Can A Person Become Lost After He Has Been Saved?

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

I once said that if I had just a nickel for each time I had been asked the above question, I could retire in quite good comfort. That's hardly true; but, it might be that I could add an extra dip of ice cream to every cone I purchased. In all honesty, I cannot recall a single question asked more often over a span of 60+ years than whether a person could be lost when he had been genuinely saved.

Someone has said that there as many ideas on any given subject as there are persons involved in the discussion. While that may be true, when it comes to genuine truth, it lies only within the pages of Holy Scripture. Jesus alone said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). Thus, we must always look into the pages of His Word to determine the answers to all of our questions. Now first, we must ask -

I. What Does The Bible Say?

The following verses are simply representative of the multiple verses that teach that it is impossible for one who has been genuinely saved -converted to Christ-to ever be lost to sin and ultimately go to Hell at the point of his death.

1. John 3:16 - 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 eternal life.'"

NOTE: The Greek word aivw,nion (aionion) means "everlasting, unending, eternal."

God always says what He means and means what He says. "Eternal," therefore, has no limit upon it. It is not for a thousand years, not for a million. It is forever. If a person, therefore, was ever able to lose this eternal life, the word "eternal" would have no meaning.

John 10:27-29, "'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall 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.'"

NOTE: The LORD Jesus' "sheep" means those who have trusted Him as LORD and Savior of their lives. He has given them "eternal life," and promised that they would "never perish"; i.e., never go to Hell. Further, He promises that "no one is able" to loosen the Father's grip on them and cause them to fall away. That does not mean that those who trust in Jesus for salvation will never sin after they trust Him. Rather, it means that God's grip on His children is greater than anyone's power to loosen His grip.

3. Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 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."

Note: The Apostle Paul is simply looking at every possible aspect of man ever being torn away from Christ and concludes that nothing is able to remove from man the loving salvation Christ Jesus has given him. Were that possible, then God's "eternal life" would become invalid, and God Himself would have come into contact with one who is greater and more powerful than He. Such is simply impossible!

4. II Timothy 1:12, "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day."

NOTE: Paul writes to Timothy of his assurance of salvation in Christ Jesus. Paul has committed himself to Christ and after more than 25 years a Christian, he is still convinced that God is sufficiently powerful and truthful as to be able to guard the life Paul surrendered to Him. Able, but is He so disposed? Were He not so disposed initially to save man, why would He have sent His Son, Jesus to Earth, much less, to the Cross to die for our sins?

5. Luke 19:10, "'For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.'"

NOTE: The Greek word sw/sai (sodzai) means "save, rescue, deliver; keep safe, preserve." Therefore, when the LORD saves someone, He keeps them saved just as Paul said when he wrote that he was "convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him..." (II Timothy 1:12). The New Testament knows nothing of a salvation that is not eternally secure.

In the investigation of anything, it is necessary to examine it logically and from all sides. Let's do that and see if we can determine "why" the Bible teaches what it does on this subject, while, at the same time, not challenging God's right to do or say anything He pleases. Our presupposition, therefore, is that God is always right in everything; He cannot ever be or do wrong.

II. What is the Logic Involved?

To understand whether or not one who is saved can ever again be lost, we need to begin with redemption. How is man saved (or, redeemed) from sin? There are only two potentially possible methods of salvation, and only one of them is the right method. Man is either saved by the love and grace of Almighty God or he is saved by his own so-called "righteous" works. (I say "so-called" because there are no "righteous" works outside of the LORD.) All of what man calls his "righteousness," is but "filthy rags" in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6). So, how can man produce works that will satisfy the justice and righteousness of God when his own self-assessed "righteousness" is denounced as "filthy rags" by the LORD?

Furthermore, what kinds of works would man propose to do that would be acceptable to God? And assuming any were acceptable, how many works would man have to perform for God to be satisfied? It dazzles the mind in the effort to comprehend how the created could ever believe himself capable of satisfying the Creator with anything!

God's method of salvation is both simple and stable: Long ago, the LORD established the principle that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission" of sin (Hebrews 9:22b). When Adam and Even sinned in the Garden of Eden, God slew an animal and made them clothes from the skins. But, with the blood that was shed by the animal that was slain, He temporarily covered their sins. This pattern flows throughout the Old Testament and finds it ultimate fulfillment in the crucifixional death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now, if there were necessary for our good works to figure into our own salvation, it would be a clear denial of the all-sufficiency of our LORD's death and resurrection for our salvation. How could we ever believe that He needs us to assist in the rescue and security of our own souls? To believe that we are necessary is to exalt ourselves above reality; and to believe that Christ Jesus needs us to complete what the Scriptures call "so great salvation" is to defame and disparage both the Savior and His work.

Furthermore, if man once trusting Jesus Christ's death and resurrection for his salvation were to be able in any manner to slip or be snatched from the Mighty Hand of God, it would be necessary for the Savior to once again die and rise from the dead to affect man's salvation. Such would then be a declaration of the impotence of Christ's initial death on the Cross of Calvary some 2000 years ago. It would be declaring that death worthless.1 And if His first death and resurrection could not avail for our salvation, why should we believe that a second death and resurrection experience would fare us any better? Thus, there exists but folly in any theological system that denies the a[pax (hapax), "once for all" cited seven times in the New Testament.2

Footnotes:

1. The apostle's argument in Hebrews 6:4-6 is precisely that. The shame or disgrace would fall upon Jesus if the Salvation He promised to all who would believe were to need a second or subsequent death and resurrection.

2. Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10; I Peter 3:18, and Jude 1:3, 5.