You’ve placed your faith in Christ, and now you are trying to live your life as a Christian, but you just committed a horrible sin.

“Did I just lose my salvation? Am I condemned to eternal damnation because I doubted God?”

A first reading of Paul’s letter to the Colossians certainly seems to say just this:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. … he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven
Colossians 1:1–2, 22–23

Colossians 1:1–2 is known as a warning passage. Warning passages like these are scattered throughout Hebrews.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Hebrews 2:1–3

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:11

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Hebrews 10:26–27

There are warning passages in other places, as well. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:1–2, says:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Even Jesus says that only those who “endure to the end” will be saved (Matthew 10:22), and only those who continue to “abide in him” will be saved (John 15:6).

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Based on these passages, salvation appears to be fragile. You are a single sin, or a loss of faith, away from being cast into Hell forever. According to this view, we gain our salvation through faith, but we can lose our salvation by works of sin or losing our faith.

Let’s refer to this as the Salvation Conditioned on Works and Faith (SCWF) view.

Where the Tension Lies

If we stopped reading the Scriptures after these passages, we would have every right to believe Christians can lose their salvation. But these are not the only passages relating to salvation in the Bible. What do the others say?

Paul writes in Romans:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Romans 8:31–35

While Paul only mentions worldly challenges, such as the sword, it’s clear he includes sin in this passage. Jesus is interceding; it is God who justifies. Elsewhere, Paul says:

… so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:7–9

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6

Who sustains us and brings the good work to its completion? God. Peter and Jude have some things to say about salvation, as well.

… who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:5

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24–25

We, living in the modern world, tend to focus on “the facts.” So many people say: “Give me a didactic passage, a passage that explains precisely what I am to think of this!” God does not work this way. God often presents the most profound theological points within the context of a narrative.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:13–14

Jesus pointedly tells the Samaritan woman she will not be thirsty again. We interpret this as a spiritual, rather than physical, condition because Jesus corrects the woman when she makes this mistake.

Does Jesus say: “So long as you don’t sin?” Does Jesus say: “So long as you continue to place all your faith in me, every moment of every day for the rest of your life?” No. Jesus’ words imply a permanent change in the person’s situation. They can never “undrink” this water. The water will “well up to eternal life” in them because they drank it.

If these things are true, then salvation is a free gift from God you cannot lose. The view that you cannot lose your salvation is generally called Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS).

Problems with SCFW

Beyond the passages that seem to teach the OSAS view, SCFW creates several logical problems if followed to their logical conclusion.

Where is the List?

The first problem is this: If we can lose our salvation by committing specific sins—call them big sins—why does God hide the list of these big sins from us? Paul exacerbates this problem in Hebrews:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
Hebrews 6:4–7

The plain reading of this passage, combined with the warning passages, is that if you commit your life to Christ and then sin in some specific way, you cannot receive salvation by placing your faith in Christ a second time. The blood of Christ can only cover your sins once.

One possible answer to this question is: “All sins you have not repented of count. If you die with unrepented sin, you are condemned.” So if you overeat at lunch (commit gluttony) and then die in a car accident on the way home, you are condemned to hell because you didn’t repent of your sin—but if you make it home, pray your daily prayers, and then die, you’re fine?

Is God the God of order or the God of confusion?

What about Faith?

Perhaps any sin is too broad—perhaps the only sin that matters is losing your faith.

This answer still leaves us with many questions, though.

How long does this loss of faith need to be? Is a moment enough? If a moment is enough, the life after this one will be empty.

Maybe it only counts if, when you die, you are “out of faith.” You placed your faith in Christ at some point in your life, but sometime before you die, you stop trusting in him.

What does it mean to stop trusting in Christ?

Entirely declaiming Christ and not calling yourself a Christian? Declaiming Christianity seems like a good way to measure a person’s salvation status—but people who claim Christianity for some time and then renounce it can be explained without “losing their salvation” (see below).

Placing your trust in someone or something else other than Christ? Again, this seems like a good measure of salvation status, but then we need to ask:

• For how long?
• For what end?
• Under what circumstances?

If you find yourself in a dangerous situation while driving, is it okay to place your trust in your driving skills and God? If you are in financial trouble, is it okay to place your trust in a counselor and God? If you place your trust in a doctor and then die in an operation, are you condemned to hell?

These are not “straw men” or unreasonable questions. In the Tanach, Israel is condemned for placing their trust in God and some other god. How much trust is too much, and for how long?

The Scriptures do not contain any clear answers to these questions—or many others we could raise about losing one’s salvation.

Ontological Problems

When a person places their faith in Christ, are they fundamentally changed? Are they the same person as before their salvation, or do they have a different nature? Are they ontologically different?

Paul calls Christians “new men” in at least four places.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:6–11

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Ephesians 2:14–16

But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:20–24

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:9–10

If a person is fundamentally—ontologically—changed when they place their faith in Christ, are the ontological changes “undone” when they lose their salvation? Can someone take off the “new man” and put on the “old man” again?

Paul says God adopts a person when they place their faith in Christ:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:4–7

Can God “unadopt” you? Jesus speaks of the Comforter, taken as the Spirit, that will indwell those who place their faith in him forever.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:16–17

These are all spoken of as permanent changes to the fundamental nature of the person who places their faith in Christ. If they are permanent, how can they be undone? If, once undone, they cannot be “redone,” then we return to the problems noted above about which sins or circumstances can cause a person to lose their salvation and how anyone can be saved.

Solving the Riddle

How can we resolve the tension between the warning passages, the passages that indicate salvation is permanent, and the illogical results of SCFW? Let’s explore some answers.

Ignore Passages Supporting OSAS

One solution is to ignore—or minimize the importance of—passages that support OSAS. Sadly, this is a common solution among people who hold Christians can lose their salvation.

Follow the SCFW Logic

Another solution is to follow the logic of SCFW to the bitter end, saying:

• There are fundamental changes in a person when they place their faith in Christ
• If a person commits a sin classified as “bad enough,” these changes are undone, and the “new man” becomes “old” again
• Once a person has lost their salvation, there is no way for them to regain it

Loss of salvation, in this standard view, is related to continued loss of faith. Little thought, however, is put into how long this loss of faith must be, what this loss of faith must look like, the sheer randomness of life in relation to temporary losses of faith, etc.

Furthermore, this view must consider the passages about God’s faithfulness as conditional—God’s faithfulness is contingent upon the works and attitudes of the individual believer (even though this seems to undermine Paul’s entire line of argument in Romans 1–9).

Ignore the Warning Passages

On the other hand, many who argue for OSAS ignore or minimize the various warning passages. Ignoring the warning passages is no better than ignoring the OSAS passages; there’s no point in spending a lot of time here.

Read the Warnings in Light of Blessings

The warning of these passages could be living separated from God in this life—particularly if you remember death means separation rather than “unable to act, think, or feel.” Consider this illustration:

When the young man turned 18, his parents gave him a very expensive sports car—a Porsche or Lamborghini. The young man drove the car but didn’t maintain it. One day, the engine wouldn’t start, so he put the car up on blocks, promising to repair it “later.”

But later never came. The car sat there for many years, its value eroding, its body rusting and falling apart.

Now, suppose we consider our relationship with God in this same way. Did the young man still own the car? Yes, he did. If we do not maintain our relationship with God, do we still have salvation? Yes.

Does the car do anything for the young man? No. He cannot drive it to the grocery store or work. He cannot sell it for what it is worth—it is not a store of value. Perhaps he kept the car out of respect for his parents, but letting it rot shows them he doesn’t care that much about this—no matter how loudly he protests otherwise. If we ignore our relationship with God, will we gain anything from it? No. We will not have God’s protection and blessings in daily life.

This reading can still be challenging to reconcile with some of the warning passages, such as Hebrews 4, but it can explain most of them.

Read the Warning Passages in Light of OSAS

Is there some reason to assume these passages contradict, rather than complement, OSAS? Returning to Hebrews 6, the writer says: “those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift,” etc. The wording here, particularly in the original languages, includes within its scope those who have heard about Christ but have not placed their faith in Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1–2, Paul says: “If you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.” Suppose we assume everyone in Paul’s audience had placed their faith in Christ. In that case, this passage is speaking to believers, and the warning must be about the possibility of a believer losing their salvation.

However, the letter to the Corinthians is to a church, not an individual. Have you ever been in a church where every member, every person you meet, truly placed their faith in Christ? Of course not! Every group, even the Apostles, had members who claimed to be Christians and yet had not really placed their faith in Christ.

Marriage can be used as an example here. Do you know a couple who were married for many years, appear to be completely happy from the outside, and suddenly announce they are divorcing? Do you know someone who agrees to marry but says: “I will keep my own bank account, my own friends, my own place to live, sole ownership of my own assets, etc. … in case we get divorced?”

Would it be possible—or fair—to say in these situations that the couple was never really married—because the definition of marriage includes complete and total lifelong commitment?

You cannot know the state of a relationship from the outside. Salvation is a relationship, so you cannot know the state of anyone’s salvation. You can be very confident a person places their faith in Christ in some situations, but it is impossible to know the state of another person’s heart fully.

If we know these things, Paul certainly knew them—and it is easy to see how 1 Corinthians 15:1–2 is targeted at people in the church (his audience) who are not truly Christians. Paul is effectively saying: “How will we know these people are Christians? Because they will firmly hold to the word of God I preached to you.”

1 John 2:19 uses the same line of argument: ” They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

The warning passages may be directed to those who have “taken the Lord’s name in vain,” claiming to be Christians but not having placed their faith in Christ.

When might a person claim the name of Christ without being a Christian?

• In Calvinism, God predestines everyone to salvation (or passes them over, leaving them to eternal damnation). Calvin proposed a situation where God, for his greater glory, predestines someone to appear to be Christian—even becoming a leader among Christians—although they are not truly among the elect. Calvin referred to this as “effervescent faith.”
• For those who hold God, in his sovereignty, creates space for a limited human free will, an individual’s desires may lead them to seek the company of Christians or the power and importance of a church leadership position, even though they never place their faith in Christ.

Conclusion

Can someone lose their salvation? There are four essential answers:

• Yes. Every Christian should be careful not to sin or lose their faith; they must work their entire lives, even to their death bed, to ensure they are not cast out of the Kingdom.
• No, although they might appear to. While Christians should live their life in light of salvation, they will remain saved even if they stop attending to their relationship with God.
• No, although God can select to condemn (or pass over) a person while also allowing them to appear to be Christian. No Christian can know if they are genuinely saved until they appear before God in the next life.
• No, although some can convince others that they have placed their faith in Christ, even when they haven’t. Each Christian knows the state of their relationship with God and, hence, the state of their salvation. Salvation is grounded in God’s character and promises rather than His desire for greater glory, or our moment-by-moment faithfulness to everything God has commanded.

Which of these you choose depends heavily on your view of God’s character and purposes.