If you are a child of God, you may lose heart for him on occasions, but he will never lose heart for you. You may run from him, but he will always run to you. You may become distracted with worldliness and sin, but the Father’s heart will always woo you home. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, God the Father will welcome you into eternity with singing and shouts of joy. His heart for you, sinner, is one of grace.

There is a popular doctrine within Christian theology known as the perseverance of the saints. You may have heard it described as the eternal security of believers. The doctrine expresses that all who are truly saved by God will never nor can ever lose their salvation. Their eternity is secure.

The question often goes: Is it ever possible, after surrendering our lives to Christ, to walk away from faith and no longer be “saved”? For centuries, Christians have debated whether or not a believer can lose their salvation. I have dear brothers and sisters who answer the question differently. Both groups love Jesus and seek to live biblically; however, some would answer the question with an emphatic yes, while others, a confident no. Which one is it?

The issue is important for practical Christian living, because, as Millard Erickson has described, “If, on the one hand, there is no guarantee that salvation is permanent, believers may experience a great deal of anxiety and insecurity that will detract from the major tasks of the Christian life. On the other hand, if our salvation is absolutely secure, if we are preserved quite independently of our lives or actions, then there may well be, as a result, a sort of lassitude or indifference to the moral and spiritual demands of the gospel.” Theology determines how we live our Christian life.

The question of whether or not a person can lose their salvation is more complicated than you may think, because there are places in Scripture that seem to suggest both (John 10:27-28; Hebrews 6:4-6).

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