There are several other indications from these verses that indicate that once gained, salvation can not be lost:
1) Aspect of a birth: physical birth is permanent and irrevocable – a baby can be killed, but this does not change the fact that it was indeed born; physical rebirth is impossible. Likewise, the spiritual birth is a one time experience that can never be repeated.
2) Aspect of a gift: salvation was clearly pointed out to be a free gift. There is no precedent anywhere in Scripture where God gives a gift and then takes it back. Likewise, salvation is given as a gift by God and is never reclaimed or revoked.
3) Aspect of God’s promises: a verse such as Romans 10:9 gives the clear promise that salvation “SHALL” be given upon belief. Titus 1:2 makes it clear that God cannot lie and indeed he does not. One who has repented and believed has been given everlasting life based upon the promises made by God in his word. Some factions within the Charismatic movement claim that the primary evidence of salvation is speaking in tongues; Scripture however would seem to indicate that the PRIMARY evidence of salvation is found in the clear promises of God’s written word. One’s faith must FIRST be based upon the clear statements of the word of God and THEN in experience. If the two (God’s word and experience) ever clash or contradict, then obviously God’s word must take precedence.
Thus it is seen at this point in our study that salvation is not a long drawn out process, but a work of God that miraculously occurs at a fixed point in time. The events leading up to salvation may take many months or years, just as a woman’s labor may take many hours or days leading up to birth of her child; however, in both cases, birth is virtually instantaneous and occurs at a fixed point in history, never again needing to be repeated.
The true miracle of what happens at this moment of spiritual birth can be seen in the many different operations that God simultaneously performs in the soul, spirit and body of the new convert. The vast majority of these acts of God in the life of this new convert are unknown to him or her until they later begin to study the Bible. The things that happen to the believer at the moment of salvation form the main topic of the next study.
Questions For Further Study
1. What problem makes it necessary for every person to be saved?
2. What must an individual actually do in order to be saved? Support your answer with Scripture verses.
3. What three aspects or indications does the Bible give that once a person is saved they are always saved? Explain.
4. How do we know that the actual salvation experience is an instantaneous event and not a long, drawn out process?