Can You Lose Your Salvation? What Is Unforgivable Sin?
Yes, unfortunately Christians can indeed lose their salvation.
However, you can be certain that you can keep your salvation NOW and find out how you can make sure you keep it – just read on!
Anyone can fall from any height. As long as we are on earth, we have to be careful lest we are disqualified. (1 Cor 9:27)
If you find this webpage because you are afraid of losing your salvation, do not fear! You must believe in God’s infinite power to forgive!
It doesn’t matter how addicted you are to certain sins, or how many times you have repented of these sins already, but you keep sinning again – as long as you repent sincerely and genuinely want to stop sinning, the Lord will forgive you at your first sign of repentance. (Luke 17:3)
If you think you have committed the unforgivable sin, then you didn’t. But, if you insist that God won’t forgive you for whatever blaspheme thoughts or words that you think you have committed against the Holy Trinity, you are in grave danger of hell simply because of unbelief.
Although we have become born again Christians, we must continue to believe in God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ to stand firm. (Gal 5:4; 1 Cor 15:1)
In other words, if you stop believing in God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ, you lose your salvation until you can believe again. So please stick with your faith.
Many Christians are suffering because they worried they might have committed the unforgivable sin. Some have gone so far that they became convinced that Christ had given up on them, so they rejected Christ and joined the dark side! This is exactly a self-fulfilling prophecy!
These renegade Christians believe their feelings of fears, and outward signs that seem to convince them that they have passed the “point of no return”, instead of believing in God’s promises of salvation and Christ’s forgiveness. If one believes in outward signs and feeling more than he or she believes in Christ’s infinite grace and forgiveness, he or she has officially fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4-6)
Unless they repent of the sin of unbelief, and once again place their trust on God’s promise of salvation, forgiveness, and grace, they will not regain their salvation.
But any time they go back to God and seek forgiveness through faith in Christ, God is able to forgive them of any sin.
I learned that people who are fearful of the unpardonable sin often need as many proof as they can find to ascertain themselves that they can indeed be forgiven, here is an extremely useful article for those who are extremely worried about the unpardonable sin:
Unforgiveable? The Unpardonable sin of Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost
If you are still worried about the unpardonable sin after you have read my post and the link I gave you above, go to Testimonies of Christians who found forgiveness after being sure they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit and committed the unpardonable sin for many more articles of real Christians who have gone so far from God because they thought they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, but found forgiveness after.
This worry can escalate to the point of mental illness. If you find intrusive thoughts of blasphemy raging in your mind, it is possible that you have developed a clinical disorder known as the Religious Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Fortunately, once you know the cause of ROCD by reading the articles through the above links, you will see recovery very quickly.
Now let’s see what kind of traps can get Christians into hell so we can all avoid them.
Two Types Of Christians Who Ended Up In Hell After They Crossed Over
- Christians who deliberately sinned till the end of their life after they have become born again, because they thought God would look at the other way when they sinned since they thought they were “once saved, always saved”. They refused to repent from certain “pet sins”. They had grieved the Holy Spirit and quenched Him (1 Thess 5:19) Their conscience were seared by sins by the time they died. (1 Tim 4:2)
- Christians who thought God won’t forgive them, so they stopped believing in Christ through faith. Forgiveness is not automatic. We must receive it by faith. Anytime we add anything extra to the gospel we risk falling from grace (Gal 5:4; Gal 1:6-9). For example, Christians who were once saved, and later added extra requirement to salvation such as performance of good deeds would end up in hell when they crossed over, because they believed in “a different gospel”. (Gal 1:6-9) Anytime we disbelieve in forgiveness in Christ through faith, we lose our salvation unless we believe again. (Gal 5:4; 1 Cor 15:1)
In fewer words: Christians will end up in hell if, by the time they die, they still refuse to repent from their pet sins, OR they still believe their sins can’t be forgiven.
We don’t need to experience a 100% sinless life before we are allowed into heaven, but we have to be sincerely wanting to be free and genuinely repenting from all sin – at least before we die and cross over.
However, if someone plans to repent on death bed, that leads to two major problems – first, he doesn’t know when he is going to die, and second, his repentance is probably insincere, after many years of active sinning it would be hard for him to genuinely want to stop sinning. We can’t mock God. (Gal 6:7)
666 – The Mark Of The Beast: A Biblical Example Of How Christians Lose Salvation
Christians who get left behind will face the anti-Christ after the Rapture, and they will have to endure the great Tribulation – which is the final seven years of earth, with all the intense suffering that the world has never seen before. At some point during the Tribulation, the anti-Christ and his false prophet will force everyone to take a mark of the beast on his forehead, or on his right hand. (Rev 13:15-17) Anyone who takes the mark of the beast is going to hell.
Rev 14:9-13
9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
When God says anyone who worships the beast is going to Hell, He means anyone – including Christians.
During the Tribulation, Christians who happen to remain on earth will face intense persecutions.
For those who refuse to take the mark of the beast, chances are the anti-Christ government will have torture programs instated for them. The demonic government is not going to let their enemies die so easily. Remember, during the Tribulation the demonic army of Satan will be on earth without major restraint from God (2 Thess 2:7; Rev 12:9; Rev 12:12).
The Tribulation will be terrible! But there is an escape; the only way out is the Rapture. In the Rapture, the Lord will harvest selected Christians from around the world and take them up to heaven (1 Thess 4:15-18), and shortly after the Rapture the Tribulation will commence.
Be prepared for the Rapture because it can happen anytime soon. Being a born again Christian doesn’t guarantee we can join the Rapture, but only those of us who keep the words of Christ will qualify. (Rev 3:10)
If Jesus thinks you are ready for the Rapture, you can be certain that you are also ready for Heaven anytime should you die and cross over. But if by any chance you find yourself getting left behind, repent completely, so you can at least go to heaven if you die during the Tribulation.
If you do get left behind for whatever reason, remember don’t take the mark of the beast 666 no matter what! Some Christians will say “God will understand. God will forgive”, but they are putting greater trust on their assumptions than on God’s explicit warning. Their chance of getting away with eternal punishment is zero.
Christians, listen to what God said! Love truth, not make true of what we love.
*Caution* The following section is for those who might be tempted to “beat the system” – by trying to sin, and yet still try to get into heaven by being a born again Christian. I know a lot of people, including myself, who sometime entertain the idea that a little unconfessed and unrepented sin here and there is OK. This is an extremely dangerous way of thinking. See the Bible verses and explanation below.
If you are not in this category, but are among those who fear you might have become unforgivable, then go straight to the links at the bottom for more articles that tell you that you are forgivable.
Other Scripture Passages That Say A Christian Can Lose His Salvation:
1. Unforgiveness
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:26
If you die at the time when you harbor bitterness toward someone, which means you withhold forgiveness from that person, the Father will not forgive you as well. If you refuse to forgive even after you die, it means you die in unforgiveness, i.e. You die in sin! Will you still go to heaven if the Father doesn’t forgive you?
2. Believing in good work rather than salvation through faith in Christ only
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Galatians 5:4
Some new Christians were indeed saved by grace, but later they got deceived by cult such as the Mormon and Jehovah Witness. These cults preach a “different gospel” (Gal 1:6-9), and the result for anyone who believe in a “different gospel” is “fallen from grace”.
What is a “different gospel”? It is a gospel that preaches anything other than believing through faith in Christ, an example of a “different gospel” would be salvation by faith plus good deeds, or something other than faith.
We are saved by grace, through faith in Christ. If we are fallen from grace, that means we lose our salvation, unless we repent and go back to the pure gospel and hold on to it. ( 1 Cor 15:1)
3. Disobey God’s will
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23
We all fail to obey God many times. That’s inevitable because of our ignorance, weakness, and foolishness. But if God sends us explicit warnings and rebukes us through His faithful servants, but we insist on disobedience and keep it that way until we die, we are in grave danger of hell when we cross over.
It doesn’t matter how many souls we have saved, how much we have served God, or how many good works we have done: If we don’t do God’s will, all our good works are just filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)
4. Deliberately keep on sinning
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:26-31
One can only lose his salvation by unrepentance or false repentance on deathbed. If a Christian plans to use Christ’s sacrifice to sin willfully and get away with hell, his repentance is false, and God is not mocked (Gal 6:7).
God isn’t a computer program which has bugs you can take advantage of. You can’t beat the system by taking advantage of His provision.
In addition, sin can blind and deceive its slave (Ephesians 4:17-18; Hebrews 3:13). It can also harden the transgressor’s heart. (Hebrews 3:13)
I believe that’s why the Scripture said “no sacrifice for sins is left” for those who deliberately keeps on sinning, because the sinner has already seared his conscience by deliberately sinning and he can no longer truly repent. (Hebrews 10:26; 1 Timothy 4:2)
What if you have deliberately sinned?
You have to be very deliberate to be able to “deliberate sinning” to the point where you can no longer truly repent.
Every time we consciously sin such as ignoring the speed limit when we drive, or lust after someone and decide to satisfy our lust with more dark deeds in private, we are “deliberately sinning”.
No Christians on earth has never deliberately sinned before. Most sins began with conscious decisions, albeit under heavy pressures of temptations.
Don’t worry if you are addicted to certain sins. If you are struggling with sins but sincerely repent every time, then it’s not deliberately sinning. Sometimes God allows us to be tortured by sins for reasons such as training our faith, humbling us, or reminding us to rely on Him.
As long as we have “today”, we are to ask God to deliver us from traps of sins and ask for His grace to experience total freedom. (Hebrews 3:7-15) Don’t ever compromise and let your addictions reign – no matter how much pains the addictions have caused you.
5. Returning to the Pre-Saved days
“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:20
If a Christian re-commits himself once again to the old lifestyle he had before his conversion, the Scripture says his condition is worse than before.
The consequences of sins for him will be heavier than prior while on earth, and if he dies in that condition without returning to God, he will suffer much more than unbelievers and more than he would have had had he not become a Christian in the first place. (Hebrews 11:24)
If You Worried You Might Have Committed The Unforgivable Sin
Go To:
Extremely comforting words that explain why you and I are forgivable as long as we repent NOW
Good Precautions You Can Take To Minimize The Chance For you To Die In Sins
Anyone can fall from any height. No matter how many souls we have brought to Christ, or how spiritual we have become, if we die in sin, big sin or small sin, we can jeopardize our eternal rewards and even our salvation.
No amount of precautions can bring you to heaven, only forgiveness through faith in Christ can. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
But here I like to give you some articles and suggestions of precautions you can take to prevent hardening of heart and searing of conscience by sin, to keep you qualified for the Rapture, and to prevent a prolonged window of time when you could die in sins.
First, practice the way of love, for he who has the love of God has no reasons to fear anything or stumble in darkness. (1 John 2:10; 1 John 4:17-18) Ultimately, the commandments to love God and love others will make you bullet proof!
Second, practice the presence of God daily and walk in the Spirit!
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This is amazing. I believe this too I was just looking for scripture to support my belief.
Thanks Pierre, and I have something to add here.
The implications of “one saved, always saved” and “you can lose your salvation” are huge.
For the former, you got half of the church ignorant of the importance to endure and watch till the end. Many of them still live in sins and false security, which feed on each other. Sins deceive their slave so they don’t see truth, they don’t see truth so they remain in sins. Vicious cycle.
And it triggers a chain effect. A lot of other scriptures that talks about other things will lose their true meaning as well since many other truth build on the truth of salvation. If one get the basic truth of salvation mixed, other truth will be messed up as well.
Then the church become easy to be infiltrated and tolerate human invented doctrines, and thus stifles the growth of new christians. The indoctrination of human tradition, human doctrines, and complicated exegesis that explain away biblical truth robes the sheeps of real growth, supernatural powers, and the whole nine yards.
So… keep in touch, let me add you to my contact list aright?
Most certainly, feel free to add me to your mailing list and contact list. I would like to stay in touch with you for i see you are a true God-seeker. Also, with your permission, i’d like to post this to my Blog Spot
sure you can post it on your blog spot, just make sure you give credit to this website (I know you will, but I mean make the credit very “big” for google bot to detect) and on that page create a prominent link that link back to this site, because it will help maintain my Search Engine ranking, which is very important so people can find this site easily!
A true God-seeker? haha, thanks Pierre. Thank God for His grace. Thanks for the kind words. Much blessing to you. I will add you when I start building a contact list.
I’m sorry to inform you, but i believe that you cannot loose your salvation. Christ says he died completely for us. The bible says (John 10:29) ‘and no one can snatch them from my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one can snatch them from my fathers’ hand’. Once we are saved it is definate. You cannot loose your salvation. If you truly meant your acceptance of salvation then you are saved reguardless.
No one can snatch your soul from Jesus hand if you don’t give it up or reject this gift afterward. No external force can take your salvation if you don’t want to lose it.
John 10:29 has nothing to do with whether you can lose your salvation by your own choice.
In response to Becky’s reply:
Becky, the verse you quoted actually supports that one can lose his/her salvation. John 10:29 is predicated on the previous two verses which point to conditional salvation. In this context, salvation is only given to those who 1) know God’s voice and 2) follow him (v27). In other words obedience is requisite to receive eternal life and reserved for the sheep who follow the shepherd.
Good point Stuart.
To hear God’s voice and to follow Jesus are what being Christians are essentially about, without them, one is actually sinning. In other words, from beginning to end, one must remain in these two conditions to remain in God’s saving grace.
In fact, to believe in Jesus and receive His saving grace by faith alone is the first act of obedience. One hears the gospel, and then he or she receives the gift of salvation by faith after hearing it, which is what God asks for. He asks for our faith. So you do what God asks of you and that’s the only way you can become a born again Christian.
Of course, to believe in the Gospel, you must hear it first. That’s hearing God’s voice. When someone share the Gospel with us, the Holy Spirit also speaks to us through the Gospel. That’s God’s voice.
So there, we see that becoming Christian require exactly these 2 things: 1) To hear God’s voice 2) To follow Him.
Moreover, as long as we keep hearing God’s voice and obey, we keep our salvation. No one can snatch our soul from Jesus’ hand if we remain in that state.