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I belong to a wonderful Christian ladies-only message board. Generally we talk about things like homekeeping, saving money, prayer needs, great things God’s doing, and so on. Occasionally we discuss thorny theology. The other day, someone brought up a topic that’s led to fairly heated debate.

I’m not going to discuss the original topic; while it’s highly relevant to the person who inquired, it’s not relevant at all here. I’ll simply state the premise of the discussion:

Is there anything that a person can do, once they are saved, that would prevent them from going to Heaven? (or can a saved person lose their salvation?)

Quite a few people said that no, once a person accepts Christ as their Savior, they’re saved and that’s it… regardless of their future sin or their heart condition. Once saved, always saved. A few people in that camp said that a person who is truly saved will not fall into unrepentant sin, ergo “sinners” were never really saved to begin with.

I do see a point in the latter argument…but only to a point. There are surely some people who are NOT saved, who never WERE saved, who believe they are all right with God and they’re going to heaven. Jesus said so. In fact, He said that some of these people would be out there performing miracles in His name… but He never knew them. (Matthew 7:21-23) So there are some people working hard in church or ministry who aren’t saved. I think they know it. These people are not servants of God. They think they’re serving Him and that their works will get them somewhere, and that because of their works they do not need the blood of Jesus. But there are also people who at one point were genuinely servants of God, but stopped serving Him along the way. I have ministered to quite a few of them over the years. Many knew they were no longer saved, but a few did not. When I showed them from the Word, they had a hard time accepting it because they placed a high level of authority in what their preacher said rather than checking into the Word for themselves.

The entire chapter of Matthew 25 is devoted to servants of God who will NOT be going to Heaven. Jesus uses three illustrations:

1. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins
2. The parable of the ten talents
3. The sheep and the goats

In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the virgins represent the church, and the bridegroom represents Jesus. The church is the Bride of Christ and we all have an invitation to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb! Jesus uses the analogy of having oil in your lamp. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The lamp is our temple unto God, the place the Holy Spirit takes up residence when we’re saved. No oil = no light. John makes an interesting corollary in 1 John 1:6, 7: “ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” It’s our choice whether to walk in light or in darkness.

It could be argued that the five foolish virgins in this story were never saved, they just THOUGHT they were. (though the fact that their lamps originally had oil/light but were going out makes me think that they had the Holy Spirit at one time.)

But let’s go on.

In the parable of the ten talents, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a master who has three servants. To each he gives talents (money) according to the servant’s ability. One servant gets 5 talents, another two, and the last, one. The master in the story is God. The servants are the church. The talents have been likened to many things (including talent/our ability to go and do something for God)… and that may be the case. Or they may represent the Holy Spirit, or they may represent faith. But no matter what they represent in human terms, the giver is God and the SERVANTS are the ones getting the talents. One who is not truly saved (but thinks they are) is not a servant of God. He’s not going to give talents (whatever that represents) to one who is not His. The one who buried his talent rather than invest it is someone who was saved - but God says “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30)

The first two stories in this chapter are parables - Jesus uses a story to illustrate actual events in a way that the listener can grasp a difficult truth. However, Jesus also speaks of actual events in a literal fashion. Sometimes when He does, He still paints a picture. In the last section of the chapter, He tells of literal future events but paints a picture for us of sheep and goats. Although we’re to take the Bible literally, we need to also understand that our future glorified bodies are not likely to be woolly

Jesus explains that He will come in His glory to judge the righteous (the sheep) and the wicked (the goats). Many have said that this story illustrates the difference between the saved and the unsaved. I respectfully disagree, and here’s why: in verse 44, the wicked say, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” (emphasis mine)

People who are not saved certainly can do noble things like feed the hungry. They are not, however, doing it as a ministry (in this context of the word), nor are they doing these works UNTO THE LORD. They don’t know that they should be ministering to others as unto the Lord. Jesus is speaking to people who know they should have done so, and didn’t. These are people who knew to do good, knew why to do it, and didn’t bother. Jesus says that they’re going to “into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” These are people we’d call Christians. But God knows.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

Jesus is not a band-aid, nor is He a divine get out of hell free card. Mike Bickle wrote, “the Father would not insult His beloved Son by giving Him a bride that is bored, passive, and compromising.”¹

Does all this mean that Christians will never sin? NO! We’re not perfect. We’re sinners saved by grace. God is faithful and just; He will forgive one who repents (1 John 1:9). Will there be sins that we don’t repent of? Surely. I’m not going to hell because five years ago I stubbed my toe and said a bad word and then promptly forgot all about it. Why? Because I have a repentant heart toward God. When I do wrong I’m genuinely sorry for it, and even if I didn’t know or don’t remember doing something I shouldn’t have, I’ve got a love relationship with the Lord and would never want to do something that hurts Him. It’s for this reason that King David was a “man after God’s own heart” - even though he had a man killed so that he could marry that man’s wife. When confronted with his sin he was genuinely sorry.

I don’t think that one “loses” salvation so much as they give it up. I was saved on July 27, 2000. There’s no question that I am saved. But suppose I was to fall away. Perhaps I got lured back to witchcraft, or perhaps I just forsook my first love like the believers Jesus addresses in Revelation 2:

2 I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place–unless you repent.

Jesus said this to the church at Ephesus. He says they’re doing wonderful things. He says they loved Him once… but they have left that love. He says to repent! If we repent, even after we’ve fallen, He will restore us. However, if we don’t repent, He will come and remove our lampstand from its place. The lampstand in the book of Revelation is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. If we do not repent and return to our first love, He will remove the Holy Spirit from us. If we are not sealed by the Spirit, we are not saved.

Jesus goes on to address the church in Sardis. (Rev. 3:1-6) He says that some in Sardis have defiled their garments. Well, they wouldn’t have been clothed had they not been saved. Jesus says that those who overcome will be clothed in white, and He will not blot out their name from the Book of Life. Blot out? That means the name was there to begin with. Whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Those who are saved (Phil. 4:3).

Another interesting passage is found in Romans 11. Paul compares God’s kingdom to an olive tree. He was explaining how it was that Israel was God’s chosen, but rebelled; therefore (as part of the plan), the Gentiles were able to enjoy restored fellowship with God. Paul says that “because of unbelief they” (Israel) “were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you, either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you will also be cut off.“ (Rom. 11:20-23)

If I have no faith I cannot stand. If I do not continue in His goodness, I will be cut off.

What then is saving faith? The Bible says that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, we’ll be saved (Rom. 10:9). However, the Bible also says that demons believe in Jesus (James 2:19). Ongoing belief has never saved a demon… why should it save us? James goes on in that passage to argue that although we are saved by grace through faith, that faith demands an ongoing response or it is dead.

I could likely go on with 100 more passages of Scripture… one after another they come to my mind… but I’m going to end with 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 everlasting life.

Jesus said, “believes”. He didn’t say that whoever believed in Him at one time would have eternal life. Without ongoing belief there is no salvation.

Certainly there are many who would argue passionately that I am wrong. Perhaps I am. If so, when I stand before God one day I can say that although I was wrong I still encouraged people to holiness. (But if I’m right, those who responded will be in heaven too!). But if I was to believe in and preach this once-saved-always-saved thing, when I stand before God in heaven I will have to confess that although I encouraged people not to sin, in the same breath I condoned it. If I was right, then it really wouldn’t matter that I’d done it, because even if it was sin to condone sin God would forgive me. Right? But what if I was wrong? Those who were persuaded by my “it’s not right to sin, but grace means you’re covered so really it’s ok” would be hell-bound and it would be my fault. If you’re unsure what that means, consult Ezekiel 3:18-21.

This concludes this exceedingly long post. (and my readers shouted Hallelujah and said Amen! and rushed out to get some lunch…)

¹ Mike Bickle is the Director of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. The quote is from page 72 of his book, “Passion for Jesus”, which I highly recommend that everyone read!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under Christian, Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.