Once a person is saved, that is, accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, that person is saved for time and eternity. Born again believers cannot lose their salvation, according to the Scriptures. A person’s salvation in Jesus Christ is not a temporary situation, but absolutely eternal. This is well supported by Biblical evidence.
John 3:16,17 is a well known Biblical text, and by which many have come to receive Jesus as Savior. It shows the extent of God’s love for sinful mankind. A person must accept what God has done in order to have eternal life. There is no other way. Here is the text: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16,17).
Jesus is the giver of eternal life. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).
When one accepts Christ as Savior, his sins whether in the past, present, or future have been, and will be forgiven. And Jesus says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:17,18).
How is a person saved? A person is saved by responding to the good news of salvation (the gospel), and trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. From that moment, the Holy Spirit of God “resides” in that individual whose “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in our body” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
The Scripture teaches that the Christian is sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, Here is the text: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13,14).
“First they heard the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation.” Writes William MacDonald. “As soon as they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This means that every true believer receives the Spirit of God as a sign that he belongs to God and that he will be kept safe by God until the time he receives his glorified body. Just as in legal matters a seal indicates ownership and security, so it does in divine affairs. The indwelling Spirit brands us as God’s property (1 Cor. 6:19,20), and guarantees our preservation until the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). (Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers).
MacDonald’s insightful commentary is noteworthy. As he points out “the indwelling Spirit brands us as God’s property, and guarantees our preservation until the day of redemption.”
Being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise means ownership. God seals those who trust Him as Savior with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal; thus the believer is secured in Christ, and our salvation is eternal. Nothing will ever change that. If it was temporary, why does Christ say “I give them eternal life and they will never perish.” How then can a Christian be lost?
Anyone who trusts Christ as Savior has God’s assurance of eternal life, because “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of Gcd that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).
Eternal life is God’s free gift to man. It cannot be earned, or bought. It was obtained for us on the Cross by Jesus Christ in His shed blood and death. And this gives us absolute confidence that we are saved for time and eternity and can never lose our salvation. Eternal life prepares the truly born again believer for heaven
The Lord Jesus made this most profound statement: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Observe that Jesus does not say “will have eternal life,” but has eternal life; present tense. Jesus declared, “I’m the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Hence, anyone who receives Him has eternal life.
Eternal life means eternal security. And eternal security means once saved, always saved. But it doesn’t mean a saved person is ‘perfect’ and will not sin. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9). Christians confess their sins to God for His forgiveness and cleansing from unrighteousness.
The Scripture is abundantly clear that Christ’s sacrifice for sins was a once-and-for-all-time complete event; never to be repeated. His cry on the Cross was “It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John19:30); thus entering into death for us.
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. (Hebrews 10:12,14,17).
It is clear to be seen in God’s word, that it is impossible for a truly born again believer in Christ to lose his/her salvation. Therefore, when a person claims to be saved and then says he lost his salvation means he was never saved in the first place. Let’s remember “There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26). Christ will never die again.