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Recently, I got an email from a young college student. She had just attended a bible class and the pastor was teaching on holiness. And then, lo and behold, he makes an astonishing statement. Let me let the young lady tell it in her own words.

I believe this young Christian is not the only one to be "shocked" by such erroneous and irresponsible doctrines. Such teachings instill fear, doubt, and uncertainty. This is in opposition to the Bible which gives assurance to the believer in his or her salvation, confidence in their future, and day by day peace in their soul. Therefore, I thought it appropriate and needed to reprint/rewrite my email which I addressed to the young college student. I cannot think of anything more needed for believers than to be confident of their eternal security.

SECURITY BY WORKS OR GRACE

The young lady went on. She stated some of the scriptures I assume the bible teacher had submitted to his class on losing one's salvation. She stated “in the bible there are certain scriptures that make references to one losing salvation.” And here we will begin.

There has been a debate over eternal security by works versus faith since Christianity began. It is a debate which has not found resolution amongst various denominations and independent churchs all this time. But what does that matter? For in fact, there is not one scripture that refers to a believer in Christ losing his or her salvation. It is unfortunate that ministers of God’s Word still teach such utter and unfactual nonsense. Yes, there are several scriptures which refer to Christians “losing” but not losing their salvation. As a Christian, we can lose the following due to sin…but not our salvation. And in fact, even the following can be restored through confession of sin according to 1 John 1:9.

• You can lose the filling of the Holy Spirit.
• You can lose fellowship
• You can lose eternal riches, rule, and rewards
• You can lose your health.
• You can lose your physical life.
• You can lose the Glory Blessings

So absolutely, the born again believer in Christ can have loses due to sin, BUT NOT HIS OR HER SALVATION. It is guaranteed by God’s good name. “When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” Ps. 37:24 [This is our positional sanctification.]

Salvation is a gift from God. It is unearned...given by grace...by grace we are saved. God's integrity is therefore at stake; He guarantees our salvation from the moment we believe. That is His promise to you and I. So the fact is: You cannot work to gain salvation....never! You cannot work to undo your salvation...never! It is God's gift and He is no "indian giver." He does not take back His salvation. Our salvation is in His hand and there is no power in the heavens, on the earth, or under the earth, which can remove us. The Bible is clear. It is clear if we remember to always interpret scripture with scripture in the context of the whole counsel of God.

The young lady in question was concerned with two scriptures which supposedly support the idea that we can lose our salvation: Mt. 7:21-23 and Mark 13:13. In fact, there are more. I will give one more that proponents of fear suggest that a Christian can lose his salvation, Acts 5:1-11. (As long as some minister has you in fear, you will cling to him. And that is what he wants.)

We will look at the above scriptures for our study, but it is important that we first have a sense of the whole counsel of God, a knowledge of who God is, and the work Christ did on the cross. Though time here does not allow us a study of these, it is important you take the time to inform yourself. Such knowledge keep us from being “tossed about” by teachings from men who have no concept of grace and its of power. Do not be confused. Christians can lose much of what God desires to give them, but not their salvation. If we keep these two concepts straight, we will be straight in our thinking.

The salvation question must always be considered from God's viewpoint.
Salvation is a gift given not earned nor deserved. Therefore salvation
cannot be lost due to a gift taken back, nor behavior deserving hell. For
Christ’s sake, not ours, the believer’s salvation is secured. Salvation is
not a reward for good behavior; it is not lost due to bad behavior. It is a
gift bestowed upon a believer in Christ by God for His good pleasure. This concept must be understood and accepted. And knowledge of this concept assists in interpretation of those scriptures, which are said to be “difficult.” As inumerated above, there are things to be lost for a life lived outside the Sphere of Faith, detoured from the Path of Righteousness and deflated of the filling of the Holy Spirit. And that should be enough to prod and goad anyone to live the Sanctified Life.

The following scripture is one which 'proponents of fear' teach on losing one's salvation:

Lip service and good works do not impressed God. And here Christ makes the point. This is clear from Old Testament teachings. Our righteousness before God is nothing but "filthy rags." God looks to one thing: the heart . Only those who believe from the heart in Christ as their personal savior and lord will find salvation. Good works in His name do not gain salvation. They may impress our fellow man. We may even become the recipients of various humanitarian awards which recognize our charitable works, but these do not move God. In fact, good works outside of the filling of the Spirit are works of the flesh and therefore have no spiritual value. Further, those works by Christians which are uninspired by the Holy Spirit and performed in the flesh will be burned up and destroyed by God, 1 Cor. 3:15. Works outside of faith will not be recognized in heaven, BUT the believer will be saved.