This is the third Little Lesson where we’ll be discussing this subject of the security of the believer. Is it unconditional, or is it conditional?

When you believe in Jesus, does that guarantee that you have a salvation that there’s no possible way you could forfeit? Or is your security conditional? Conditional upon you continuing in the faith, as evidenced by your continued walk of obedience to the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ?

If you’ve been listening to the last two Little Lessons (you can view the first one here and the second one here), you know that I’m in the camp that says that security is conditional upon a continued walk with Christ.

Now, we want to walk in love toward one another. We want to realize that the most important thing is not whether or not you can lose salvation. The most important thing is whether or not you have it right now! And if you do have it, there needs to be some evidence of this in your life. Faith without works is dead.

“ The most important thing is whether or not you have salvation right now! —DAVID SERVANT

What Jesus Taught About Conditional Security

One of the most obvious texts that shows us that it is indeed possible for a true believer to revert back to a life of sin and to miss out ultimately on salvation and eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven is in the Olivet Discourse. Jesus is speaking to His closest disciples. After He tells them about all of the signs that will precede His coming, He begins to warn them repeatedly of the importance of making sure that they’re ready.

So, I’m going to begin in Matthew 24:43, the first of three stories that Jesus tells that all have the same moral: make sure you’re ready, because if you’re not, there are dire consequences! Again, He’s talking to Peter, James, John and Andrew, his closest disciples.

But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. – Matthew 24:43-47

So, there is a slave who is now contrasted with an evil slave,

But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 24:48-51

A hypocrite is someone who professes to be something they really aren’t, as evidenced by their actions.

An Interesting Interpretation

Now, commentators who believe in unconditional, eternal security have to twist this scripture to such a degree in order to make it fit their particular doctrine. They say that the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth is not Hell. Oh no, it’s a place outside the main portals of Heaven where it’s not so bright and light!

The outer darkness is a place where unfaithful Christians will be regretting that they weren’t faithful. They’ll be over there weeping and gnashing their teeth for a while until Jesus comes and, as the scripture talks about, wipes every tear. Then he’ll welcome them in.

It’s so obvious what’s being said here. Jesus is talking to Peter, James, John and Andrew, His closest disciples. And He’s warning them, “Make sure you’re ready. Don’t be like the evil slave who thinks the master will be a long time in coming, so there’s no sense in worrying about what He will think of me or if I’m doing his will.”

So, this will represent a believer who becomes an unbeliever or a believer who is a stupid believer and who’s counting on something that he shouldn’t be counting on: the delay of his master.

Jesus said, “You don’t want to be like him, because, in the end, that guy is placed with the hypocrites. There’s weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And if you study Jesus’s use of the phrase, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” it’s always a reference to Hell. Okay, so these guys are really desperate when they start saying that this place is Heaven!

Five Foolish Virgins

This parable is followed by two others. First, the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Take note that it was spoken to Jesus’ closest disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew. And it’s moral is, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (v. 13).

That is, you don’t want to be like the five foolish virgins. All 10 were ready at the beginning, but five of them became unready and they were not allowed into the wedding feast. “Don’t be like them, Peter, James, John and Andrew.” So, obviously, it was a possibility that these men, as free moral agents, could have become like the evil slave and the five foolish virgins and not have been ready and faced the consequences.

Three Stewards, Two Prepared, One Unprepared

Then finally, the very next parable is the parable of the talents. All of these men received some talents. One received five talents. One received two and one received one. The master goes on a journey and then He comes back.

The man with one talent buried it in the ground. And when the master came back, this man wasn’t ready. He didn’t have anything to present before his master as a return on his investment. His master said to him, “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).

“This man wasn’t ready for his master’s return, Peter, James, John and Andrew. You don’t want to be like him.”

Keep Following Jesus!

Okay, so, what’s the message? The message is, yes, it is possible. It is possible to forfeit salvation. That’s very clear from these scriptures. If you’re not ready when Christ returns or at your death, you will forfeit salvation.

And so the message is, keep following Jesus. Strive to enter by the narrow door, as Jesus said.

If you make a mistake, well, just keep your heart soft. Ask God’s forgiveness, repent, get up and get going again. All of these men didn’t just make one little slip up. They had major, major flaws where they were not ready. So, I want you to be ready. I want to be ready. Let’s be ready together!

All right. Much more to be said on this subject. Books have been written about it. I’ve written a chapter on this subject in my book Forever Rich, and an entire book dealing with true and false assurance called The Great Gospel Deception. Thanks for joining me! God bless.

The post Is Your Salvation Conditional or Unconditional? appeared first on David Servant.

Today’s question is another good one. We hear it often: can true Christians lose their salvation? First of all, I don’t like how the question is phrased because it implies that you can lose your salvation just like you lose your car keys: totally accidentally, never expecting it. In fact, you don’t even realize it until sometime after you discover that they’re lost.

The answer to that question is: absolutely not. Salvation is very precious and valuable. It’s not something that you get accidentally and, certainly, it’s not something that you lose accidentally.

But is it possible for a true believer in Jesus Christ who possesses the gift of eternal life—who’s a child of God—to somehow forfeit or lose that? Well, Christians are divided on this issue and everybody has their proof texts.

First, a Lesson on Bible Interpretation

Let’s start with a little lesson on Bible interpretation, first of all. Because when you start ‘a proof text war’ and you say, “Here’s my scripture,” and someone else says, “Well, here’s my scripture,” and you see who’s got the longest list of proof texts, that’s really not the best way to interpret the Bible!

I would advise you to look at the proof text from both sides. Because if the Bible is saying that you can and that you can’t forfeit your salvation under any circumstances, then we ought to throw the Bible out, right? Because it’s unreliable, it doesn’t even agree with itself! But the Bible is internally unified—a consistent message—and so it’s one or the other. Either you can or you cannot forfeit salvation under certain circumstances.

If you have a list of scriptures on one side and a list of scriptures on the other side, you need to look at all of them. And then, whatever viewpoint that you adopt, you have to take the other side’s proof texts and somehow harmonize them with your proof texts. Then you’re going to be safe. The side that is not able to harmonize their proof texts with the other side, that’s the wrong side. So there’s a little advice on interpreting the Bible on any subject whatsoever.

What Scripture Says About Forfeiting Salvation

There are so many texts that make it crystal clear that it is possible, under certain circumstances, for Christians—true Christians—to forfeit their salvation. They are too numerous to list in a little lesson, but you can easily find them in your own Bible reading.

When people ask me how I can prove my view, I hardly know where to begin. But let’s start in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

I think that’s pretty plain and clear, isn’t it? People whose lives are characterized by the things that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 will not inherit the kingdom of God. And inheriting the kingdom of God is a clear reference to ultimate salvation. Jesus said in Matthew 25, speaking of the future judgment of the sheep and the goats, the king will say to the sheep, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” That’s a salvation statement.

Paul says that the kind of people he lists are not going to inherit the kingdom of God.

Can True Christians Backslide?

Here’s the next question then: would it be possible for a true Christian to backslide, turn his back on the Lord, revert (or whatever you want to call it) and be in one of these categories Paul mentions? Could a Christians become an adulterer? Of course a true Christian could become an adulterer. That’s a temptation that Christians, as well as non-Christians, face. And Christians can succumb. Does that mean that the very second that they commit adultery the Holy Spirit leaves them? If they were to die at the second they committed adultery, would they go straight to hell?

I personally don’t believe that. I believe God still loves folks that fall into sin—his children—and He does everything He can to try to reel them back in and get them to repent. Because God forgives people who ask for forgiveness and repent, right? God is a God of discipline. He disciplines everyone whom He loves. When we get off track, God has a way of getting us back on track.

God’s Discipline

Let’s consider a person who is a genuine believer and dives into adultery, ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit and continuing in that lifestyle. If that person resists the discipline of the Lord and closes his heart down, I believe that they are not going to inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Some people will say,

“Well, maybe God will take them home before God’s mercy runs out.” That actually is a possibility, believe it or not.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians,

For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep [obviously referring to death]. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. – 1 Corinthians 11:30-32

That verse is a little bit of a consolation.

Can a True Believer Stop Believing?

We could also ask the question, is it possible for a true believer to stop believing? Because Paul said that the Lord is going to, “confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8). But he adds in Colossians 1:22-23, if you continue in the faith. Well, you are saved by faith, and you continue to be saved by faith.

Is it possible for a believer to stop believing, turn his or her back on the Lord and no longer believe in Jesus? If you’ve been around as long as I have in Christians circle, over 40 years now, you see some of that. It’s tragic. Absolutely heartbreaking, but I’ve seen it. Not only is this evident from scriptural examples, it’s true from our observation.

Some folks will say, “Well, those people were never saved in the first place!” Okay, all right, I get that. Maybe we’ll talk about that on our next Little Lesson. Love you, thanks for joining me! God bless you.

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