A friend told me recently that he doesn’t believe in the theory of “once saved always saved.” Is it true? Can we lose our salvation? My friend referred me to Hebrews 10:26: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Sounds like my friend might be right when he says that the once saved always saved policy is not biblical. But I didn’t want to stop the research there. When it comes to my salvation I want to make sure I get it right. This was only one verse and it is easy often to misunderstand or misinterpret a verse when it is taken out of context. So I did a bit of reading to gather the context of Hebrews 10:26.
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ First he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’ (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The law is a shadow of good things that are coming and the sacrifices made in accordance with the law are also a shadow of what was to come. As such, the sacrifice could not take away sins because it was only a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ. When Christ came and died it was once and for all. One sacrifice for all sins and all people to make us holy, to make us new. Hebrews 10:11-18 says that Christ is the new covenant that was promised by God in Jeremiah 31:31-34. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34b)
(Hebrews 10:18) “And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” Christ is the last sacrifice for sin and has forgiven us there is no longer any sacrifice necessary for sin because our sin has been forgiven. So how does this change the meaning of Hebrews 10:26?
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” (Hebrews 10:26)
We just finished saying that because of Christ sacrifice we no longer need the blood of bulls to cover our sin because there is no sin to cover. So when Paul says that no sacrifice for sin is left he is saying that Christ has come and gone and there is no greater sacrifice that could be given than what was given by Christ. No sacrifice could remove deliberate sin than the one Christ gave. No sacrifice is left. Only by Christ and only through Christ are the sins of all we do washed away.
“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Nothing we did brought about our salvation, Christ died for us before we even knew we needed to be saved. How then if we are not the authors of our salvation can we be the authors of its removal? We did nothing to earn our salvation we can do nothing to lose it. God gave us a choice to except his gift of salvation or to reject. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Are we somehow exempt from this list? No. Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ!
“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)
It is finished for those who wish to be saved, for those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
What if we deliberately reject Jesus’s sacrifice after accepting it, which would be sin? The one verse said that nothing in creation could separate us, but God was not the author of sin and evil, was He? Could our own sin, having not been created by God, allow us to lose our salvation?
By: Lindsey on December 28, 2011
at 9:59 pm
Hi Lindsey,
Thank you for your comment. You bring up a legitimate question.
If someone believes that Jesus is our salvation, but then deliberately rejects this later on it can mean one of two things:
All humans are still sinful and weak for as long as we are on earth. If a man was being persecuted for his faith and in a moment of weakness deliberately denies Christ to protect himself he as not lost his salvation. In fact Peter the apostle even denied Christ, as Jesus had predicted.(Luke 22:54-62) Peter had not rejected Christ in his heart, but only out of human weakness for immediate security which is understood and forgiven by Christ and paid for by his sacrifice on the cross.(Hebrews 7:27-28) Have you ever looked at the difference between Peter and Judas? Peter served God and fell through human weakness, Judas served money and despaired because he never accepted the Savior.
The other thing that rejecting Christ can mean is that you now truly believe in your heart that Jesus is not God, that he did not die to pay for your sins and that he is not the way of salvation. You serve another master and worship him as god. If this is the case then I would question whether that man ever truly believed that Jesus was the Christ(John 14:6). If someone has ever truly believed then why would they reject his truth? But if someone simply acted like a Christian because it suited them at the time and not because they truly believed then they are not saved (Matthew 6:24)(James 3:12). Some people go to Church for the music, friends, expectations or because it feels good to belong, but the Bible is clear about the lost and the saved.(Matthew 7:22-23)
The verse you are referring to is (Romans 8:38-39) It says “For I am convinced that neither death nor life,“… That covers heaven, hell, judgement and all our action because those are all things that happen to us when we are alive or when we are dead.“…neither angels nor demons,…” That covers supernatural powers who may wish to take us from God. “…neither the present nor the future,…” This means that Christ sacrifice covers our past and our future mistakes. “…nor any powers,…”This means governments, friends, enemies, witches and warlocks, goblins and ghosts, and the devil himself are unable to remove us from God.”…neither height nor depth,…”This covers all locations and places. Meaning No one can hide you from God.“…nor anything else in all creation,…” Covers anything that might have been left out. “…will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When it comes to your salvation there is NOTHING that can remove you from God’s hand once your are truly secure inside it.
If you have any more questions or further expansion on this on please feel free to comment again. You may also find my post “Why did God allow sin into the world” to be helpful.
~A messenger of Christ.
By: A Messenger of Christ on December 29, 2011
at 4:15 pm