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When I first wrote this it was written with all the usual arguments against the belief that once you are saved you cannot lose your salvation. Then God showed me how simple the argument was against this and so the chapter is considerably shorter as none of the standard arguments against this belief are now relevant.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

There is a book that lists all who have salvation. It is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. If your name is not in it you do not get eternal life.

In Rev 3:2-3 the church was told to repent and obey Jesus. They were disobedient and were not repenting. The threat was that their name would be removed from the Book of Life. These people had their name written in this book so had salvation and eternal life but were in danger of losing it through disobedience.

As it was shown in Rev 3:5 that you can lose your salvation through rebellion then it cannot be true that you are predestined to be saved. If that was the case you would not lose your salvation through disobedience. Election also depends on your decision as we cannot be elected if you do not want to follow Jesus.

Election and predestination are different. Election is a call to follow Jesus and be changed into His image, while predestination is the limitations God has given you to work within once you respond to His call. It is not being chosen to be saved.

G1588 klektos From G1586; select; by implication favourite: - chosen, elect.

G1589 eklogē From G1586; (divine) selection (abstractly or concretely): - chosen,

Election (in the Christian contest) just means being chosen by God to become one of His people. People are chosen who are willing to do what is required to be a follower of Jesus and who will respond to God’s offer to follow and obey Jesus as their Lord. It is like choosing a group of workers. You only choose those who are willing to do the work.

It is not so much the choosing to be a Christian but the choosing by God of the people who He knows will respond and will allow themself to be developed into the person He wants a follower of His to be like. It is no use God choosing people who do not want to follow Him and trying to mature them into what He wants His followers to be.

These elected are people God knows will accept Jesus and will obey God in all they do. He does not choose them to be saved as that would over ride their free will, but chooses them because they desire to be saved and follow Him. God desries all to be saved but can only work with those who want to be saved and who will follow Him as Lord.

All four usages of predestination are based on the above word. It refers to God determining the parameters within which we are to live and by this, limiting what we can do as a follower of His and thus have guidelines (God’s Plans for you) to walk in as required by Mat 6:33. Outside these parameters we serve His enemy in some way. The limitations are not forced on us by God but are choices we accept as citizens of The Kingdom of God because they come from God, our ruler.

These parameters limit us to what is necessary for us to stay saved, just like any good parent limits what their children can do so they will not hurt themselves. It is not a controlling the person or a choosing the person to do something but a guiding the person in the way they should live to satisfy God. They have a choice not to obey which is why they can loose their salvation.

(Rom 8:29) God knew beforehand what people would do and determined that all who followed Jesus would be conformed to the Image of Jesus.

(Rom 8:30) Those whom He knew would respond He called and justified.

(Eph 1:5) He determined that those who would respond would be adopted as sons.

(Eph 1:11) We are called to the purpose of God that He has determined we are to fulfil if we are to be a follower of His.

Salvation is not a result of Calvary. We are not saved by calvary. At Calvary we were redeemed and the blockage between God and us was removed so that we now have direct access to God without the need of a priestly sacrifice for our sins as Jesus took the place of that sacrifice. Salvation in the Old and New Testaments has always been through faith in God (The Old) or Jesus (The New Testament). There has never been a place in Salvation for any physical activity or observance. It is all faith in what God has done.

Anything that had to be done by us to obtain salvation apart from faith in Jesus and what He had done at Calvary would imply that what He had done there was insufficient. This would mean that He was not God and unable to remit our sins (redeem us). The whole purpose of God dying was to be able to remit our sins and remove the defilement that prevented us from entering The Kingdom of God. If Jesus is not God because He could not fully redeem us then there is no salvation.

The Holy spirit shows a person their need of Jesus

They respond and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour

They are now citizens of The Kingdom of God and are marked by The Holy Spirit to show this

They must now study to be able to live as citizens (Work at their Salvation) so they will not lose it

They must do the work of The Kingdom (the good Works mentioned in James that are an evidence of a person’s faith)

By Grace through Faith (Eph 3:8,9)

Result of God’s Love (Jn 3:16)

A result of hearing the word and believing it (Jn 5:24)

Confessing with mouth and believing in your heart That Jesus has come in the flesh, has been raised from the dead and is Lord of all (Rom 10:9-10)

A heart relationship not a legal act (Jn 17:3)

Reflected in what we do for Jesus out of Love for Him and His Kingdom (Jn 14:15, Jn 13:34-35)

A willingness to suffer as He did (2Tim 3:12)

Serving Him for His purposes (as He is Lord) and not our own (Mat 25:31-46)

2 Tim 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

People say they follow Jesus but it is when the transition of deciding to suffer for Him occurs that you become useful to Him and you can be used to do what He wants you to do for Him.

Suffering for Him

Loving others as He loves them

Doing His work as He did

Any person evidencing these will be led by The Holy Spirit in these things and will be seeking to serve Jesus where, when and how He wants them too for the purposes of His Kingdom and resultant salvation of souls.

Salvation and citizenship are intertwined (you cannot have one without the other).

A citizen seeks the things of God not His own

If not doing the things of God you either not a citizen (saved) or immature

Can a person leave jesus, and leave their first love, that’s the question, and the answer is an unmistakable, Yes!

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Can Satan deceive us to the point where we lose our salvation? Yes! Satan can’t just take away our salvation. Satan to first has teach us his doctrine of demons which deceive us, as Eve was deceived. ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ is a doctrine of demons.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Can a believer err into sin and death? Yes, otherwise James would not have written the warning above to the "beloved brethren".

Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Your life will show which kingdom you belong too. If it shows the lifestyle of a citizen of The Kingdom of God then you belong to that kingdom. If it shows the lifestyle of a person who rejects Jesus and His will then you belong to the kingdom of Satan.

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

This passage plainly states you can be saved and then lose your salvation and will be unable to repent and obtain salvation back again.

I have met someone in that situation and it is pitiful to hear their cries to repent but be unable to repent.

Quenching the Holy spirit is involved which is the unpardonable sin and you must have the Holy Spirit (i.e., be saved) to be able to quench Him. That is why we are to work at our salvation (not work to get it, implying we have a part in it apart from accepting it as a gift from God).

Satan has to offer a way of salvation that counteracts or nullifies God’s way of Salvation. For Satan’s false gospel to be accepted it must appear to be within the guidelines of The Bible so it is a plausible alternative but inadequate in that those believing it are not saved, or if saved, are rendered infective against him for some reason, usually by ignorance of Satan or a belief Satan cannot harm them as they are ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ (once saved always saved) or similar.

This attitude states we have to do something ourselves in addition to what Jesus did to obtain Salvation or to help obtain salvation. That works or ritual are necessary. It is often a result of the person not believing God can love them enough to do all it all Himself and that they must do something so God can accept them for the purposes of salvation. Deliverance is needed to free them from this attitude.

This attitude places a person under the Law and negates what Jesus did at Calvary by their saying Calvary was not sufficient – that more than faith in what he did was required. That Calvary was not a finished work. They do not realise that salvation is by faith and calvary does not save them.

This wrong attitude negates Grace, Love and Mercy saying we are only accepted if we do certain things. This attitude does not appropriate what Jesus did at Calvary and like the ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ attitude negates parts of The Bible or has to rationalise them away, and give them meanings they do not have.

‘Works Theology’ states you can personally do things to help you obtain salvation. There is a major flaw in this belief

God is infinite so the gap between you and He is infinite. There is nothing you can do to bridge this gap, The moment you say you are able to do any thing to bridge this gap in part or in whole you have two possible problems:

If you say you can do something to bridge the gap in ‘part then what you have done is infective and you may as well not do it for all the benefit it will do for your salvation.

Anything that adds to the Gospel, modifies the Cross or interprets the Bible in a special way implying it is not inerrant and thus unreliable and not God inspired. This also means the scripture they use to back up their argument cannot be relied upon if the Bible is not inerrant.

Satan does not understand God’s Grace, Love and Mercy which is why anything he substitutes for the Gospel is legalistic merciless and loveless.

They had not even heard of the Holy Ghost or His Ministry but were still followers of Jesus

(Act. 19:2) And he said to them: Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? But they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Ghost.

They had been baptized with the baptism of John which identified them origionally as followers of John but who now followed Jesus.

(Act 19:3) And he said: In what then were you baptized? Who said: In John’s baptism.

(Act 19:4) Then Paul said: John baptized the people with the baptism of penance saying: That they should believe in him, who was to come after him, that is to say, in Jesus.

They were the baptized with the baptism of Jesus to identify them as a follower of Jesus. This was a result of salvation and not a part of it or a cause of it.

It can be seen that both baptisms were well after their salvation and commitment to follow Jesus as their Lord.

These disciples were followers of Jesus, who had never heard of the holy spirit and had only been baptized by John but who were saved because of their faith in Jesus as their Lord. Both baptisms were after their salvation so it is obvious, so is obvious that both baptisms are not necessary for salvation.

To be saved you need to follow Jesus as total Lord of your life! If you do, but you have an erroneous belief about salvation that you do not know is wrong, then your salvation is not an affected. Once you know it is wrong and do not repent of it, as long as it is not disobedience to the Bible in any way it will still not affect your salvation unless it becomes an Idol. If the belief is one that the Bible declares is wrong, to continue to keep it becomes disobedience to God and may result in the loss of salvation.

Acts 14:21,22 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into The Kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 4: 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Romans 11:13-14 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Phil 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

To believe that you can never lose your salvation and not have to work at keeping it through obedience to Jesus as Lord requires you to ignore an awful lot of Scripture.

It you say there such a thing as ‘purgatory or similar then you are saying The Bible is incorrect as its says you die then are judged. No second chance or no reduction through any thing man can do (Heb 9:27).

The moment you pray for the dead to have less punishment or a shorter time in a half-way house like purgatory you are implying that you can influence God and His reward system.

The Bible says (Gal 6:7-8. 2 Cor 5:10) We all are rewarded for what we did in our life and no one can do any thing to alter the judgment of God and the reward, if any, that applies to a life.

God would not judge equitably if that was possible for you to alter the punishment of a person so that a person who had lived a lukewarm or immoral Christian life could obtain rewards that were better than they justly and equitably deserved.

God’s judgment cannot be influenced by any thing man does, You cannot bribe God or alter God’s judgment in any way. It is based on what you do and He decides according to your life and nothing can change that as He is bound by the principles He has made for judging activities (Gal 6:7-8).

The Bible (God’s Laws) state you die, face Him immediately, are judged by Him for your Life style, go To heaven or hell and receive any rewards you have earned in service of Him.’

Another lie is the belief you can pray to people in heaven and they can influence God on your behalf. The Bible says the only way to influence God is to approach Him through Jesus or The Holy Spirit (Jn14:6, Rom 8:27).

The danger is that what you ask God for may not be His Will so if you desire to change things you are asking for something that will cause you harm or disadvantage you in some way.

God’s Will is perfect so why do you want to change it any way? To ask Him to do something for you denies His Love as being perfect towards you unless you are asking for what is His Will anyway. If it is His Will why are you asking for it as promises to do it for you Mat 6:33).

Be careful of doing or believing the things of men that are not in The Bible. You will either be following a strange God or asking for something that will not be in your best interest.

Having started the walk of salvation you must continue it through faith, perseverance and obedience be led by the Holy Spirit so that in all you do you obey Jesus. As you do this, he will be I would to use you for His purposes, as well as play you in trials t,o strengthen your faith and mature you into he is image ( character).

Of the choice is yours and you will have no one else to blame, if you lose your salvation but your self.