Can A Christian Lose Their Salvation?

Can a Christian lose their salvation?

Regarding believers that fall back into sin, can they be saved again? Below are a couple of references. The footnotes for Hebrews 6:4-6, in the Spirit-Filled Life Bible, for which Pastor Hayford served as General Editor, is as follows:

6:4-6: "The language of vv. 4 and 5 clearly describes those who have experienced the saving grace of God, and the language of v. 6 denotes a complete disowning of Christ, a deliberate and decisive abandonment of the Christian faith. The people described are not backsliders but apostates. They have not merely fallen into sin but have denounced Christ. They have become as those who crucified Jesus."

6:7,8: "The illustration depicts the condemnation of those who turn away from Jesus Christ."

There is a section at the end of the Spirit-Filled Life Bible called "Spiritual Answers to Hard Questions," by Pat Robertson. The question on "If I sin, will I lose my salvation" says,

"...If one continues in a course of known sin, assurance of one’s salvation may be lost, but that is not the same as an actual loss of one’s salvation. When the Scripture says, ‘Whoever is born of God does not sin’ (I John 5:18), the sense of the Greek is not that a Christian never commits an act of sin, but that he does not continue in a course of sin, refusing to confess and repent of his sins. A person born of the Spirit of God will be drawn back to repentance every time he sins....Beyond that, we do read in Hebrews 10:29 that if somebody actually says the blood of Jesus Christ is a common (unholy) thing and renounces the salvation he has received, then that person may have lost it all. But the same book says, ‘But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you’ (Hebrews 6:9). It is very hard to believe that someone who has been born again would turn that far away from God."

Also from this same resource, Pat Robertson says:
"The concept of an unpardonable sin has been a source of difficulty for many because it seems to go against the Bible’s teachings about grace. We understand that God’s grace forgives every sin, but our Lord mentioned one sin that cannot be forgiven.

"The religious leaders had come out to hear Him, but they opposed virtually everything He said. As He was casting out demons, they accused Him of doing this by satanic means (Matthew 12:24).

"Those people were so blind spiritually that they were attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to satan. Furthermore, they were rejecting the Holy Spirit’s work in their own lives. In essence, the Holy Spirit was saying of Jesus, ‘This is the Son of God. This is God,’ and they were saying, ‘He is not God! He is satan’s agent.’ It was then Jesus said, ‘Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven’ (Matthew 12:31).

"Obviously, the unpardonable sin is not merely saying an unkind thing about the Holy Spirit. The religious leaders involved had turned totally against the revelation of God. They were so far into their own wickedness that they rejected not only Jesus Christ, but also the Holy Spirit. They were saying that good was evil and evil was good. They call the Spirit of God, satan!

"Once they had rejected Jesus, the one source of forgiveness, there was now no forgiveness. A person who turns away from Jesus Christ can receive no forgiveness, and that is what these had done.

"If you want to obey God but are concerned that you may have committed the unpardonable sin, you have not committed it. If anyone today has committed this sin, it would be one who is hard-hearted, who has turned against Jesus, reviled Him, and become so depraved that he would claim that God’s Spirit is satan."

Our God does not condemn us. The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts (let us know what we did was wrong) and then prompts us to turn and do right. He doesn't leave us "bleeding," as it were, feeling worthless and lost. If one has asked God's forgiveness and meant it with all their heart, THEY ARE FORGIVEN!

In the Spirit-Filled Life Bible the following are footnotes from Matthew 12:31, 32 and Mark 3:28, 29:

Matthew 12:31, 32 -- "The Pharisees slandered the Holy Spirit by knowledgeably attributing His work to the devil, thus committing the "unpardonable sin." Their sin was not an act of impulse or ignorance, but the result of a continued and willful rejection of the truth concerning Jesus. It was a sin against spiritual knowledge, for they had ample evidence of the truth from the words and deeds of Jesus. In deliberately choosing to insult the Spirit, they forfeited His ministry in their lives and will not be forgiven."

Mark 3:28, 29 -- "The unpardonable sin is not so much an act as a state of sin, a settled attitude that regards good as evil and evil as good. The scribes had repeatedly witnessed the deeds and heard the teachings of Jesus, but their willful blindness to the truth had resulted in such spiritual insensibility that they could no longer recognize the truth and were immune to its convicting power."

Resources:
Tape #1549 "On Not Grieving the Holy Spirit"
Tape #1417 "Implications of Profanity, Blasphemy, and Vulgarity"
Tape #1141 "Walking Worthily"
Tape #2196 "What is ‘Sinning Against the Holy Ghost?’"

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