Can a Christian lose salvation?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Encouragement

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2020
1,488
1,298
113
So, you believe The Bible teaches a "yo-yo" (not very encouraging) salvation: saved - lost - saved again, etc.?

All The Scripture (Very Encouraging!) Passages Harmonized, Teach God's:

"One-Time Grace Through faith Salvation":​

God's OPERATION On all HIS New-born babes In Christ
+
God's Eternal Assurance
----------------------------------
Precious friend:

Grace, Peace, And JOY In Christ, And In His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided
(+ I and II)!
No I never said anything of the kind a about believing the bible treaches- "saved..lost..saved again"In the spiritual condition I was in I was definitely in danger spiritually because I was far from God.Life is not something to be taken lightly either..Now Gods prospective my life was obviously different from mine..In his mind I hadn't lost my salvation..but if I carried on living like I was and was stiff necked ect..then the risk if obviously there. That's why I believe God on his mercy intervened and this was the turning point in my life.All I was stating was just my personal experience of something that happened to me and nothing more given the context of this thread
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
5,219
2,618
113
London
christianchat.com
Yes.

1 Cor. 15
1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Hebrews 3
12See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
but our first conviction after we were saved was "I'm saved. I'm saved, hallelujah" if you start doubting that you were saved you are not holding on to your first conviction. .... nobody who is truly saved doubts it.
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
5,219
2,618
113
London
christianchat.com
Yes there was a time when I totally turned to a life of sin... and stopped going to church too..this all happened many years ago and my life was far from God.I was still aware of God and still prayed yet my lifestyle was totally sinful..ie..living like the would does..and I wasn't bothered enough to stop that life style.One night driving home with drugs in my car I should of collided with another car in front but "miraculously" didn't.I knew this was a warning from God to repent and leave that sinful life style...?or else I would perish.
I knew that if I died In that moment i wouldn't go to heaven for sure.Praise God my family were praying for me for months and i came back to God and changed my life around with his help...it was a process.
So from my experience yet it is possible to loose your salvation in that sense.However its extremely hard to loose it if you have a genuine desire for God yet are struggling with certain sins in ones life.However sometimes certain areas of your life that haven't been dealt with can actual shipwreck ones life...
Ultimately it's only God who can make a true assessment of a person's life before him.Remember in the book of revelation jesus spoke to the 7 churches and how they were perceived by others and how they saw themselves wasn't the same as how jesus saw them.
Life is a battle but God's willing to help us overcome the things that make us stumble heavily.I guess some people we see their lives turn the other way from the lord..yet we never always see how their life ends...for some I am sure at some point there's a repentance before they die.For some maybe not.
you are proof ... you can't lose your salvation.
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
5,219
2,618
113
London
christianchat.com
I’m not so sure about that. Seems all of the writers is the New Testament expected salvation to come in the age to come or, as Peter said, in the last time. Peter called it a “living hope” and said the inheritance is kept in heaven. An inheritance is not received immediately, but rather once a condition is met. The inheritance is in heaven, but we’re on earth.

1 Peter 1
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Our inheritance is kept in Heaven for us it 100% secure, Salvation ready to be REVEALED in the last time. We have our salvation but it is not manifest.
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
but our first conviction after we were saved was "I'm saved. I'm saved, hallelujah" if you start doubting that you were saved you are not holding on to your first conviction. .... nobody who is truly saved doubts it.
Exactly. It's a loss of faith. People may say "you lost the conviction so you were never saved to begin with." Then I say, be sure you were not one of those who were never saved to begin with. Either way, the end is the same for those who hypothetically were never saved and those who hypothetically loss their faith and salvation.

Hold firmly to that first conviction with fear and trembling.
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
Our inheritance is kept in Heaven for us it 100% secure, Salvation ready to be REVEALED in the last time. We have our salvation but it is not manifest.
I can agree with that. My point was that we don't technically have the gift of eternal life right now. There are things we must do in the meantime to make sure we get there and get that gift.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,102
6,580
113
62
I can agree with that. My point was that we don't technically have the gift of eternal life right now. There are things we must do in the meantime to make sure we get there and get that gift.
How do you understand John 17:3?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,022
29,389
113
How do you understand John 17:3?
Also 1 John 5:13 ~ I have written these things to you, the ones believing in
the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.


Knowing we have eternal life = knowing we are saved :)


1 John 5:11-13 + John 6:47
:)
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,102
6,580
113
62
Also 1 John 5:13 ~ I have written these things to you, the ones believing in
the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.


Knowing we have eternal life = knowing we are saved :)


1 John 5:11-13 + John 6:47
:)
Awesome verse. That's where I want to end up but need to establish what eternal life is first. You are a kangaroo and can jump far at once. I'm just a bunny rabbit and can't jump so far.
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
How do you understand John 17:3?
With John 17:3, I would want to know how to know God and be confident I really do know God, otherwise, there wouldn't be eternal life. So I would start looking through the New Testament about how to know God:

1 John 4
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,102
6,580
113
62
With John 17:3, I would want to know how to know God and be confident I really do know God, otherwise, there wouldn't be eternal life. So I would start looking through the New Testament about how to know God:

1 John 4
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
So eternal life is knowing God and Jesus. Can we do that in the here and now?
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
So eternal life is knowing God and Jesus. Can we do that in the here and now?
Yes, but I don't think John 17:3 is clear, I'm certainly not hanging my hat on that single verse. God is looking for people who are like Jesus. God thought of Jesus all of the time because Jesus was such a righteous, peaceful, and holy man. Jesus was so much more than a man, but the Son of God.

I get what you're saying, but I still don't think we instantly get eternal life right now just because we love God or there wouldn't be any need for a judgement day. I don't believe Jesus had a judgement day, but we certainly will because faults are going to be found, possibly many.

1 John 4
17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,022
29,389
113
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
Romans 8
4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

12Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,102
6,580
113
62
Yes, but I don't think John 17:3 is clear, I'm certainly not hanging my hat on that single verse. God is looking for people who are like Jesus. God thought of Jesus all of the time because Jesus was such a righteous, peaceful, and holy man. Jesus was so much more than a man, but the Son of God.

I get what you're saying, but I still don't think we instantly get eternal life right now just because we love God or there wouldn't be any need for a judgement day. I don't believe Jesus had a judgement day, but we certainly will because faults are going to be found, possibly many.

1 John 4
17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
Just so I understand...eternal life is knowing God. It can be known this side of death. Both of which I agree with. But can only be known as we are like Christ?

I'm pausing here because I want to make sure I don't misunderstand what you are saying.
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
Just so I understand...eternal life is knowing God. It can be known this side of death. Both of which I agree with. But can only be known as we are like Christ?

I'm pausing here because I want to make sure I don't misunderstand what you are saying.
That isn't a simple question to me because a lot more is said about eternal life than what John 17:3 says.

We're going to have to love everyone including our enemies. I don't think John 17:3 means getting eternal life right now immediately because we're talking about a lifetime of tests and trials where our love for others is going to be tested.

There are people whose love will grow cold. What happens to them?

Matthew 24
12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

There are other verses that say eternal life is given in the age to come. I posted many of them in previous posts.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,022
29,389
113
Awesome verse. That's where I want to end up but need to establish what eternal life is first.
You are a kangaroo and can jump far at once. I'm just a bunny rabbit and can't jump so far.
Ooohhhhhhh.......

 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,102
6,580
113
62
That isn't a simple question to me because a lot more is said about eternal life than what John 17:3 says.

We're going to have to love everyone including our enemies. I don't think John 17:3 means getting eternal life right now immediately because we're talking about a lifetime of tests and trials where our love for others is going to be tested.

There are people whose love will grow cold. What happens to them?

Matthew 24
12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

There are other verses that say eternal life is given in the age to come. I posted many of them in previous posts.
Ok. I'm not trying to trick you. I'll work with what you say.
So, are the ones who are like Christ from 1 John 4:17 the same as those in the Matt 24 verses you cited who endure to the end?
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,153
2,171
113
Nooooo! Don't be a salvation loser!