Can Saved people Become Lost Again (What Does The Bible Say)?

The debate over whether or not a person who has received salvation through Jesus Christ, can become lost again, has been around probably since the beginning of Christianity. Obviously the most popular view is that one cannot lose salvation, once they have been saved (born again Jn 3:3). I, the writer of this, would also prefer to believe that it is not possible to lose one's salvation because this is certainly the most comforting position to believe in however, what we prefer to believe and what the Bible actually says, do not always agree. Having said this, let me also say that I am not one who believes salvation through Jesus Christ is such a weak and fickle thing, as to be lost every time a Christian falls into sin or does not serve the Lord as they should. On the other hand, the Bible seems to be very clear in stating that it is possible for a saved person to turn there life back over to sin, in rejection of God, to become "sin's servant" again, thereby leaving not just fellowship, but relationship with God (Rom 6:6 and 6:16).

I have heard messages by preachers who refute the possibility of one losing salvation, who claim those who do teach that it is possible, only base this on one scripture and that this scripture is the one in Heb 6:4-6, which states: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

Now, what these preachers say to refute this scripture as being a description of a Christian falling from salvation, is that it is actually talking about a Christian "losing maturity", not their salvation. If this is true, why just a few chapters later in Heb 10: 26-31, does it give a very similar repeat of a warning to Christians, not to "trod under foot the Son of God". Doesn't this sound very similar to the earlier warning in Chapter 6, not to "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."?

This is that scripture in full; Heb 10:26-30 " For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remained no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people." There is no possible way that the things attributed to those spoken of in both of these scriptures can be to anyone other than those who have received salvation but THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY SCRIPTURES THAT STATE THIS WARNING. II Peter 2:20-22, is another scripture that can only apply to Christians, yet speaks of them leaving their relationship with God, by turning back to sin. It states: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."

This scripture is very similar to Jesus warning in Mt. 24:44-51, in which Jesus starts the passage out by describing "faithful servants" who stay ready for his return and those whom he finds fulfilling their Christian duties when he comes back. Jesus then describes a "servant" who turns evil and believes Jesus' return will be "delayed" and so he therefore begins to do wrong to other Christians ("fellow servants") and also begins to yoke-up with sinners, in sinning along with them (verse 49). Jesus warns that such servants will be taken by surprise at his coming because they will be cut off ("cut him asunder") and they will be appointed as a "hypocrite" (verse 51), with punishment so severe that "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Does this sound like only "loss of rewards" as some teach will happen to hypocrite Christians? I the writer do believe that Christians who are unfaithful can lose rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ and will still make Heaven but these scriptural descriptions describe an obviously much more severe consequence to those who completely walk away from relationship with God. The previous scripture we quoted in II Peter, puts it as strongly by stating that it would have been better for the Christian who turned completely from God, "...not to have known the way of righteousness...", than to have known it and later to turn completely from it.

There are many other scriptures that compare with these but let me mention just a few more found in the book of Revelation. AGAIN, THESE ARE SCRIPTURES THOSE WHO TRY TO REFUTE THE MEANING OF, CLAIM ARE ONLY SPEAKING OF CHRISTIANS LOSING REWARDS FOR BREAKING "FELOWSHIP", NOT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HOWEVER, LOOK AT THE SERIOUSNESS OF JESUS' STATEMENTS; In verse 5 of Revelation chapter 3, Jesus makes reference to the fact that he will "...not blot out his name out of the book of life,.." and was speaking to Christians who overcome (the Church in Sardis). Jesus says that these are those who are "...clothed in white raiment..." which represents that they have put on the righteousness of Christ however, in verse 4, he plainly states that some at Sardis had "...defiled their garments..." by saying that only a few there had not. In verse 5, we see his warning that it is possible to be blotted out of the book of life because of this. In verse 14 Jesus begins speaking to the church of "Laodiceans" and warns them, that because they are "lukewarm" Christians, "...I will spue thee out of my mouth." The Christians he issued this warning to, are described as being only half-committed to Christ and yet he says he will vomit them out, if they do not become completely committed to Christ as Lord. This compares with Jesus warning in Lk 9:62, stating: "...No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." I cannot imagine anyone reading Jesus' statement of these being "spued out" as only meaning they will lose rewards. In Chapter 2, Jesus speaking to the church in "Ephesus" , stated: "...thou hast left thy first love..." (Christ) he then calls them "fallen" and warns them to repent and repeat their first works (rededicate to him). QUESTION: Can people who have actually "left" Christ be in less trouble than those who were half-committed (lukewarm)? AND: can being "spued out" of Christ's mouth be less serious than being "blotted out" of the book of life? This is the very reason the Bible itself tells us to compare scriptures together, so that truth is established by two or three witnesses (Mt 18:16, IICor 13:1 and II Tim 2:15).

NOW LET ME ADD, that I do believe a Christian can commit sin and break fellowship with God and not relationship and a description of this is given in I Jn 1:6-10, where it also tells us how to be forgiven of our sins, when we do fail the Lord and are overcome by temptation. The fact is, Christians commit sin of some type every day of their lives and this is why God made cleansing available in two ways, described in I Jn chapter 1. The most important way, is by walking as close to the Lord as we know how, referred to as "walking in the light" and the scripture describes this as keeping our fellowship with God by doing so and results in an automatic cleansing of sin by Jesus Blood. The other way, is to repent of known sin by confessing it to God in prayer and it states in I-John chapter one that "..he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." , once we confess them in repentance. With these two safeguards from falling deeper into sin, a Christian would have to purposely reject God's provision in these areas, for want of living in sin, in order not to reap the benefits of forgiveness. In other words, the person literally no longer wants forgiveness because we are suppose to struggle against sin (walking in the light) and if the person decides they desire sin more than they desire to continue in fellowship and relationship with God, this is where the fellowship remains broken (lukewarm) and eventually relationship can also be broken as well. It is the person who leaves their "first love", it is not God leaving the relationship and you also cannot blame a man for plucking that person out of God's hand or even satan himself because the one making this decision is the one on the other side of the covenant relationship. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A ONE-SIDED COVENANT? No matter how faithful one party may be, or even how impossible it may be for the faithful party to break covenant, it is still up to the party on the other side, to also honor that covenant, or they themselves are responsible for it being broken. The wonderful thing is that God, the party who is dishonored still offers that covenant to be reestablished if only the unfaithful party will re-commit to it (rededication). A Christian only needs forgiveness if it is sin only and not rejection of God but to say a Christian cannot reach that point of rejecting God, goes against what is VERY PLAINLY written in the scriptures we have just gone over. I've said it before and I'll say it again; If there is another explanation for what these are saying, then it would appear the Bible does not mean what it says or that it has "scare tactic" warnings that are really written in super-secret codes, that mean the opposite of what they are really saying. Worst of all, is probably the statement that says: "It is just being interpreted incorrectly". This is still the same as saying that it does not mean what it clearly says. IN REALITY, THE ANSWER IS THIS; The Bible always means what it says and we cannot in good conscience explain away that part of it we wish were not true. It all has a purpose and the many scriptures warning against breaking relationship with God have their purpose as well.

MORE ON THIS: following are important facts as stated in Bible Scripture: 1. GOD NEVER BREAKS COVENANT, INCLUDING THE SALVATION COVENANT (Heb 6:16, Nu 23:19). 2. NO ONE, MEN OR SATAN, CAN PLUCK YOU OUT OF GOD'S HAND AND YOU CAN NEVER PERISH AS A "FOLLOWER" OF CHRIST. (Jn 10:27-29). 3. MEN DO NOT LOSE THEIR FREE MORAL CHOICE AFTER SALVATION AND CAN BREAK COVENANT WITH GOD, REJECTING HIM AS LORD, MAKING SIN LORD/AN IDOL AGAIN. THEY LEAVE/REJECT GOD, HE DOES NOT LEAVE/REJECT THEM. (Rom 6: 11-18, Rev 2:4-5, Ex 20:3).

The debate among Christians, as to whether or not a person who has received salvation, can become lost again, has likely been around, as long as the Church itself. I think if any Christian is honest, they will admit that the more desirable position to believe in, is the one that says a Christian cannot under any circumstance, lose their salvation, regardless of the level of non-commitment to God, that might develop in their lives, following salvation, resulting from seriously deepening sin.

There are actually two extremes that are taught in regard to this subject, so let's look at those. First, there is the extreme taught, that people become lost again if they commit sin following salvation but they do not differentiate between sin, that all Christians have and that which becomes "servitude to sin" (Rom 6:16). Christians will have sin in their lives after salvation because we live in the same flesh, we did before salvation. The scripture plainly states, that it is the spirit of man that is "born again", not the flesh (John 3:5-8), therefore we obviously still have a sin-struggle due to the desires of the flesh (Rom 8:1). The definition of sin as described in scripture, is very broad (Rom 14:23, James 4:17), stating that anything not done in faith, is sin and not doing a good work, when opportunity presents, is also sin. These scriptures reveal that sin is not only evil acts but is also the lack of acts of faith and doing good. The point being, that if sin itself was actually what puts a person in danger of breaking off relationship with God, there would be no hope for anyone! The other, second extreme declares that no matter how far sin is taken by a Christian, they can never be in danger of breaking off relationship with God. Here is the point in which many people do not allow their thinking go beyond. Sin itself, causes us to break "fellowship" but breaking "relationship" with God, can also eventually happen if fellowship is continually unrestored. The remedy for this, is to live a life of repentance, meaning you struggle against sin and continually confess/admit it to God, asking forgiveness, when you do sin (I John 1:7-10, I John 2:1). Of course prayer, dedication to God's Word and being a witness for him are also vitally important in living a victorious life in Christ. When a person reaches a point at which they can no longer sincerely confess sin to God, for forgiveness, knowing they have no intention of struggling against it (repentance), they also begin to know in their heart, that they are playing a game with God. Any confession of sin at that point would be pretense ( no longer sincere). They also know he intimately knows their heart and that they are not sincere in wanting fellowship with him and so they reach a point of no longer even struggling against or confessing sin for forgiveness. Their desire for sin, has reached a point of more importance than their desire to fellowship and have relationship with God. The book of Romans describes this as "yielding as a servant to obey sin" (Rom 6:16) and that Christians should rather yield themselves as "servants of righteousness". The first commandment God gave Moses to relay to his people, is to have "no other gods before me". IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A CHRISTIAN TO MAKE SIN HIS GOD/IDOL AGAIN? YES, but at what point this actually happens to a person who turns back to sin as his master, only God and that person can know! You may say "HOW CAN WE KNOW IT IS EVEN POSSIBLE FOR THIS TO HAPPEN"? There are many scriptures that describe "apostate Christians", so if it were not possible for this to happen, why is it described so vividly and so often? The problem that arises, is when people claim that it's only a matter of interpretation and that these scriptures really are not saying this. They will also state that the scriptures referred to as describing these apostate Christians, in reality are talking about people who "never really became Christians" and never really received salvation. This simply is not true because when you read these scriptures, they state things about these apostate believers, that can ONLY APPLY to people who did truly receive Christ as Saviour and the Holy Spirit dwelt within them. Jesus stated that the Holy Spirit, during this time of the New Testament, can only dwell within a born again vessel (Mark 2:22, Acts 2:38). Jesus gave several warnings to "Christians", in the book of Revelation, pertaining to non-commitment and backsliding. These scriptures can only relate to Christians because he addresses those they are directed to as "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Rev 3:6) and many other references, that can only apply to Christians who are being addressed. Jesus simply would not say the things in these scriptures to the unsaved that have never been born again. The only message Jesus and the New Testament as a whole, directs toward the unbeliever/sinner, is to "hear The Gospel and be saved". All other directives, commandments and admonishments, are for the Church, those already saved. In one of these statements Jesus made to Christians, he warns that some have become "lukewarm" (Rev 3:16), meaning backslidden into a state of half-committed relationship. Jesus states that because of this non-commitment, he will "...spue thee (them) out of my (his) mouth." (meaning to vomit them out). Some would say this is only a rebuke and not too serious but I think most would agree it sounds very serious. It also sounds very serious when Jesus states in Rev 2:4-5 of the Christians in the church at Ephesus that "... thou hast left thy first love.". He then goes on to say in verse 5, "....thou art fallen.." and he tells them to "...repent, and do the first works...". This is an admonishment to rededicate their lives to Jesus/God, just as the prodigal son story described by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32, in which a son who rejected his Father, was received with open arms, as soon as he repented and returned to him. WHO DID THE LEAVING IN THESE EXAMPLES? It was the son/child, not the Father/God. If the salvation covenant is ever broken it is never God who breaks it but the one who still has a choice to continue honoring it or reject/break it. Jesus said in Luke 9:62 "...No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.". In Rev 3:4, Jesus states that there were some in the church at Sardis, who had "defiled their garments" , evident by saying that a few had not and that those who had not, "...shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." In that following verse Jesus continues by saying that Christians who "overcome", will also wear the white raiment because they have not "defiled their garments" (verse 4) and that for those who had not, "...I will not blot out his name out of the book of life...". It is plain by this scripture that those who defile their righteous standing with God and who do not overcome, are in danger of being blotted out of the book of life. Pointing these things out, makes some people ANGRY however, THE MESSENGER IS NOT THE SCRIPTURE WRITTER, GOD IS THE WRITTER. If you have a problem with what is written, take the complaint to God. People want badly to make these scriptures apply to those who were never saved but if we take it literally, they can only be addressing saved people who turned back to sin, to become it's servant and not simply Christians struggling with sin and having sin in their lives, AS WE ALL DO. Again, only God and that individual can know when that line has been crossed and they have replaced God in their lives with the old god they served before salvation, called sin. I the writer of this study, was backslidden to the point of rejecting God in my life, earlier in my Christian life. Thank God, I returned to him in repentance! I also have known several people during my Christian life who backslid completely away from God. Three men in particular, I know personally, became alcoholics, years after being saved/born again. Two of these men were previously ministers of the Gospel (one still is), pastoring churches. All three men, developed serious health/liver problems, one being told he would be dead in less than a year, if the alcoholism did not stop! Thank God, two have since been delivered and rededicated to God (not sure about the third) but had any of them not done so, the scriptures state that "drunkards" shall not inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor 6:10, Gal 5:19-21). This scripture and others in the New Testament give this same warning and list other sin-states that will prevent entrance into the kingdom of God, such as "fornicators" but DOES NOT exclude those who were once saved and backslid into these conditions! The attempt to say these men were never really saved or that Christians can never backslide that far, goes against what the scriptures say and the testimonies of many people, who have backslid that far and know for a fact they were saved before this happened. Why if we are incapable of serious backsliding, does satan fight Christians so hard? Some would say, "he does it to destroy the Christian's testimony and their blessings with God". If this was the only danger, what about the other warnings described in the scriptures we just referred to? Jesus also stated that the reward for a hypocrite was as severe as that awaiting the unsaved (Mt 24:45-51). Peter states that those who backslide completely from God, that it were better for them to have never known the way of righteousness, than to backslide into a lost condition (II Pet 2:20-22). There are similar scriptures in Hebrews (6: 4-6 and 10:26-31) however, even these scriptures are claimed by some teachers/preachers, as not talking about saved people who backslid. I respond by saying; How in the world can these scriptures be talking about anyone else? There are two dangers in not teaching this doctrine in a balanced way. One is that Christians who are looking for a reason to enter back into sin (and they're out there), will not see the possible dangers of it, thinking it will only hurt their testimony and blessings from God, so many will fall further into sin because of this. The other danger is making new, baby Christians believe that sins we commit, automatically mean we are backsliding into a lost condition. They actually need to know that SIN WILL HAPPEN but we need to "grow in the Lord", so that we learn to overcome sin in our lives on a progressive, continual basis, as we mature. We will never fully/completely overcome sin, while in this present flesh-body but if we ever give into it completely and stop growing, it will do everything it can to bring us completely down. Even if this did ever happen, people can come back to God in repentance and rededicate to him but the risk of not getting that chance, with the unpredictability of life, is an eternal risk to take. People can have serious struggles in certain sin-areas and this still does not mean they are backslidden away from God, to the point of broken relationship but God knows the heart that is trying and the one that is not! We too know if we are walking in fellowship with God or not! Broken fellowship can be restored 100s of times a day if needed (Mt 18:21-22) but when it is not, or when it becomes a game of holding onto sin and pretending with God to repent/struggle against sin, broken relationship can eventually result. God is never the rejecter or covenant breaker, the man is and the man himself is the only one who can be responsible for his own fall, no another man or even satan himself can pluck you out of God's hand, the decision is each man's own responsibility and since it is a covenant with God, the strength that comes for living the Christian life, comes directly from him. As soon as we try to live the Christian life without God's help and strength and neglect our fellowship with him, trouble is a heart beat away. Some claim teaching scriptural warnings about the dangers of backsliding, cheapens salvation but what actually cheapens salvation, is to claim that sin can be as prominent in our lives as it was before we came to Christ and that God is willing to share Lordship with the very thing he came to save us from.

I Timothy 5:12 "Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith."