Thursday, 25 March 2010

  • No Longer Christian: Can You Lose Your Salvation?

    A friend of a friend said this:

    1. I'm not living the life God called me to live. He is no longer my Lord and Saviour as there are many areas of my life He is not involved with nor are they surrendered to Him.

    2. I've lost my love of Him and my belief in His Power to save me.

    3. I know I was a Christian before, but I'm not now. I don't go to church anymore and I have no desire to simply sit there, going through the motions.

    Do you think these are the only things that make someone a Christian? Can you still be considered a Christian if you are like the above person? What does the Bible say about one's salvation? What would you say to this person who has lost their faith in Jesus?

Comments (19)

  • Mighty_Men_of_Valor@xanga

    I say yes....

    Hebrews 10:26

     26If we
    deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
    truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

  • Made2sing4Jesus@xanga

    If I may ask & you can msg What happened in  your life to make this so? It would help me answer you better. Bc simply loosing sight of Him isn't the same as Losing Him & his gift of salvation.

  • Theophilus166@xanga

    You can't lose your salvation like you lose your keys, but I think we can forfeit our salvation.  There are simply to many apostasy warnings in scripture for me to conclude otherwise.  I think we can forfeit our salvation by choice or by neglect.

  • harmonyminusmelody@xanga

    you can't lose your salvation. here's how i see it: if you get saved and then go out and commit murder or convert to satanism or something, then your heart was never in it and you were never saved in the first place. 

  • Amyseen@xanga

    Repent, get back to your first love. 

  • naphtali_deer@xanga

    We weren't saved based on our own good works and therefore we can't be unsaved, so to speak, by our bad works. Our salvation rests securely in the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Romans 8:29-30.

    It's possible the person you wrote about is saved and will yet return to the Church and bring forth evidence of Christ's life in him/her. The Christian can backslide but not irreparably. If someone is really saved, they'll live like it. That doesn't mean we won't sin, but it means we won't be able to continue in sin indefinitely b/c the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers will convict us of sin and draw us to confession and repentance. The book of I John is really helpful; it outlines all the proofs of salvation, the evidence/fruit that will appear in Christians. Those who aren't saved may remain in the church for a time but will eventually turn away and never turn back (e.g.- I John 2:19).

  • musterion99@xanga

    There's different views on this and both sides can give proof texts to back up their view. My view is that if someone is truly born again and saved, they cannot lose their salvation. When someone says they believed and went to church and then later denies Jesus and never repents, then in my view, they were never truly born again and saved in the first place. If they were saved, eventually they will repent and come back to the faith.

  • angys_coco@xanga

    I can only feel sad for this person who has written this.


    I am wondering what really made the person lose Faith. No matter what, we fall but the Lord is always there for you when you get up, and wants to walk with Him again. (For instance, parable of the unfaithful son) His love is there for you.


    We also got to remember that it is the Lord who chose you from the end of the earth.

  • CadiMarie@xanga

    I'm a little mixed about this, but I believe it's all reallyin the person's heart, so noe of us will really know who is and is not saved in Christ. One thing I dod distinctly remember the Jesus man saying though was "If you reject/deny Me here, I will reject/deny you to my Father in heaven." So.. for you to come out and straight up deny him, with your heart, how can Jesus go back on his word? Yikes, I guess God knows..and that's good.

  • anonymous

    Your friend's being honest about his/her feelings and brokenness; that's thousand times better than those who go to church and believe that they are saved and somehow in a better camp of "Christians". It's important as a friend to empathize with the pain/disappointment/guilt or whatever it might be rather than imposing the whole "Jesus loves you" talk. It's sickening in the Christian circle (at least the one I'm in) people are quick to "lecture" you with their oh-so-amazing understanding of God's love when you feel down. They make Jesus' grace sounds cheap. They makes me keep my feelings to myself rather than share it. I don't know what your friend's going through but instead of saying things like "oh I'm sorry you don't get it... you're missing out on God's love" or "maybe you should try praying more" etc., just be there and empathize. I just wish that people I know can just simply walk in the spirit of God rather than lecture me about God with their super knowledge.

  • TrumvilleOrbison@xanga
  • Cliffycliffz@xanga

    I thought it depended on faith so however much you believe 

  • ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga

    Romans 8:33-39  "

    33

    Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 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.

    35

    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

    36

    As it is written,


        "For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
       we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."


     37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  • Pass_the_Aura@xanga

    It sounds to me like she's lost her faith in legalism. I recognize a lot of the pattern here: I suspect that she's been in a place where legalism is equated to the gospel, and now that she's realized legalism doesn't work (i.e. she's unable to keep doing the "right Christian things") she thinks she's lost her faith in  Christianity. In fact, she may be quite a bit closer to the Lord than she's been before. What happens next in her spiritual journey may depend on how soon she reads the book of Galatians, and realizes that emotions, church attendance, behavior, etc. have nothing intrinsically to do with the question of whether you have faith in the grace of God.

    As for the general question, I don't think people can lose what's not theirs to keep. Romans 8, yo!

  • toyouxwithlove@xanga

    I believe that you can't lose your salvation so long as you still believe what truly makes someone Christian, which is loving God and Jesus, believing in both of them, and repenting for your sins. I think that you should still repent when you sin, however.

    That being said, I personally don't think always being saved accounts for someone who doesn't believe.

    But that's just my opinion. I'm not God, so I could have it completely wrong.

  • Mr_Turniphead@xanga

    @Theophilus166@xanga - Yes, I think you have nailed it.  The warnings are definitely there, but a relationship with God is not 'lost' like when we misplace a coin, etc.  However, people can make a conscious decision to intentionally and blatantly and heartlessly turn their back on God and all He has meant to them.---like Diotrophes(?) who abandoned the faith.   LAW--

  • Short_Melancholic@xanga

    The only way you can lose your salvation is if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

  • anonymous

    no you can not lose your salvation like your keys.but you can deny jesus christ turn your back on him .because jesus christ  said if you deny me i will deny you.a perfect example would be some one fixin to be shot are burn at the steak.if they dont deny jesus.and there desire to live is worth more than there desire to live with christ then they deny jesus christ to save there own skin and live.like the devil said in job4 skin for skin a man will give all that he has for it .but job show us that a man can keep trusting god and make it .


    jesus will not deny you if you repent of your sins and keep trying to resist sinfor jesus said resist the devil and he will get flees come on its a joke and the devil will flee are run from you .remember what jesus said  to cain before he killed his brother abel ;;and god said to cain why are you angry if you do good will you not be excepted behold are look sin lays at your door are your  mine and its desire is to have you .so ask jesus for strenght and keep on going .father i come to you in the name of jesus please help help us to never give up slow down are give out an bless us lord in jesus mighty name we pray and all those that agree say


     

  • anonymous

    come on that's go whop up on some demon spirits and watch 'em run  that pray every day for revival in are land and across this world  that's lay hand on the sick ,preach and teach and make disciples like Jesus told us to do .here some webs GODISJESUSCHRIST.COM ,JWS MINSITRIES,GODSAIDMANSAID.COM,BGEM.COM,KLOVE.COM,KLTY.COM.GOD BLESS YOU ALL

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