Can you loose your Salvation?
There seems to be a lot of confusion about this question and it is worth looking to see exactly what the word of God says. A good place to start is to discover if there is any scriptural proof for the fact that you can lose your salvation.
In the NKJV, there is a scripture that tells us to "Work out our own salvation..."; in the Modern KJV it is put a little more succinctly as you will see below:
Phi 2:12
(12) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.
In this version, it tells us to cultivate it. The word used here is 'katergazomai', Strong's number G2716 which he translates as:
"From G2596 and G2038; to work fully, that is, accomplish; by implication to finish, fashion: - cause, do (deed), perform, work (out)."
In other words, there is something that we have to do for our salvation to grow, to be accomplished, to be finished.
The opposite of this is equally true if we don't work out our own salvation; if we don't do something, it is not finished, done, worked out - it dies. Not only is God telling us in this verse that there is something that we need to do, but He is also giving us instruction on how to go about doing it:- with fear and trembling.
We need to understand the context in which Paul writes this verse. He starts this verse with the word "therefore" which links it to the former passage in which he is writing about Jesus humbling Himself and becoming obedient:
Phi 2:5-11
(5) For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
(6) who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
(7) but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
(8) And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
(9) Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name,
(10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth;
(11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So, we have a passage of scripture that argues that your salvation is not a finished article, but can that be confirmed in other scriptures? Yes, it can!
We know that our salvation is there because of the grace of God. It is He who forgives us our trespasses and makes us righteous. However, the following, well-known verse, tells us that if we won't forgive, He won't either. Therefore there is a dependency upon us to do something to receive His forgiveness.
Mat 6:15
(15) but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This same instruction is given again in another scripture.
Luk 6:37
(37) Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.
To put this into context, Jesus was not talking to just anyone when He said this, He was specifically giving instructions to His disciples:
Luk 6:20
(20) And lifting up His eyes to His disciples, He said, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
The following passage adds to that scriptural evidence in that there is a way that we can lose God's forgiveness:
Mat 12:31-32
(31) Therefore I say to you, All kinds of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.
(32) And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this world or in the world to come.
Just think about the context in which Jesus says this. He was answering the Pharisees who were accusing Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, and in concluding His answer to their attack He said:
Mat 12:30
(30) The one who is not with Me is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.
Yes, Jesus goes on, in Mat 12:31-32, to talk about what we say and who we say it about, but He puts that into the context of are we with Him or against Him. In other words, we have to decide where we want to stand.
There is also scriptural evidence that we can receive God's condemnation:
Rom 8:1
(1) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Why is it that when we read this scripture, we seem to remember just the first half and forget the conditions of the statement. This is clarified for us just a little bit later in the same passage:
Rom 8:5-7
(5) For they who are according to the flesh mind the things of flesh, but they who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
(6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
(7) because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be.
Paul didn't write this to non-believers in an attempt to convince them of God's grace, he wrote this to the church in Rome to explain the situation to them. Paul wasn't finished with this subject, he went on:
Rom 8:13-14
(13) For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
(14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
What about the things that we do which will stop us from taking our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven? God's character hasn't changed here, He showed us the way He deals with things in both the Old and the New Testament:
Num 20:24
(24) Aaron shall be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the Waters of Strife.
Because he rebelled against God, Aaron could not enter the promised land and if we rebel against God, we will not take up our promised inheritance either.
1Co 6:9-10
(9) Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals,
(10) nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Again, we can see more scriptures in both the Old and the New Testament that show us the heart of God.
Psa 95:10-11
(10) For forty years I was grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways;
(11) to whom I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest.
Mat 7:21
(21) 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.
Is there anyone in the bible who lost their salvation? Yes, there are two that come to mind. Judas Iscariot is the one who immediately comes to mind in the New Testament. He was one of Jesus' disciples; he was appointed by Jesus (the KJV says He ordained him Mar_3:14); he walked with Jesus through most of His ministry time.
Joh 17:12
(12) While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
The one who comes to mind in the Old Testament is Satan. He had a place very close to God, as his worship leader, but even that was no security to him.
The idea that has been preached so many times of once saved, always saved is a falsehood.
If you give your life to Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Master, you come under His authority. But if you then go back to do worldly things, you sin separates you from God. The way back is repentance; but if you chose not to repent, you come back under the law of Moses.
Gal 5:17-21
(17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.
(18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
(19) Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness,
(20) idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
(21) envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
It is only by the grace of God that He allows us to repent of our sins. Believe it, God is not sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you again every time you call into your old habit of sinning. You have to humble yourself and let Him lift you up:
Jam 4:4-10
(4) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever desires to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
(5) Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us yearns to envy?
(6) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
(7) Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones.
(9) Be afflicted, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.
(10) Be humbled before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Humbling yourself is seldom a comfortable or easy process to go through. However, if you don't...
Rom 6:23
(23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A gift is never yours unless you pick it up. This is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, but we have to do something with it.