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Once you are saved by the blood of Jesus, are you then saved for the rest of your life? This concept is rarely debated as often as that of “faith versus works.” However, the two have much in common. One way to look at these concepts is to understand that salvation occurs at one point in your life and then you have to live the rest of your life.
God’s grace saves us by our faith and not by our works. When we choose to repent of our former lifestyle and pledge to change, we strive to live the rest of our lives as a follower of Christ. The Holy Spirit given to us at the time of our rebirth encourages us to do good works and follow God’s laws. The debate begins when we backslide into old habits and continue to sin. We can’t help it because our physical body is weak. We need help to overcome Satan’s temptations. Jesus is the only human that did not sin before or after the Holy Spirit entered Him (at his baptism).
The Bible is clear that your salvation can not be taken away but you can choose to reject eternal life with God. We learn in Ephesians 1: 13-14: “In Him (Jesus) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Paul is telling the Ephesians that after you heard the truth; you put your trust in Jesus and were sealed (branded) by the Holy Spirit within you as belonging to God Almighty. The Holy Spirit only abides in those who are heaven bound.
The Apostle John describes these new converts in John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
John points out that once you have the Holy Spirit in you, no one can take it from you – not even Satan or his followers. So in this sense, once you are saved and have the Holy Spirit, you are on your way to Heaven and no one can stop you.
However, one person does have the power to prevent this from happening – you! But wait – Romans 10:13 states: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So doesn’t this protect us from backsliding?
1 John 2 tells us in verses 4-5: “He who says, “I know Him” (saved), and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (not saved). But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (saved).
So if we have truly repented and turned our life away from sinful ways, we will strive to keep God’s commandments. Often we fall short and have to pray for forgiveness. And if our heart is contrite, our sins will continue to be forgiven.
But if we choose to return to sinful ways and ignore God and his commandments, we will find trouble. Matthew 10:22 says that Christ followers will be persecuted and that we have to endure to the end of our life to be saved. This is not to terrify the weak or discourage the fallen. This is in reference to a person choosing to turn from Christ and intentionally not follow his commands any more.
In Hebrews 10:26, we learn: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left (Jesus can only die once), but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” So if we choose to sin deliberately, we can expect God to punish us after the final judgment. Romans 8:13 states “For 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.”
In ancient Egypt, God saved his people from the angel of death by the blood on their doorposts, freed them from their earthly taskmasters, and saved them from physical death by parting the Red Sea. The people choose to follow God (saved) and to live according to his laws. However, they worshiped the golden calf and over time many rebelled. Then God told Moses, “They shall never enter my rest” (Psalm 95:11 & Hebrews 4:3). Some were consumed by the fire of God, others were swallowed up by the earth, and almost all perished before entering the Promised Land (not saved).
The Bible cites several examples of those that are once saved but then lose their reward:
Isiah 14: Lucifer was God’s Guardian Angel that challenged God and was banished from heaven and will be punished forever.
Numbers 25: God’ people were tempted by Balak’s beautiful women. They were seduced and bowed down to idols. All 24,000 involved were slain by God.
Ezekiel 33:13-15: “If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live (saved), but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die (not saved) for the evil they have done. And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die’ (not saved), but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right… that person will surely live (be saved); they will not die.”
Matthew 13: 20-22: “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy (is saved); yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles (is not saved). Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word (saved), and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (no longer saved).
Matthew 25: 10 virgins (saved followers) – 5 got into the wedding banquet but 5 who let their lamps go out (Holy Spirit left) were told by the bridegroom (Jesus) at the wedding banquet, “Go away, I don’t know you” (not saved).
Luke 13: People will say they ate and drank with you (saved) but Jesus will say “I don’t know you” (not saved).
Luke 19: Nobleman (Jesus) leaves country and gives money to invest to each of his 10 servants: 2 multiply their money, 1 hides it, and 7 spend it. The 7 that hated their master (Jesus) are killed. The 2 that multiplied their money are put in charge of several cities (in heaven), and the 1 who did nothing with it (produced no fruit) was banished to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (not saved).
2 Thessalonians 3:6: “But we command you, brother, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every (saved) brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.”
Revelation 2: The Nicolaitans were false teachers who claim to represent Christ and His truth (saved) while saying you don’t need to follow God’s laws after you receive His grace. Some people in the early church tolerated their actions to preserve the peace in the church. In verse 15 Jesus says He hates the doctrine of the Nicolatians. 2 Peter 2 calls them: “wells without water, clouds carried by a storm, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (not saved).
Revelation 3: Our name can be blotted out from the Book of Life (destined for heaven but we choose not to go).
The unpardonable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31 states: “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” This sin is not a backsliding but one of totally rejecting God and His Spirit and expelling the Spirit from your heart. The Pharisees who were for God but against Christ committed this unpardonable sin against the Spirit.
God desires that everyone be saved and live with Him for eternity. We have free will and free choice. We can choose to follow Jesus and be saved. No one can take our salvation away. We can also choose to return to the evils of this world and reject Christ. When we choose to deny him and follow the ways of Satan, Jesus will deny us before His Father. Thus, we choose not to be saved. Because we were once saved does not mean we will always remain saved. It’s up to us and us alone to make the right choice.
Other references:
Isaiah 14:12-15, Matthew 10:22, Luke 8: 12-13, Luke 10:25-28, Luke 12:45-46, John 14: 16-18, Romans 2:13, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:37-39, Romans 10:9-13, Hebrews 3:14, Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:26, 38, Ephesians 4:30, 2 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:17-18, 2 Peter 2:21-22, 1 John 2:24, 1 John 3-6; 24-29, Jude 22-23, Revelation 2:5, 10, Revelation 3:5
“If God were to take one unrepentant sinner to heaven with Him, sin would rise up again.” — http://www.preparingforeternity.com/oncesave.htm