Can I Lose My Salvation? (Crucial Questions)

by R.C. Sproul

The key question here is, “Can a person who is truly and soundly converted to Christ lose his or her salvation?” Or, more personally, “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.

Many of us have known friends or family members who seemed for all outward appearances to have made a genuine profession of faith. We thought their profession was credible. We embraced them as brothers or sisters, only to find out that they later repudiated that faith. What are we to do in a situation like that? I recommend at least two responses: first, pray like crazy, and second, wait. We don’t know the final outcome of the situation, but God does, and only God can preserve that soul.

What do we mean by unforgivable? In the very strictest meaning of the term, it means “unable to be forgiven.” But, technically speaking, God has the ability to forgive any sin if He so desires. So, when we call it the “unforgivable sin,” we mean by that that it is a sin that will in fact not be forgiven by God, not because God can’t do it but God won’t do it.

The author of Hebrews wraps up this section with an exhortation: “And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (vv. 11–12). This is a call to diligence. 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.

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.