Can We Lose Our Salvation? Part One...

The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents

by regaining to know God aright

and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him,

as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue,

which being united to the heavenly grace of faith

makes up the highest perfection. ~ John Milton

Christendom is divided over this question. What is salvation? Can we lose it? If so, how can we lose it? If not, why not? The following will be an attempt to answer some of the questions. 

There are three points I want to make as a preface. They shall take up very little space, but I hope they will set the groundwork for what will come later on.

1. “Can We Lose Our Salvation” is the wrong question to ask. It comes from a perspective that raises us to the forefront. The emphasis is on us, and it is rather humanistic and arrogant to put forth a question concerning something of the utmost importance - such as salvation - without bringing God into the equation. Rather than asking, “can we lose our salvation”, I propose we ask instead “Will God let us be lost?” 

2. Personal experience should not sway our minds in matters concerning the message of Scripture. To say “I can’t believe that so-and-so, whom I knew as a wonderful, pious person, was never saved. Therefore I must believe, based on my experience, that we can lose our salvation.” But that argument comes from a foundation of emotion, not necessarily one of truth. Whether or not you have a personal tie with someone who renounces Christianity while formerly embracing it should not cloud the issue. The question, naked and plain, is not dependent upon our emotional experiences, but on Biblical fact. If Scriptural truth contradicts our experiences, it is not Scripture that must change, but our perspective.

3. A brief comment which ties to the previous point: if we know someone who seemed to be a Christian and then fell away, we may concern ourselves with two options: (a) they are an apostate, never having truly owned and accepted the free offer of Christ, only living in such a manner as to deceive others and themselves. Not for nothing does Jesus remark that there will be those who cry “Lord, Lord”, who think they have done great works in the name of Christ, who have cast out demons, etc., who will hear Jesus say “depart from me, I never knew you”. (b) They are backslidden, not lost; and believing friends have a responsibility to chastise and exhort them through the Word of God, leading them to repentance afresh and a redoubled knowledge of their standing in Christ.  The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. Not only can we deceive ourselves concerning someone’s salvation, but we may also deceive ourselves concerning his or her loss of it. While they live there is hope for restoring them in a spirit of gentleness. We have the opportunity and responsibility to thunder forth afresh the gospel of salvation, which is the only thing able to awaken dead men’s hearts. I pray we never fall back into despair or apathy when souls are at stake.

Let me now seek to answer the question, “will God let us be lost”. In no way will this be the definitive answer, but I hope it will be a God-glorifying answer. I hope, by the end of this, that believers will be strengthened in their faith. 

Our Condition: In the Light

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

In Christ, the Word of God, God Incarnate, our Propitiation, our Sacrifice, our Resurrected Lord, we have life. This life, according to the passage in John 1, is the light of men. Jesus calls Himself the “light of the world”, and says that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness. His followers have the light of life – that is, they have Christ Himself. Now, pay close attention to what the passage says: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Darkness cannot lay hold of nor seize the light. Light and darkness are incompatible.

Now, if God is represented by light, what does darkness represent? Does it not represent the darkness of wickedness and unrighteousness, the demonic host, the Deceiver himself? God is not bound by Satan any more than light is bound by darkness. Turn a switch, and the shadows flee before the light. Satan is subject to God. There is no eternal battle between the two. God is victorious, Satan is the ultimate loser. It is not a contest. Considering this, does it not seem absurd to suggest that God could give any of His people, whom He has brought into the light and made children of light (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5), back into the darkness? We do not illumine ourselves. We are lit by Christ, and He is not extinguished, nor will He ever be. 

Even in this, we can see that as children of light, we abide in the light. We are kept by the Light of the world. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. In Him, we are lit eternally. Darkness cannot overcome us, for it cannot overcome Christ.