Where in Bible does it say one can lose Salvation?

[BamaJack]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Bookcat]

catholic.com/tracts/assurance-of-salvation

 

[marty1818]

This article may be useful:

pauliscatholic.com/2009/09/can-you-lose-your-salvation/

It contains several passages from scripture as well.

 

[Robertanthony]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

Have you ever fallen out of friendship with someone? Or seen it happen? Why would things be essentially different with our relationship with God? There are rules to maintain relationship with God, if you break them and die without having mended the rift, you will have lost your salvation and Satan will be your partner in misfortune.

 

[saintalphonsus]

Patrick Madrid’s Where Is That in the Bible
Can Christians Lose Their Faith?
youtube.com/watch?v=ebzAnYhYnBw

 

[JohnMPhilomena]

Here is just one example. Jesus sermon on the mount:

Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

It sure seems to me that our actions can cause us to earn Hell.

Peace,
John

 

[fhansen]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

**13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying:“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” MT 13:1-9

but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13

God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Rom 2:6
**
Paul addressing believers:

**For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,… Rom 8:13

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! Rom 11:16-24
**
Paul exhorts believers to take care lest they lose eternal life:

**Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Cor 9:27

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 Cor 10, 12

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Gal 6:7-10**

Also the Parable of the Talents tells about a servant of God losing his place in the Kingdom.

**“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”q
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Pet 4:18-19

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Heb 6:4-8

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Rev 2:4-7

3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Rev 3:3-6**

 

[pablope]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

Heb 10:

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Rom 11:

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

 

[PeaceInChrist]

I was reading 1 Timothy and came upon Chapter 5: 8

If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Here Paul is speaking on the care of true widows, with no one to care for them, and says this of families who do not care for their loved ones who are in need. I find it interesting that he says, first, that someone is capable of disowning the faith (which some Protestants claim is impossible), and second, that one who does this is worse than an unbeliever. He says this in the present, not in the ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’ context (we won’t know true believers till they are judged).

Paul judges an action to be bad enough to result in disowning the faith, even if the believer doesn’t say that he disowned the faith, and that he is worse than an unbeliever. All this based on an action. So you tell me: did Paul think sin caused separation with the Church (and thus God)?

Also, there are many good answers here already. Thanks for the great responses

 

[drac16]

The entire passage of Revelation 3:15-22 seems to indicate it, but since it’s rather long, I’ll mention the most important part of the passage; “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth”.

I would hardly call being spit out of his mouth as something good!

 

[AnthonyD10]

I Found Jimmy Akin’s Debate with James White on this topic useful.

Here’s a written out version of Jimmy Akin’s side to make it easier for you.

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/LOSS.HTM

Hope this helps

 

[AnthonyD10]

Sorry for the predestination stuff in the beginning of the article but Jimmy gets to it about half way through.

 

[Autumn_Rain]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

John 15- The Vine and the Branches

Jesus is the Vine, believers are the Branches. Jesus says those who do not “remain” in him and produce good fruit are ‘cut off and tossed into the fire’.

John 15
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Jesus the True Vine
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

link: biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015&version=RSVCE

 

[steve_b]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

salvation can be lost by serious sin. No need for Paul to give all these warnings to his fellow Catholics, no need to put a scare into them, and threaten them with hell, if this is needless. Bottomline, it’s not Paul warning them and in extension us, it’s the Holy Spirit inspiring Paul to warn us. Which means Jesus, savior of the world, taught hell for those in grave sin. [John 14:25-26 (Douay-Rheims Bible, John Chapter 14) , [John 16:12-15 (Douay-Rheims Bible, John Chapter 16)

For example

• Titus 3: 10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, 11knowing that such a man is )perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.
• Ephesians 5: 3-5 fornication, covetousness……5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
• Hebrews 10:25-26 missing mass deliberately, no sacrifice for sin for THEM but a fiery judgement that consumes the adversaries of God.
• Hebrews 12: 16 - 17 immoraliy, is selling your inheritance
• Galatians 5: 19 - 21 sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, will not inherit heaven
• Romans 16:17… dividers don’t serve our Lord but themselves. Stay away from them. Satan will soon be crushed under your feet
• Colossians 3: 5-6 immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry, …rath of God is coming
• 1 Corinthians 6: 9 - 10 no sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoitēs ], 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
• Matthew 15: 19 - 20 murder, adultery, false witness, slander…defile a man
• 2 Thes 1: 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

The Church from the beginning is the Catholic Church

• Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all ἐκκλησίακαθ’ὅληςτῆςJudea and Galilee and Sama’ria…"

iow the Church ἐκκλησία τῆς ] throughout all καθ’kata ὅλης holos] is the Kataholos Church = Catholic ChurchThe English word catholic is a transliteration of the Greek katholikos which is a compound word from kata, which means according to, and holos, which means whole. http://www.catholic.com/tracts/what-catholic-means

The bible was written in, by, for, the Catholic Church. That’s why sedition/division/dissension from the Catholic Church is so terrible for the soul. Gal 5:19… shows that division from the Catholic Church there is no salvation.

 

[PoorKnight]

Romans 11:22 " Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off."

This plus the others above = game / set / match vs OSAS

 

[mcrow]

My question is (not knowing protestant dogma/theology) what makes protestants not want to sin if there are no concequences?

 

[PoorKnight]

My question is (not knowing protestant dogma/theology) what makes protestants not want to sin if there are no concequences?

Both Steve Ray and Tim Staples have said that it is the worst theology to tell teenaged boys, that they’re going to heaven no matter what they do!

 

[TimothyH]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward. (2 John 1:8)

-Tim-

 

[guanophore]

My question is (not knowing protestant dogma/theology) what makes protestants not want to sin if there are no concequences?

I really don’t like that phrase. I think it is misleading. One cannot “lose” what one does not yet have. Although there are some aspects of salvation into which we have entered by baptism, and there are some we are presently working out, there are some that we will not attain until the end of this life.

Phil 3:12-16

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

 

[Ignatius]

I’ve searched all over CA and the internet but can’t find solid evidence anywhere that says it’s possible to actually lose your salvation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction on this?

Thanks for any help.

It’s all throughout the Bible, here’s a quiz on the subject.

Ezekiel 18:21-22, 24
“If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him.”
“But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.”
Question:
If a wicked man turns away from his sins and is justified, and then turns back to his sins, will he still live?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see those verses

1 Corinthians 11:32
“When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”
Question:
Is it possible for a Christian to be condemned with the world?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse
Extra credit:
According to the Bible, why does God discipline us?
(HINT: “To prevent us from being ___________ with the world”)

2 Timothy 2:12
“If we disown him, he will also disown us.”
Question:
If a Christian repudiates Christ, will he himself be repudiated?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

Revelation 22:14, 19
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city . . . If anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
Question:
If a Christian takes words away from the book of revelation, will he lose his share in the tree of life and to be excluded from the holy city?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

1 Timothy 3:6
“[A potential bishop must not be] a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”
Question:
Is it possible for a Christian to fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

2 Peter 2:20-21
“For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.”
Bonus Essay Question:
If a Christian cannot lose his salvation, even if he becomes entangled in the pollutions of the world, how can such entanglement be described as worse than his first (unsaved) condition? How can it be said of a saved man, “It would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness”?

Galatians 5:19-20
“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Question:
If a Christian lives in the manner described by Paul, will he inherit the kingdom of God?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

Romans 11:22
“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God; sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”
Question:
If a Christian does not continue in God’s kindness, will he be cut off?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

1 Corinthians 15:2
“By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.”
Question:
If a Christian does not hold firmly to the gospel and falls away, will it be said of him that he believed for nothing?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse

Hebrews 4:1, 11
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it . . . Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
Question:
If a Christian follows the Israelites example of disobedience, will he enter God’s rest?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that verse