The “once saved, always saved” topic has been a cause of many debates.  The following is not in reference to those who have never known the Lord but instead is about those who at one time committed their lives to Jesus.  Many believe that salvation cannot be lost once attained.  I don’t believe someone can say a prayer of salvation at one point and expect to receive eternal salvation if the life being lived has nothing to do with God.  I definitely feel there are biblical reasons salvation can be lost.

God compares our relationship with him like that of a marriage.  God hates divorce but allows it in certain situations.  For us to lose our salvation after we have become betrothed to Jesus, we would need a divorce.  In this article, I will show you that adultery is a reason for divorce and that God divorced Israel because she committed adultery with her idols.  I will cover additional reasons (according to God’s law) that a marriage contract can be severed and identify the one thing that would preclude God from taking a person back into a restored covenant relationship.

The Book of Life

Revelation 20:15, Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.  To enter heaven, your name needs to be written in the book of life.

Psalm 69:28, May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.  This says a name can be removed from the book of life.  For a name to be removed it means it must have been written in the book.  This verse evidences that salvation can be lost.  You can find similar statements in Revelation 3:5 Revelation 22:19.

Salvation is Like a Marriage

Salvation is like a marriage.  God uses the marriage analogy a lot for those that belong to Him.  Isaiah 62:5, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 

2 Corinthians 11:2, For, I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.  See also 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:28-32 Revelation 19:7-8

If this union was to be dissolved, he should follow his own laws of marriage and divorce as written in the bible.  I believe at the moment we are saved we become betrothed to Jesus. 

In the ancient Jewish wedding, when a man and woman become betrothed they enter into a legal marital contract, even though the wedding ceremony has not yet happened. 

Should a betrothed couple separate prior to the wedding, they would need a divorce. Joseph was betrothed to Mary when he found out she was pregnant.  This was prior to their wedding ceremony.  The bible says Joseph was a law abiding man and was already called her husband at this point.  So let’s see what a man who follows the law of God would do if he believed the one he was betrothed to had an affair.  Matthew 1:19, Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

God allows divorce in certain circumstances.  The church as Jesus’ bride is to remain faithful to her groom while we are waiting for our wedding day, which is the rapture of the church.  To break this union prior to our wedding we would need a divorce.  To know what would constitute a divorce let’s see what God says about it.  

Adultery

Hebrews 13:4, Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 

Matthew 5:32, But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery.  Matthew restates this again in verse 19:9.  Adultery is a reason for divorce.  This is why Joseph being a just man was thinking about divorcing Mary.

The church is in a committed relationship with Jesus just like Israel was in a committed relationship to God.

Jeremiah 3:14, God is speaking to Israel and says, I am married to you.

Jeremiah 3:20, ”But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:32, My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

It also says God has divorced Israel because of her adultery.  Jeremiah 3:8, She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce.  (See also Ezekiel 23)  God will divorce someone that is not faithful to him.

God was faithful to Israel but it was Israel that broke her covenant with God.  In this situation God is not obligated to stay with someone whose heart is not with him.

Jeremiah 5:10-11, “…for these people do not belong to the Lord.  The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me.”   When you are unfaithful you no longer belong to God. 

Verse 12, They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing!  No harm will come to us.”  Israel is in denial thinking God will stay in this relationship no matter how bad they have treated him.  Do not let the “once saved, always saved” doctrine cause you to think no harm will come to you.  If you have turned away from God and are now living a life without loving and serving him, apologize and go back home to him.

What is Spiritual Adultery?

The Church is expected to stay faithful to God and not commit adultery.  What is adultery for God?

Ezekiel 23:37, They committed adultery with their idols.  Having an idol would be considered adultery.  Here are some things the bible says an idol is. 

1 Chronicles 16:26, For all the gods of the people are idols.  Having another god that you serve and worship would be an idol.  You can make yourself a god by worshiping and serving yourself.  You can create a false God.  We see this today.  Some religions have distorted Jesus, and created their own version of God.  This is idolatry.  Jeremiah 16:20, Do people make their own gods?  Yes, but they are not gods!”

Psalm 135:15, The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

Silver and gold would be money.  Has your trust moved from God to money?  The work of your hands could be your job or anything you’re doing that pulls you away from him.

Colossians 3:5, Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Leviticus 20:6, “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.  When you are seeking someone else other than God and your trust moves from God to another, that is spiritual prostitution.  When you pray to saints or go to a psychic that is prostitution from God’s point of view because you are not seeking him for guidance.  See 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 1 Samuel chapter 28.

Adultery starts in the heart.  Matthew 15:19, For out of the heart come evil thoughts murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony slander. 

Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. 

Matthew 5:29, I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  Would you want to marry someone who is constantly desiring another or given their heart to them?  God has feelings and he is hurt when you choose someone or something else over him.

Ezekiel 6:9, How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols.

It’s your heart that God really wants.  Proverbs 23:36, My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.

Jesus is a gentleman.  He is not going to force himself on you.  Marriage is a choice two people make of their own free will.  If one party walks away, it cannot work.  Forcing someone to love you is the most unloving thing you can do.  God is willing to set his beloved free even though it will break his heart to do so. 

God Wants His Wife Back but She Needs to….

Because of God’s great love for Israel, he wants his wife back, but she needs to return, acknowledge her guilt, love him, and keep his commandments.

Jeremiah 3:13-14, Only acknowledge your guilt you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods, under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me, declares the Lord. 14 Return, faithless people, declares the Lord, for I am your husband. I will choose you.

In Deuteronomy 7, God is talking about his love for Israel and then says in verse 9.  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

God will pour out his love on Israel and she will return to God during the tribulation.

Hosea 3:1, The Lord said to me (Hosea), “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods.”

Verse 5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.

Death Will End a Marriage

Romans 7:2, For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.  Marriage can end by the death of one’s spouse. Jesus as our groom has defeated death and is alive forever more, so our union with Him will never end.

Walking Away from a Marriage

We can find another reason God allows divorce in 1 Corinthians 7:15, If the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.  If one partner walks away from the marriage then you are free.  You cannot force someone to love you.

Numbers 14:43, Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword. In this chapter Moses said to the Israelites that they have turned away from God because they did not believe the Lord and wanted to do their own will.  (See also Matthew 24:10 2 Peter 2:20-21)

The Holy Spirit says in Hebrews 3:12, Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

Jesus is speaking to the Church in Ephesus and says in Revelation 2:4, I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  (See also 1 Timothy 4:1)  

You have the free will to turn away from God, to depart from him in unbelief and to abandon your love for him.  These are all actions on our part and not his.  Anyone can freely walk away from Jesus, and he is not bound to stay in a marriage with someone who wants nothing to do with Him.

God Will Keep His Covenant with Us

Our union with God will not end because of him.  God will keep his Covenant with us.  In Psalm 89:33-34, God is speaking of his covenant to David and his descendants and says, “I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.  I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.”

Judges 2:1, I will never break my covenant with you.

John 6:37, Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

Jeremiah 17:16, I have not run away from being your shepherd.

Hebrews 13:5, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.

2 Timothy 2:13, If we are faithless, he remains faithful.

Your salvation is only in jeopardy if you violate the covenant on your end.

Remaining Faithful until the Wedding

I don’t see any Biblical support that says once we are in a covenant relationship we can commit adultery and walk away and not face any consequences for those actions.  What I see is an ongoing effort on our end to remain faithful and pure until our wedding day. 

Hebrews 10:26, For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.  Now this does not mean you will never sin, but it means you will not be living a sinful lifestyle apart from God. 

Revelation 2:10, Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Matthew 10:22, He who endures to the end will be saved. 

The definition of endure - The ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort. 

You are betrothed to Jesus the moment you accept him into your life but you must endure a prolonged effort to remain faithful until death or until our wedding day which is the rapture.

These following verses promise salvation from Jesus, but they all have an “if” statement. There are conditions to his promise we need to fulfill.

Hebrews 3:14, We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

1 John 2:24, See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

1 Thessalonians 3:8, For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.

Colossians 1:22-23. He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. 

You need to remain, stand fast, continue in your faith, be firm and do not move.  Why would he tell you not to move?  It’s because you can move.  Why does he say continue?  It’s because some don’t continue in their faith.  These are not terms he would use if the moment you say a prayer you can never lose your salvation.  These are warnings.   They are endurance words.  You need to hold firmly onto your beliefs until the very end. 

Romans 11:20-24, But they (Israel) were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.  22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.  Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.   If God did not spare the Jewish nation when they walked away from him, due to their lack of trust in him and their adultery, then why would he spare members of the church who do the same thing?

Forgiveness, If You Don’t Marry Another

It appears that reconciliation is possible, if the party who walked away or committed adultery repents and does not re-marry.  If the person gets re-married, there is no longer an option for reconciliation. 

1 Corinthians 7:10-11, To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4, “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Jesus takes his bride at the rapture.  God’s focus then turns back to the Jewish people.  There will be some that will return to the Lord and there will be others who will get re-married.  I see one example of a re-marriage in the tribulation that will disqualify some from returning to God altogether. 

What happens when you get married?  Typically the bride and groom will place a symbol of their commitment on their hands.  In some cultures that commitment is shown on their forehead.  When a bride gets married she will usually receive the last name of her husband.  Keep this in mind when reading this next Bible passage. 

Revelation 14:9-11,  “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

God’s beloved has turned away, worshiped another, taken a symbol of their union on their hand or forehead and has taken the mark of his name.  Once you receive what is commonly known as the mark of the beast in your hand or forehead you have gotten re-married and even though you are still alive you can never return to the Lord.  You have sealed your fate and are destined for eternal separation from him.

I would like you to know that God loves you so very much.  Look what he did for you at the cross.  Could you do that for him?  God does not want you to live in fear of losing your salvation.  A loving spouse wants you to feel confident of their love for you and does not want you to feel like anytime you mess up they are going to kick you out.  You are in this world because he created you specifically for him to love.  If you love Jesus and asked him to save you, he will!  His love for you is secure.  Salvation cannot be lost accidentally.  Whether it’s slowly or quickly, you will be the one walking away and giving your heart to another.  I am not sure if there is anything else that would constitute a re-marriage other than the mark of the beast.  What I do know is that up until the very moment you marry someone else or pass away, God will pursue you because YOU are His True Love!  

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