How to Lose Your Salvation - Part 3

Continued from Part 2

XII. COMMIT SINS WORSE THAN INCEST AND BLASPHEMY

If salvation is to be lost, then it must be lost through disobedience to God. Most who teach an unsure salvation would agree with this. Yet, what degree of sin brings this loss of salvation? Evil thoughts? Bitterness? Murder? Failing to attend church? Failure to pray? What sin or sins cross the line of no return? Again, we must let Scripture be the measure of truth.

In Corinthians, chapter five, a man in the church had taken his father’s wife as his own. Paul states that this is “such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles” (1Corinthians 5:1). One could hardly imagine a worse category of sin than this. Yet Paul’s instructions concerning the treatment of this man in I Corinthians 5:5 are as follows:

            To deliver such an one unto Satan

            for the destruction of the flesh,

            that the spirit may be saved in the

            day of the Lord Jesus.

Only his flesh was to be delivered to Satan. The spirit was still saved. This matches the description in I Corinthians 3:15 of the man whose works will be burned:

            If any man’s work shall be burned,

            he shall suffer loss: but he himself

            shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

You can lose every reward you could have had and yet go to heaven. Why? Because your salvation is based on the work of Christ, not on your own works. Your works, good or bad, neither gain nor lose salvation.

Another heinous sin is blasphemy. Surely if evil sins could remove salvation, this one could. Yet, in I Timothy 1:20, Paul states:

            Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander;

            whom I have delivered unto Satan, that

            They may learn not to blaspheme.

The pattern is the same as that found in I Corinthians, chapter five. Their flesh is delivered to Satan so that their spirits may be saved in the day of Christ.

You cannot lose your salvation by committing these or other terrible sins. You will be judged. You will lose heavenly rewards. But a human spirit once quickened by God must remain quickened. So, in order to lose your salvation, you must commit sins greater than these.

XIII. TAKE THE SPIRIT WITH YOU TO HELL

Although this may at first seem odd, in order to lose your salvation and go to hell, you must take the Holy Spirit with you. Let me explain. Ephesians 1:13-14 states:

            In whom ye also trusted, after

            that ye heard the word of truth,

            the gospel of your salvation:

            in whom also after that ye believed,

            ye were sealed with that holy Spirit

            of promise, Which is the earnest of our

            inheritance until the redemption of the

            purchased possession, unto the praise

            of his glory.

According to the strict order of the passage, you hear first, then you trust (or believe), and lastly, you are sealed with the holy Spirit. The sealing of the Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation because “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9). Therefore, to have Christ in your heart is to have the Spirit. And when you are sealed with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit becomes your earnest: the earnest of your inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

What is an earnest? In buying real estate, you give earnest money to show that you are earnest or serious about buying a house. If you decide to back out of the purchase, the seller still gets to keep the earnest money. In other words, an earnest is a payment which cannot be taken back.

The Holy Spirit is the earnest of your inheritance. He is the guarantee that you will receive the rest of the purchased possession. And the Spirit, as your earnest, cannot be taken back, even if you were to become lost. Therefore, in order to lose your salvation, you must take God’s Spirit with you to hell.

XIV. TAKE THE SON WITH YOU TO HELL

The last of the steps toward the loss of salvation does not get any easier. This step is based on your relationship to Christ at the time of salvation. Romans 8:16-17 states:

            The Spirit itself beareth witness

            with our spirit, that we are the

            children of God: And if children,

            then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-

            heirs with Christ; if so be that we

            suffer with him, that we may be also

            glorified together.

At salvation, you become a joint-heir with Christ. To be a joint-heir means to inherit together; to share in the same inheritance with which the Father will bless the Son. This is a promise of God.

Yet, what if you lose your salvation and go to hell. As joint-heir, not only do you share in Christ’s inheritance, but He must also share in your inheritance. The only way for you to inherit hell and its horror is to take the Son of God with you to that awful place. That completes the fourteen steps toward loss of salvation.  

CONCLUSION

You have read through fourteen steps which would be necessary if you were to lose your salvation. Obviously, to attempt these steps would be utterly foolish. God’s wondrous gift of salvation is eternal in every way. But, if you are still not convinced, check your reasons. Are they emotional?  “It just doesn’t seem right.” Or rational? “It doesn’t make sense.” If so, then you need to surrender your emotions and thought to the truth of God’s word.

Perhaps you have been shown two or three proof texts which seem to teach possible loss of salvation. This is not the place to discuss individual proof texts, but rest assured that there is an answer to them. Check with the person who gave you this booklet. Very likely they or someone they know can give you an answer. Even so, scriptural doctrine must be taken as a whole, not as scattered proof texts. One or two scriptures we do not understand must not be used to deny one or two hundred passages which are very clear.

Maybe you have trouble accepting eternal security because you have watched the sinful lives of those who claim to have once been saved. They cuss and drink or “live like the devil” and yet expect to go to heaven. But rest assured, God’s salvation is not to be taken lightly.  There are many who may have once had “religion” but they did not have Christ (1John 2:19). They never were saved. There are others who were truly saved and have backslidden. Yet, God teaches that He deals strongly with His own children (Hebrews 12:5-8). They cannot leave God without chastisement unless they are not God’s children. They key is to allow God to settle these problems. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

But what about you? Eternal security means nothing to the person who has never been secure in the first place. The way of salvation is both plain and simple. You must first realize that you are a sinner. Sin is displeasing God: doing the wrong you ought not and failing to do what you should.

Romans 3:23 states:

            For all have sinned, and come

            short of the glory of God;

All men are sinners and therefore, you are a sinner. And this sin leads to death and hell.

Read Romans 6:23:

            For the wages of sin is death;

            but the gift of God is eternal

            life through Jesus Christ our

            Lord.

But notice that all men do not have to pay the wages of sin in eternal death. Some receive God’s gift of eternal life. To do that, you must repent, or turn away from your sins, and confess them to Jesus Christ. In Acts 20:21 we read:

            Testifying both to the Jews,

            and also to the Greeks, repentance

            toward God, and faith toward our

            Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, and that he was buried, and arose from the dead the third day. Notice the words of Romans 10:9-10:

            That if thou shalt confess with

            thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and

            shalt believe in thine heart that

            God hath raised him from the

            dead, thou shalt be saved. For

            with the heart man believeth unto

            righteousness; and with the mouth

            confession is made unto salvation.

But this belief cannot simply be a head belief. No, you must now accept Jesus Christ personally as your Lord and Saviour and ask Him to come into your heart.

Romans 10:13 states:

            For whosoever shall call upon the

            name of the Lord shall be saved.

If you have never been saved, call on the name of the Lord right now. Confess to Him that you are a sinner. Trust in the death of Christ on the cross as the basis of your salvation. Ask Jesus Christ to save you and to come into your heart.

As a saved person, you should now glorify and praise God for His eternal gift to you. Lose your salvation? Not on your life, and not on the life of Jesus Christ!

[Check out Discipleship Lesson on Eternal Security.]

FOREVER

Eternally safe;

Forever secure;

I’m washed in His blood:

Of this I am sure.

The gospel so precious

Is found in His Word:

I’ve trusted in Jesus;

He’s ever my Lord.

So often I wander,

And sometimes I fail;

But Christ will not shun me,

Or send me to hell.

His grace is sufficient;

His faith is complete;

His righteousness on me

Is Satan’s defeat.

My sins--they are pardoned;

My soul’s in His hand;

The seal of the Spirit

Will all things withstand.

I’ve life everlasting;

Reborn from above;

I’m also adopted;

Immersed in Christ’s love.

My spirit already

Translated on high:

No sin God’s forgiven

Will heaven deny.

I have my down payment:

The Spirit of God.

Joint-heir with the Saviour;

Soon heaven I’ll trod.

Eternally grateful;

Forever I’ll praise,

The One who died for me,

My poor soul to save!

By David F. Reagan

Part 3 of 3. Click to go back to Part 1 or to Part 2.