Can A Person Lose Their Salvation?

By: Rev. Joseph R. Kramer

April 21, 2004

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the

heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the

word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to

repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and

subjecting him to public disgrace.” – Hebrews 6:1-6 (NIV)

Can a person lose their salvation? This is a question that has caused much

confusion and has often been debated about. I will attempt to first define what Salvation

is and how to attain it. I will then attempt to give an overview of each viewpoint,

Calvinism and Armenianism, and some scriptures that seem to back both sides on this

subject, and in my conclusion I will attempt to relay my conclusions on this subject. All

scripture quoted in this paper are from the New International version (NIV) of the Bible.

Our first job in this process is to define salvation. Salvation is used 122 times in

the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. The Hebrew word for salvation is

“ysûuaœh” and the number for it is 3802 in the G/K numbering system, it means

“salvation, deliverance, help, rescue from a dangerous circumstance or harmful state by a

savior; divine salvation usually has its focus on rescue from earthly enemies, occasionally

referring to salvation from guilt, sin, and punishment” (NIV Study Bible). The Greek

word for salvation is “soœteœria” which is number 5401 in the G/K numbering system, it

means “salvation, rescue, deliverance, the state of not being in grave danger and so being

safe; this can refer to ordinary dangers and conditions on earth, but it usually refers to the
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state of believers being safe from righteous wrath in a proper relationship with God”

(NIV Study Bible).

Salvation is when we accept, through faith, what Christ did on the cross for us.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who came to the earth to die for our sins. Jesus was

born of a virgin named Marry. He lived Thirty years and then did miracles for three

years before he died, which included raising the dead, healing the blind, and restoring

limbs. He was perfect in every way, he did nothing wrong, which is being sinless, he

then was accused of a crime he did not commit and sent to a Roman Cross to die for all of

our sins. He was dead for two days and on the third day he rose again. Believing and

accepting this through faith is the only way we receive his sacrifice and this is salvation.

What Jesus Christ did on the cross was objective for all of human kind; “However, it

would also be a serious mistake to view the work of reconciliation and redemption as

becoming effective without our participation. This is far from the truth. God has done

everything on His part, but you must receive it, else we are still in our sins” (Williams

13).

Salvation cannot be apart from the calling of God for a sinner to receive Him, this

is often called effectual calling. The calling of God is “sometimes described as ‘effectual

calling,’ that is to say, the calling of God that is effectual unto salvation. This is the most

frequent use of the word ‘call’ in the New Testament” (Williams 14). This can be seen

by the writings of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9 which states “But you are a chosen

people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may

declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Paul

writes in 2 Timothy 1:8-9 “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of
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me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who

has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but

because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the

beginning of time,” and Mr. Williams states, “Both [verses] are expressions of [the]

calling of God wherein salvation comes about” (Williams 15).

In these two paragraphs we see the message of salvation and what it is, then we

see that we cannot receive salvation unless God first calls us and then we make a decision

to give our hearts to Jesus Christ. As has been seen from our word study, salvation in its

context is the cleansing of sin from a person, and being brought into right relationship

with God. We are saved out of the sinking boat of sin, and brought into the warship of

Christ Jesus.

Our Second job in this process is to show the viewpoint of the Calvinists on this

subject, known as eternal security. The Bible teaches us that we are to rejoice in our

salvation. Is it truly possible for me to “go on my way rejoicing if there be doubts in my

mind whether God will continue to deal graciously with me and complete that work

which He has begun in my soul? How can I sincerely thank God for having delivered me

from the wrath to come if it is quite possible I may yet be cast in Hell” (Pink 16)? This

position also holds that if it were possible to lose your salvation, then it would “entail a

defeated Father, who was balked of the realization of His purpose: a disappointed Son,

who would never see the full travail of His soul and be satisfied; and a disgrace Spirit,

who had failed to preserve those entrusted to His care” (Pink 17). These are excellent

common sense/thought arguments.

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In Mr. Pink’s book he shows that there have been many misconceptions and many

errors when writing about the eternal security doctrine and he quotes Spurgeon on page

twenty-two of his book, which states, “The scripture does not teach that a man will reach

his journey’s end without continuing to travel along the road; it is not true that one act of

faith is all, and that nothing is needed of daily faith, prayer and watchfulness. Our

doctrine is the very opposite, namely, that the righteous shall hold on his way [Job 17:9]:

or, in other words, shall continue in faith, in repentance, in prayer, and under the

influence of the grace of God. We do not believe in salvation by a physical force which

treats a man as a dead log, and carries him whether he will it or not towards heaven. No,

‘he holds on his way’, he is personally active about the matter, and plods on up hill and

down dale till he reaches his journey’s end. We never though that merely because a man

supposes that he once entered on this way he may therefore conclude that he is certain of

salvation, even if he leaves the way immediately. No, but we say that he who truly

receives the Holy Spirit [gift of salvation], so that he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ,

shall not go back, but persevere in the way of faith…We detest the doctrine that a man

who has once believed in Jesus will be saved even if he altogether forsook the path of

obedience.”

Some of the more popular scriptures are 1 Samuel 2:9 which states, “He will

guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. “It is not by

strength that one prevails.” Psalms 37:28 states, “For the LORD loves the just and will

not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever…” Romans 8:27, which says,

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit

intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” 2 Thessalonians 1:10 “on the
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day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those

who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.”

These are just a few of the scripture if I were to give all scriptures this paper would end

up being much longer than it need to be to prove their point. The Calvinists also take the

scriptures that are quoted by the Armenians and say they use them out of context, such as

the scripture opened with in this paper, they say Paul is talking about a theory not

actuality, or that if you take the scripture and put it back into the context of Hebrew

chapter six and Hebrews chapter five that you will see that he is talking about ministry,

and not our salvation, but our work for Jesus Christ in evangelism in this life.

Our third job in this process is to show the Armenian, or conditional security,

position. Mr. Jessop in his book gives a good overview of this position. He states, “…the

Armenian interpretation is far from the thought of being ‘Saved today and lost tomorrow’

as some of our Calvinistic friends so sneeringly charge. We cannot conceive of any soul

consciously born again and sanctified wholly being so fickle as that. The soul most fully

aware of the awful possibility of backsliding is the one who is least likely to do it. None

but a fool positive would want to walk deliberately out of light into darkness, out of the

glorious liberty of the sons of God into the awful bondage of sin; there are, however,

those who have done it, therefore we need to take heed. There is no place this side heaven

from which a saved soul may not fall, and if remaining unrepentant that soul will be

finally lost” (Jessop 36).

Some people of this persuasion believe that God will never override humanities

free will. An example they will use is Romans 8:38, which states, “For I am convinced

that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
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nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to

separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” They say none of these

things can separate us from God, but one thing that is not listed in this list is the one who

has received salvation. They believe that we as humans can walk away from Christ if we

choose to do so. Another verse they will use is John 6:66 which states, “From this time

many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Mr. Anderson outlines

three points: “(1) They had ‘walked with Jesus’ for some time. Walking in the scriptures

implies fellowship. ‘Enoch walked with God’ ‘Can two walk together except they be

agreed?’ ‘We walk by faith.’ (2) At a certain time they ceased to walk with Him. They

broke fellowship. (3) They never returned, ‘they walked no more with him.’ It cannot be

proven that none of these was converted, but it is plainly stated that they forsook Christ

and never returned” (Anderson 55). One of the main scriptures used for this point of view

is John 15:2-6, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch

that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean

because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No

branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit

unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me

and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does

not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are

picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” The last scripture I will cover is Romans

11:21-22 which states, “For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare

you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who

fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also
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will be cut off.” These are just a few of the scripture if I were to give all scriptures this

paper would end up being much longer than it need to be to prove their point. Just like

the Calvinists the Armenians say that the Calvinists take the scriptures that they use and

ignore the plain meaning of scripture as well as use them out of context.

In conclusion, this paper was not designed to be a thorough understanding of the

eternal security debate; rather it is to give a brief look at each point of view. From my

personal study of scripture I must say that I tend to lean toward the Calvinists point of

view. I must say that historically and in contemporary society each side has its own

followings because they both have good points. So the question must be asked, “will

there ever be a solution to this debate?” I must say that there will be no solution to this

debate. The only way to solve this debate is to get to heaven and ask God Himself. My

hope is that those who read this paper will see the content and it will spur that person on

to do their own study, and to go much deeper than what is presented.

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Works Cited
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology: Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Book House Company, 1998.

Graham, Billy. How To Be Born Again. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher,
1977.

NIV Study Bible: Complete Library for Macintosh. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House, 2001.

Rhodes, Ron. The Complete Book of Bible Answers. Eugene, OR: Harvest
House Publishers, 1997.

Salvation. 4/10/2004. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English

Language, Fourth Edition.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=salvation>.

Table 1 Subject Category: Salvation. July 14, 2002

<http://www.leaderu.com/wri-table1/salvation.html>.

Williams, J. Rodman. Renewal Theology Volume II. Grand Rapids, Michigan

49530: Zondevan, 1996.