Quite often I watch a television show on a Christian channel called
"Ask the Pastor," and people call in questions for a panel of pastors
ready to offer their interpretation of scripture regarding answers. The
question that seems to get asked more than any other is "Can one lose
their salvation?" It's asked frequently, phrased in different ways but
with the same concern: "Can it happen?" "Did it happen to me?" The
emotion behind that question is very real and I've heard some asking the
question with the sound of such distress they can hardly get the
question out. In considering that question, allow me to offer my
interpretation of God's word and also the viewpoint I've seen given on
the show from various pastors.
Please understand: If it
were possible that you had lost your salvation that would not concern
you in the least. You would be so far from God, it wouldn't matter to
you. There may have been a confused time in your life when you walked
away from God, but listen, He has called you back. When you feel that
tug - that pull inside your heart saying, "I want to get back to God."
"How do I do that? Will God hear me?" that is God, dear friend,
calling you - drawing you back. Jesus said we don't come to God unless
He draws us. His Spirit is working to bring you back, to remind you of
the truth of God's love and grace that He has for you.
Jesus
spoke of the assurance that He will never turn us away. When we come
to Christ with the knowledge inside of us of the cleansing power of
Christ's blood, shed for us, we stand before God forgiven. When Jesus
referred to forgiving a brother seventy times seven, I believe He was
referencing it in that way because that is God's response to our ongoing
need for forgiveness. It does not end at some point. When Jesus spoke
of going off to find the one sheep gone astray, I believe we are given
to understand that God's Spirit will seek to find and bring us back from
wherever we have gone. When Jesus spoke the parable of the Prodigal
Son, that story symbolizes The Father, standing with arms open ready to
receive us back, with joy. Believe me, God doesn't want us out in the
world wandering in the wrong direction. He wants us with Him forever.
But don't allow your heart to get hardened because therein lies the
danger. Pay attention to God's Spirit speaking to you of love, mercy
and forgiveness. Dear friend, know it with assurance: God is calling
you home.
