept Jesus as your Savior?" Now, you're told you're saved
because of the decision you made.
Say the prayer and BOOM! You're in!
Are you saved because you finally after years of putting if off,
"LET Jesus come into your heart," and gave Him "permission" to
save you?
Are you hoping that the saying, "once saved, always saved," is true,
because you've made a "public profession of faith in Christ?"
Do you have to keep yourself saved by doing something, or does God
safely preserve you in Christ?
Are you the "ultimate decider," or is God?
GOD'S WORK
Or, are you relying and placing your hope in what God has done to save you?
"Through Him (Jesus) you believe in God,
who raised Him from the dead and glorified
Him, and so your faith and hope are in God."
1 Peter 1:21
Is your salvation a miracle wrought by God: the rebel sinner and enemy of God
(Romans 5:10), a God-hater (Romans 1:30), who hears the gospel and is totally
transformed into a God-lover, adopted into His family (Ephesians 1:5) as a
joint-heir (Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:16-17), with Christ as your brother
(Hebrews 2:11,17)?
Hearing the Gospel (Romans 1:16), have you been convicted of your sin, and
granted repentance (Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10) and faith (Philippians 1:29)
in Christ?
Once alienated from God (Colossians 1:21), are you reconciled (Colossians 1:22)
by Christ's death, and now seen as holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)?
THE WORK OF THE TRINITY
All three Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are intimately
involved in the salvation of His people.
"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world,
... who have been chosen according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling
by His blood."
1 Peter 1:1-2
God the Father chooses and calls His people for salvation before the foundation
of the world (Ephesians 1:4), The Holy Spirit sanctifies and sets apart His people
for good works (Ephesians 2:10), and the Son redeems them by His blood,
shed on the cross (Revelation 1:5), and justifies them (Galatians 2:16)
before the Father.
THE WORK OF JESUS (A PERFECT SAVIOR)
"For it was fitting that He, for whom and
by whom all things exist in bringing many
sons to glory, should make the founder
(Jesus) of their salvation perfect through
suffering."
Hebrews 2:10
("In His divine nature, Christ was already perfect.
However, His human nature was perfected through
obedience, including suffering in order that He
might be an understanding high priest, an example
for believers, and establish the perfect righteousness
to be imputed to believers."
John MacArthur)
" ... He holds His priesthood permanently,
because He continues forever.
Consequently, He is able to save to the
uttermost those who draw near to God
through Him, since He always lives to
make intercession for them."
Hebrews 7:24b-25
Not only is Jesus a perfect Savior, but He perfects the believer's
standing before God in righteousness, by offering Himself in
their place, paying the debt for their sin against the Father.
"For by a single offering HE HAS PERFECTED
FOR ALL TIME those who are being
sanctified."
Hebrews 10:14
Jesus is seated AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER,
and has the power to save His people perfectly through His death.
" ... looking to Jesus, the founder and PERFECTER
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:2
PERSEVERANCE (OR PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS)
Enduring in faith to the end of life on earth is evidence of the believer's
salvation, and is the work of God.
" ... According to His great mercy, HE HAS
CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN, to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, TO AN INHERITANCE
THAT IS IMPERISHABLE, UNDEFILED,
AND UNFADING, KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR YOU.
WHO BY GOD'S POWER ARE BEING GUARDED
THROUGH FAITH FOR A SALVATION, READY
TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME."
1 Peter 1:3b-5
True believers endure to the end because of their hope in God and His work.
"And we are His house if indeed we hold fast
our confidence and our boasting in our hope."
Hebrews 3:6
"For we have to come to share in Christ, if indeed
we hold our original confidence firm to the end."
Hebrews 2:14
God the Father establishes His people in Christ, and the Holy Spirit
seals us and guarantees our salvation for eternity.
"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ,
and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal
on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a
guarantee."
2 Corinthians 1:21
Jesus will sustain to the end those who have been called by God into
fellowship with Him.
"I give thanks to my God always for you
because of the grace of God that was given
you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you
were enriched in Him in all speech and all
knowledge -- even as the testimony about
Christ was confirmed among you -- so that
you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as
you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus
Christ, WHO WILL SUSTAIN YOU TO
THE END, GUILTLESS in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful by whom you were called into
the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Jesus always does the Father's will, and His will is that Jesus lose
none of those given to Him by the Father, but that they be given
eternal life, and raised up on the last day.
"Everyone that the Father gives will come to me,
and EVERYONE WHO COMES TO ME I WILL
NEVER CAST OUT.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my
own will but the will of Him who sent me. And this
is the will of Him who sent me, THAT I SHOULD
LOSE NONE OF THOSE GIVEN ME, BUT RAISE
THEM UP ON THE LAST DAY.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who
looks on the Son and believes in Him should have
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:37-40
Everyone given to the Son by the Father, belongs to the Son, and receives
THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE. NO ONE CAN SNATCH
THEM OUT OF HIS HAND OR THE FATHER'S HAND.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me. I will give them eternal
life, and THEY WILL NEVER PERISH,
and NO ONE CAN SNATCH THEM OUT
OF MY HAND.
My Father, who has given them to me. is
greater than all, and NO ONE IS ABLE TO
SNATCH THEM OUT OF THE FATHER'S
HAND. I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE."
John 10:27-30
Nothing can separate from the Father, anyone, who is in Christ Jesus.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:38-39
GOD SAVES! WE DON'T SAVE OURSELVES!
Did you choose yourself for salvation?
No, God did that!
Did you call yourself to be holy and blameless?
No, God did that!
Did you "born again" (regenerate) yourself?
No, the Holy Spirit did that!
Did you convert yourself?
No, God did that!
Did you adopt yourself as a child of God?
No, God did that!
Did you justify yourself?
No, God did that!
Did you redeem yourself?
No, the blood of Jesus did that!
Did you purchase yourself?
No, Jesus did that!
Did you save yourself?
No, God did that!
***************
Will God, who has adopted you, if you trust in Him, ever kick you out
of His family?
Will anyone who "is the righteousness of God," (2 Corinthians 5:21),
ever be damned to hell?
WILL ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN CHOSEN, CALLED, REGENERATED,
CONVERTED, JUSTIFIED, ADOPTED, REDEEMED , PURCHASED,
SANCTIFIED, PERFECTLY SAVED, AND PRESERVED IN CHRIST FOR
ETERNITY, EVER BE LOST?
The answer to these questions is NO!!!!!
OF COURSE NOT!!!!
If you have truly repented and trusted in Jesus Christ, then you have been saved,
and nothing can ever change that!
Because of the work of God, you have eternal security!
God is the "Ultimate Decider!"
*****************
DOXOLOGY
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you blameless
before the presence of His glory with great
joy, to the only God, our Savior, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty,
dominion, and authority, before all time
and now and forever. Amen."
Jude 24-25
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Is it really possible for a Muslim to convert to evangelical Christianity and then de-convert back to Islam?
ReplyDeleteOne of the major tenets of (Baptist/Reformed) evangelicalism is that a true believer can never lose his salvation. This is referred to as the Doctrine of Eternal Security or "Once saved, always saved".
Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American who came to the United States as a teenager. He was raised Muslim. At age 15, he converted to evangelical Christianity. He states that after his evangelical conversion, he had a "burning in his soul for Jesus" and actively shared the Gospel with others. However, during his post-graduate studies, his "burning" for Jesus as his Lord and Savior fizzled out. He returned to the faith of his childhood...Islam.
How do evangelical Christians explain this man's "de-conversion"; the unraveling of his "decision for Christ"?
At the moment of his conversion to Christianity, the moment of his salvation by the grace of God, received through faith in Jesus Christ, did Mr. Aslan just not "do it" right...or did this man once truly believe, but now has rejected Christ as his Lord and Savior, and has therefore lost his salvation through Jesus Christ?
Please explain how this happened, evangelical brothers and sisters. To we orthodox, it certainly appears that this man once believed and possessed the Holy Spirit; he once was saved, a Christian, a true believer...and now is not. What happened?
(Mr. Aslan has recently published a book entitled, "Zealot, the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth".)
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/2013/09/muslim-to-evangelical-christian-to.html
Gary, thanks for your comment and questions.
DeleteThe answer to your question, "Is it really possible for a Muslim to convert to Christianity and then de-convert back to Islam," is no.
The main point of my post is that God saves sinners completely, and
without any cooperation from them. God is the one who regenerates
lost people. He is the one who redeems and reconciles and justifies
and saves them according to His purpose.
Anyone can claim to be a Christian, but that doesn't mean he has been
regenerated by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God.
Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of salvation, and the Bible clearly says
that anyone given to the Son can never be snatched from His or the Father's hand. He is saved completely and forever, through the power of God, and not because of any decision he has made.
Reza Aslan may have "joined a church," "walked the aisle, "accepted Jesus," decided to follow Jesus," and "repeated the sinner's prayer," but if he wasn't regenerated by the Holy Spirit then he was never saved. Salvation is of the Lord, not man.
God preserves His people by His power, and they will remain in Him forever, never to be lost.
There are a few passages from the Bible that seem to indicate that a person can lose his salvation, but in context they mostly refer to apostasy.
That is what Reza Aslan is; an apostate. He claimed to be a Christian, but has renounced his faith.
The Bible says we must repent and believe to be saved, but repentance and faith are both gifts from God, not something we conjure up from within ourselves.
Aslan may have made a "decision," but was never born again, as Jesus said we must be to see the kingdom of God. Salvation does not depend on our "doing something," but on His power.
He may have been part of a church fellowship, but that doesn't make him a Christian. If he has renounced Christianity, then he was never a true believer and was never saved.
This answer may not satisfy you, but it is based on what I believe the Bible teaches.