Can A True Believer Lose Their Salvation?
Can a true believer lose their salvation? This is a doctrine that has been argued for hundreds of years. I want to briefly show why a true believing Christian cannot lose their salvation, while also dealing with some objections and why this question matters.
Scriptural Proof to Why You Cannot Lose Your Salvation
First, Jesus said that all true believers will, in the end, be raised to eternal life. This alone should be sufficient to answer this question. See the words of John 6:44 where Jesus says very clearly, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” Note the grammar here—the “him” that the father draws to Christ is the same “him” that Christ raises to eternal life on the last day. There really is no other biblical argument against this understanding. Even those who argue that Christ doesn’t lose us but instead we choose to walk away, don’t directly deal with what this verse is saying. If we way that the Father gives group A to the Son and perhaps 80% of group A comes to eternal life, then the Son did not bring all of group A to be raised to eternal life. Thus, Jesus would be incorrect to say the words he did, because the same “him” is not raised to eternal life as the “him” that was given to the Son. Instead, if only some of these were given eternal life, while others “walked away,” then only a subset of the group was given to him. However, Jesus did not say that it would be a subset of the group, but the entire group.
Secondly, not everyone who “has faith,” has true, saving faith. Note the words of James when he wrote “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). Specifically note James’ question, “Can that faith save him?” He writes this with the assumed answer being, “No, that faith cannot save him.” That’s why James says just a couple of statements later that even the demons have faith, yet the demons will not receive eternal life. So, there is a type of faith that exists that doesn’t actually bring salvation. James’ point is that true saving faith will be accompanied by good works, but a non-saving faith is not accompanied by these works. Even the “work” of shuddering is done by the demons, yet they do not receive salvation. Looking to Jesus’ statements in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Jesus is stating here that there is a non-saving kind of faith, just like James did. This should not cause true believers to stumble or lose our assurance because Jesus is pointing out that those who look to their works for their justification are those whom He never knew. Instead, saved Christians look to the works of Christ alone for their justification. However, Jesus also states that simply because you claim to have faith doesn’t really mean much, you need to truly have saving faith. Jesus and James’ words are not contradictory but complementary. Together they show that you cannot simply claim to have faith. We must be doing the will of the Father, which means that our faith is accompanied by works, but works that are the natural outflow of a heart that has been transformed by the love of God and work of the Holy Spirit. Our saving faith is the foundation for all our works.
Finally, those who do not have saving faith will be the ones exposed. We see this in 1 John 2:19 and (the consistent proof-text for those who claim you can lose your salvation) Hebrews 6:4-6. If you continue in Hebrew 6 and read the next two verses (vv. 7-8) it demonstrates that those who have saving faith and non-saving faith will congregate together for some time, but that those who have a non-saving faith are in danger and will eventually be exposed and burned.
Why It Matters
Who really cares if you can lose your salvation or not? The point is to work hard and continue to be worthy of our calling, right? First, the difference between “perseverance” and “assurance” is that perseverance teaches the objective fact that a true believer cannot lose their salvation. Assurance is the doctrine that speaks to the subjective understanding that the individual believer as if they are one of the elect and have true saving faith. It is often argued that if a believer cannot lose their salvation then they can just go and sin all they want and still get into heaven. However, this is a caricature and not accurate, because our justification cannot be separated from our sanctification. The moment we are saved we start on the journey of being molded into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30, we are predestined to be in the image of Christ). While the believer may continue to sin, they are at constant war against it.
It is precisely this point that gives the believer hope and strength to fight against their sin and to help carry the burdens of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Because they cannot be utterly lost, they will ultimately be given the strength to continue pushing forward in this life. It is this strength that moves the believer towards Christ-likeness, helps the believer push others forward, and ultimately marches the church forward. It is this strength that allows us to say that the gates of hell will not prevail over the church. It is this strength that says Christ’s church will ultimately complete the great commission one day. And it is this strength that says the individual believer will not be left in the despondency and melancholy that they may feel from time to time. Knowing that you will never be cast out by Christ gives the believer the motivation and encouragement for each day, knowing that God did not make a mistake when choosing them before the foundation of the earth.
The doctrine of perseverance is the foundation for the doctrine of assurance. We know that Christ will not lose any of those that the Father has given and in this, we have our hope and strength not only to push on to the end but to get out of bed each day and take the next step in our walk as a redeemed and renewed creation.
