Can I lose my salvation?
Can I Lose My Salvation?
Short answer: No. (Continue to read)
If you truly possess salvation, you cannot lose it.
To understand why, we must first understand what salvation is, and what it is not.
Salvation is not transactional.It is not earned, maintained, or preserved by human effort.It is a free gift of God, received by faith, secured by Christ, and kept by God.
This does not dismiss the apostles’ commands to examine ourselves, pursue holiness, or follow Christ. Those commands exist not to make salvation fragile, but to expose whether faith is genuine. This is not a license to sin, but a proper understanding of God.
The Foundational Question
When someone asks, “Am I saved?”This is not an emotional or circumstantial question, it is a doctrinal one.
Saving Faith (One Response, Described Two Ways)
Scripture describes saving faith as:
Believing in the heart who Jesus truly is and what He truly did
Confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord
These are not two separate requirements, but one unified response of faith.
Question 1
Do I truly believe, not with perfect understanding, but with genuine faith, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, crucified in my place for my sins, and physically resurrected on the third day?
If yes, proceed.
Question 2
Do I confess Jesus as Lord?
If yes, Scripture says you are born again, unless you are deceiving yourself and do not truly believe what you confess.
Unbelief reveals the absence of faith, and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”Salvation is by grace, received through faith, not our work, but His.
Jesus taught that only the Father opens blind eyes and deaf ears. Salvation begins with God.
What Happens After Saving Faith
At salvation:
God indwells you by His Holy Spirit
You are given a new heart
You are united with Christ in His death and resurrection
God’s wrath against your sin is fully satisfied at the cross
You have passed from death to life. Judgment has already occurred, in Christ.
This does not result in careless sin.It results in conviction, repentance, and transformation.
When a believer sins:
They are grieved
They are convicted
They are disciplined as a child, not condemned as an enemy
Grace does not excuse sin.Grace trains us to forsake it.
Biblical Self-Examination (Diagnostic, Not Salvific)
Scripture commands self-examination, not to see whether Christ failed, but whether our profession is genuine.
Test #1: Confession of Christ
Do I still confess Jesus as Lord?
Have I obeyed Him in baptism, an outward sign of inward faith?Baptism does not save, but a persistent refusal to obey Christ’s commands warrants honest self-reflection.
Test #2: Persevering Faith
Do I still believe Christ died for my sins and rose again?
If yes, Scripture gives assurance.
Test #3: Love for the Brethren
Jesus said:
“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Persistent lovelessness does not prove salvation was lost, it may prove it was never present.
Test #4: Directional Obedience (Not Sinless Perfection)
Jesus warned:
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?”
Ask honestly:
Am I oriented toward obedience?
Do I desire to love God and love others?
Am I seeking to redeem the time God has given me?
These are not conditions of salvation.They are fruits produced by it.
What Salvation Is (and Is Not)
Salvation is not received because you repented harder or performed better.
Salvation is received because you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Scripture is explicit:
Those given to the Son will not be lost
Salvation rests on Christ’s finished work
Eternal life is a present possession
The Holy Spirit is a guarantee, not a loan
Jesus finished the work at the cross.He rose, permanently conquering death.Now we trust, rest, and persevere in Him.
Assurance of Salvation
Scripture repeatedly states believers can know they have eternal life:
John 5:24
John 6:37-39
John 10:27-29
Romans 8:1, 30, 38-39
Ephesians 1:13-14
Philippians 1:6
Hebrews 7:25
Hebrews 10:14
1 John 5:11-13
Jude 1:24
Salvation is not fragile.Christ is faithful.
Warnings, Examination, and Perseverance
Scripture also contains sober warnings:
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”
“Examine yourselves”
“Take heed lest you fall”
These warnings are addressed to mixed audiences and function as means God uses to preserve true believers, not proof that salvation can be lost.
They expose false assurance and strengthen genuine faith.
This is what God would have to say about those caught in unrepentant sinful behavior that God views as an offense to Him, sin. Remember, Jesus is addressing the churches. Not everyone who sits in church is regenerated or born again. Therefore, some churches are instructed to “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
This very verse is proof that Jesus is addressing unsaved people who sit in the church. Not just then, but now.
Rev 2:4-5 “4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the work you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” They loved Him, they have fallen, He calls them to repent and do the work you did at first. That work is faithfulness. Faithfulness produces fruit.
Rev 2:14-17 “14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”
Rev 2:20-23 “20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”
Rev 3:1-3 “‘1 I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.”
Rev 3:15-18 “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Almost every church He commands to repent. The churches He tells to repent He also commends some in those churches who are faithful and not indulging in that behavior. For a Christian, keeping yourself holy (set apart, different) as Christ is Holy is of the utmost importance.
Conclusion
Salvation is secure because Christ is sufficient.True believers persevere, not because they hold onto God perfectly, but because God holds onto them completely. Enabling them by the power of His Spirit to do His will, not our own.
If you are in Christ, your confidence rests not in your grip on Him, but in His grip on you.
Fear not, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.