Can I Lose My Salvation? (Crucial Questions, #22)

by R.C. Sproul

“Can I lose my salvation?” This gets at the issue of the doctrine of eternal security, also known as the perseverance of the saints, which is the P in the famous Calvinist acronym TULIP.

While some will return after a serious fall, some will not, because they never actually had faith. They made a false profession of faith; they did not possess what they professed.

To say that someone has been enlightened is not necessarily to say that they have been converted.

But, in the case of true believers, he is certain that they will stand fast: “we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.” Therefore, rather than taking away our confidence in perseverance, this passage in fact should strengthen it.

The author is reminding his readers that even though they have a hope for the future that they can rest in, the hope that God has given them of the certainty of their salvation should not lead them to sluggishness in living out their faith.

The doctrine of eternal security should not lead us to take it easy and stop pressing into the kingdom of God; it should, rather, lead us to live out our faith with greater confidence and zeal.

Augustine taught that the only way anyone ever perseveres to the end after beginning the Christian life is by virtue of the grace of God.

once we become Christians, we embark upon a whole new life in which we’re engaged in the pursuit of our sanctification (Rom. 6:17–19).

Jonathan Edwards once said in a sermon that seeking the kingdom of God should be the urgent, primary business of the Christian. We are called to work as hard as we can to persevere.

“he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Therein lies our confidence and our security: the God who has initiated a person’s salvation is not going to allow that redemptive work to be an exercise in futility. God finishes what He starts in His redemptive work in us by preserving those whom He redeems. That’s where Paul gains his confidence, and I think that should also be the primary basis for our confidence.

The whole point of Jesus’ prayer is that none whom the Father has given to the Son are lost. No one, He said, can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:28). We persevere because we are preserved, and we are preserved because of the intercession of our Great High Priest. This is our greatest consolation and our greatest source of confidence that we will persevere in the Christian life.