This is probably the most difficult question I have come across studying the Bible, out of the hundreds I’ve written on. What I find interesting is how many folks seem to offer a very quick and definitive answer, except that half of them say yes and the other half say no! I am guilty of this myself, as I have responded with either answer at different times. Remembering this, in Healing Hereafter I wanted to be sure I didn’t rush into a response that would again come back to bite me. Not only is the biblical commentary on this question difficult to incorporate into any one position, there are also several related issues that an answer must address to be consistent and helpful. That being said, I am confident God allows us to arrive at a conclusion from his collective words that is both solid and sensible. Get yourself thinking with the corresponding chapter summary below…
Chapter 21
Because we’ve previously learned exactly what people must have faith in to be saved, we can now explain how and why they sometimes change their mind about Christianity. If they believe the gospel but not many of God’s other words, if they know a lot of information about God but don’t desire to know him, or if they do good deeds to earn salvation rather than out of admiration for him, they’ve tried to enter the salvation process without the saving faith God seeks and therefore without God’s special predestination or guarantee of salvation via the Holy Spirit. They don’t lose their salvation; they simply never had it, but they can if they start at the beginning with the saving faith we’ve discussed. This leads us to ask if those who do have this genuine faith can ever lose their salvation, and a review of several biblical passages detailing God’s guarantee does not allow this to be possible. However, we also discover how God’s salvation process seldom allows our salvation status to be objectively proven to us during this life either, and we discuss several reasons why it is eternally better for us and for others this way.
