Can You Lose Your Salvation?

So you probably clicked on this video because you want to know can a Christian lose their salvation? That's a great question. Stay tuned. Hi, I'm John Moffitt, pastor of Grace Reformed Church and host of Theocast.

This is Ask Theocast where we answer your questions about the Christian life from a Reformed perspective. The internet is full of answers when it comes to this question and it's a question that people have wanted to know for hundreds of years.

Part of the Reformation was dealing with this very question. The Roman Catholic Church tied your assurance, how do I know that I am saved, or the possibility of losing it directly to your actions or your obedience.

So we should look at what the Bible has to say and understand that the Reformation was the recovery of the doctrine of assurance. For instance, we probably have heard the phrase sola fide. It means faith alone and historically Christians have taught and believed that the way in which we know that we are good with Christ, that we are in Christ, is by our faith in Christ alone.

Romans 8 and the Meaning of Being in Christ

So it's faith alone in Christ alone. This is what the doctrine means. Where we get some of these verses and how we find this surety of our salvation is from Romans 8 .1. Paul says there's no condemnation, which means you cannot be condemned as guilty.

You cannot be judged and sent to hell. So there's no condemnation and here is the key he hangs it on for those who are in Christ. So the question then is, Paul, what does it mean to be in Christ? It's kind of an interesting phrase.

The way I would describe it is where are you being protected? How is it that you are being guarded? What has cleansed you from the condemnation and then what keeps you holy and righteous? You know, if a storm is coming, where do we run?

We run inside of a house and what protects us from the storm of being carried away? I live in Tennessee, so, you know, we deal with these all the time. The house does. So when you are inside the house, that's where you are being protected.

Being in Christ means that, one, you've been set free from your sin. You've been cleansed of it. But not only that, you have all of Christ's protection. Another way of saying this is you have all of Jesus's obedience.

So when God looks at you, if you're in Christ, you have no sin to be condemned over and you have all of Jesus's obedience. So then the question is, okay, yeah, I'm in the house, John, but can I walk out of the house?

Can I leave the house? And the answer to that is, well, no, because there are several passages that explain to us that once we are adopted by God, we can't leave the family. He has promised that there is nothing that can separate us from his love.

Again, this is Romans 8. There's not death, not anything can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. So when we trust, we put our faith in Jesus, we trust in him that he can not only cleanse us, but he can provide protection through his righteousness.

That is not something you can lose. A couple other verses, when Jesus is talking with the Pharisees and they do not believe that he is the Messiah, the one that can save them, in John 6, 39, what he says to them is that all that the Father gives to me, I will lose none.

So when we are adopted by God, by faith, we are brought into his family, the one that's holding on to you is Jesus. You aren't holding on to Jesus. Let me put it this way, you can't lose what you did not gain, all right?

You did not earn the salvation, so therefore it cannot be taken away. This is why in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, it says it's a gift, not by works, or else you can boast, you can claim something of your salvation.

And then I would also say Philippians 1, 6, Paul says to encourage the Philippians, he who began a good work in you will complete it. And I would even go to Hebrews 12, where it says the author and finisher of our faith is Jesus.

So if you are looking to anything other than Christ, by faith alone, to save you or keep you saved, then yes, sure, you should be concerned, you should be afraid. But if you're saying, no, I believe by faith alone, I'm trusting in Christ alone, no other system, no other actions, I'm trusting in Christ alone, by faith alone, then you can have the absolute assurity that you are saved.

Faith, Works, and the Quality of Salvation

Now, there is nothing in Scripture that talks about the quality of your faith. It doesn't say that you have to have a certain amount of faith, or the quality of your emotions, or the quality of your obedience.

So these are all questions that we get. So that's going to be for a whole nother video we'll talk about here in a moment. But when you are thinking about the clear presentation of can one who's been adopted by God, who is in Christ, then not be adopted by God and not be in Christ?

So the answer to that is historically from the Reformation and from the Bible, the answer to that is no. If you want to know more about this, we have provided two resources for you in the below, where is that called?

The comments, whatever, below, stuff below. Go down there. We have a primer. It's called Safe in Christ, a primer on assurance. That's available on our website. The link is down below. We also have an entire 45-minute episode called Assurance.

I would encourage you to listen to that. I think you'll find it helpful. If you found this episode encouraging and helpful, please give us a like. Make sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell notification so that you can be notified when our next video comes out.

Thanks for watching.