We’ll delve into the multifaceted theology of salvation (aka soteriology). We’ll look at all three tenses of salvation: how we were saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Now, I realize this can be a very sensitive and controversial subject, depending on what your preexisting doctrinal commitments are. However, I simply ask that you listen carefully and test what I say here against the scriptures to see whether it holds up. Be a good Berean and see where God leads you.
In Paul’s letters we find several different ways of talking about what God has done in Christ. The most common is that we are “saved.” Here is (perhaps) the most famous Scripture about how God has saved us.
Ephesians 2:8-9 God’s salvation is a gift that we accept by faith. His grace reaches down, and we reach up through faith. Then He pulls us up and out. Because salvation doesn’t depend on works, no one can say, “I’ve earned it; I’m so great.” Instead, we say God did it. Isn’t He glorious?
In addition to describing gracious act as “salvation,” we also see these other ways of talking about, each emphasizing a different aspect of what He has done for us through Christ:
Rom 5:10-11; 1 Cor 7:11; 2 Cor 5:18-20; Eph 2:16; Col 1:20-22
adopted
Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5
sanctified
1 Cor 1:2; 6:11; Eph 5:26
redeemed
Gal 3:13; 4:5; Tit 2:14
regenerated
Tit 3:5
When considering salvation (in the past tense), we may ask the question, “What are we saved from?” This question is extremely helpful in clarifying our understanding. Fortunately, we need only go back up to the beginning of the chapter to get the answer we seek.
Ephesians 2:1-10 According to verses 1-3, we’re saved from being dead in sin, going along with evil spiritual forces, living in the passions of our flesh, and being a child of wrath. Verse 7 tells us we have a future to look forward to as well. But, if we’re saved, what does that mean about how our lives should look? Verse 10 tells us the purpose of our salvation is for good works that we should walk in.
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 The Corinthians had already received the gospel some time ago; they believed it when they heard it. Now they are “being saved.”[3] Salvation is not just a one-time event, though there is an entry point. We become saved, and then we continue in that reality. Is it possible to lose your salvation?
We affirm that when a person responds in faith to the Gospel, God promises to complete the process of salvation in the believer into eternity. This process begins with justification, whereby the sinner is immediately acquitted of all sin and granted peace with God; continues in sanctification, whereby the saved are progressively conformed to the image of Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit; and concludes in glorification, whereby the saint enjoys life with Christ in heaven forever.
We deny that this Holy Spirit-sealed relationship can ever be broken. We deny even the possibility of apostasy.
Lutheran Churches
Formula of Concord: XI Election
Therefore we should judge concerning this our election to eternal life neither from reason nor from the Law of God, which lead us either into a reckless, dissolute, Epicurean life or into despair, and excite pernicious thoughts in the hearts of men, for they cannot, as long as they follow their reason, successfully refrain from thinking: If God has elected me to salvation, I cannot be condemned, no matter what I do; and again: If I am not elected to eternal life, it is of no avail what good I do; it is all in vain anyway.
Westminster Confession of Faith
Chapter XVII: Of the Perseverance of the Saints
They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say?
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 This verse clearly teaches that you must “hold fast” to the preached word or else you believe in vain. Only by persevering in faith do you remain saved. Of course, this is not the only verse in Paul’s letters about this.[5]
Colossians 1:21-23
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Bob Mathieson explains this well:
“Many people are concerned about this, and I understand their concern initially, because they have made themselves feel good about the fact they could never lose it–it scares them. Someone says, “Are you telling me I can lose my salvation?” My response to that is, “That’s the wrong way to put it. You lose your car keys; you don’t lose your salvation. You forfeit your salvation; you walk away from your salvation. You don’t lose it. It not something where you are going to be surprised. This is a deliberate saying, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do with my life, I’m not going to continue to make Jesus Lord, and I’m going to continue on in some kind of sinful way.’ The only thing left then, is a fiery judgment that God will judge.”[6]
Also in Romans 11:13-24, Paul uses the illustration of an olive tree to show that the we remain connected by faith. If we cease to believe, then like a withered branch, the gardener will cut us off. Still, we can get back into the tree if we return to faith.
Romans 8:35-39 As long as we continue in genuine faith, God protects us from anything coming between us.
Romans 13:11-14 Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. What are we saved from in the future? According to Romans 5:9, “we will be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Through resurrection God will save us from sickness, pain, suffering, and death. By establishing the Kingdom, God will deliver us from the anxieties, fears, and sufferings of living in a world in rebellion to Him.
Romans 13:11-14 We don’t wait passively for our ultimate salvation. Instead, we walk properly, living for God day by day.
2 Timothy 2:11-13
The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him,
We will also live with him;
If we endure,
We will also reign with him;
If we deny him,
He also will deny us;
If we are faithless,
He remains faithful–
For he cannot deny himself.
3 thoughts on “Theology 21 — Conditional Salvation”
Good presentation, evenly handled. But I believe that when one is truly saved he or she cannot lose his or her salvation. But there are people who as Jesus said hear the Word with joy and then fall away. John in his first letter tells us “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (2:19).” It is not that continuation in the faith brings one to final salvation. It is that those truly saved continue in the faith. Thanks again. God bless you!
So, this is one issue that I was finally able to sort out once I realized that “lose” is the wrong word to use. As I did my research on this topic, I discovered that the word “lose” is in none of the scriptures everyone cites when discussing this topic. The OSAS concept is strictly anchored to this word and that is the problem. Word choice is important. You touched on this point. Losing something implies being impacted by carelessness or some circumstance beyond our control, which could include theft or forceful “snatching”, that would cause us to no longer possess something. This uncontrollable and circumstantial situation is completely different from what Hebrews 6 describes as a very intentional changing one’s mind and heart, rebelling against God and abandoning or relinquishing the salvation God offers through Christ. Word choice is important. You can never lose your salvation, but you can abandon it – and never again be able to re-acquire it.
Hebrews 6 is very clear on this topic. This passage describes, in no uncertain terms, someone who was NOT faking it. They were “enlightened”, which is a work of the holy spirit on their mind and heart. They “tasted of the heavenly gift”, which could be interpreted as only trying it out but the word geuomai, Strong’s G1089, also means “to take food, eat, to take nourishment, eat.” That is not simply trying it out. The definitive matter is them being “partakers of the holy ghost.” The word is metochos, Strong’s G3353, which means “participant, i.e. (as noun) a sharer; by implication, an associate:—fellow, partaker, partner.” This is NOT a poser. This is clearly someone who is all in. They “tasted the good word of God”. This is not the logos, rather it is the rema, Strong’s G4487, which means “an utterance (individually, collectively or specially); by implication, a matter or topic (especially of narration, command or dispute); with a negative naught whatever:—+ evil, + nothing, saying, word.” They were in the word. Finally, they “tasted the powers of the world.” Check out Strong’s, and you will see that this phrase could even be describing someone who was casting out demons. There can be no reasonable argument against the fact that these folks were “in the Father’s hand” and clearly “among us.” This is not the poser of 1 John 2:19.
Hebrews 6 also clearly says one can remove themselves from the hand of God. The word for “fall away” is parapipto; “from G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, i.e. (figuratively) to apostatize: —fall away.” This is not the concept of accidentally tripping, making a mistake, or falling down, and then being punished by having your salvation taken away. Rather, it is the idea from G4098 pipto; to descend from a higher place to a lower. This descending is a result of the choice of the person who turns their back on God.
Your example of the gal that “backslid” is important but I have a different take on it. Sinful acts don’t determine our salvation – if so, everyone would be damned. No one stops sinning after confessing Jesus as their kyrios. It is easy to point fingers at someone who “goes too far” in our opinion but I think we should never play the game “Spot the Christian.” I think people are very capable to saying and doing very stupid things but that does not mean they have abandoned Jesus as their authority – even though they might be disobeying that authority. I think abandoning one’s salvation is the exact opposite of getting it. Confess that you no longer recognized Jesus as the Supreme Authority for your life and that you no longer care to seek God. That is what will change your status with Jesus and God. And our salvation is determined by our status.
Sorry for this being so long but one more point. Romans 8:35-39 – nothing can separate us from the love of God has nothing to do with “losing one’s salvation.” The phrase is “from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” This is a reiteration of the finality of Christ’s work in removing the only obstacle between us and God – our rebellion.
Always a blessing to listen to your teaching. Thanks!
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Good presentation, evenly handled. But I believe that when one is truly saved he or she cannot lose his or her salvation. But there are people who as Jesus said hear the Word with joy and then fall away. John in his first letter tells us “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (2:19).” It is not that continuation in the faith brings one to final salvation. It is that those truly saved continue in the faith. Thanks again. God bless you!
No mention of Eph1:3-14 ? 🙂
So, this is one issue that I was finally able to sort out once I realized that “lose” is the wrong word to use. As I did my research on this topic, I discovered that the word “lose” is in none of the scriptures everyone cites when discussing this topic. The OSAS concept is strictly anchored to this word and that is the problem. Word choice is important. You touched on this point. Losing something implies being impacted by carelessness or some circumstance beyond our control, which could include theft or forceful “snatching”, that would cause us to no longer possess something. This uncontrollable and circumstantial situation is completely different from what Hebrews 6 describes as a very intentional changing one’s mind and heart, rebelling against God and abandoning or relinquishing the salvation God offers through Christ. Word choice is important. You can never lose your salvation, but you can abandon it – and never again be able to re-acquire it.
Hebrews 6 is very clear on this topic. This passage describes, in no uncertain terms, someone who was NOT faking it. They were “enlightened”, which is a work of the holy spirit on their mind and heart. They “tasted of the heavenly gift”, which could be interpreted as only trying it out but the word geuomai, Strong’s G1089, also means “to take food, eat, to take nourishment, eat.” That is not simply trying it out. The definitive matter is them being “partakers of the holy ghost.” The word is metochos, Strong’s G3353, which means “participant, i.e. (as noun) a sharer; by implication, an associate:—fellow, partaker, partner.” This is NOT a poser. This is clearly someone who is all in. They “tasted the good word of God”. This is not the logos, rather it is the rema, Strong’s G4487, which means “an utterance (individually, collectively or specially); by implication, a matter or topic (especially of narration, command or dispute); with a negative naught whatever:—+ evil, + nothing, saying, word.” They were in the word. Finally, they “tasted the powers of the world.” Check out Strong’s, and you will see that this phrase could even be describing someone who was casting out demons. There can be no reasonable argument against the fact that these folks were “in the Father’s hand” and clearly “among us.” This is not the poser of 1 John 2:19.
Hebrews 6 also clearly says one can remove themselves from the hand of God. The word for “fall away” is parapipto; “from G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, i.e. (figuratively) to apostatize: —fall away.” This is not the concept of accidentally tripping, making a mistake, or falling down, and then being punished by having your salvation taken away. Rather, it is the idea from G4098 pipto; to descend from a higher place to a lower. This descending is a result of the choice of the person who turns their back on God.
Your example of the gal that “backslid” is important but I have a different take on it. Sinful acts don’t determine our salvation – if so, everyone would be damned. No one stops sinning after confessing Jesus as their kyrios. It is easy to point fingers at someone who “goes too far” in our opinion but I think we should never play the game “Spot the Christian.” I think people are very capable to saying and doing very stupid things but that does not mean they have abandoned Jesus as their authority – even though they might be disobeying that authority. I think abandoning one’s salvation is the exact opposite of getting it. Confess that you no longer recognized Jesus as the Supreme Authority for your life and that you no longer care to seek God. That is what will change your status with Jesus and God. And our salvation is determined by our status.
Sorry for this being so long but one more point. Romans 8:35-39 – nothing can separate us from the love of God has nothing to do with “losing one’s salvation.” The phrase is “from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” This is a reiteration of the finality of Christ’s work in removing the only obstacle between us and God – our rebellion.
Always a blessing to listen to your teaching. Thanks!