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QUESTION 162
Is it possible for a person to be truly saved and have eternal life to be lost again?

ANSWER:
This is an age old question and still most often asked. I do not know of any scripture that teaches that a person can be truly saved and be lost and saved again. The very nature of eternal life would deny ever being lost again. To have it and lose it would mean it was not eternal to begin with, Romans 6:23 says.. "the GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE. John 10:28 "I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE.." 1 John 5:11, God has given unto us eternal life. There and many other verses that teach us that "ETERNAL LIFE" is a gift from God. Romans 11:29 says, "...that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance" It means He does not change His mind and take them back again.

The only kind of salvation our Lord Jesus has provided is called "Eternal salvation" in Hebrews 5:9. Since salvation is all of the Lord. Psalms 3:8 and Jonah 2:7. He will not start what He cannot complete, so Philippians 1:6 "...He that hath begun a good work in you WILL PERFORM IT until the day of Christ. In Romans 8:30, God sees the believer not only called and justified but also glorified. The latter has not yet taken place, but God views it here as being already complete.

The problem with this teaching is like much other, it is often greatly abused. Some one believes, wrongly so, that if one makes a profession of faith in Christ he is automatically eternally saved. The same book that teaches the eternal salvation of God's people teaches us that certain marks would be evident in the lives of those who are saved. Read carefully the first Epistle of John. He gives us the marks of a born-again believer. We have no right to regard a person as saved at all that does not bear the marks of a saved person. James says that we cannot show our faith apart from works of faith, James 2:14-16, Hebrews 6:9, teaches us that there "are things that accompany salvation."

My thoughts about a so called backslider isn't whether he or she is eternally saved, but were they ever saved at all. Did they ever have a true knowledge of salvation? Were they ever truly born-again? I have found from experience that talking with many such that the majority of them never had the true understanding of the plan or way of salvation. To many such, they "gave it a try," instead of falling helplessly on the mercy of God as it is in Christ. Let the soul that is resting upon the finished work of Christ rest assured that "NOTHING" shall separate them from the love of God as it is in Christ. Romans 8:39.

Let the soul that is still unsaved "Believe (trust, rely on) on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved" Acts 16:31.

All comments and questions to: Harold Smith

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Updated July 2009, by Shelly Allen