Below is a common view of a christians viewpoint of salvation.
See if you christians here agree, and answer how you feel about whether salvation can be lost.
Section 7: Salvation
We believe that all those who have truly placed their faith in Christ are eternally secure in their salvation, kept by God’s power, secure and sealed in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38-39; Eph 1:13-14; 1Pet 1:5; Jude 24).
Question: "Is eternal security a "license" to sin?" A nswer: The most frequent objection to the doctrine of eternal security is that it supposedly promotes the idea that Christians can live anyway that they want to - and still be saved. While this is "technically" true, that is not the "essence" of eternal security. A person who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as his or her Savior "can" live a sinful life - but he or she "will" not do so. We must draw a distinction between how a Christian should live - and what a person must do in order to receive salvation. The moment a person truly believes in Jesus Christ, they are saved and secure in that salvation To claim that we must obey God's Word or live a godly life to maintain our salvation is equal to saying that Jesus' death was not sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus' death was absolutely sufficient to pay for all of our sins - past, present, and future, pre-salvation and post-salvation (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21). How could anyone, knowing the price Jesus Christ paid for us, go on to live a life of sin (Romans 6:15-23)? How could anyone who understands God's unconditional and guaranteed love for those who believe, take that love and throw it back in God's face? Such a person is demonstrating not that eternal security has given them a license to sin, but rather that he or she has not truly experienced salvation through Jesus Christ. "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him" (1 John 3:6). I would have serious doubts about a person who claims to be a believer yet lives a life that says otherwise. Christians are forgiven no matter how many times they sin, but at the same time Christians should live a progressively more holy life as they grow closer to Christ. There is nothing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is justified, his salvation is guaranteed - he is as secure as if he is already glorified in heaven. Salvation lost? 1 John 5:16 is one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament. Of all the interpretations out there, I have not found one that seems to answer all the questions concerning this verse. This best interpretation I have found is comparing this verse to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10 (see also 1 Corinthians 11:30). The “sin unto death” is deliberate, willful, continuous, unrepentant sin. God, in His grace, allows His children to sin without immediately punishing them. However, there comes a point when God will no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin. When this point is reached, God sometimes decides to punish a Christian, even to the point of taking his or her life. ( I thought this comment was amusing) Is a person who lives a life of continual sin a believer? No. When a person becomes a Christian, their life will change. Any person who is living a sinful lifestyle and claims to be a Christian – that person is either lying, is self-deceived, or really is a believer who is going to experience God’s judgment and discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11).
- 1 John 5:16
- If you see a Christian brother or sister F15 sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am
- There is a sin unto death;
which is not only deserving of death, as every other sin is, but which certainly and inevitably issues in death in all that commit it, without exception; and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is neither forgiven in this world nor in that to come, and therefore must be unto death; it is a sinning wilfully, not in a practical, but doctrinal way, after a man has received the knowledge of the truth; it is a wilful denial of the truth of the Gospel, particularly that peace, pardon, righteousness, eternal life, and salvation, are by Jesus Christ, contrary to the light of his mind, and this joined with malice and obstinacy; so that there is no more or other sacrifice for such a sin; there is nothing but a fearful looking for of wrath and fury to fall on such opposers of the way of life; and as the presumptuous sinners under Moses's law died without mercy, so must these despiteful ones under the Gospel; see (Matthew 12:31,32) (Hebrews 10:26-29) not saying you should pray for those who commit it. - Whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not, 5:18.
The new nature, the spiritual being born of the new birth, is not disposed to sin, and will be destroyed if the sin is wilful and continued. One born of God cannot engage in willful sin. Nor can he who abides in Christ. He who becomes a wilful sinner does not abide in Christ, nor remain a child of God. - So, can you lose your salvation?
- Gumby