Once Saved, Always Saved?

2 Peter 2

There is a growing crop of Christians that have no interest in questioning the above statement. At the slightest hint that it is possible for salvation to be lost, they counter with professions of "God's love is unconditional!", “Once saved, forever saved!”, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God!", etc.

First things first, let's tackle the root of this behavior. 

This need to quickly and aggressively dispel a notion of a conditional salvation is - believe it or not - rooted in fear.  That's the truth. We are too scared to question our deepest held beliefs for fear they might be disproven, so we quickly counter any alternate opinions, not because we know they are not true but because we don't want to even consider the thought that they may be. 

God's word says "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). We fear because we have not yet seen God as the loving Father He is. We are still viewing Him with the world’s notion of the “Man upstairs”, the unsmiling taskmaster, waiting to flog or eternally punish us if we err. So we act like the child that plugs his ears, closes his eyes, and sings a chant out loudly over and over again to block the reality in front of him.

God wants His children to walk in truth, even though that truth may be uncomfortable to digest. He is the Father of light and there is no shadow of falsehood found in Him. And He is building a relationship with us that extends beyond here into eternity, and we know no real relationship can be built on falsehood. So whenever we recognize what is true, we must be open to accept it no matter what the cost to our comfortably held opinion is.

Back to this topic: is it possible to lose one’s salvation? I believe this is a convolution of 2 separate questions in one, and this is why a neither yes or no answer provides a fully biblically accurate response. 

The 2 separate questions that should be asked instead of "is it possible to lose one's salvation" are these:

1. Is it possible for Jesus Christ to abandon someone who has come to Him for salvation? 

and

2. Is it possible for someone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation to stop trusting in Him, thus falling away?

The answer to the first question is a categorical, capital-letter NO. This is John 6:37b "...and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out". 

Some from the eternal predestination camp will want to argue on the first part of that verse. "But it says 'All that the Father giveth me (Jesus) shall come to me...' What if the Father didn't give you to Jesus? Then you may not be saved! etc etc". This line of discussion makes no sense, because it's an attempt to busybody into a direct discussion Jesus had (is having) with His Father. That part of the arrangement is not disclosed to us, thus is not our business. The part that concerns us is that we came to Jesus (part 2 of the verse). 

This is part of a broader orientation a lot of us Christians need, because we are constantly falling into the trap of trying to discern on spiritual matters God in His wisdom has chosen not to give us logos on. My post on "Where do babies go when they die" touches on this. We need to realize this is an attempt to micromanage God, and we need to respect where our jurisdiction ends and where His begins on spiritual issues. Back to the main point.

So the answer to the first question is clearly NO. Jesus will not abandon anyone that comes to Him for salvation - this is said over and over again in scriptures: we have this assurance. 

To the second question: is it possible for someone to stop trusting in Jesus? The answer to this is YES. 

Just as the Bible is filled with assurances and affirmations of God's love and dedication to completing the work of salvation in us, it is also filled with verses telling us to "hold fast". Hold fast to the profession of faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23). Hold fast to what you have, so that no one takes your crown (Revelation 3:11). 2 Thessalonians 2:15. And on and on. We would not be told to hold fast to something, if it was not possible to lose it.

This is an already long post, but still has unanswered parts. What can make a Christian stop trusting Jesus? How does that even happen? I created a blog post with answers to this some years ago. It's in 2 parts, linking the second part but feel free to read the first:

http://deeperandstronger.blogspot.com/2018/09/signing-divorce-papers-are-you.html