Can you lose it? It kind of begs the question – who would want to? However, I do know that there are opposing views depending on the denomination. I take a somewhat simplistic view.
Having received forgiveness and come into the family of God, I’m not going to get into arguments with fellow brothers and sisters, who – I believe that they believe what they are saying – may not believe in exactly the same way on those issues, important though they are, that are more of a opinion or interpretation of scripture call. (How’s that for a sentence!) For me, as fundamental as Salvation is, ‘losing it’ is part of the ‘opinion’ call area.
I realize that those who say you can lose salvation are relying on a scripture (Hebrews 6:4-6) that talks about losing what you have. However this, in my opinion, is a conscious act, not an accident – you choosing to give away your salvation. And, if you read all of that scripture, it is also talking about the Holy Spirit.
I remember when I was a new Christian that this was one of the first ‘disagreements’ I witnessed – the you can and you can’t lose your salvation ‘camps’. I remember wondering about this because could I lose it and not realize I did? Could I do something, inadvertently and be forever lost? That was definitely scary.
Finally I felt that I got some understanding on this issue and the main point was that of choice. If I lost my salvation it would be a throwing away act not a mis-step – a conscious decision to walk from the Lord. It would also include a blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, again consciously.
Could I subsequently repent of that? Don’t know. Scripture seems to indicate that I couldn’t. However, in the final analysis… this is not my determination nor someone else’s. This is between that person and God.
