MISCONCEPTION:
You cannot lose your salvation.
THE TRUTH IS:
God’s word continually admonishes His disciples to do what is right so they won’t fall away from the faith and lose their salvation (Rev. 2:5). In 2 Peter 2:21-22 it mentions that those who fall away from the “Way of righteousness” that Jesus lived would be like dogs going back to their own vomit. God’s word says if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, we are done for (Heb. 10:26-27).
The goats mentioned in Matthew 25:41-46 knew to do good for God by serving others in need daily and keeping themselves from a life of sin, unstained by the world, but they heard this message of righteousness and wouldn’t obey it (James 1:27). They never became happy and blessed doers of God’s word, yet they were deluding themselves like so many today, thinking they were saved, when in fact, according to God’s word, they were not (James 1:22). Only the doers are blessed in this life and saved in the next (James 1:23-25; Rom. 2:6-8). The hearers, who know or have heard this truth and have been given ears to understand it but do not obey it, go where the goats go—the lake of fire (Matt. 25:41).
Why would the example of Lot’s wife be in God’s word, if not to warn followers of Jesus Christ of their fate, should they turn back to the ways of the world or the ways of the flesh (Luke 9:62; 17:32-33)? Jesus says that if His servant turns back to his old ways he will be cut in pieces, not saved (Matt. 24:50-51). It is amazing that such erroneous doctrines of men (like you cannot lose your salvation) can be taught and never questioned by the majority, who willingly remain deceived because they won’t study God’s word daily for the truth like the Bereans did (Acts 17:11). They are following man and not God and God’s word.
In God’s word, it mentions that Jesus’ true followers tested those who called themselves ministers, and found many to be liars (Rev. 2:2). We need to follow this example by knowing God’s word.
For more on this subject click on one of the following:
Bible Studies on Belief, Faith and Grace
Bible Study: The Overlooked Message of Salvation
PODCAST: What's Different About This Message?