Lost or Never Saved?

There is a belief that God's wonderful promises and commands about perseverance in Him mean that a saved person cannot lose their salvation, no matter what they do. Therefore, because we have Biblical warnings about fallen Christians, it must mean these fallen Christians were never truly saved to begin with - because salvation is impossible to lose.

Surely there are indeed people calling themselves Christians, but who never were. There doesn't seem to be a Biblical reason to think that is always the case with fallen Christians though. The Bible often describes believers who fall away from Jesus as becoming unsaved, rather than always having had some unsaving kind of faith. In this section we will discuss verses which show that truly saved Christians can fall and lose their salvation.

The saved can definitely die

The following verses very clearly show that people who are saved may then continue in or return to their sins, losing their salvation. We know they were previously saved, because they are described as such.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:26-29 (ESV)

This passage is talking about people who received the knowledge of Jesus' truth from the Lord, and who were sanctified. This must be referring to once truly saved people, not people with a counterfeit faith that never saved them. Their status of having no sacrifice for their sin anymore, but instead having fear of an expected judgement and fire which is for God's adversaries, shows that deliberately sinning after salvation causes spiritual death. Their destination is Hell instead of Heaven. This passage seems to link in well with an earlier one in Hebrews.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Hebrews 6:4-6 (KJV)

Not only can the saved fall away to spiritual death, but they can fall away in such a way as to be beyond recovery! The Hebrews 10 reference could be talking about such irretrievably lost people too, considering that it's in the same book of the Bible and uses some powerful wording. Perhaps some sort of deliberate renouncing or turning away from the Holy Spirit could be referred to there. Maybe it is related to the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which Jesus warned about in Mark 3:28-30.

However, we shouldn't forget that we have plenty of other evidence in the Bible, like the sin and subsequent repentance of David and Peter, that believers can usually repent of their sin. It seems that something more than simple sinning, or 'worse' (so to speak) than denying Jesus, could be meant in the above passages. After all, Peter's example shows that denying Christ can be repented from.

Another point is that just because Hebrews 10 is talking about deliberate sin, it doesn't mean we can ignore unintentional sins. We are to strive to be perfect. We should take all our sins to God and fight against them. Here is another passage showing that the saved can die.

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 2 Peter 2:20-21 (ESV)

Again, this passage certainly seems to start with a description of truly saved people, as they are said to have escaped the world's defilements through Christ. But if they are "overcome" by sin again, it becomes clear they are no longer saved. If they retained their salvation it seems unlikely that it would be described as being worse for these people than never having it. If they later repented though, which this passage doesn't say is impossible, God would welcome them back, just like the person in the story below.

The Prodigal Son

The story of the "Prodigal Son" also seems to demonstrate that the truly saved may lose their salvation. It is a bit long to reproduce here, but it is told by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32. The prodigal was a son (implying he was God's son, saved in the Lord). He wasn't snatched away from his father, but he did walk away into rebellion and sin. Doing so made him "dead" and "lost". Returning, though, made him alive again (not "for the first time").

for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Luke 15:24 (ASV)

Falling away during testing

In Luke 8:4-15 we can read about Jesus explaining one of His parables. This one was about seeds, representing the word of God, which were sown by a farmer, and what happened to them. We'll just focus here on the part of the parable where some believed but then lost their salvation.

Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Luke 8:6 (NIV)

Jesus went on to explain the meaning of the parable.

Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. Luke 8:13 (NIV)

People who received the word of life joyfully and who did believe in Christ for a time sound like individuals who found salvation. That didn't stop them from falling away and withering during testing though, which doesn't suggest they kept their salvation.

Warnings from Galatians

Much of Galatians 5 and 6 warns Christians ("brothers") against indulging the flesh, or sinfulness, and shows that people who do live sinfully will not have eternal life.

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 (NASB^®)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 (ESV)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:7-9 (NIV)

Remember, these warnings were written to brethren, or fellow believers in the Lord. They are described as being those who will have life eternal and a harvest if they persist. Therefore it seems to be referring to saved people, rather than people who have yet to know God. If this is so, then the fact that they are warned about those who won't inherit the Lord's kingdom, or who won't be saved, in Galatians 5:21 suggests that there is a risk that they may lose a salvation they currently possess.

Thus far...

It's definitely true that saved Christians may fall away from the Lord, to the loss of their salvation. It also seems to be correct to say that they can usually return to Him in repentance, like the prodigal son.

The final section has points on why this overall topic is important to discuss, understand and believe correctly about.

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