Can I Lose My Salvation?

All right, as we come to God's Word this morning,

as promised, we're going to be dealing with this question.

Can I lose my salvation?

It's a big question, and so I hope you don't mind.

There's going to be a big answer,

and we're going to go a few minutes longer today,

so grace yourselves.

Kids, feel free to get a clipboard if you haven't got one yet.

I can't really chop this into two pieces,

and I will try to go a few minutes less next Sunday.

So here we go.

Can I lose my salvation?

We've come to this as we've been exploring Jesus' teaching

about vine and branches and fruit in John 15,

and he's made some statements that kind of get us wondering.

He, referring to his father, said,

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.

And then again in verse 6, he said,

If you do not remain in me,

you're like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

So the question arises,

is Jesus saying that there's a real danger of losing our salvation,

or of losing our vital connection with Jesus once we have it.

We're going to be moving pretty quickly today.

There's lots of scriptures, so let's go.

Let's start with verse 2.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.

The big question here is,

what does Jesus mean when he says that the branches are in me?

And there are two views, two major views.

One view is that every branch in me refers to genuine,

born-again followers of Jesus,

and that being cut off refers to them losing their saving connection to Christ.

The second view is that every branch in me refers to all visible followers of Christ,

all who claim the name of Christ,

and that the branches that are cut off refers only to those among the visible church

who are not true, born-again believers,

who are believers in name only.

And while there's debate and disagreement over this,

I will tell you today that the second view is really the only one that fits

with the rest of the Bible's teaching on the subject.

And we're going to look at that teaching today.

We can also reason this out and arrive at number two

just by looking a little more closely at Jesus' own words in this passage.

Which branches are cut off?

Well, Jesus says it's the ones that bear no fruit.

And down in verse five, he says,

If you remain in me and die in you, you will bear much fruit.

So there's a guaranteed fruitfulness for all branches that remain in the vine.

All who stay connected to Christ, who continue to follow him,

continue to believe in him.

Which means that the branches that are cut off

are only those who don't remain in Christ,

who don't have that faith,

who don't continue to follow him.

We might picture it this way.

If the church is a fruit tree,

Jesus is the trunk.

Those who attend the church are the branches.

And at the end of our church's story,

there will be some branches which look dead

and have no fruit on them at all.

While others around them will have much fruit on them.

And it will be obvious.

Those that have no fruit and look dead

are that way for a reason.

There has been a problem with their connection to the tree.

They haven't really been connected

as the other branches have all along.

And that's why there's no fruit.

That's why there's no life in the branch.

Now they might look from the outward view of things

to be connected to Christ,

to be part of the tree,

but it's really the fruit produced.

That's the evidence of whether they have

the life-giving flow of the tree coming into them.

And in all such cases,

the problem is not with the tree,

the main trunk.

The problem is not with Jesus,

the source of life,

the one who enables us to produce much fruit.

The problem lies with the branch

and its own connection to the tree.

Did that person remain in Christ?

Did they truly repent and believe in Him

and hold fast to Him and His word?

Or was it only a superficial thing?

A thing of appearances?

Were they merely pretending?

Calling themselves Christians,

but not really believing from the heart?

What Jesus is getting at here is this.

The mark of every true believer

is the presence of fruit in their lives.

And it makes sense.

The mark of everyone who has been born again

by the Holy Spirit

is the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces

in our lives.

And there's no defectiveness in God's Spirit.

If the Spirit of Christ lives in you,

you will bear that good fruit.

And if the Spirit of Christ does not live in you,

the branch of your life will be bare

and you will be cut off, says Jesus.

These words of Jesus are a warning

that there is no substitute

for genuinely remaining in Jesus.

There's no substitute for sincerely embracing

for sincerely embracing Jesus Christ.

All that He is.

All that He did.

All that He says.

There's no substitute for a sincere faith.

And eventually it will become obvious

who are the pretenders

and who are the real deal.

who are the imposters

and who are the true children of the kingdom.

So that's verse 2.

On to verse 6.

Jesus says,

If anyone does not remain in Me,

he is thrown away like a branch

and dries up.

And they gather them

and throw them into the fire.

And they are burned.

Again, there are two views here.

Some may suggest

that you can't stay connected to Jesus

unless you've been connected

in the first place.

And accordingly,

they might say,

Well, you could choose

at some point in your life

not to continue with Jesus.

This view would say

that you had eternal life,

but then you lost it.

The other way of understanding this

would be this,

that this warning Jesus gives

is for all who claim

to be a follower of Jesus,

for all who visibly identify themselves

with Jesus in some way.

And this warning by God's grace

causes those who are truly born again

to remain in Him.

They see the consequences

of forsaking Him.

But some who are now claiming

to be followers of Christ

and are not truly born again,

they are the ones

who do not remain in the vine

and suffer this awful fate described.

And again,

I think this second view

better reflects

what the rest of the Bible teaches

about our salvation.

All of this has to do

with an important doctrine

of our faith.

Eternal security

is sometimes what we call it.

Eternal security of the believer.

Other times,

it's referred to

as the perseverance

of the saints.

Now,

some Christians

will get into a squabble

about the labels

and which one

is the right one.

You might hear,

I believe in eternal security.

And those perseverance

of the saints people,

you guys are preaching

works-based salvation.

Or,

I believe in perseverance

of the saints.

It's all over the New Testament.

And those

eternal security people

are giving people

false assurance

of salvation.

salvation.

But when it comes

right down to it,

there is no need

to squabble about this.

Both of these labels

are helpful

and they capture

a biblical truth.

It's not a case

of either or.

It's both.

Neither of these

biblical truths

on their own

tells the whole story

of how we are saved.

So let's get into

some passages

and see both of these

clearly taught

from the Word of God.

First of all,

Jesus and the apostles

did teach

that true

born-again believers

are secure

in their salvation

and cannot lose it.

John chapter 10

John 10:26

verse 26.

But you do not believe

because you are not

my sheep.

My sheep listen

to my voice.

I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life

and they shall

never perish.

No one will snatch

them out of my hand.

My Father

who has given

them to me

is greater than all.

No one can snatch

them out of

my Father's hand.

So Jesus describes

his relationship

with those who

truly believe

as being

they are his sheep.

He is their shepherd.

They are his sheep.

And there's no

superficiality here.

There's no wondering

whether or not

they are true sheep.

Jesus says

I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life

and they shall

never perish.

No one can snatch

them out of my hand.

No one can snatch

them out of my

Father's hand.

Eternal life.

Never perish.

It doesn't say

they'll never perish

unless they change

their mind

about me.

No.

We'll never change

our mind

about Jesus

our shepherd

because we know him.

He is in us.

We are in him.

We love him.

Now some have noticed

here that it says

no one can snatch

them out of my hand.

And some will say

well it doesn't say

that we can't jump

out of the Father's hand

or remove ourselves

from the Father's hand.

I'm going to defer

this one to the words

of Wayne Grudem.

To those who suggest

we might remove

ourselves from

Christ's hand

this is what he has

to say.

He says

that seems to be

pedantic

quibbling over words.

does not

no one

also include

the person

who is in

Christ's hand.

Moreover

we know

that our own hearts

are far from

trustworthy.

Therefore

if the possibility

remained

that we could

just remove

ourselves

from Christ's hand

this passage

would hardly

give the assurance

that Jesus

intends by it.

I agree.

We shouldn't

pick at the words

here and what

seems to be

missing from them

at the expense

of the whole

point Jesus

is making.

Jesus is

saying that

his sheep

are secure

forever.

That there's

no threat.

There's no

danger.

Nothing can

change that.

Let's look at

another passage

which affirms

that true

born again

believers

are secure

in their salvation

and cannot

lose it.

Romans chapter

Romans 8:29

8 verse

29.

For those

God foreknew

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the image

of his son

that he

might be

the firstborn

among many

brothers and

sisters

and those

he predestined

he also

called.

Those he

called

he also

justified.

Those he

justified

he also

glorified.

What then

shall we say

in response

to these

things?

If God

is for us

who can

be against

us?

He who

did not

spare his

own son

but gave

him up

for us

all.

How

will he

not

also

along

with

him

freely

give

us

all

things?

Who

will

bring

any

charge

against

those

whom

God

has

chosen?

It

is

God

who

justifies.

Who

then

is

the

one

who

condemns?

No

one.

Christ

Jesus

who

died

more

than

that

who

is

raised

to

life

is

at

the

right

hand

of

God

and

is

also

interceding

for

us.

Who

shall

separate

us

from

the

love

of

Christ

shall

trouble

or

hardship

or

persecution

or

famine

or

nakedness

or

danger

or

sword

as

it

is

written

for

your

sake

we

face

death

all

day

long

we

are

considered

as

sheep

to

be

slaughtered

no

in

all

these

things

we

are

more

than

conquerors

through

him

who

loved

us

for

I

am

convinced

that

neither

death

nor

life

neither

angels

nor

demons

neither

the

present

nor

the

future

nor

any

powers

neither

height

nor

depth

nor

anything

else

in

all

creation

will

be able

to

separate

us

from

the

love

of

God

that

is

in

Christ

Jesus

our

Lord

this

is

probably

one of

the

strongest

passages

affirming

that

true

born

again

believers

are

secure

in

their

salvation

and

cannot

lose

it

Paul

tells

us

that

we

are

foreknown

by

God

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image

of his

son

called

justified

and

glorified

and

it's

it's

like

it's

an

unbreakable

chain

in his

mind

it's

so

certain

that

he

even

refers

to

the

glorified

part

in

the

past

tense

all

those

who

are

justified

will

be

glorified

God

will

see

to

it

and

what

is

the

point

of

this

huge

list

of

things

that

cannot

separate

us

from

the

love

of

Christ

but

to

make

it

unwaveringly

clear

that

there

is

nothing

that

can

separate

us

from

his

love

once

we

have

been

united

to

him

true

born

again

believers

are

secure

in

their

salvation

and

they

can

never

lose

it

one

final

verse

to

make

this

abundantly

clear

1

1 John 3:9

John

chapter

3

verse

9

no

one

who

is

born

of

God

will

continue

to

sin

because

God's

seed

remains

in

them

they

cannot

go

on

sinning

because

they

have

been

born

of

God

now

there's

some

translation

difficulty

here

with

the

tense

of

the

verbs

from

Greek

to

English

this

does

not

mean

that

once

you're

born

again

you'll

stop

sinning

for

the

rest

of

your

life

it

means

that

the

person

who

is

truly

born

of

God

will

not

continue

or

go

on

sinning

as

the

general

pattern

or

characterization

of

their

life

sin

is

disobeying

God's

good

and

righteous

commands

that's

the

overall

pattern

and

characterization

of

our

lives

before

we're

born

again

we're

sinners

but

after

the

overall

pattern

and

characterization

of

our

lives

changes

to

now

obeying

God's

commands

doing

what's

right

living

good

and

loving

lives

we

stop

doing

some

of

those

sinful

things

we

used

to

do

all

together

and

we

intentionally

and

continually

and

increasingly

put

those

old

ways

those

old

behaviors

to

death

living

in

obedience

to

Jesus

we

don't

ever

do

it

perfectly

and

we

still

do

sin

but

the

general

pattern

and

characterization

of our

lives

has

changed

can

we

go

back

to

the

old

ways

and

I

don't

mean

just

in

moments

where

we're

tempted

and

fall

but

can

we

make

it

again

our

overall

life

mission

to

sin

as

much

as

possible

and

just

to

satisfy

ourselves

and

live

for

ourselves

as

much

as

possible

ignoring

God's

commands

can we

go back

to that

John's

answer

here

seems

to be

no

we

can't

we

won't

because

God's

seed

remains

in us

he says

they

cannot

go on

sinning

because

they

have

been

born

of

God

the

new

birth

that

God

gives

to

his

people

when

they

truly

repent

and

believe

it

changes

us

so

deeply

and

so

permanently

that

even

if

we

do

stray

or

wander

or

sin

we

always

come

back

and

we

always

repent

and

humble

ourselves

before

God

we

come

back

to

recognizing

again

acknowledging

that

he

is

our

life

and

our

love

and

nothing

else

in

this

world

compares

a

life

of

willful

pervasive

perpetual

sin

is

enough

to

secure

our

eternal

damnation

but

the

good

news

of

Jesus

is

that

the

new

birth

renders

us

incapable

of

such

a

life

forever

more

we

who

are

born

again

by

God's

spirit

are

eternally

secure

once

our

salvation

has

been

effected

it

can

never

be

undone

now

this

kind

of

leads

us

this

last

passage

into

the

biblical

doctrine

of

the

perseverance

of

the

saints

time

and

time

again

the

scriptures

also

warn

us

that

we

must

persevere

in

our

faith

and

we

must

also

persevere

in

the

obedience

that

springs

from

that

faith

that

fits

with

that

profession

and

if

we

don't

we

will

perish

this

is

the

other

side

of

the

coin

this

is

what

Jesus

warnings

in

John

15

are

aimed

at

branches

will

be

cut

off

thrown

away

burned

in

the

fire

but

they

are

those

branches

that

did

not

persevere

they

did

not

remain

in

Christ

at

one

time

they

identified

themselves

as

Christians

as

followers

of

Jesus

they

were

part

of

the

tree

from

outward

appearances

but

for

one

reason

or

another

they

left

off

from

him

and

they

didn't

come

back

so

let's

see

this

truth

now

in

other

passages

if

if

you

hold

firmly

to

the

word

I

preach

to

you

otherwise

you

have

believed

in

vain

the

Corinthians

were about

ready

in some

of them

to deny

whether

Jesus

had even

been

raised

from

the

dead

Paul

is

saying

you

have

to

hold

to

that

truth

of

his

resurrection

if

you

don't

hold

fast

to

that

in

faith

you

perish

you

have

no

hope

Galatians

Galatians 5:19

chapter

5

verse

19

and

20

the

acts

of

the

flesh

are

obvious

sexual

immorality

impurity

and

debauchery

idolatry

and

witchcraft

hatred

discord

jealousy

fits

of

rage

selfish

ambition

dissensions

factions

envy

drunkenness

orgies

and the

like

I

warn

you

as I

did

before

that

those

who

live

like

this

will

not

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

if

you

persist

in

doing

evil

in

disobeying

Christ

you

are

showing

that

God's

seed

is not

in

you

you

are

proving

that

you

have

not

been

born

of

God

that

his

spirit

is

not

in

you

Galatians

Galatians 6:7–9

chapter

6

verses

7

to

9

following

shortly

after

this

Paul

says

do

not

be

deceived

God

cannot

be

mocked

a man

reaps

what he

sows

whoever

sows

to please

their

flesh

from

the flesh

will

reap

destruction

whoever

sows

to please

the spirit

from

the spirit

will

reap

eternal

life

so

let

us

not

become

weary

in

doing

good

for

at

the

proper

time

we

will

reap

a

harvest

if

we

do

not

give

up

again

we

see

this

encouragement

that

we

must

persevere

in

doing

the

deeds

that

fit

with

our

profession

of

faith

we

cannot

pull

the

wool

over

God's

eyes

and

take

the

offer

of

salvation

but

no

I'm

just

going to

go

and live

wickedly

no

God

says

if

you

do

live

like

that

persistently

as the

pattern

of

your

life

you

will

not

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

1st

Corinthians

chapter 6

verses

9

to 11

or

do

you

not

know

that

wrongdoers

will

not

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

do

not

be

deceived

neither

the

sexually

immoral

nor

idolaters

nor

adulterers

nor

men

who

have

sex

with

men

nor

thieves

nor

the

greedy

nor

drunkards

nor

slanders

nor

swindlers

will

inherit

the

kingdom

of

God

and that

is what

some of

you

were

but you

were washed

you

were

sanctified

you

were

justified

in the

name

of

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and by

the

spirit

of

our

God

here

it is

again

there

is a

real

change

that

takes

place

in

our

lives

through

the

spirit

of

God

those

things

how

we

used

to

live

they

can

no

longer

characterize

us

anymore

we

must

turn

away

from

those

things

and if

the

spirit

of

God

really

truly

lives

in

us

we

will

and

we

would

be

deceived

to

think

that

we

could

continue

living

like

that

willfully

ongoingly

doing

those

things

and

still

be

saved

at

the

end

one

more

passage

2nd

Timothy

chapter

2

verse

19

nevertheless

God's

solid

foundation

stands

firm

sealed

with

this

inscription

the

Lord

knows

those

who

are

his

and

everyone

who

confesses

the

name

of

the

Lord

must

turn

away

from

wickedness

again

we

see

that

we

must

persevere

in

faith

and

in

the

obedience

that

fits

that

profession

there

are

more

passages

like

these

we

haven't

even

looked

at

the

ones

in

Hebrews

there's

James

James 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

there's

the

letter

to

the

seven

churches

in

Revelation

but

they

all

make

this

very

clear

we

must

persevere

in

our

faith

and

in

the

obedience

that

springs

from

our

faith

and

confirms

that

faith

until

the

end

and

if

we

do

not

we

will

perish

so

now

we

bring

these

two

biblical

truths

together

eternal

security

perseverance

of the

saints

and

this

is

what

we

get

I'm

going

to

borrow

again

from

Wayne

Grudem

and

his

systematic

theology

all

those

who

are

truly

born

again

will

be

kept

by

God's

power

and

will

persevere

as

Christians

until

the end

of their

lives

and

only

those

who

persevere

until

the end

have

truly

been

born

again

we

we

have

been

born

of

God

so

we

come

to

the

answer

to

this

big

question

can

I

lose

my

salvation

no

if

you

are

born

again

by

God's

spirit

you

cannot

undo

that

you

are

secure

you

still

must

remain

in

him

consciously

and

intentionally

and

persistently

and

because

of

God's

gracious

work

in

your

life

you

will

but

here's

the

deal

there's

no

autopilot