There are some who believe that once a person obeys the Lord and becomes a child of God that he can never lose his salvation, even if he resorts to murder, adultery, or any other sins. This teaching is sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved." That may be a comforting doctrine, but it is a false comfort, for there is no teaching in Scripture that supports it.
Let's look at a few passages that refute this false teaching. In writing to Christians in Colosse, the apostle Paul said, And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister (Colossians 1:21-23 NKJV). From this passage, we see that one is made holy and blameless having been reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Christ and through our obedient response to the conditions of reconciliation, i.e. belief (John 8:24), repentance (Acts 17:30), confession (Romans 10:9,10), and baptism (Acts 2:38). Thus having been made holy, we have the responsibility to continue in the faith, which is the teaching of the New Testament, which Jude said, was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). If someone chooses to ignore, transgress, or not obey this teaching after becoming a child of God, then he has denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8).
Not only must you continue in the teaching of the New Testament, you must also guard against being "moved away from the hope of the gospel." Why would Paul make such a statement if it was impossible to be moved away from it? There are numerous examples of people who moved away from the hope of the gospel. There were some in the Galatian church that wanted to require circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses for one to be saved in addition to the gospel. They were bluntly told by the apostle, You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). What about a man named Demas? He was a "fellow laborer" in the gospel with Paul (Philemon 24). But when Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:9,10). Demas chose the world over Christ. Jesus said, He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day (John 12:48). There are a number of other examples like these in the Bible.
The truth is that we must be faithful to the Lord and his commands for the rest of our lives (Matthew 10:22; Revelation 2:10). If a man is unfaithful to his wife, she can divorce him (Matthew 19:9), and that relationship is severed. It is the same in our relationship with God. Look at what Paul said near the end of his life of his own personal walk with the Lord: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). You must fight and keep fighting. You must finish if you want to be victorious. You must keep (hold and adhere to) the faith. Yes a child of God can fall away so as to be lost. But the good news is he or she can come back in repentance and receive forgiveness (Acts 8:22), but he must do so before it is too late (Matthew 25:13; Hebrews 3:12,13; James 4:14).
Brotherly, Jamie
