If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, how secure is your salvation? Can you lose it?
I suppose first, you must define salvation.
If Jesus Christ is your “Lord and Savior”, he Lords over everything in your life. He gives you a love for God and other people. He changes your heart, mind and lifestyle.
However, one of the most debated scriptures on the impossibility of bringing someone back to Christ if they have “fallen away” is in Hebrews. The Apostle Pauls says:
“Some people cannot be brought back again to a changed life. They were once in God’s light, and enjoyed heaven’s gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit. They found out how good God’s word is, and they received the powers of his new world. (Hebrews 6:4,5 NCV)
“But they fell away from Christ. It is impossible to bring them back to a changed life again, because they are nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others.” (Hebrews 6:6 NCV)
In other versions of the Bible, the word “impossible” is used, meaning it’s impossible to renew one who has fallen away. So what does this mean?
The debate is that the one who falls away, did they experience salvation or something short of salvation?
According to the passage, this person has had real spiritual experiences. They have experienced God’s light, salvation or something like salvation (heavens gift), fellowship or some connection with the Holy Spirit.
They even experienced the goodness of God’s word and how it worked well in their life, and the supernatural power of God in their life through all sorts of life changes.
These are real spiritual experiences. Is it true that some can have real experiences, and not be fully saved? The answer is Yes.
Similar to the four soils; the third soil (or type of person) showed real spiritual change, yet later the worries of the world caused them to fall away (Matthew 13:22). Also, the Pharisees and other Jewish Leaders were religous and rejected Jesus.
The term “fall away” has been debated greatly. Fallen away from what? Is it salvation, a spiritual life or is it something else?
The context of the book of Hebrews is “Judaism” - or religion. They were people who honored Angels, Moses and the Jewish way rather than “only” trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation.
In short, they were relying on religious practices for salvation vs trusting only in Jesus.
I think the context of Hebrews is falling away from trusting only in Christ. In other words salvation is no where to be found except in Jesus Christ.
As Paul told the Romans in 8:31-39, “nothing” can separate us from the love of God or Christ. Once saved, always saved.
The question is: “What are you and I truly relying on in order to be saved?”
LORD, you love us when we don’t love you. You choose us when we don’t choose you. You pursue us when we don’t pursue you. Why do you love us so? You provide a way, the only way to true salvation - your Son Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Help us accept, love and follow. IJNIP amen ♥️
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