"Do you mind if we go over something again? I think we need to talk a little more about whether we can lose our salvation."

Martin laughed. "Sure. But there would be a lot more peace in the church if Christians learned to frame such questions more biblically."

"How do you mean?"

"When the question is posed as to whether a Christian can lose his salvation, those for and against line up, and debate the question as it was posed. But salvation is not a personal possession of ours, like car keys, which can be misplaced by us."

"So what is the real question?"

"The way the question is usually asked, we wonder if a Christian can lose his salvation, which is the same as asking whether a Christian can lose Christ. Some say yes, and others no."

"And you would say... ?"

"I would ask whether Christ can lose a Christian."

"I don't get you."

"Christians are those who are redeemed or purchased for God through the blood of Christ. We have been bought with a price. Now if someone, so purchased, winds up in Hell, then who has lost that person’s salvation?"

"I'm sorry, I must be thick. I still don't get what you are driving at."

"Christians cannot lose their salvation, for the simple reason that their salvation does not belong to them. It belongs to Christ. If anyone is to lose it, it must be He. And He has promised not to."

"Where does the Bible teach that we are His possession?"

"There are many passages which cover this — too many to cover tonight. Why don't we just look at a few? I'll give you a list of others."

"Fair enough."

"In Revelation 5:9 - 10, the new song in honor of the Lamb states that He has redeemed us to God by His blood from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation."

"And. . . ."

"In I Corinthians 6:20, it says, For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. "

"It seems pretty clear."

"Right. In salvation, Christ does not become our property; we become His. So in discussing this, we must remember that all the saving is done by Him. Those who want to maintain that salvation can be lost are really saying that He is the one who loses it."

"This throws the whole debate into a completely different light. "

"It does. And frankly, it is the difference between grace and works. "

"How so?"

"To assert that a man can lose his salvation through what he does or does not do is to assert, in the final analysis, salvation by works."

"But the church in which I grew up taught that you can lose your salvation, but they also preached salvation by grace."

"Not quite. They preached a conversion experience by grace. But how is that experience to be maintained and protected? And by whom? They begin with the Spirit, but seek to finish through human effort."

I must have looked confused, so he continued.

"Were you ever taught that you could, by committing certain sins, place yourself outside of Christ?"

"Yes, and it terrified me."

"Now, let's say that you committed such a sin, and then were killed in a car wreck? Where would you go?"

"To Hell."

"And why?"

"Because I had sinned, and a holy God cannot look on sin.”

"And your salvation, or lack of it, was up to whom?"

"You are arguing that it was up to me. I can tell you that it certainly felt that way. The more I wanted to serve God, the more condemned I felt."

"Don't you see that your insecurity was the result of your salvation riding on a roulette wheel every day?"

"How so?"

"If you died on Monday, you go to be with the Lord. If you died on Thursday, off to Hell. On Sunday night, you are heavenbound again."

"You are saying that this is salvation by works?"

"What else can we call it? And it produces two kinds of people. One group is confident in their own righteousness, but they have watered down the righteous standards of God in order to delude themselves this way. The other group is comprised of sincere people, who, because they are honest, realize that they are under condemnation."

"It seems a little strong to say that they are professing salvation by works, though."

"Paul rebuked Peter to his face at Antioch, and why? Because Peter did something as trivial as withdrawing table fellowship from Gentiles temporarily. But Paul knew that the gospel was threatened by this. How much more is it threatened through teaching that a Christian can do a 'work' which will blow his salvation away? This teaching makes salvation depend upon the works of men."

"You contrasted this with grace."

"Correct. Salvation by grace is a gift from God. Salvation by works is man's attempt to earn his way into the presence of God, or in this case, his attempt to earn his right to stay there."

"But what is to prevent someone from saying they are saved by grace, and then going to sin up a storm?"

Martin laughed. "Nothing at all. Sinners can say and do what they please. Until the judgment."

"But how would you answer the objection?"

"There are two things worth noting about it. One is that having to answer it places me in good company. The apostle Paul had to answer the same objection in Romans 6, against those who objected to his message of grace. Secondly, the answer is the one Paul gives in that passage. Recipients of grace do not get to decide to receive forgiveness grace, while refusing death-to-sin grace. How can we who died to sin, still live in it?"

"But aren't there some who teach that salvation can be lost simply to keep this type of person from presumption?"

"Out of a concern for 'holiness,' there have been some who insist on teaching that Christians can lose their salvation. They say that without this perspective, people will abuse grace. But if you hold the biblical perspective, you do not consider grace a possession of your own that can be abused. Rather, grace belongs to God, and He never abuses it."

"Keep going."

"In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that we are saved by grace through faith. In the next verse, we learn that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand by God. God's grace is never truly abused because it belongs to God. Outsiders abuse the word grace, but they cannot touch the thing itself "

"You sound like you have very little respect for those on the other side of this issue."

"That is not quite true. Some of them are teaching another gospel, and the condemnation of the apostle is sufficient for them. But there are others who are true Christians, and who hold this position because of their reading of certain texts. Hebrews 10:26 is a good example."

"You respect them?"

"Yes. I believe them to be wrong, but their error proceeds from a desire to be honest with the text. With the purveyors of a false gospel, the error comes from an almost complete confusion of grace and works."

"What about Hebrews 10:26?"

"We are almost out of time. Why don't I read that passage, adding some comments of my own based on the context of Hebrews. Then you can go back through the book with that context in mind. It should be helpful in chapter six as well."

"Fine."

"For if we sin willfully by going back to the sacrifices of bulls and goats after we have received the knowledge of the truth that Christ was the once for all sacrifice for sin, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins because temple sacrifice of bulls and goats is a system that is fading away, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries because they are sacrificing their bulls and goats in a temple that will be destroyed in just a few years. "

I laughed."Is all that in the Greek?"

Martin grinned. "No, but it is in the context. Read through the book of Hebrews with the impending destruction of Jerusalem in mind, and consider the problem caused by professing Christians who were being tempted to return to Jerusalem in order to sacrifice there. The fire that was going to consume the enemies of God in this passage is not hellfire."

"So what is the basic issue here?"

"It is grace — grace and works. Works is a barren mother; she will never have any children, much less gracious children. Grace is fruitful; her children are many, and they all work hard."

Texts on the Preservation of the Saints

Isaiah 54: 10
"For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

Jeremiah 32:40
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

Matthew 18:14
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:36
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

John 5:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 6:35
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

John 6:3 7
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

John 6:40
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

John 6:47
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

John 10:27-29
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father's hand.

Romans 5:8. 10
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:34-39
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:8.9
Who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless 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.

2 Corinthians 4:14
Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

2 Corinthians 5:5
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:5
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

Ephesians 1: 13-14
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1 Thessalonians 5:23,24
Now may the God of peace Himself, sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

2 Timothy 4:18
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Hebrews 9:12
Not with the blood of bulls and calves) but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:15
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 10: 14
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

1 Peter 1:5
Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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.

1 John 2:25
And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life.

2 John 5:11-13
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Jude 24-25
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

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