Assurance of Salvation

Assurance of Salvation

Question:

Our pastor has been preaching a series of sermons on salvation which has really been helpful to me and my understanding of God’s grace. Recently, he stated that “once saved—always saved.” I have heard others say that you can lose your salvation. Which is true? Help me with some Bible passages.

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of leading a couple to the Lord who had come out of a cult that was constantly teaching that one can lose their salvation unless they follow the rules of the church which were supposedly based on “biblical principles” as interpreted by the church leadership. I shared with them a number of biblical passages which gave them the assurance they needed in order not to be constantly in fear of dying and going to hell should they be “out of fellowship” with the rest of the church.

Our oldest daughter we adopted from Korea. We appeared before a judge at the final adoption proceedings and he reminded us that adoption meant that she was now as much a part of our family as our biological son and would share equally in all aspects of our life including financial. There would be no distinction.

The same is true of our adoption into God’s family. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says that “the Gentiles [that’s us] are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Read also Galatians 4:4-6. It must be understood that our security in Christ only comes through true confession, repen­tance and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Let’s look at some passages that confirm our security in Jesus Christ.

John 10:27-28: “My sheep [that’s us] hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”

Notice Jesus’ words “shall never perish” and “shall not snatch.” These are imperatives!

Romans 8:35, 38-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Finally, 1 John 5:18:

“We know that no one who is born of God sins; but he who is born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.”

Not even Satan can snatch us our of God’s hand!

If you have access to a concordance, look up the word “assurance” and you should be led to additional helpful passages of Scripture.