First of all I wanted to say that I
am glad you’ve taken the time to think through this issue. Many that I’ve
discussed with about the issue of whether or not you can lose your salvation,
on either side, haven’t put much thought into why they believe what they believe.
I am grateful to again be forced to think through it so that I can defend my
position as well. Truly iron sharpens iron. My purpose in this letter then, is
not to force you to change your mind, but rather to present my position and
allow you to make up your mind whether you think it valid or not. I will
attempt, then, to lay out the arguments for being sure of salvation in the
first part and then go on to address points you’ve brought up from John 15 and
the other passages you referenced.
So, can salvation be lost or not? A basic reading of the New
Testament, I will argue, would lead one to believe that salvation cannot be
lost. There are numerous passages dealing with the finality of the work of
Christ in regards to salvation. Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The passage elaborates that
the Law cannot save us and that the mind set on the flesh is death. If we have
the Spirit, which occurs at the moment of salvation (1 Corinthians 12:13), we are
then alive to God. These verses at the beginning of Romans 8 come right after
Romans 7 where Paul argues that he keeps sinning even though he wishes to do
good. Romans 7:21 “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the
one who wants to do good.” The one saved is not automatically made holy. We
still have the flesh that entangles us and entices us to sin (v24). But Paul
can say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v25). So we find,
right after this passage where Paul confesses his imperfections; that believers
still walk according to the Spirit. Paul ends his argument to the Romans with
vs 31 – 38 “What then shall we say
to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did
not spare His own Son, but delivered
Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a
charge against God’s
elect? God
is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died,
yes, rather who was raised,
who is at
the right hand of God, who also intercedes
for us. Who will separate us
from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation,
or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
‘For Your sake we are being put to death
all day long; We were considered as sheep to
be slaughtered.’ But in all these
things we overwhelmingly conquer
through Him
who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” We see here that Christ would be the one to
condemn but rather that He died for us, was raised for us and now sits at the
right hand of God interceding for us. If we were made perfect and ceased to sin
while saved, we would not need His intercession. Believers do sin though, and
so we need His help. Every time a believer sins, God must punish it, but Jesus
says, “My blood covered that.” The closing then says nothing at all, in all of
creation, can separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus. That means no
one and nothing. If you are part of creation, which all men are, then you
cannot separate yourself from the love of God.
Sticking with Paul for a bit
longer, I now will start in Ephesians. Verse 4 states that we were chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world. 5 goes on to say that we have been (note
the past tense) predestined to be adopted into God’s family and made heirs
thereof as well. Then verses 13 and 14, “In Him, you also, after listening to
the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you
were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of
our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the
praise of His glory.” In other words, when you receive the Holy Spirit at the
moment of salvation, you can know that you are sealed. Just as a point of
interest, the Greek word there for ‘sealed’ is ‘sphragizo’ which is to attest
ownership or to validate. The Holy Spirit is given to us to validate our
salvation and He also says we belong to God. In the second chapter of Ephesians
then goes on to remind the believer of their former state, to wit, “And you
were dead in your trespasses and sins,” (v1). However, verses 4 - 7 tells us, “But
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised (note the past tense again.
God being outside of time views all of this as having already happened) us up
with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so
that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Here we find, and I think we both agree,
that salvation is by grace alone. There is nothing man can do to gain his
salvation. Dead men can’t get up and walk. Dead men just lie there. God made us
alive in Christ (Galatians 2:20). Not only that, but we see here the reasons
God saved us. His great mercy and love
and so He can show His grace in the ages to come. Part of the purpose of our
salvation is so that grace might be known in the ages to come. Paul then goes
on to again remind us of our status as Gentiles separated from God, but now
brought near, by Christ (v13). So we find that we are no longer strangers but
are citizens of heaven and of God’s household (v19).
The preceding passages are just a
couple from Paul’s epistles dealing with the assurance of salvation, but, lest
this get too long, I’ll now go to the gospel of John. Jesus says, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has
eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to
life,” (5:24). Here again we have the imagery of death and life. Dead men are
incapable of any action. God makes us alive when we accept salvation. Life and
salvation are again equated in John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they
will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Once saved, we
are placed into the hand of Jesus and it says no one, that is NO ONE, not me or
you or a pastor or a friend, will be able to snatch us out. Verse 29 even takes
it a step further “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” So not only are we
in Jesus’s hand we’re also in the Father’s hand. Nowhere here is there language
that would suggest that we could voluntarily remove ourselves. I’ll treat with
John 15 further down, but for now I’m going to skip to John 20. John here ends
his gospel in verses 30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in
the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these
have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” The purpose of the book
of John is so that a person can learn that Jesus was who He said He was and
believe in Him. That belief then translates to life.
Moving on to John’s first
epistle, we see in the first chapter that believers will still sin, but that He
is faithful to cleanse us from our sins. 1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am
writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” We get instructions from
the Word on how to avoid temptation, “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation
for our sins;” (into v2). We will undoubtedly still sin. As we mentioned above
the flesh is still here and still trips us up on occasion. But Jesus is our
advocate. He’s our lawyer in the courtroom of God. He took the punishment for
all our sins, past, present and future. Verses 3 – 11 tell of the dichotomy
between those who say they are in the light and those who actually are in the
light. I think a lot of the confusion over whether one can be sure of their
salvation or not comes from not recognizing that Scripture often is talking of
these “professors,” those that say the name of Jesus and look outwardly like
they are following Him, but have no real relationship with Him. Realizing that
people like this exist can open our eyes to a greater understanding of many
passages regarding those falling away. 1
John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they
had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it
would be shown that they all are not of us.” We then see at the end of chapter
2 “Now little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have
confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming,” (v28). Here
abiding in Him gives us confidence at His appearing. Those who haven’t abided
will shrink back in shame. We are constantly exhorted by Scripture to abide in
Christ and to follow His commands, but our salvation is by grace alone. Chapter
3 informs us that we are sons of God and that those who abide in Christ do not
sin (vs4-6). Again we are encouraged to “walk worthy of the calling with which
[we] have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). The end of chapter 3 tells us that “We
know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (v24).
The Spirit is again envisioned as assurance from God. John then ends his first
epistle with “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, so that you may know that
you have eternal life” (5:13 emphasis added). The knowledge and assurance is
there to have. We can “know what is the hope of His calling, what are the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the surpassing
greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19).
Now I will turn to your points
taken from John 15. We will both agree that only those who abide or remain in
Christ will bear fruit. However, I will take exception to you saying that one
category of branches has ceased to bear fruit. Rather the branches are
categorized as fruitless and dead. To say that those branches were once alive
in the vine is to take the metaphor beyond what we have given to us in
Scripture. You brought up Matthew 3:10 as a reference to those the Father has
cut off. However, context will show that John was talking to the Jews and more
specifically to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were basically claiming Abraham
as their means of salvation. He warns them not to be proud of their standing as
descendants of Abraham because Christ is coming to winnow out the chaff
(unbelievers) from the wheat (believers) and that the chaff will be burned up.
Christ knows the difference between the two. You then mentioned that fruitful
branches will receive painful pruning that will make them more fruitful. These
are the trials that God allows in our lives so that we might bear better fruit.
You asked that I see Romans 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and
enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the
outcome, eternal life.” We have evidence here that eternal life is the
inevitable outcome of being freed from sin. Our life is changed when we are
saved and we are granted the life of Christ.
In regards to verse 4, you made
the point that after someone believes it is their responsibility to continue in
Christ. However, taken to the logical conclusion, this would lead us to a works
based salvation that is not found in Scripture. Salvation comes by grace
through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). So if there is anything we can do to earn it,
you can no longer say it is the gift of God (Romans 6:23). Gifts cannot be
earned. You cannot say that once you are saved by grace, you must keep working
at it in order to be worthy of heaven. Grace says that you will never be good
enough, but that God accepts the work of Christ on your behalf and allows you
into His throne room (Hebrews 4:16). If you believe that salvation is by grace,
and a gift of God, then you cannot hold that there is anything we can do to
earn it or keep it. These thoughts are contradictory. Your commentary on verse
6 states that the man there is a believer. I don’t see any evidence from any of
the surrounding verses to support this theory. Context always determines
meaning in Scripture, and there is no context to support that the one referred
to in verse 6 believes in Christ. The parable of John 15 is, I believe, another
parable of the kingdom of God. As I mentioned above there are those who profess
the name of Christ and, from a worldly perspective could be said to be “in
Christ” but who are actually fruitless and dead. You drew the connection as well
when you references Matthew 13:41-42 which is one of the seven parables of the
kingdom found there in Matthew 13. The parables there detail how “Christendom”
is much larger than actually believers. There are wheat and tares in the field.
The birds of the air come and nest in the branches of the tree. The leaven goes
throughout the bread. The dragnets brought in both good and bad fish. These
provide us with examples of 1 John 2:19, that there will be those among us who
are not actually of us. Revelation 21:8 is again mentioning many ways that
people show their unbelief. I think Scripture is pretty clear as to the final
destination for unbelievers and several of the verses you references all refer
to that. As believers, though, we need not fear that because we have the Holy
Spirit who promises us heaven.
One final point I’d like to make
is found in Hebrews 6. If understood in the context that losing your salvation
is possible, this passage would be greatly distressing for any who fall away. “For
in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted
the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen
away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again
crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that
drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to
those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it
yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it
ends up being burned” (vs 4-8). If it is possible to lose salvation and that’s
what these verses are referring to, then these verses also state that there’s
no provision for a “re-salvation” experience. Once one has fallen away, “there
no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 10:26). The one fallen away can’t
come back. However, if taken in the context of an assured salvation, these
verses are about one who has been part of Christendom but has rejected the
sacrifice of Christ. This one has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and has
said that there is no way they will accept the gift of God. The person, having
been part of the kingdom of God, has tasted and seen the good that can come
from a real relationship with Christ, but has chosen to reject it and, in doing
so, has chosen to be useless and “burned up.”
In conclusion, a believer can be sure of their
salvation from Scripture. The Word of God given tells us that the Holy Spirit
is our seal. Our inheritance is sure. Our position in Christ is firm. We can
rest secure in the knowledge that Jesus has paid for our sins. The human
thought here would turn to sinning all the more, but there is no allowance in
Scripture for that. If you are Christ’s then sin should not be what you want to
do. We all stumble in many ways, and God is faithful to forgive, but Scripture
pronounces ‘me genoito’ (may it never be born or made/ may it never be) on the
thought of sinning so that grace might increase (Romans 6:1). I need not live
as if I can lose my salvation, because “… it is God who is at work in [me],
both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email or message me. And please pray for my student.
