Refuting GotQuestions.org on “Can a Christian Lose Salvation?”

Here we will analyze the website GotQuestions.org’s article titled: “Can a Christian lose salvation?” without quoting from it directly (except for the second to last paragraph). The things said here are responses to the ideas put forth in that article. Contrary to what is commonly taught in mainstream evangelical Christianity (which GotQuestions.org fits right in with), a Christian certainly can fall from the grace of God in Jesus Christ and be cut off from His covenant after entering into it.

Though it is true that a person is not a Christian because they have walked down an aisle or said a prayer or been raised in a Christian family, it is also so that no one can become a Christian by just trusting Jesus as their Savior while neglecting to surrender themselves to His Lordship (i.e. to His rightful supreme authority). The Bible does indeed teach Lordship salvation since it equates an authentic Christian with a disciple of Jesus who is under the authority of His Word. When this is understood and received, then the reality that one who is under grace can fall away from grace and end up lost is only logical. Have the people who say that no one can fall away from Christ never read the Risen Jesus addressing the Apostolic churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3? Why do they not affirm then that it is possible for a Christian to not continue in Christ and end up in hell?

Revelation 2;8-11: “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”

Unless that promise is given in vain, those who do not overcome will indeed be hurt by the second death.

The reality that a born-again Christian is a new creature in Christ doesn’t eliminate their free will nor in any way guarantee that they will cooperate with the truth which they were made new in order to faithfully walk in. A person who has been delivered from the bondage of sin in Christ can refuse to go forward in truth, and even blatantly turn back from Christ, to the point where they harden and spiritually die. They thereby end up in a worse state than they had been in before they were born again.

Hebrews 3:12-15 (read the whole chapter to be assured that it is Christian brethren who are being addressed here): “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation (referring to the Israelites provoking God in Numbers chapter 14 and almost that entire generation never reaching the promised land).”

That lines right up with what Jesus said in Matthew 24:9-13. Beware of those who say that steadfast obedience is unnecessary and those who claim that turning away isn’t really possible for those who are really partakers of Christ.

2 Peter 2:17-22: “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

God does not have to revoke His purchase of a redeemed individual in order for them to no longer be a partaker of Christ’s redemption. Christ died for every person; while no one is redeemed just because Christ died for them. Being redeemed is conditioned on actually cooperating with the terms of the covenant which Christ set forth through the blood He shed on the cross. Whether one never really surrenders to Jesus Christ or turns away from Him after doing so, either way they are voiding the redemption which Christ purchased in relation to themselves. They are not hurting Him in this. They are rather hurting themselves. Think about it: Can one be redeemed to God while walking as an enemy of His righteous authority? Is there another redemption for people who don’t really side with Jesus in terms of receiving His reign over them yet still want His blood to deliver them from hell? Absolutely not.

To quote 1 Peter 1:18-19 to say that an individual whom Christ purchased by His blood must surely be redeemed in the end is ridiculous. Going back a bit and reading the verses in context proves the conditional nature of Christ’s atonement and shows how man must cooperate with His grace in line with His authority until the end in order to ultimately be saved by His grace in the end (see 1 Peter 1:9-19- better yet read the entire book of 1 Peter).

1 Peter 5:8-9 (Christians already in the faith are thus exhorted): “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

Pastors who believe a real Christian can never turn from the Lord and end up lost cannot be faithful shepherds of their flock. They actually believe that anyone who is thriving in the spiritual realm is immune to being devoured by the devil.

Likewise, to use Romans 5:1 to say that someone who is justified before God can never become unjustified is making an unwarranted claim which Romans 5:1 doesn’t teach. A person who is justified is only justified because of their faith in Jesus Christ which submits to His authority. Since no one is justified who does not forsake their sins and surrender to Jesus’ Lordship, then it is no contradiction to say that someone would lose their justification through Jesus when they turn away from Him. The Book of Romans itself warns Christians about turning from Christ and being cut off from Him in a multitude of ways. There is no final sentence handed down from the Lord concerning anyone’s eternal salvation until they actually stand before Him at the final judgment. The idea that one receives a guarantee of eternal justification when they are initially justified through Christ is a lie.

It is common for people to ignore how Bible concepts like redemption and justification actually work- and then make unwarranted claims stemming from their own faulty conceptions of such things. Being justified, redeemed, and being made a new creature are all connected to receiving Jesus Christ in His entirety (as the children of Israel had to eat the Passover Lamb in its entirety and follow the Lord’s instructions in relation to keeping the Passover in order to be delivered from judgment by the blood of the Passover Lamb).

Though eternity with God is the culmination of eternal life, there is a narrow gate and a narrow way to reach that culmination. Consider the following definition of eternal life.

John 17:3: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

This type of knowledge involves agreement and alignment with God’s Word. Adam and Eve found out the hard way how people who have eternal life can lose it- unless you want to claim that the Serpent was actually telling Eve the truth in telling her she would not surely die from eating of the forbidden fruit. Saying that Adam and Eve lost the spiritual life from God in them and became separated from Him is just another way of saying that they lost eternal life. Fullness of eternal life is only granted on Judgment Day after one endures faithfully on the narrow way of Christ until the end. The Christian must agonize to continue on the narrow way to life by continually taking up their cross to walk in line with the light of the Word of God. This does not negate the truth that some who think they’ve entered that way never really did at all. The people who think a Christian can’t lose eternal life have no place in their doctrine for the following instructions which are given specifically to authentic born-again Christians.

1 Timothy 6:10-12: “For the love of money is the root of all evil (i.e. all sorts of evil): which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

1 Timothy 6:17-19: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

Revelation 2:7: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

The Christian being sealed with the Holy Spirit upon their new birth doesn’t mean that the seal cannot be broken through the believer’s refusal to walk according to the leading of the Spirit and through their resistance to chastisement. This does not lessen God’s glory nor mean that He broke any of His promises. God also never promised unconditional security nor did He promise to do man’s part in His covenant for him. The deposit of the Holy Spirit in a believer was never given as an absolute guarantee of their obtaining a heavenly inheritance but rather as a guarantee of what the believer will inherit if they remain faithful and endure on the narrow way to the very end. As with many of the other ways in which the unconditional security people deceive with vain words, they add to the Word of God by reading “sealed unconditionally” into the verses about being sealed with the Holy Spirit- even though the Bible does not use that term. There is a trial after being sealed related to the logic of why one would be sealed in the first place. Those who get sealed with the Holy Spirit are only sealed because they have turned to the Lord with a living faith which is attentive, diligent, and active to do whatever He commands. The seal itself is a witness to the acceptable quality of one’s faith. Those who are sealed which don’t walk in accordance with a living faith in Christ obviously grieve the Spirit. Those who refuse to repent and rather persist in disobedience will be unsealed for turning against the very purpose they were sealed for. There is no partiality with God.

Proverbs 29:1: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

Though no one possesses ultimate salvation in this life, the potential of falling away for those who are justified in Christ and on track for salvation does not mean that Romans 8:30 is in error because Romans 8:30 does not promise glorification for those who are justified. The verse expresses how the Lord’s goal is to bring all those whom He calls to Christ to inherit His glory. He will always do His part for those who cooperate with that goal. Since He is faithful to justify those who obey the call of His Gospel, He will be faithful to bring those whom He justified to glory if they continue in a living faith in Christ. Those who are not diligent to continue in a living faith do not maintain their justification. How could they when they turn against His authority and do not adequately avail themselves of Christ’s Priesthood in heaven? They cannot. Look at Romans 8:30 in the entire context of Romans chapter 8.

It is especially amazing that anyone would go to Romans 8 to try to say that a Christian could never fail to inherit glory when Christians are warned otherwise in Romans 8:13: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” They are also simultaneously promised and warned in Romans 8:17: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Romans 11:29 also does not teach that one who is on track to inherit salvation can never fall away. That idea had even been blatantly rebuked a handful of verses before. Romans 11:29 is rather teaching that God did not make a mistake in calling Israel (that is, ancient Israel) as a nation to its special purpose in His plan of redemption nor does He regret giving His Word through that nation.

Romans 11:19-22: “Thou wilt say then, The branches (i.e. unbelieving Jews) were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”

Those who say no true believer can fall away from Christ utterly disregard what was just stated.

Yes, God cannot lie; and He never promised that born-again Christians can’t fall away. He rather warned them frequently that they must be diligent not to forsake Him so that they will not be cut off from Christ (and thereby spiritually die and no longer be a redeemed new creature).

2 Timothy 2:11-13: “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

The Lord will not deny Himself. He will therefore indeed deny those who deny Him.

It is actually a great assumption to assume that every professing Christian who lives a sinful, unfaithful life was never really born again to begin with. The Bible teaches that there is freewill after conversion to Christ as well as beforehand. The concept that there is not is a lie stemming from Calvinistic influence.

1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

Note that this does not say that those who went out from us were never of us (“us” in 1 John 2:19= Apostolic Christian assemblies). It is only saying that they would have continued with the Apostolic assemblies if they were of them. To say that those who went out were surely never real Christians is adding to the Word of God and negating the manifold warnings given to real Christians about how they could potentially fall away.

Also note that those who teach that a real Christian can never fall away would also not be fit to fellowship in the assemblies which the Apostles of Christ had founded and would be in constant conflict with the Apostles. So much of the New Testament involves the Apostles contending against those who teach this way.

1 John 3:6: “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”

Though this certainly does teach that knowing Christ and abiding (i.e. remaining) in Him is inconsistent with practicing sin (something which GotQuestions.org should have accounted for in their previous claims), this is not teaching that anyone practicing sin was never a true believer. Go back just a handful of verses.

1 John 2:28-29: “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”

Those who are born of Him can indeed cease abiding in Him and cease doing righteousness.

Jesus incarnate says in John 15:1-6: “ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Matthew 7:16 and Romans 7:4 likewise only prove that abiding in Christ and doing righteousness cannot be separated. They do nothing to prove that one who is in Him today cannot turn away from Him in the future. Though GotQuestions.org doesn’t acknowledge it, Romans 7:4 proves that the things which Paul says later in the chapter describing a man defeated by sin in the first person was not his Christian experience. Paul was rather using a literary technique later in Romans chapter 7 to describe how living after the flesh and fulfilling the law of God are incompatible with each other.

The second to last paragraph of the GotQuestions article will now be answered sentence by sentence.

The paragraph begins: “Nothing can separate a child of God from the Father’s love (Romans 8:38–39).”

That is a horrifying misquote of Romans 8:38-39. Here is what these verses actually say. Note the phrase “which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (yeah, that’s important to include).

Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Chronicles 15:1-2: “And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.”

Continuing: “Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28–29).”

This is another subtle misquote of Scripture. Including John 10:27 with verses 28 and 29 refutes their claim.

John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

Hearing Jesus’ voice and following Him is an essential of faith. Exercising faith for a time won’t keep one who is not continuing to do so in the present. The believer is kept through continuing in obedient faith. Like the similarly abused passages Romans 8:38-39 and 1 Peter 1:5, John 10:27-29 is not teaching that one can never fall away from Christ. However, what all of these passages do teach, along with the verses about Christians being sealed with the Holy Spirit, is that no external force can separate an obedient disciple who is following the real Jesus of the Bible faithfully from the love of God which is in Him.

Continuing: “God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He has given us.”

That is an utter lie. To say that God maintains the salvation of a believer in Christ, as if that is 100 percent His responsibility, is discounting and essentially chopping out a multitude of things in the Bible. It is exchanging truth for blatant Calvinistic Perseverance lies.

Continuing: “The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and, “when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:5–6).”

Yes, because it could have continued to stray and never been reunited with the Shepherd! It could yet stray again and it would be a dire emergency because there is no guarantee the sheep would return. This practically illustrates a key reason why Calvinistic Perseverance is such a dangerous concept. That thinking will cause people to conclude a lost sheep will surely return or it was never really part of the fold at all.

Continuing: “The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one safely home.”

This is a creative way to sound humble while blaming the Lord for all a church’s failures related to shepherding its members as well as a clever way to blame Him when one’s own life is a spiritual wreck.

And to close with a comment on GotQuestions’ final statement in this article: It is so that Jude verses 24 and 25 emphasize the goodness of God. Everything in the book beforehand proves that those who say a Christian cannot lose salvation are deceivers who should not be trusted. Everything in the book beforehand proves that it is not the Lord’s fault when people turn away from Him unto damnation. Everything in the book beforehand proves that people turning away from Him unto damnation is no good evidence that He is unfaithful to do His end of His covenant for those who heed His Word and do what He has prescribed for man to cooperate with His plan of redemption.

Jude 21: “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

When people fail and get cut off, it is their own fault (along with those who lied to them- including those who told them they could never fail and get cut off).