THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF SALVATION AND ETERNAL SECURITY
The scriptures teach that salvation is eternal; salvation can never be lost. (Once saved, always saved). Believers who backslide and disobey the Lord will lose their blessings and will be disciplined by God (on earth) (Heb.12:1-12), should be excommunicated (1 Cor. 5), and they will lose their eternal rewards in heaven forever (1 Cor. 3). They suffer a great loss of precious rewards for eternity, but they are still saved, forgiven, and declared righteous. They will be in heaven with the Lord but they will not rule with Christ in His eternal government (Rev. 2:26,27); they will be last in the ruling order. [Eternal Security is the gospel and salvation. If you doubt it, you doubt the gospel, and you doubt and do not believe the salvation God has promised to all who believe.]
Below are the verses that clearly teach that salvation is everlasting, and cannot be lost. (NIV Bible).
JOHN 6:37 (Jesus said) "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away."
JOHN 6:39 (Jesus) "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day."
JOHN 10:28,29 (Jesus)"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."
ROMANS 8:38,39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
1 CORINTHIANS 3:15 [3:13-15] "...the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." (See 1 Cor. 3:10-15).
EPHESIANS 1:13,14 "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory."
HEBREWS 13:5 "...God has said, `Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
HEBREWS 10:10,12,14 "By that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ...But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. ...because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
1 JOHN 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
COMMENTS
The word "never" underlined in John 6:37, John 10:28 and in Heb. 13:5 are all translated from "OU MA" in the original Greek manuscripts. The N.T. Greek language had two words meaning no or negative. MA was the mild negative, and OU was the strong, emphatic negative. When both words were combined together in sequence in a sentence (OU MA), that was the strongest negative the Greek language could use. So when the Lord says that he will never (OU MA) drive us away, we will never (OU MA) perish, and he will never (OU MA) leave or forsake us; he means that there are no exceptions, period. Never is an absolute and unconditional promise (see 2 Pet. 3:13). Jesus used the absolute negative, the strongest negative possible. The Greek in John 10:28 says after OU MA, INTO THE AGES [they shall absolutely never into the ages perish]. Jesus says you will absolutely never perish, with no exceptions, forever into the ages, starting now!
John 10:28-30 gives us the picture that Jesus and the Father are holding, grasping and squeezing us (believers) in their hands, and they will not let go. So we cannot walk out of God's hands because he is holding on to us and he owns us since he bought us with a price (1 Cor. 6:19,20). Christ died because we already did walk away from Him when we have sinned and when Adam and Eve walked away from Him in the garden. When we believe in Christ he brings us back from our walked away position and holds on to us strongly because He knows we could walk away again if He does not grasp us tight. Most Christians who walk away from God do not walk away from salvation, eternal life, heaven, and forgiveness, but away from obeying God and using their entire life for Christ. They are not rejecting heaven and seeking hell but rejecting being a living sacrifice for Christ. Those are sins Christ already forgave them for.
John 6:37 is where Jesus said he will never (OU MA) drive away anyone who comes to him for salvation. This means that even the believers who do not serve or obey God on Earth (all of us to some degree) will not be driven away into hell. Some backslidden believers fear that this will happen to them. This verse shows that it cannot happen. No one wants to burn in hell, and God does not want anyone there either.
John 6:39 is where Jesus promised that he shall lose none of all who come to him for salvation. It is God's will that Jesus shall lose none (zero) of the people the Father gave to Jesus (they own us). If we could lose our salvation, Jesus would lose some people. So it cannot be lost.
Romans 8:38,39 says that absolutely nothing can separate us from Christ and God's love. It even states that demons (Satan) cannot separate us. If Satan tricks and tempts us to backslide, that will not separate us from Christ. The demons cannot do it. It also says that the future cannot separate us from Christ's love. If we could lose our salvation, we would lose it in the future. But God says in Romans that the future cannot separate us from him. Nothing that a person does in the future will cause his salvation to be revoked. Our future conduct cannot effect our eternal salvation. Romans also says that life nor the present cannot separate us. So our present choices in this life cannot effect our salvation.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 speaks of the coming judgment of believer's actions. Every saved person's works will be judged by fire. This concerns their eternal rewards, not their salvation. The backslidden believer has his works burned up and he loses his rewards. But notice it says that he will be saved. He escaped through the flames into heaven but all his heavenly possessions went up in smoke (See 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
Ephesians 1:13,14 shows that the Holy Spirit is in us forever and he guarantees (100%) that we will receive our inheritance (salvation). He is our deposit from God with his promise. In John 14:16,17,26, Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit will be with us forever. If we could lose our salvation, then the Holy Spirit would have to go to hell with us since he must stay with us forever. The Holy Spirit will never go to hell, so we can never go to hell either. Also, Jesus will be with us forever (Matt. 28:20), and God the Father will be with us forever (Hebrews 13:5).
Hebrews 10:10-14 shows that we are made holy and perfect forever. It does not say until we sin too much. We are holy and declared righteous for eternity. Jesus died once for all time and once for all men. He does not need to die again. His one sacrifice was enough forever. He died for all the sins to be done in the future. If Christ agreed to pay the penalty for all sins 2000 years later, how could someone lose their salvation? That would be saying that Jesus did not die for those sins and Jesus is a liar (1 John 5:9-12). Would Jesus, who is God (the Son), agree to die for all sins in the 20th century at 29 A.D., and then when the 20th century arrives and someone backslides, would Jesus say that I will not forgive you now? "Even though I agreed to die for the sins of backsliding, now I am taking it back and I do not agree that my death will forgive your sins, even though I already paid the penalty for your sins." Of course, Jesus could not say that! Christ's death and resurrection is the reason we cannot lose our salvation. Jesus paid the complete price and penalty for ALL sins, and he gave us ALL his righteousness to be credited to our account. So we are not only forgiven forever, but we are declared to be righteous forever (as good and holy as Jesus and God). (Col. 2:13,14; 1 John 1:7; Acts 10:43; 13:38,39; Eph.1:7; Heb.9:26-28)(2 Cor.5:21; Rom.5:18,19; 1 Cor.1:30).
1 John 5:9-13 says that we can KNOW we have eternal life. That is a 100% guarantee that we will go to heaven forever. It does not say we can hope or have a good chance, but we can know for certain. If we can lose our salvation, we can never know for certain that we will be saved.
EXPLANATION
The scriptures say we have eternal life, not temporary life and not conditional life. He gave us new life which lasts forever. Jesus would not say we have everlasting life if he meant life until you sin too much. That is not eternal and it really is not "life". If salvation can be lost, it would not be salvation but probation. We would be under testing and examination, but we wouldn't have salvation. If we are not saved forever, then we are not even saved. How can we be saved from hell if we can still go to hell? Salvation means saved from hell and eternal death forever with no possible way of going there ever.
This 100% assurance of eternal life is what leads us to live a holy and obedient life. God's grace (undeserved mercy) teaches us to deny ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14). It makes us appreciate the Lord and his great love for us. It makes us grow and lead others to God. If some man gave you a million dollars for free, would you love him and be friendly to him later, or would you hate him? You would be friendly with him. It is the same with God’s free gift of eternal life and heaven.
The law and legalism cannot make us obedient. The law makes us more sinful (Rom. 5:20,21; 7:7-13). Doubts about our salvation cause fear, unbelief, and eventually sin and disobedience (2 Peter 1:5-9).
The Bible teaches us that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Jesus did all of the work and there is nothing left to be done to be saved. All we "do" is believe that message is true (faith) and we are saved. (John 1:12; 3:15-18,36; 5:24; 6:28,29,40,47; 11:25,26; 20:31; Acts 10:43; 13:38,39; 15:1-11; 16:31; 26:18). Faith or belief in Christ means to trust in, depend upon, rely on Christ Jesus only for salvation and not trust in ourselves. We are NOT saved by our good works, our righteousness, or our obedience to God or his laws. (Rom. 1:16,17, ch. 3 4; 9:30-10:4; 11:6; Gal. ch. 2 3; 5:4; Eph. 2:8,9; Philp. 3:9; Titus 3:5; 1 John 5:9-13). Salvation is a free gift so how can it be lost? (Rom. 6:23; 5:15-21; Rev. 22:17; Isa. 55:1-3). If we could lose our salvation, that would be saying that it is not free but it must be earned and that we are saved based on our righteousness or works. ("If we backslide, we are lost again. So to stay saved we must not backslide, which is done by obeying the commands and God.") That is contrary to God's Word and cannot be true. The reason people believe salvation can be lost is they are really trusting in their righteousness and works to be saved. They do not believe Jesus paid for all sins. So they really are not even saved since they still have not trusted in Christ by faith alone, but they are calling God a liar when God says Jesus paid it all (1 John 5:9-13).
Another misunderstanding is the standard God requires to live in His presence in heaven. The Bible says that absolute perfection is required to enter heaven (Gen. 3; Ps.5:4; Habak.1:13; Matt.5:48; 13:41-43; 1 Cor.6:9-11; Gal. 3:10; James 2:10; 2 Pet.3:13; Rev.21:8, 27). This means absolute perfection every second of a person's life in their actions, attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs. Those who believe salvation can be lost are really lowering the standard God requires and bringing it down to their level. They think that perfection is not required, but only a level of goodness that they are living now or are close to is required. This means they have a good shot at making it in even with their sins. However, God cannot allow even one sin in Heaven or it would pollute and corrupt Heaven as Adam's one sin did to Earth.
Some truly saved people believe salvation can be lost because they are confused. They do not understand what salvation is and need assurance or they have let doubts come in which weakens their faith. But if someone is saved, he cannot lose eternal life even if he quits believing. This is what happened to the Galatians. They were saved but later started believing that obedience to the law was needed to remain saved. Paul rebuked them strongly, but they were still saved. They were not serving God however, even though they were obeying the law, since their beliefs were evil.
Many people refuse to believe in eternal security because they are so full of pride. They think that they are so good for God that when they get to heaven everyone will proclaim how great they were. They refuse to think of themselves as sinners and totally evil. They may admit to being a sinner, but not as bad as most other people who are "super-sinners". However this pride is actually what keeps them blind and still headed for hell. These are the people Jesus never knew (Matthew 7:21-23).
Some people believe eternal security is a license to sin without consequences. That is not true at all and is a lie from Satan. The truth is that God will discipline and punish His children when they sin (sooner or later in one form or another) if they do not repent and confess. He may not always punish all sins and He may not discipline immediately, but He will if we disobey and willingly live in sin (Heb.12:1-12). The church can punish unrepentant believers by excommunication (1 Cor. 5), and the authorities/government (in general) is God's agent to punish evildoers, including evildoing believers (Rom. 13:1-7). Also there will be Judgments for the believers and lost who go to hell which will allow God to pay everyone back for the good or bad things they did, believed, and thought. The lost will be judged to determine their degree of punishment in hell and the Lake of Fire. The more evil they committed the hotter their fire will be forever (Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24; Luke 10:13-14; Luke 12:47-48; 20:47; Mark 12:40; Rom. 2:6; 12:19; 14:10-12; Gal. 6:7-8; Col. 3:25; James 3:1; Heb. 2:2; 10:29-31; Rev. 20:11-15; see also Psalm 28:4; 62:12; Eccl. 12:13-14; Deut. 25:2 ). The saved believers will be judged to determine their degree of rewards, riches, honors, banquets, privileges, and joy they will have forever and whether they will rule and reign with Christ forever and how high they will rule (Matt. 5:11-12 [see Luke 6:23]; 6:1-6,18; 6:19-21; 10:41-42; 13:44-46; 16:24-27; 25:21-23,29; Luke 6:23, 34-35; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:8,14-15; 9:17; 2 Cor. 5:10; 9:6; Gal. 6:7-10; Eph. 6:7,8; Col. 3:23,24; 1 Tim. 6:19; 2 Tim. 2:12,13; Heb. 4:1,9-11; 10:34-36; 11:26,35; 2 John 8; Rev. 2:7,10,17;23,26-28; 3:4-6,11-12,21; 20:12,13; 22:12). The believers who obeyed and served the Lord and promoted His kingdom and will shall receive precious eternal rewards that Christ and God want us to have and live for. The believers who did not obey or serve the Lord and lived for themselves and their selfish fleshly "kingdom" will have no or little rewards and they will be a little bit sad in heaven forever. They will have a righteous sadness with godly justice. They will be happy that the obedient believers lived for Christ and helped many people be saved and have eternal life and say that they deserved it so praise God they have the rewards and they are the rulers forever. They will also say that "I and the other selfish believers do not deserve the rewards because we were selfish and did nothing for Christ, so I am glad I have no rewards because that is what I deserve". Of course, it will still be great and wonderful for them in heaven and on the new earth forever but just not as good as it should or could have been.
I encourage you to study these passages and believe that Jesus did pay the whole price, and be truly saved. Then you can truly serve and obey God, and be filled with His joy and peace.
PROBLEM PASSAGES
There are some passages in the scriptures which seem to contradict the message of this paper. (They seem like they teach salvation can be lost.) One reason for this is that most people do not know the original Greek and Hebrew languages that the Bible was written in. So we must depend on translations to read God's Word, but these translations lose much of the simple clarity and meaning found in the original languages. Sometimes these passages are not read in context and/or in their historical setting.
We must remember that God's Word cannot contradict itself. There are many confusing passages, but there are far more clear and convincing passages that teach salvation is by faith, not by works, and cannot be lost. So these few unclear passages cannot contradict the multitudes of clear passages. Some common and confusing ones are briefly discussed below.
REPENTANCE--The English word ‘repent’ means to turn from sin and start obeying God. The Greek words ‘metanoeo’ and ‘metanoia’ mean to think different or change your mind about something related to God. These Greek words are usually translated into “repent” in the English translations and are usually an inaccurate translation. The Greek words mean to change your mind or think differently about salvation or a doctrine, or it could mean to change your mind about sinning and obey God. The context of scripture will reveal what type of a change of mind is discussed in each passage. In the Bible, God tells the saved and unsaved people to change their mind about sinning. This is to avoid God’s judgment of sin on earth. Saved people will avoid God’s discipline if they stop sinning. Unsaved people will avoid God’s judgment on earth of nations and individuals if they stop sinning. This will not get them saved or forgiven for eternal life. They need to believe in Jesus for that. It will give them God’s forgiveness for the temporary judgment on their sin. It will not forgive the eternal consequences of sin that leads to hell. Obeying God will also help saved people gain more rewards and eternal honors and fame in heaven forever. It will keep them from losing rewards at God’s judgment of believer’s lives at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). Repenting from sin will also lessen the punishment of the unsaved in hell. The more an unsaved person sins, the worse his punishment will be in hell forever.
The most important point about repentance is that it is NEVER a condition for eternal life. There are no verses that say we must repent to have eternal life, or be saved, or go to heaven. If there were they would contradict the rest of scripture. Many of the verses dealing with repentance deal with the avoidance of God’s temporary judgment, not God’s eternal judgment and punishment of sin. In some verses the meaning of repentance is a change of mind about how to be saved. One must change his mind from thinking that he has to be good and obey his way to heaven to thinking that his obedience will not help get him saved but only trusting in Christ's work will save him. There are a couple of verses that seem to indicate repentance is a part of eternal forgiveness, such as Acts 2:38,39. These verses are discussing what Israel has to do to enter the Kingdom or Millennium (1000 year reign of Messiah and Israel). Jesus came offering the kingdom to Israel during his first coming, but they rejected it. To enter the kingdom, Israel had to do two things; believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and repent of sin and obey God’s commands. Peter is telling Israel that to enter in God’s blessings of the kingdom, they need to believe in Jesus and repent. (See Acts 3:19-21). Israel did not have to repent to have eternal life and be saved (they only had to believe in Jesus), but they did have to repent to enter the kingdom on earth. Or repent there could be simply a change of mind about how to be saved. Israel had to change their mind from trusting in obeying the laws of God to be saved to trusting in Jesus Messiah for forgiveness and salvation.
The only condition to be saved is to believe in Jesus. The book of John was written for the purpose that people could know they have eternal life by believing (John 20:31), yet the word repent is never found in John (not even in the Greek). The book of Galatians was written to straighten out the Galatians on their wrong view of salvation, but Paul never used the word repent in the entire book. If we had to repent (turn from sin) to be saved, then we would be saved by works and obedience to the law which is strongly condemned in God’s Word. We are not saved by obedience or works, so repentance (turning from sin) is not a requirement to be saved or have eternal life. Faith is the only requirement. If someone has faith they already have changed their minds automatically (metanoia-repent).
There are three views of repentance that is in accordance with salvation by faith alone and not by obedience or works. One is that the Greek words for repent (metanoeo) mean to think differently or change your mind (and has nothing to do with turning from sin). Thus, one needs to think different about how to be saved and trust in Jesus for forgiveness and stop trusting in yourself and your “good” works. This view states that the English word repent is a bad translation. Repenting, in this view, is the same thing as believing in Jesus, since to believe in Jesus requires that someone changes their mind or thinks different about things.
Another view is that the Greek words for repent means change your mind about sinning and start obeying God [turning from sin], but repentance is never a condition to receive eternal life. The context of some verses in Revelation [9:20,21; 16:9,11] seem to show that these Greek words mean to turn from sin in those verses. In this view repenting helps one avoid God's judgments on earth and gain eternal rewards but does not give anyone salvation. The problem with this view is that most Greek dictionaries define metanoia and metanoeo as a change of mind.
A third view is that the Greek words mean a change of mind but the context determines what someone has to change their mind of. If they must “metanoeo” to be forgiven then it means to change your mind about how to be saved. Some metnoeo/repent verses in Revelation seem to mean man should change their mind about sinning and start obeying, however if they do repent and stop sinning they are not saved yet. They still need to trust in Christ for salvation and eternal life.
JAMES 2:14-26--Faith Without Works Is Dead--This passage is used to show that we need faith plus good works to be saved. Even if that is what it meant, it would contradict the rest of the Bible (Rom. ch. 4). It does not mean that. The subject of this passage is not salvation. It is written to believers and discusses a believer's lifestyle in the eyes and minds of other humans, especially the unsaved. In people's eyes faith without works is dead because they cannot read our mind to see if we have faith. God knows our thoughts and does not need to see works to see our faith in Christ for salvation. Verse 22 and 24 say "You see". That is not a slang saying but it means "You humans see that a person is justified by faith and works". To win people for Christ, believers must not only have faith, but they must live holy lives also, which will convince many people to believe. James is saying don't be hypocrites but live what you believe. Nobody can serve the Lord if all he has is faith in Christ for salvation. Serving Christ requires faith and works. However James' main point of this passage concerns faith in the Lord for everything in our lives, not just faith for salvation. We can have faith in God for many things besides salvation. We can say that we trust Him for daily life and provisions, but our works or actions may prove that we do not. But faith for daily needs is not a requirement for salvation. We may claim to believe that all of God's ways are the best for our lives, but our actions (works) may show that we really do not believe it if we are living in some sin. Also, obeying the Lord helps to increase our faith in God's promises. Your works fuels your faith. The discussion of Abraham in v. 21-24 concerns his justification as a faithful servant of God, not his salvation. Abraham was declared righteous by God years before he offered Isaac on the altar (Gen. 15:6 and Gen. 22:1-18). Abraham's work of offering Issac on the altar showed to other people that he really did believe God's promises for his life and Issac's life. Romans 4 explains how Abraham was justified by faith and not justified by works before God as far as salvation is concerned.
OTHERS--Many verses can be explained by considering who is being addressed: the saved or unsaved? Does it concern salvation or discipleship? Serving God after we are saved (discipleship) is based on our works and faith, but salvation for the lost is based on our faith or beliefs alone.
HEBREWS--This book clearly teaches eternal security (see the verses on the front page), but there are some problem passages. These are briefly explained below. Keep in mind the background of Hebrews.
Background--Hebrews was written mostly to saved Christian Jews who had believed that Jesus was the Messiah. It was written before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, so the temple sacrifices were still being offered by the unbelieving Jews. These Christian Jews were being persecuted by the unsaved Jews, who were teaching that Christianity was heresy. These unbelieving Jews were hoping that the Christian Jews would come back to the "true religion" of their legalistic Judaism. Because of the pressure and persecution, many of the saved Jews did turn back to the old covenant. They started offering the animal sacrifices in the temple again. The author wrote Hebrews to explain that going back to the old covenant was a complete denial of Jesus Christ's death and payment for sin. The Hebrew people were believing false doctrines which meant they were not serving God anymore. To serve God requires correct beliefs and doctrines about salvation and all other matters, as well as good motives and good actions. The sacrifices in the O.T. did not take away sin (Heb. 10:1-4). It only covered up the sin for one year, but the sin was still there. They had to offer sacrifices every year, over and over. These sacrifices were a symbol which looked forward to the final and complete sacrifice of God the Son. Hebrews shows that the one sacrifice of Jesus was eternal, paid for all sins forever, and that no more sacrifices would ever be needed since we have been forgiven and declared holy forever (10:10-18). By turning back to the old way, they were saying that Jesus' death was not good enough for anyone's salvation. His death did not really pay for any sins. This was apostasy and heresy. Since these people were saved, they were God's children and therefore God would punish them as a good Father (Heb. 12). So the main theme of Hebrews is to warn Christians to turn back from heresy or else God's punishment will come on them, and if they do not turn back, their eternal rewards will be lost. The Hebrews would still be saved, but they would not have what Jesus wanted them to have in all of its complete fullness.
HEBREWS 10:26,27--This passage seems to say that if we are saved and then keep on sinning willfully, no sacrifice for sins is left and we go to hell. It really teaches what was said above. It teaches eternal security. If a saved person does not serve God but willingly continues in sin, no sacrifice for that sin is left. That means he cannot go offer an animal sacrifice for his sin because Jesus already paid for all sins, even the future ones. After Jesus died and rose, there are no more sacrifices, which is why it says "no sacrifice for sins is left" (see 10:18). So the sin of not serving God after he is saved is already paid for and he is still forgiven, thus he cannot lose salvation as the author just wrote in 10:10-18. God will not let him get away with it, so he can expect punishment while he is living on Earth, and a loss of rewards in Heaven. The "fire" in verse 27 does not refer to hell but to God's various judgments. Fire is usually pictured as a symbol of judgment rather than hell. The "enemies of God" in verse 27 refers to saved people who are God's enemies. Many saved people act like God's enemy and hate God in many ways. James 4:4 says that believers who are friends of the world hate God and become an enemy of God. (See 1 John 2:15). The Hebrew people were sinning willfully by changing their doctrine of salvation and became God's enemy. Going back to the old covenant ways was the same as spitting in Jesus' face and saying that all his suffering on the cross was worthless and unholy (v29). This was worse than rejecting the law of Moses and deserved a punishment worse than death. That is why verse 30 says "the Lord will judge his people". So this passage does not teach that salvation can be lost, but teaches that God will punish those who believe salvation can be lost. Those who turn back to the law of Moses as a requirement for salvation as the Hebrews did are teaching that salvation can be lost, and are in great danger of being inflicted with God's judgment. God's judgment is discipline on Earth and loss of rewards, but these people are still saved and going to heaven.
HEBREWS 6:4-6--This passage also seems to say that if saved people fall away, it is impossible for them to be saved, so they lost their salvation ("[It is impossible] if they fall, to be brought back to repentance."). If that interpretation is true, then this passage teaches that we can only be saved once. After we fall away and lose our salvation then we are doomed forever with no way to be saved from hell. Thus, it would be better stay unsaved until we are near death so we don't use up our one shot.
That view is obviously wrong and contradicts the rest of the Bible which says salvation cannot be lost and that God's love and forgiveness is endless. God does not offer it one time but for all time (10:10-14).
This passage is teaching that someone cannot begin to serve the Lord again in truth while they are apostate and continue to believe in false doctrines of salvation. “Fall away” means to fall away from the true teachings about Christ, such as eternal security. When a saved person becomes apostate and believes in false salvation teachings, they will eventually fall away from obeying the Lord also. The Greek word for “since”(KJV) or “because” (NIV) in verse 6 probably should be translated “while” (at the same time). The verse would read this way then: “while they crucify again for themselves the Son of God”. This means that if they believe that they must go back to the law to be saved, then Christ’s death was not enough to forgive their sins so they must crucify Christ over and over again each time they sin. They would be thinking of the O.T. animal sacrifices that were offered over and over for each sin. Crucifying Christ again is a way of saying that someone is believing in works or obedience for salvation instead of Christ. Hebrews is saying that a saved person cannot be serving the Lord while they doubt salvation, and a saved person cannot repent and start serving the Lord again WHILE at the same time they are doubting their salvation and believing in false doctrines (especially false salvation doctrines). It is impossible for someone to get right with God again while at the same time they are doubting salvation and saying that Christ’s crucifixion was not needed for forgiveness (and therefore Jesus was crucified not for our sins but for his own sin- it puts him to open shame). However, a saved person who has fallen away can renew themselves to repentance if they stop doubting salvation and believe in the true doctrine of eternal security by the death of Christ as a one-time payment for sins for all time. It would not be impossible then. That is what the author is trying to persuade the Hebrews to do, as he says in 6:9. He wants them to repent and obey the Lord again, but they must first quit doubting Christ’s salvation.
A saved person can never be saved more than once since salvation can never be lost. If a person could be saved more than once, that would mean Jesus would be dying on the cross again and again. It would be mean that Jesus' death was not enough to forgive my sins, so I better offer another sacrifice of Jesus on the cross so I can be forgiven. That is why verse 6 says "to themselves they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." The parable in verse 8 is not speaking of people going to hell. It is a parable of Christians who become worthless as servants of God and may be punished soon. "The land (saved people) that produces thorns (evil doctrines or sinful actions-they produce no spiritual fruit) is worthless (others will not be saved or encouraged by their lives), may be cursed (God's punishment on his people), and will be burned (symbol of God's judgment and burning up of their rewards [1 Cor. 3:15])". They would still be saved though since Jesus paid for their sin. The Hebrews started to disbelieve in eternal security (they believed salvation could be lost), and were therefore in danger of God's judgment of evil beliefs.
HEBREWS 3:6--Some say this verse shows that we must "hold on" to our courage (keep serving God) to be saved. That view contradicts the rest of the Bible and cannot be true. It says, "We are his [God's] house, if we hold on to our courage and hope." The house is not talking about salvation in Heaven, which only requires faith in Christ's finished work. The house refers to a house of people who are doing the priestly functions. Getting into this priestly house requires a continual holding on to the teachings of Jesus and continual obedience to his commands. There will be many saved people who enter Heaven, but will not be a part of God's priestly house. Saved people who begin to doubt eternal security and the finished work of Christ will be in danger of being left out of the priestly house, just as the Hebrew people were. They will still be saved though. Every saved person is a priest in God's eyes (1 Peter 2:9). But 1 Peter 2:5 says we "are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices." Getting into the priestly house requires more than being a priest. One needs to believe the truth and act like a priest as well. These verses are not discussing salvation, but things beyond salvation.
HEBREWS 3:14--This verse is similar to 3:6 above. It seems to say that to share in Christ (getting saved) requires that we hold our confidence firmly to the end. Some say this means to serve God for life or at least to keep on "believing" in Christ till the end. That view is wrong as is shown by the context of the verse and the rest of scripture. "Share in Christ" does not mean getting saved. There is more to share in Christ than just salvation. It means to share in everything Christ has to offer us, such as ruling for him (Rev. 2:26,27) and being joint-heirs of all the riches that he can give (Rom. 8:17). So this verse is not speaking of salvation but of rewards. It means that we will be partners with Christ and share in his rewards if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first (and confidence that salvation by faith cannot be lost).
HEBREWS 2:1-3--"How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" That verse does not mean we will be punished with hell if we disobey. It means that God will punish and discipline all of His saved children who disobey or who start doubting their salvation. Christians who trample all over Jesus' work and death on the cross by saying salvation can be lost by sinning will not escape the discipline of God, unless they start believing in the eternal security of Christ's salvation again. They are still saved though.
PHILIPIANS 2:12--"Work out your salvation" means to work the salvation already inside of you out into the open for all to see. Let your light shine before men so they can glorify God (Matt. 5:16). It does not say work FOR your salvation; if it did it would contradict other verses. It says work it out [into the open]. (Another view: "salvation" could mean "deliverance" from persecution or sinful lives, not eternal salvation.)
MATTHEW 12:31,32--Blasphemy and speaking against the Holy Spirit are really the same thing as refusing to trust Christ for salvation. The Pharisees rejected Jesus and said that the miracles Jesus did (by the Spirit's power) were done by Satan's power. That meant that the Pharisees also were rejecting the Spirit's conviction of their need to be saved by Jesus. When someone today rejects the Spirit's conviction of sin and need for Jesus (John 16:8-11), they are doing what the Pharisees did. They are believing that "what the Spirit wants me to do is evil for my life". To say that salvation is evil and reject it is saying that the Spirit is lying, which is blasphemy. Verse 31 says every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven. Does that contradict the rest of the passage? No. Verse 33-37 shows that Jesus was speaking figuratively concerning blasphemy and speaking against the Spirit. He says that the fruit shows how good a tree is and men's words show how good or evil their heart, mind and beliefs are (see Matt. 15:18-19). If someone blasphemes the Spirit, their words show they do not believe in Christ which the Spirit is testifying to. So to blaspheme or speak against the Spirit is to never believe in Jesus as Saviour. A saved person cannot "blaspheme the Spirit" since he has accepted the Spirit's message of eternal forgiveness by accepting Jesus, which even includes forgiveness of all future sins of blasphemy (v. 31). Thus, whether a saved person has blasphemed the Holy Spirit before or after he was saved, he is declared as righteous as Jesus and God looks at that person as if he never blasphemed the Spirit. For those who accept Christ "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven", but those who never accept Christ "will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come."
MATTHEW 19:16-26/ LUKE 10:25-37--These and other passages are where people asked Jesus what they had to do to get eternal life. Jesus answered that to get eternal life one had to obey the commandments (Matt. 19:17) and love God and your neighbor (Luke 10:27,28). Was Jesus contradicting the Bible? No. If someone can obey the commands perfectly all his life without ever breaking them once, in actions or in his thoughts, he would have eternal life. He would not be a sinner then. This is impossible to do, however. Since we are all sinners and are born with a sinful nature, no one can obey the commands without sin. The people asking Jesus these questions thought they could and did obey the commands. They did not consider themselves sinners and thus they did not think they needed a saviour. Jesus was trying to get them to see that they could not obey the commands and needed to admit they were sinners and trust in him for salvation.
1 COR. 6:9-11/ GAL. 5:19-21--These verses say that those who live sinful will not inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God here does not mean heaven. We enter heaven by faith alone in Christ. Kingdom of God means inheriting the reward of ruling with Christ in His eternal government. It is talking about rewards, honors, and ruling authority we may obtain after entering heaven. The saved people who live according to the flesh will go to heaven but they will not rule and reign with Christ and they will lose valuable rewards and riches forever. The word “kingdom” can mean all the people that are ruled by the king or it can mean all who share in the dominion or authority of the king. The second meaning is the one in view in these passages.
[Another view is they are merely saying that we must be perfect to get to heaven. No sinners will enter heaven. People who are saved are perfect in God's sight because they are in Christ. That is what 1 Cor. 6:11 says. The Corinthians were (in the past) sinners, but then they were washed and justified in the name of Jesus, so they will inherit the kingdom of God (enter heaven).] The point is that saved people should not live in the sins which keep the lost out of Heaven and headed for hell.
JOHN 5:29--Jesus said that "those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." The Greek words "good" and "evil" in that verse are in the neuter tense. Neuter is one that is not masculine or feminine. The Greek also contains the article (THE) before each word. Greek was the same as English in that adjectives with articles could imply the noun without saying it. ("The dead shall rise" implies and means that "the dead people shall rise".) In Greek, "the good" [masc.] could mean "the good man", and "the good" [fem.] could mean "the good woman". Neuter would be implied by "thing". So this verse could be translated to "the good thing" and "the evil thing". The good thing to do is to trust Jesus for salvation, and the evil thing is to not trust Jesus. John 6:28,29 shows that this is not an unrealistic interpretation. There Jesus said that to do the works God requires one merely believes in Jesus. So John 5:29 is saying that those who believe will live, and those who do not will be condemned.
REVELATION 2:11; 21:7--Those who overcome will not go to hell and will enter heaven. Overcome does not mean obey the commands. The meaning of overcome is explained in 1 John 5:4,5: "for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." How clear can it get? There also seems to be two kinds of overcoming in the Word. One is overcoming in salvation (by faith), and the other is overcoming sin in our lives by obedience which leads to eternal rewards.
2 THES. 1:8/ 1 PETER 4:17--"Obey the gospel" means to believe in Jesus. God commands everyone to believe in Christ (1 John 3:23), so when someone believes they have obeyed the command to believe and have done the work God requires (John 6:28,29).
1 COR. 3:17--The Greek word for "destroy" actually means corrupt or spoil. So this verse says, "If anyone corrupts (or spoils) God's temple, God will corrupt (or spoil) him." All believers are God's temple. Any believer who disobeys God will soon have their life spoiled by God (discipline and loss of rewards). They will be saved, as verse 15 just stated, but their life is ruined forever.
GALATIANS 5:4--Falling from grace is described in this verse. It says that those "who are trying to be justified by the law have fallen from grace". Those who are obeying the commands (for salvation) have fallen from grace and have been alienated from Christ. It is a serious thing to say that salvation is by the law and that salvation can be lost. Those who do will be alienated from Christ in hell. If they are saved and say that then they are alienated from Christ in their service for Him and will not be blessed until they correct their evil salvation beliefs. Falling from grace is not backsliding but is saved people who doubt eternal security. GALATIANS is the only book that Paul wrote where he did not say anything good about those he was writing to. (Paul even said some good things about the backslidden Corinthians.) The Galatians were saved (1:3,4) and were trying to obey the law (5:4), yet Paul still said they were not serving God (1:6; 3:1; 4:20) because they had wrong and evil salvation views. Paul said he feared that all his efforts on them were wasted, all because they believed salvation could be lost (4:11). Paul said that those who preach salvation can be lost will be accursed (1:8,9) and should be emasculated (5:12) ("full" circumcision).
