This is a question sent in by steve on the “Ask Aaron Anything” link:
Do you believe that Christians can lose their salvation? Fall away from Christ? The bible states that believers can fall away…. And backslide. God doesn’t leave us, but I believe we can leave him and go back to our old lifestyle. The bible says that if we as Christians sin willfully and knowingly that Christ can no longer remain our sacrifce for our sins.
Even if I believed in “once saved always saved”.
I wouldn’t preach or teach it cause if i’m wrong, people could end up in hell because of my mistake. To be on the safe side I think we shouldn’t teach or preach false or twisted scripture that could lead people to hell. Pastor you are held accountable for what you teach. I’m very concerned….
My Answer:
The more and more I get “questions” from people on this site the more I realize people are not asking me questions, they are trying to tell me I am wrong in question form. LOL. I am not sure this is a question as much as warning for answering to God for what I preach. So steve, thanks for the warning my friend.
Now what I will say on this answer is this. People have been arguing this for years and I do not think that my answer is going to solve this debate. I also am not going to type a 100 part series on why I am a reformed calvinist in (most) doctrines. I would not say I am a hard core 5 pointer but anywhoo, I will just give you a few thoughts and you can run with it.
Do you believe that christians can lose their salvation? I do believe in security of salvation that is… That Jesus saved me, keeps me, holds me, and glorifies me. I believe that Jesus is a GREAT SHEPHERD and he will not lose one. Salvation is from Jesus and protected by Jesus. There is a lot of scripture that is wrapped up on that. I think if salvation was dependent upon me keeping it… I would always lose it. ALWAYS!!!
Hebrews 6
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
It is impossible for someone who has been truly saved to fall away and then return to repentance since they are crucifying once again the son of God. If You are going to preach that someone can have it and lose it you also have to preach they will never get it back.
Here is my quick answer that could be debated and argued for millions of blog posts and I do not want to, as verse 1 says, keep rehashing the elementary when we should be moving on to maturity.
(1) If someone is saved you will see the fruit of that in their lives. I do not think the question is did they have it and lose it, I think the question is did they ever really have it. If you think because you said a prayer than you are saved then I know you are missing it. Hebrews speaks of a person who has been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, has shared in the Holy Spirit, and has tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come. This is way more then a prayer this is a life transforming work of salvation through Jesus in their lives. I think we have lowered what salvation is therefore we have to have this arguement. I know this scares people to think about since their commitment to Christ is only a prayer deep and if that is the case I hope it stirs you to repent and put your faith in Jesus.
(2) I think it is a scary gospel to tell people that they were saved by grace and then have to work to keep it. All of us would lose it and screw it up.
I think I am safe preaching that Jesus saved us and keeps us. If I get judged for preaching Jesus as the author and finisher of my faith then I think my judgement will be a “well done”. The Gospel message is Jesus came into a sin sick world where people, who by nature and choice, are sinners, yet He lived a sinless life and paid the price on the cross for our sins.
I can already see myself wanting to say more but I will stop because I know that no matter what I share I will have to debate so let the debate begin. Have fun!
PA, this has always been one of those "what if's…" for me. But, once again, you have explained this in such a way as to make it clear so that it makes perfect sense. Your words seem to focus on how awesome and HUGE our salvation really is. The more we realize that, the more fruitful we will be, as our desire to be obedient guides us, through the Holy Spirit. I just LOVE the way you break it down so that even simple folks like me can understand!
ALL of us sin willingly. All our actions are of our own will. and we all sin CONSTANTLY, even the most repentent of us. Its not possible for us not to sin its human nature and we're not God. End of story. So this is a question directed at YOU. I think you need to examine your own heart and thought process here man. I'm Not attacking you at all here, don't get the wrong impression. I'm just kindly encouraging you to think.
Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but what you're thinking is if you know damn well its a sin to do something and you still do it willingly…maybe continually…maybe something you don't WANT to give up even though you realize its sin, can you fall off an lose your salvation?
If that's the case man you need to pray and cry out to Jesus. Just talk with him (out loud) and just tell him exactly what you're thinking, you'll be surprised what that can do for you….for example I think i can relate my own problem or sexual immorality and lust right along the lines of what you're saying. I know and have learned even more how sinful and evil my heart is towards it and i don't even think I WANT to repent, that's the problem, and after a long talk with Jesus I realized this. But that talk cleared up ALOT, He told me where to read in the Bible about my questions and remember, Jesus is all powerful, there's no addiction or desire in your heart he can't change. But deep down are you really willing to give it to him and trust him?
BTW, just throwing this out here, if this happens to be your problem as well (lust) e-mail me DC8808@hotmail.com I'd be happy to talk to you about my experiences and the REALITY of how far Jesus has brought me and how i still have far to go and How not all deliverence is instant (although we commonly see that too here at LCC)
BTW, steve you've come to the right place to ask questions. Pastor Aaron has no fear (which he might not admit it because he's very humble
) but he preaches the Word for what it is with no filter. If you're looking for that kind of real truth, you'll find it here.
Deb and Drew,
thanks for the kind words. You all are such great supporters and I love the comments.
Hey Aaron,
I really loved the way you tackled this question. My husband and I attended a church for a time that required us to be rebaptized in order to place membership "just in case." We were venturing out of denomination and we ran into this issue big time. I really struggled with the perspective of the leadership of the church we were trying to join. I believe the heart change is what matters, as you've said and that a prayer or a public baptism mean absolutely nothing without it. Needless to say, we are no longer there . . .
Pastor Aaron, I really LOVED your response to this "question".
In my arduous quest to get to know Jesus, I HAD said a prayers thinking, "okay, so am I saved now?" and like I said in my blog, I never really FELT like I had received any salvation. I didn't feel any different – I had just said some words.
Now that I have FELT the power of redemption, now that I have really FELT the love of our Savior, I now know the difference.
And I would like to add, that I have spent my LIFETIME listening to false doctrine (literally) and it is such a treasure for me to attend Life Connection Church. I am on filled with the Holy Spirit every single Sunday. Sometimes I am blessed with an engulfing FIRE like last Sunday, and other times it's a quieter feeling… but thus far, every time I've heard you preach I can feel inside of me that you speak the truth – I never had that before when I was being taught by so many false prophets. And I know that means that you really are speaking for Jesus – I appreciate that to an extent I cannot put into words!!