Can I Lose My Salvation?
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;...(Ps 51:12)
Salvation belongs to the LORD:...(Ps 3:8 NASB)
“Can I lose my salvation?” Possibly, if you had any. I am not trying to be cute or clever. Can you lose your car keys? Yes but can you lose the neighbor's keys? No. The reason you cannot lose “your” salvation is because you do not have any. It belongs to the Lord. David said it was God's salvation. Yes, I know it is said to be ours because God shares His life with us.
So, can we lose the salvation that God has shared with us? Can God lie? Can God die? Will the angels wake up one morning and find God slumped over the throne because He finally passed away during the night? Is eternal life really eternal or does it have an expiration date?
If God has shared His eternal life with you, if you are really trusting in the Person and work of Christ, your life will never end. It will not end and it has no beginning either. That is why they call it eternal. It is quite difficult for eternity to become extinct. No, the life of God within you can never cease to be.
Once a being is created or is conceived, he is immortal. This means he will exist, in some state, forever. The devil and his angels will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev 20:10). Those who hate Christ or simply consider Him as irrelevant have no option in all of existence other than to go to the place that was prepared for the devil (v 15). Immortals could be hurt by the send death. Once a man is made eternal, however,
And I (Jesus) give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,...(John 10:28)
So, can a person lose salvation? Yes and no. The work of God in the reborn human spirit cannot fail. The Holy Spirit is joined to our spirit so as to make us one with God in such a way that we can only be lost if God Himself were to die.
That is the good news. I would not be a faithful servant of the Lord if I omitted the rest of the story.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1Cor 3:15)
This refers to the Great Evaluation that every one of us Christians must go through. This verse mentions being lost but while being saved. Once we are firmly and solidly established in the truth of the Eternal God sharing His own uncreated life with us in the spirit realm, we have to face this fact:
The Soul-Life Will Be Destroyed
To the degree that we insist in holding on to our personal natural soul-life, to that degree we will loose it. That is a promise from Jesus.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (Matt 16:25 NLT)
The goal in this lifetime is to think the thoughts of Jesus (His words) and to obey His simple instructions.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:30)
Jesus is a kind and just Judge. He is generous looking for any way to reward His servants, in addition to eternal life. He is almost like a soccer coach of the 8 year olds, giving every one of them a trophy. I said almost. This is not a game. For those children of His that stubbornly insist on doing everything their own way, there will be loss. Many will be saved and lost at the same time. Saved in their spirit where God does His eternal work and lost, to a greater or lesser degree, in their soul where God cannot approve of their service for Him.
Paul's prayer for all of us is
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (IThess 5:23)
You, Christian, cannot be lost in your very essence. It has the life of God in it. Do not be one who stubbornly refuses to obey Jesus in His light and easy ways during this lifetime.
Feb 10, 2024