[Rick Shabi] I recently heard a preacher, well known on YouTube, answer the question, is it possible to lose your salvation? I listened to what he said, and, frankly, he answered incorrectly, stating that, once you receive salvation, it can't be taken away. Many out there have been taught the false doctrine of, once saved, you're always saved. It's a widespread Christian misunderstanding, and it shows that people are giving answers and believing things that simply aren't in the Bible. If you believe Jesus Christ is your savior and His Word is truth as He emphatically states, don't you need to know what the Bible actually says? Shouldn't you actually believe the Bible, God's Word, rather than the word of a man or a church? The answer to the question, "Can you lose your salvation?" is emphatically yes. It's not what God wants, it's not what anyone wants for you, but it can happen.

Let's read what His Word makes perfectly clear. Look at a few scriptures in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 6:4-6, it says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame." A few chapters ahead in Hebrews 10:26-31, it says, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he, who sins willfully, be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

You might want to go back and read those scriptures again yourself and look at every word. There's a lot to absorb in those scriptures, but it is God's Word, and it is true. You can lose your salvation, and if you do, it will be your own fault. Your first thought might be, "This just isn't true." But stick with us, and let's go back and look at this from the biblical perspective. Read the Bible, and don't just listen to a man's opinion. Hear what Christ actually has to say. First, let's establish a few facts as the basis of this, then we'll get into detail straight from the Bible of how salvation might be lost.

The first thing you will remember that Christ said as He began His ministry was repent. Repent and believe in the gospel. You will remember that the Apostle Paul said that our calling after we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit is to grow to the measure of the stature and fullness of Jesus Christ, that is we are to strive to live our lives becoming more like Him. You will remember that Christ said to His disciples, "Follow me, and if you love me, keep the commandments." There is a change in life required of us when we follow Christ.

Let's start with that first step. That's repentance. Christ said do this first. Peter said the same thing when he said that God isn't willing that any should perish. He wants everyone to receive salvation, but all must come to repentance. Repentance is the first step to salvation. Well, what is repentance? It's not just saying a little prayer asking God to forgive you like so many popular ministers say today. Repentance is a whole lot more. It is recognizing the sacrifice of Christ. It is humbly asking forgiveness for our sins, but it also means there is a complete change that we are ready to make in our lives. It means we are ready and willing and committed to give up our past way of life and to dedicate ourselves to living by the standards, the precepts, and the commandments in the Bible. It means turning to God and striving to live as Christ lived. Remember, Christ said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." "Follow me," He said, "not the ways of the world." So repentance and turning to God, living a life of change is the first step.

Then the next step towards salvation is baptism, as Peter says in Acts 2. There he says, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." That's in Acts 2:38. Truly repent in the way the Bible directs, then be baptized for the remission of sins, and then after that, a minister of Jesus Christ who teaches the truth of the Bible lays hands on you and asks for God to give you His Holy Spirit. You find that in Acts 19:6. Well, let me just stop here for a moment. Is that what happened to you? Did you truly repent, as Christ in the Bible says, or did you just say a little prayer? Did you understand that baptism is a type of death and that you are stating to God that you are giving up your life, that you are devoted to living and becoming like Christ, devoted to living a sinless life the way the Bible describes?

Remember or have you ever heard that the Apostle John said that anyone who has this hope of eternal life, that is salvation, purifies himself? That's in 1 John 3:3. That purification process is a continual lifelong struggle. That's what repentance and baptism symbolize, an eternal commitment to strive to live a sinless life which is pleasing to the Father and Jesus Christ. So if all those things occurred, you would have received the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God that enables you to overcome sin, overcome the world, and overcome your own human nature. When God gives the Holy Spirit, seeing the sincerity in your commitment, He is literally putting His power, His essence in you, the same Spirit that was in Jesus Christ. That Holy Spirit is the most valuable thing in your life when you receive it.

In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul describes the process. There he says, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest or down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory." There's a lot of words in that verse too. Go back and look at them and study them. Notice that God gives the Holy Spirit not as a guarantee, as some translations of the Bible mistranslate and as many preachers will tell you, but He gives it as an earnest money or a down payment. Earnest money is a common term. When you buy a house and the offer is accepted, you put down some earnest money to show your intent to complete the purchase. It doesn't guarantee you will get the house. There are several things you have to do. You have to get a mortgage. You have to get title insurance. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to get to closing. If you fail, you lose the house and you lose your earnest or down payment. It's the same thing with God.

When you repent and represent to Him that you will follow Him and become like Jesus Christ, dedicating your life to that, God gives the Holy Spirit as an earnest or down payment. He wants you to endure to the end. He wants you to live your life as He called you. To receive the gift of eternal life, that is salvation, means that you continue to walk with Him, following His example and changing your life, becoming like Him the rest of your life. Receiving the Holy Spirit now doesn't give you eternal life or salvation. Eternal life is granted at the return of Jesus Christ only to those who live a life of repentance and turning to Him.

Notice Christ's words in John 5:28-29. "Marvel not," He says, "at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, they that have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." If you turn back to your old ways and sins and forget God, you can lose that earnest money and lose salvation. God's Word is clear. Peter summed it all up this way in 2 Peter 2:20-22, "For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, if they are again entangled in them and overcome by them, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, 'A dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.'"

Yes, you can lose salvation. There is so much more to know about what a loving, merciful God has planned for those who love Him and yield to Him in this life. You don't know these things because you haven't been told. There is hope. There is a future. There is a plan of salvation for mankind that you can't even fathom. You need to learn the truth. Open your Bible and see what God's Word really says. You can learn much more from the United Church of God, which teaches the truth of the Bible exactly as Jesus Christ and the New Testament apostles did. You may be surprised at what you learn, at what you didn't know. Check us out at ucg.org and prove it for yourself.