Can I be lost after having been saved?

---

“Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” - Hebrews 10:38 It is helpful to recognize that the beliefs people have are often built upon a broader framework of beliefs. The idea behind guaranteed salvation goes back to John Calvin’s view that God in eternity past elected (chose) some to be saved and others to be lost. This teaching is also known as Determinism. It is often based on a reading of texts like Ephesians 1:5 which generally speaks of God predestining people to be saved and Romans 8:29-30 which references a similar concept. In both cases, what "predestination" means is not fully explained. As a result, many people interpret them to refer to determinism. These ideas can be deeply rooted and difficult to dislodge if one is not openminded and willing to re-evaluate them. The Bible does, however, provide a bigger picture which can be helpful for Determinists to consider. According to 1 Timothy 2:4, God desires “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” According to Luke 7:30, we see that it is possible for human beings to outright reject God’s purpose as demonstrated by the Pharisees who did this: “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him (John the Baptist).” Furthermore, it is worth noting that Romans 8:29-30 provides insight into the teaching of predestination which Determinists use to claim that God destined people ahead of time to be saved or lost. Take a look at what it says: 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Here, we see several concepts referred to, including God’s foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justifying, and glorifying. These are complex terms but they do not have to be complicated to understand as long as we look at how they relate to each other. Just by reading this passage, it is easy to note that whatever one takes foreknowledge (knowing the future) to mean, it still requires God’s action in the form of predestination (choosing the future). Furthermore, whatever predestination means, it still requires God’s calling upon an individual. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: If God foreknows something and then predestines it (decides that it will happen ahead of time), why would He need to then call someone? The very idea of "calling" implies a process of hearing and freely responding. So at least according to Paul, it seems that when God sees the future by foreknowing it (knowing it ahead of time), merely seeing it is not the same as causing it. This is because he still has to predestine it next. Similarly, we might know that the sun will rise tomorrow, or even that it will rain; but this does not mean we caused it! Even when God predestines the future through predestination, however, Romans 8:30 notes He still calls people before He can justify them. So it appears that only once human beings freely respond in an appropriate way, does He justify them. After justification, glorification follows when He returns (Philippians 3:20-21). This idea harmonizes perfectly with God who, in Ezekiel 33:11 states that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wickedness and live! Why express a desire for them to change if God had already decided such a thing? This is echoed in the New Testament in Acts 2:38-39 where Peter calls for people to repent and follow Jesus. He explains that God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is for all whom He calls. Whom does God call? Acts 17:30 tells us that God is calling for everyone to repent! This is precisely why all the apostles were so driven to reach the whole world in obedience to Jesus. Jesus himself had told them to make disciples of all nations, to tell them about Him, and to get them to obey him (Matthew 28:19-20). With this long explanation in place, the final question to ask is: Once we are saved, does the Bible teach we cannot be lost? The simple answer is no. The Bible instead teaches that we can still choose to sin. In fact, if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8, 10). John goes on to tell us that if we do sin, we can confess them to Jesus who will forgive us (1 John 1:9, 2:1). John also says that if we do not keep His commandments, the truth is not in us. Lastly, Paul asks the following question in Romans 6:1-2: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Here, like John, Paul effectively rebukes those who think they can go on sinning and remain a follower of Christ. Paul emphasizes that living under grace is associated with choosing not to allow sin to have dominion over us (Romans 6:13-14). Just as Paul challenged Timothy, we are not to share in other people’s sins, but to keep ourselves pure (1 Timothy 5:22). Fortunately, we are not left to fight our battles on our own because Jesus can enable us to overcome and live victorious lives (Philippians 4:13). Additional Texts: Ezekiel 18:24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die." Hebrews 10:38 "Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”