Salvation is a free gift from God.
A Christian is a person who has received by faith and fully trusts in Christ as the only Savior. Of course, there are many Bible verses to support that state the famous one is John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2: 8-9). There are many more illustrations of Salvation. Most, if not all, what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior. Therefore, the only requirement for someone to be saved is by faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person summons Jesus Christ, he/she needs to be reborn.
Salvation has generally considered God’s grace, and it is not the merit of man, but the gift from God for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of the people who live on earth. And salvation, according to the Bible, is the deliverance of man from his sins. Therefore, from severe consequences, namely, from death and hell. Besides, salvation is possible, thanks to the manifestation of God’s love. Regardless of what actions someone does – forgiveness can only be earned by faith, but not by money or deeds; People can worship only God since Salvation comes only through Him. Hence, just as a person believes in the redemption of sin through Jesus, faith in God is also salvation;
Once saved – always saved?
Doctor Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, said: “There is salvation outside the Church, but there is no salvation outside Christ!” When can I be saved? Today is a great day because it is a day of Salvation! Every day is a good day to ask God for forgiveness. But, what if I am saved? Can I lose my Salvation? The short answer is: No. Salvation cannot be annulled, and a Christian cannot reverse a rebirth. Redemption cannot be undone. Hence, eternal life cannot be lost if it is already everlasting. If Christians can lose their salvation, then God must change His Word and His mind – and these are two things that according, to the Bible, He never does.
The Christian is justified; he has a promise of eternal life and glory. Since we are therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Son has reconciled us to God the Father. All those who received Jesus Christ as Savior was declared righteous by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to change His word and deny what He has revealed. Eternal life is the promise of everlasting life with God in heaven. God promises, “Belief and you will have eternal life.” If a believer loses this promise, eternal life would be taken from him.
If a Christian has eternal life, then how can God break His word by taking away eternal life? It is one of the many illustrations why can say for sure, once saved, always saved. As we saw in Romans 5: 1, justification is announced the moment a person believes. According to Romans 8:30, glory is provided for all those whom God has justified. In this context, glory refers to the fact that a Christian will receive a perfectly resurrected body in heaven. If a Christian can lose eternal life, then Romans 8:30 is wrong because God could not guarantee glory for all those He predestined, called, and justified.
The most common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation
- What about those Christians who are constantly living an immoral life?
The Lord makes in us that we want to do as He pleases. He who does not have the Spirit of Christ is definitely not His. A good tree gives good fruits, and so are people who are faithful or not. There are a lot of actors in churches, for sure. But the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest, and then the Lord will separate the people. God’s child can fall but never remain in sin because the Spirit leads him from within to repentance. It is His service in us. However, we should not judge anyone.
2. What about those Christians who were once Christians but later rejected the faith and denied Christ?
The problem with these two objections is the expression “who are Christians.” The Bible states that a true Christian will not live an immoral life (1 John 3: 6). The Bible states that anyone who leaves the faith shows that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). That is why neither of these two objections stands. Christians do not live worldly all the time, nor do they reject faith and deny Christ. Such actions show that they were never even redeemed. Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8: 38-39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28-29).