Is it possible for a Christian to lose salvation?

The distinction between our Christian faith and other world religions is seen in the area of salvation. None of the major world religions give an assurance of salvation. Instead it is seen as something that will be decided in the end on the Day of Judgment based on our performance in this life. In sheer contrast the Bible gives every Christian believer the assurance of salvation from the day we put our faith in Christ. While the full effect of salvation will be realized in the future, the assurance we have is that we will all have a share of it.

Even some genuine believers have misunderstood the biblical teaching on whether a true Christian can lose their salvation. The end result is a life of needless insecurity which arises out of our lack of willingness to believe in the keeping power of God.

Salvation is given to us at the time we put our faith in Christ and it cannot be lost. We call this doctrine in theology as Perseverance of saints. Once we are justified by God of our sins we can be sure that God will not go back on His promise. Jesus dispelled all doubts on whether we can lose our salvation in John 6:37-40 and John 10:27-30. In the former passage the Greek uses a double negative – “and him who comes to me I will never, never cast out”. Once we have been received by Him the promise is that we will never be cast out. Will the Lord not be true to His promise? In the second passage again Jesus so affirmatively says in John 10:28,29 that no one can snatch them out of His hands or His Father’s hands. What an awesome promise! We don’t have to worry every time whether the Lord who has so graciously given us His salvation is going to strip it from us. Rather we can be secure in the hands of our Lord knowing that He is able to keep us safe. All our anxieties will be stripped away when we receive the blessed assurance that we are safe in His keeping power.

Apostle Paul also confirms that our salvation is secure in the majestic passage in Romans 8:33-39. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. No one will be able to change the relationship we share with God as our Father. It doesn’t mean we have a license to sin as often people misconstrue. It gives us all the more responsibility to live as God’s children and express our gratitude to the One who not just saved us but promises to keep us to the end until the work He begun in us is completed (Philippians 1:6)

If I have to persevere in salvation by my own efforts then I lost it. But thank God we persevere not because of our effort but because of His promise to keep us safe!