Although some people may have difficulty accepting the fact, the Bible indicates that trusting Jesus Christ as Savior is the only way for a person to be assured of having eternal salvation.  Jesus Christ declares in John 14:6, “I am the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  And, Peter asserts in Acts 4:12, with regard to Jesus, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  [Note:  We use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible when quoting Scripture.] 

Norman Geisler, Ph.D., and Thomas Howe, M.A., in their book entitled When Critics Ask, state on page 431, “[A]ll truth is exclusive.  The truth that ‘two plus three equals five’ is very exclusive too.  It does not allow for any other conclusion. . . . [I]f Jesus is the only way to God, then there are no other ways.”

So, is everyone who believes in Jesus Christ or God assured of having eternal salvation?  Several scripture verses seem to indicate that simply believing in Jesus Christ is all that is necessary to be assured of eternal salvation.  Among these verses are John 3:15-18, 36; 6:40, 47; and Romans 10:9. 

And, in John 5:24, Jesus declares, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”  This scripture passage implies that even just believing in God the Father is sufficient for eternal salvation.  Does this mean that even demons are going to enjoy eternal salvation, since James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God.  You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble!”?

Geisler and Howe address this issue on page 527 of their book.  They assert,

The demons are not saved because they do not exercise a saving kind of faith. . . . [N]ot any kind of faith can save a person.  Only the kind of faith that produces good works can save (James 2:17).  While we are saved by faith alone, nevertheless, the faith that saves is not alone.  It is always accompanied by good works (Eph. 2:8-9), but we are saved for works (Eph. 2:10). 

The difference between saving faith and non-saving faith is that the former is only belief that God exists.  The latter is faith in God.  No one can be saved by believing that God exists and that Christ died for their sins and rose again.  They must believe in Him (i.e., trust Him). . . . The demons do not believe in (trust God) for their salvation – they simply believe that God exists, but they continue in their rebellion against Him. . . .

Strong’s Concordance of the Bible supports this perspective.  Strong’s states that the Greek word pisteuo that is translated as believe or believes in John 3:15-18, 36; 5:24; 6:40, 47; and Romans 10:9 “means not just to believe, but also to be persuaded of; and hence, to place confidence in, to trust, and signifies, in this sense of the word, reliance upon, not mere credence, hence it is translated ‘commit unto,’ ‘commit to one’s trust,’ ‘to be committed unto,’ etc.”

In his book entitled The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer asserts,

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. . . . In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin.

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. . . . Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ. . . .

Genuinely trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior begins with sincere repentance.  According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary,

Repentance in the theological and ethical sense [is] a fundamental and thorough change in the hearts of men from sin and toward God.  Although faith alone is the condition for salvation . . ., repentance is bound up with faith and inseparable from it, since without some measure of faith no one can truly repent. . . . On the other hand there can be no saving faith without true repentance.  Repentance contains as essential elements (1) a genuine sorrow toward God on account of sin . . . . (2) An inward repugnance to sin necessarily followed by the actual forsaking of it. . . . (3) Humble self-surrender to the will and service of God. . . .

Sincere repentance involves more than merely admitting our sins and feeling sorry about our wrongdoing.   Sincere repentance also involves having a genuine desire to please God in the future.  If we really desire to please God, we will want to be obedient to His teachings, although we will fail frequently, because of our human weaknesses.  The extent to which we strive to be obedient to the teachings of Christ reflects the degree of our maturity as a Christian.  [See the Appendix at the end of this article for a list of scriptures which indicate that genuine repentance is necessary for salvation.]

For those who find it difficult to accept any religion without adequate proof, it should be encouraging to know that Christians are not expected to have blind faith (i.e., faith that is not based upon reasonable evidence).  A person cannot be certain that they have found religious truth unless they have built their faith on a solid foundation of evidence.  Geisler and Howe contend on pages 531-532 of their book,

A person should not believe in something without first inquiring whether it is a worthy object of belief.  For example, few people would undergo a serious medical operation by a totally unknown person whom they had no reason to believe was anything but a quack.  Likewise, God does not call on us to exercise blind faith.

The devil believes that God exists, but He does not believe in God.  Belief that is a matter of the mind knowing something based on the evidence human reason can see.  Belief in God (or Christ), however, is a choice of the human will under the persuasion of the Holy Spirit.  So belief that will never save anyone (cf. James 2:14-20) – only belief in Christ can do that.  However, no rational person should ever believe in something, unless he first has evidence to believe that it is true.

The Bible encourages people to use their mind.  In Matthew 22:37, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  Acts 17:17 states that Paul “reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.”  And, in 1 Peter 3:15, those who have trusted in Jesus Christ are instructed to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. . . .” 

So, a trustworthy faith involves more than our emotions – it includes our intellect.  And, there is substantial evidence that Jesus Christ is indeed the only begotten Son of God and the Savior, or Messiah, promised by God in the Old Testament.  [See our articles entitled “Was Jesus Christ More Than a Prophet?” and “Was the Coming of Jesus Christ Prophesied?”.]

But, can a person lose his (or her) eternal salvation?  There are several passages in the Bible which seem to suggest that, under certain circumstances, a Christian may lose his (or her) eternal salvation, or “fall from grace.”  Thus, these scriptures may cause many Christians to have doubts as to their eternal destiny.  Therefore, it is important to determine what the Bible actually teaches regarding the certainty or uncertainty of eternal salvation.

Matthew 10:22 (also, Matthew 24:13 and Mark 13:13) contains the clause, “[H]e that endures to the end will [or shall] be saved.”    If interpreted in context, which includes the return of Christ mentioned in verse 23, the clause seems to mean that the Christian who survives until Christ returns will be physically rescued.  Support for this view can be found in Strong’s Concordance, which indicates that in many instances where the term “saved” is used in the Bible, it refers to temporal, rather than eternal, deliverance from danger, suffering, etc. 

Galatians 5:4 states, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”  Doesn’t falling from grace imply the loss of eternal salvation, since the Bible states in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved. . . .”?  

The Wycliffe Bible Commentary indicates that Galatians 5:4 pertains to a choice between Christ and circumcision.  According to Wycliffe, “the rite [i.e., circumcision] could only signify a deliberate attempt to create merit by adopting a legalistic position and seeking righteousness by works.”  Wycliffe goes on to state, “To assume circumcision meant to leave the ground of grace in Christ (fallen from grace) in favor of the lower and impossible ground of self-righteousness.  The true believer stands in grace. . . .” 

In other words, Galatians 5:4 indicates that people who depend on circumcision (or any other kind of works) to assure themselves that they will have eternal salvation are not trusting exclusively in Jesus Christ for their salvation and, therefore, they are failing to acknowledge that God’s grace alone is sufficient.  The passage does not infer that any person who has sincerely placed their trust in Jesus Christ can lose their salvation.

Hebrews 6:4-6 says,

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

Although some scholars believe Hebrews 6:4-6 refers to Christians, other scholars think it refers to non-Christians.  On page 514 of their book, Geisler and Howe provide the following explanation of both points of view:

Those who say this refers to unbelievers argue that all of these characteristics could belong to those who merely profess Christianity, but who do not really possess the Holy Spirit.  They note that they are not depicted in the normal ways of describing a true Christian, such as, being “born again” . . ., being “in Christ”   . . ., or being “sealed by the Holy Spirit”. . . .

There are several problems with taking this to refer to nonbelievers, even for those who hold that a believer can lose his salvation. . . . First, the passage declares emphatically that “it is impossible . . . to renew them again to repentance”. . . . But few . . . believe that once a person has backslidden it is impossible for him to be saved again.  Further, while the description of their spiritual status differs from other ways of expressing it in the NT, some of the phrases are very difficult to take any other way than that the person was saved.  For example, (1) those spoken of had experienced “repentance” . . ., which is the condition of salvation . . .; (2) they were “enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift” . . .; (3) they were “partakers of the Holy Spirit” . . .; (4) . . . they had “tasted the good word of God” . . .; and (5) [they] have tasted the “powers of the age to come. . . .

On the other hand, those who hold a Calvinistic point of view . . . point to several facts.  First, the word for “fall away” (parapesontas) does not indicate a one-way action.  Rather, it is the word for “drift,” indicating that the status of the individuals is not hopeless.  Second, the fact is that it is “impossible” for them to repent again indicates the once-for-all nature of repentance.  In other words, they don’t need to repent again since they did it once and that is all that is necessary for “eternal redemption”. . . . Third, the text seems to indicate that there is no more need for “drifters” (backsliders) to repent again and get saved all over any more than there is for Christ to die again on the cross. . . . Finally, the writer of Hebrews calls those he is warning “beloved,” a term hardly appropriate for unbelievers.  [Note:  Although Paul, in Hebrews 6:9, addresses those to whom he is writing as “beloved,” he does not actually use that term with regard to those who ”fall away.”]

In contrast to the support by Geisler and Howe of the belief that Hebrews 6:4-6 pertains to Christians, Gleason L. Archer, on page 420 of his book entitled Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, asserts,

The believer who receives Jesus as Lord in all sincerity and truth will never sincerely or willingly go back into the practice of sin, will never “trample on the Son of God” . . .; he will never regard His shed blood as unholy or profane . . ., and will never wantonly insult the Holy Spirit.  Anyone who can bring himself around to that kind of ungodliness and contempt toward his divine Savior never gave his heart to Him in the first place.  Like Judas, he may have thought that he would just “try Jesus” and see how he liked Him, and whether he would obtain from Him the advantages and blessings he craved for himself and for his own sake.  Since he never really faced up to the claims of Christ to total lordship over his life, he was a mere counterfeit Christian right from the start.

What about James 5:19-20, which declares, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins”?  Do these verses mean that, if a Christian does not turn away from sin, his (or her) soul may experience eternal death, or punishment, rather than eternal life, or salvation?

The Wycliffe Bible Commentary addresses this passage, as follows:

The statement, Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and the two references to bringing him back . . . seem clearly to indicate that the man under discussion is a Christian. . . . Since the NT teaches the security of the believer in Christ, it is best to take the reference to death as physical death.  The early church believed and taught that persistence in sin could cause premature physical death    . . . .

Alright, but how can Matthew 10:32-33 be explained?   In this passage, Jesus declares, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”  Doesn’t this passage suggest that a Christian can lose his (or her) eternal salvation if he (or she) denies being a follower of Christ?

The KJV Bible Commentary states with regard to Matthew 10:32-33, “We must be willing to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour, with all that those terms imply. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity. The warning, Whosoever shall deny me, is in the aorist tense, referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter’s), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ which shall never cease. Therefore, it is not a single act of denial which makes one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all that eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.”

Commenting on the same passage, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version says, “Every act of our lives will be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. . . . To refuse to speak up for Christ because of intimidation or persecution will result in the believer’s loss of reward and consequent loss of glory in the kingdom.”

Luke 12:8-9 is a comparable passage to Matthew 10:32-33.  In this passage, Jesus asserts, “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.  But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version states with regard to this passage, “Every act of denial of Christ on earth will meet with commensurate denial of reward at the judgment seat . . . . This is not speaking of the gift of salvation, but of the prize or reward . . . .”

We can deduce that continual denial by a person that he (or she) is a follower of Christ is sufficiently conclusive evidence that person is not a genuine Christian and, therefore, that person never has made the commitment that is necessary to be assured of eternal salvation.  In contrast, a person who has made a genuine profession of faith in Christ but sometimes fails to acknowledge Christ (e.g., when their life seems to be in jeopardy), won’t lose their salvation; however, because of their temporary unfaithfulness, they can expect to lose some of their eternal rewards.

Revelation 3:5 is another scripture passage that seems to suggest that Christians who don’t remain faithful may lose their salvation.  This verse states, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary provides the following explanation of the meaning of this verse:

The white garments probably symbolize the Lord’s recognition of godly character and faithful service in this life (v. 4; 6:11; 19:7-8).  White is the color of the garments the redeemed will wear in the Lord’s presence (7:13, 14).  The Book of Life is the list of the eternally redeemed (20:12, 15).  To not blot out is a figure of speech, affirming a positive by negating its opposite.  Thus, it means “I will include their names.”

Now, let’s consider a couple of biblical passages which teach that a person can be certain about their eternal salvation.  One such passage is 1 John 5:12-13, which indicates that a person who genuinely trusts in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can know  that he (or she) has eternal salvation.  The scripture passage says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. . . .” 

If it is possible for a person who has genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord to lose their salvation, that person could not know that they have eternal salvation.   But, how many sins would cause a person to lose His (or her) salvation?  Would some types of sins count more against a person than other types of sins?  Without a clear line of demarcation, no one could know if they still have eternal salvation.  Furthermore, ultimately each person’s eternal destiny would be determined by that person’s ability to do what is right (i.e., good deeds), rather than on the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ – a doctrine that we believe is not taught by the Bible.  [See our article entitled “Are Works Necessary for Eternal Salvation?”] 

Another scripture passage which teaches that Christians can be certain they have eternal salvation is Ephesians 1:13-14.  This passage states, “In Him [Jesus Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. . . .” 

With regard to this passage, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says, “The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit is mentioned several times in the NT (cf. II Cor 1:22; Eph 4:30).  A seal indicates possession and security.  The Holy Spirit himself is the seal.  His presence guarantees our salvation.”  And, because Christians are guaranteed eternal salvation, it is assured – there is no uncertainty. 

APPENDIX

The Importance of Genuine Repentance

As previously stated, true repentance means to "sincerely desire to turn from sin and to live in accordance with God’s will."  And one of the distinguishing features of an authentic profession of trust in Jesus Christ is a sincere desire to turn from sin and live in accordance with God's will. 

The following scriptures provide support for the belief that true repentance is necessary for salvation:

Matthew 4:17:  From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Mark 1:14-15:  . . . Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news.”

Mark 6:12:  [The 12 Apostles] went out and preached that people should repent.

Luke 5:32:  [Jesus said] “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 13:3 (likewise, verse 5):  [Jesus said] “. . . unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Luke 24:46-47:  [Jesus said] “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. . . .”

Acts 2:38:  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Acts 3:19:  [Peter said] “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out. . . .”

Acts 17:30:  [Paul said] “He [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. . . .”

Acts 26:20:  [Paul said] “. . . I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”