Impact

Religious Folklore – Christians can Misplace Their Salvation

June 12, 2017 / 1 Comment

Oops, where did my ticket to heaven go?

I do not believe many, if any, think they can lose your salvation like losing a set of keys or having a ticket slip through the cracks. Nevertheless, many do believe that you can give up, give away, or forfeit your salvation. 

Let us examine the scripture to see if it is possible to give up or give away our salvation. Of course, you must have obtained salvation (1) before you can give it away.

Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this is what we intend to do, if God permits. (Hebrews 6:1-3 NET)

Let us unpack these verses. The author of Hebrews desired for his audience to grow beyond their present spiritual infancy (Hebrews 5:12,13. 1 Corinthians 3:2. 1 Peter 2:2) unto spiritual maturity in Christ. However, they could only do that IF GOD PERMITS. Note the “if” used in this sentence is the Greek conditional particle ean, which introduces an unfulfilled condition or hypothetical case (2). That is, the author of Hebrews would lead them on to spiritual maturity if and only if God permitted.

Why would God NOT permit? Glad you asked! 

For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6 NET)

Because it is impossible to renew someone again to repentance that has gone apostate after the following has taken place in their lives:

  • Once enlightened – had the plan of salvation shared with them under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
  • Tasted the Heavenly gift – repented of their sin and received the gracious gift of God’s salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Become partakers of the Holy Spirit – not only having received the Holy Spirit upon salvation but live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
  • Tasted the good word of God – grown in the knowledge and power of the Word of God
  • And the miracles of the coming age – operating in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to produce marvelous signs and wonders.

Consequently, God the consummate Father will not allow his spiritual children to grow in His power and ability to the point where they could give away their salvation until the character (1) and desires of Christ Jesus our archetype are inculcated in us by the Holy Spirit. That is, it would be possible to give up our salvation; however, we will not be permitted to have that ability until we would NOT use that ability. Remember, obedience leads to power in a believer’s life. (2 Corinthians 10:6)

Conclusion

It would be possible to give up our salvation; however, God will not allow us to have that ability until we would never use it! (1) (Matthew 26:39. Hebrews 10:7) Would you give your toddler a running chainsaw to play with when they want to be like Daddy? If your toddler in a fit of anger stated that they do not love you anymore and wanted to no longer be part of the family would you grant that request? Of course not! Neither does our Heavenly Father. (Matthew 7:9-11) 

Consequently, never again will the rebellion (1) of one of God’s most powerful creations be allowed to occur and no one that is truly born again will ever be lost. (John 10:28,29. Romans 8:35-39) That is, the New Covenant is established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6) Hallelujah! 

Discipleship for New Christians

Shalom
(Security, Wholeness, Success)
Peace

Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.” (Matthew 13:52 NET)

(1) Select the link to open another article with additional information in a new tab.

(2) Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Kenneth S. Wuest, ISBN: 978-0-8028-2280-2 Vol, I, Galatians p. 41 and also see United in Spirit (1).  

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Hal has taught the Bible for over three decades. Through an interdenominational ministry dedicated to helping the local church build men for Jesus, Hal trained men, the leaders of men’s ministries, and provided pulpit supply. Before that, he was a Men’s Ministry Leader and an Adult Bible Fellowship teacher of a seventy-five-member class at a denominational megachurch. Presently, Hal desires to honor Jesus Christ through this Internet teaching ministry, thereby glorifying the Heavenly Father in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He believes, second to cultivating his relationship with God, that raising his family unto the Lord is the most significant task for him while on Earth. Furthermore, Hal believes that being a successful leader in the church or workplace is no substitute for failing to be a successful leader at home. 
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One Comment

  • Julien Bowles

    June 14, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    Gospel

    Thank you, I labored under that verse for a long time, until The Lord delivered me from it. I realized that I had succumbed to temptation and gotten entangled in sin as I had MANY times because of some doctrines of a denomination I became involved in that taught you could be saved this morning and going to hell this evening and saved again tomorrow. I found myself trying to be good and I could only do it for so long because I was taught to fight sin, not taught to watch and pray lest I enter into temptation. I finally realized through the writings of John Owen that the enemy is in me, is powerful and as James teaches, in other words, that when our lust is joined to temptation.. sin is conceived and birthed. When it is full grown it results in death. It seems that a Christian can walk either in the flesh or in the Spirit. THAT is different from falling away from the faith. It is a miserable experience and Satan will beat you over the head accusing you of many things and use this verse from Hebrews on you BUT you can know it is not The Holy Spirit because He will not accuse you and leave you without hope, rather He will convince of sin and draw you to Christ. I no longer struggle with that verse because I have never turned my back of faith. I have certainly walked in the flesh and in sin but The Lord has always been faithful to me, in spite of me. Oh, how many nights with my head on my pillow I have asked The Lord to forgive me only to get up and do it again… but The Lord never gives up. He will give us what we want. If we want sin, He will allow for us to see where it takes us but at some point He will allow us to see the flash of the wolf's teeth and hear his snarl. Then we run back to the cross and humble ourself in repentance or he may allow for us to be bitten and humiliated BUT He will not allow for us to be eaten up, we still belong to Him. I can say for sure that to go ahead and completely deny yourself as best you can and walk in the Spirit is much better than misery and discipline all the time, and Yhe Good Shepherd WILL discipline us in love. Remember me in your prayers and thank you for such a good explanation. I hope it helps many. It gives me strength and hope.

    Julien