Few doctrinal questions create more confusion among believers than this one: Can a Christian lose salvation? Many struggle with doubts about their standing before God, especially when facing temptation or guilt. Others wrestle with passages that seem to warn about falling away. Because of this, it is important to compare the two major views, examine what the Bible plainly teaches, and understand the difference between man’s insecurity and God’s promise. Scripture does not leave this question unanswered. Instead it offers clear truth that brings assurance, confidence, and peace to the child of God.

View One: Salvation Can Be Lost

Those who believe a Christian can lose salvation argue that continued obedience, repentance, or faithfulness are conditions that keep a believer saved. They often appeal to passages that warn against falling away or turning back. For example:

1. Warnings About Apostasy

Some interpret verses like Hebrews 6:4 to 6 or Hebrews 10:26 to 27 as proof that a believer can fall beyond recovery. These warnings speak seriously about rejecting Christ after receiving knowledge of the truth.

2. Calls to Continue in the Faith

Verses such as Matthew 24:13, which says “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved,” are sometimes taken to mean that endurance is required to keep salvation.

3. Examples of Those Who Fell Away

Some point to Judas, Demas, King Saul, or others as examples of believers who fell from grace.

While these passages are serious, a careful study shows that they do not describe saved people losing salvation, but rather false converts, hypocrites, or individuals who were close to the truth but never born again.

View Two: Salvation Cannot Be Lost

The Eternal Security of the Believer

The second view, and the one clearly supported in Scripture, is that once a person is truly saved, he or she can never lose salvation. This doctrine is often called eternal security. It is not based on human ability, but on the finished work of Christ, the promise of God, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

1. Salvation Is Based on Christ’s Finished Work

If salvation could be lost, it would mean that Christ’s sacrifice was not complete. Scripture teaches that Jesus paid for all sin at once.

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:14

“It is finished.”
John 19:30

If Christ has perfected the believer forever, then nothing the believer does can undo that finished work.

2. Salvation Is a Gift, Not a Wage

A gift is not earned and cannot be maintained by works.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

Once God gives eternal life, it is eternal. If it could be lost, it would not be eternal, and it would not truly be a gift.

3. Believers Are Sealed by the Holy Spirit

The Bible teaches that the moment a person believes, the Spirit of God seals that person as God’s possession.

“In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
Ephesians 1:13

A seal in biblical times was a sign of ownership and protection. The Holy Spirit Himself is the seal, and no created being has the power to break what God seals.

4. Eternal Life Cannot Be Temporary

Jesus promised eternal life, not temporary life. His words leave no room for doubt.

“And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
John 10:28

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
John 6:37

Never perish means never perish. If even one believer could be lost, these words would not be true.

5. Salvation Depends on God’s Power, Not Ours

If salvation is kept by human strength, then every believer would be lost, because human strength fails. God, not man, keeps His children.

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
1 Peter 1:5

God’s power does not weaken. His keeping work does not fail.

6. Works Are Evidence of Salvation, Not Conditions for Salvation

The Bible teaches that good works flow from salvation, not into salvation.

“We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
Ephesians 2:10

When a professing believer turns away from the faith, this reveals that he was never saved to begin with.

“They went out from us, but they were not of us.”
1 John 2:19

True salvation produces perseverance. False conversion produces temporary religious activity that eventually fades.

Difficult Passages Explained

1. Hebrews 6 and 10

These chapters describe people who tasted the truth, heard the gospel, and experienced the presence of God’s people, yet never believed. They fall from a place of opportunity, not from salvation.

2. Matthew 24:13

This verse refers to physical deliverance during the tribulation, not spiritual salvation.

3. Judas and Demas

Judas was never saved (John 6:64 to 71).
Demas loved the world, but Scripture never states that he was born again.

Difficult passages must be interpreted in the clear light of God’s definite promises.

Why Eternal Security Is an Essential Doctrine

1. It Gives Peace and Assurance

A believer who doubts salvation cannot serve joyfully.

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
1 John 5:13

2. It Honors Christ’s Work

Eternal security declares that the work of Christ is complete.

3. It Strengthens Holiness

Some fear that this doctrine encourages sin, but Scripture teaches the opposite. Knowing that we belong to God forever produces gratitude, obedience, and love.

Can Christians lose their salvation? Scripture gives a clear and comforting answer. When a person receives Christ as Savior, that salvation is eternal, secure, and guaranteed by the promise and power of God. The Lord who saves is the Lord who keeps. The believer is held safely in the hand of Christ and the hand of the Father, sealed by the Spirit, protected by divine power, and covered by the finished work of the cross.