23 Scriptures Proving You Can Lose Your Salvation
While many people find comfort in the belief that saying a prayer guarantees eternal life with God, it's important to approach this concept with great caution. Moreover, the notion of "once saved, always saved" can inadvertently foster a sense of false security. Faith and salvation are not merely about a one-time declaration but involve a continuous journey of spiritual growth, studying the Word of God, and commitment to obeying the commands of the Bible.
Furthermore, the Bible emphasizes the importance of growth and transformation over time. Sanctification is a lifelong process, as seen in Philippians 1:6, where Paul assures believers that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." This indicates that the journey of faith involves continual progress and improvement, rather than an immediate and perfect change. Therefore, the notion that someone who falters was never truly saved is inconsistent with the biblical teachings on salvation and grace.
The question of whether a Christian can lose their salvation has been a topic of much debate among believers. This blog does not aim to present personal opinions but rather relies on the Word of God as the ultimate authority.
To support this perspective, I have included 23 Scriptures that demonstrate the possibility of a Christian losing their salvation. While there are even more verses that could be referenced, these should suffice to show that it is indeed possible for us to walk away, drift away, or fall away from God at any time. After all, we have been given free will.
The list of scriptures below is a harmonious blend of verses from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Although Christians live under the New Covenant, these scriptures demonstrate that this truth has deep roots, stretching back thousands of years. This enduring theme underscores the timeless and unchanging nature of God's promises and the continuity of His covenantal relationship with humanity throughout the ages.
Believing that a single moment of faith secures one's place in eternity without any further effort can lead to complacency. It might cause individuals to neglect the ongoing process of deepening their relationship with God. Many people argue that if an individual does not exhibit the characteristics of a Christian life, they were likely never truly saved. However, the Bible offers a different perspective on this matter.
Below are 23 Bible Verses Proving You Can Lose Your Salvation
2 Peter 3:17 - You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.
Numbers 32:15 - For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.
Hebrews 2:1 - Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
Joshua 22:16 - Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord.
Galatians 5:4 - You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Romans 11:22 - Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Psalm 101:3 - I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
Revelation 22:19 - If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life.
Proverbs 28:10 - Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, He himself will fall into his own pit; But the blameless will inherit good.
Colossians 1: 22-23 – In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Hebrew 3: 6 - But Christ, as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Hebrews 3:14 - For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
Revelation 2:26 - And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.
2 Peter 2:21 - 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.
Luke 8:13 - But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
Hebrews 10: 26-27 - If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Matthew 18:13 - And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
Exodus 32:33 - The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.
Revelation 3:5 - He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life.
Deuteronomy 29:20 - The Lord would not spare him; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven.
Psalm 69:28 - Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Hebrews 6: 4-6 - For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
1 Corinthians 15: 1-2 - Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you.