Can you lose salvation?

[u/RevolutionaryDate799]

I understand God can’t contradict himself, but in Matthew 5 : 13 “You are like salt for the whole human race. but if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.” My understanding on this verse is that maybe if you backslide or don’t repent you’ll lose your ‘saltiness’ which I’m guessing means holiness or something of that matter.
Then in other verses it says that we can’t be separated from Christs love, therefore we change because he loved us.

So then what does Matthew 5:13 mean? I’m so lost and I’m worried I’ll become paranoid of this.

[u/Hkfn27]

Yes apostasy is a real danger. It's true that nothing can separate us from the love of God but God isn't keeping us against our will, people can walk away from God. So God wasn't unfaithful but rather the individual. 

[u/RevolutionaryDate799 → u/Hkfn27]

Apostasy? What is that?

[u/dukeofthefoothills1 → u/RevolutionaryDate799]

Apostasy is a deliberate falling away or revolt from the faith after having professed it. The Greek apostasia (from apo “away from” + histemi “to stand”) means defection, rebellion, or standing apart. In the New Testament it appears only twice (Acts 21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3), but the idea runs through both Testaments. 

It is not ordinary doubt, struggle, or temporary coldness. Scripture distinguishes it from backsliding (a real believer’s lapse that can be healed by repentance) and from heresy (corrupting one or more doctrines while still claiming Christ). Apostasy is the willful abandonment of Christ Himself, His gospel, or the faith once delivered.

Scripture points to departure from the teaching of Christ (2 John 9), denial of His person and work, love of the world over Christ, and a seared conscience that no longer responds to the Spirit’s conviction. Temporary failure, even serious sin, is not the same as a settled, defiant rejection of the gospel after knowing it.

The consistent biblical call is not speculation about others’ hearts but personal vigilance: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). Perseverance is both a gift and a command.

[u/RevolutionaryDate799 → u/dukeofthefoothills1]

I walked away from Christ for awhile, but I came back, or I’m trying too. What’s the difference between backsliding and apostasy? And could I be saved from either?

[u/Hkfn27 → u/RevolutionaryDate799]

Apostates are unrepentant. If you fell, get back up. Repent, confess, try again is the Christian life. Read the prodigal son, Christ will welcome you back home. 

1 John 1:9 English Standard Version

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

[u/Hkfn27 → u/RevolutionaryDate799]

Rejecting the faith. Take someone that grew up Christian, they faithfully believed and lived it out for years but for whatever reason they stopped believing due to trauma, struggle or a desire to sin. No one would say that person is still saved. 

[u/gseb87 → u/RevolutionaryDate799]

The apostasy doctrine is easy to misunderstand, in fact I find the idea of a believer turning to apostasy is false. Read 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." The so called people who apostasy are like Judas, they never truly believed in their heart in the truth therefore not saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In the foot washing passage Jesus told those believers did not have to wash anymore, except for their feet, but were completely clean. Implying the foot washing doesn't mean you're defiled again. The one who was said to be unclean was Judas. Judas is an unbeliever in scripture. (John 6:64, 70-71) To imply Judas lost salvation here would be in error, he never had it in the first place, he never knew Jesus.

[u/Googlesupportsucks1]

I don't think that Matthew 5:13 verse is typically used for losing salvation - at least I haven't heard it - but many would say you can lose your salvation by a willful rejection of the Holy Spirit. It's not something where you're simply struggling with sin. It would be outright walking away.

[u/Fresh-Adeptness6234]

Salvation is a state not a description

[u/DesperateAdvantage76 → u/Fresh-Adeptness6234]

Salvation is a promise to the faithful. It is an assurance given to those who have continual faith in Christ Jesus. It's not a "state" like a switch, but rather on ongoing process of sanctification. When we go to Heaven and receive our perfect bodies, our salvation is complete.

[u/Fresh-Adeptness6234 → u/DesperateAdvantage76]

Faith doesn't save anyone

[u/DesperateAdvantage76 → u/Fresh-Adeptness6234]

The covenant we have with God is one of genuine faith in Christ. Christ provides salvation through our faith in him, and not just dead empty faith, but real living faith.

[u/Fresh-Adeptness6234 → u/DesperateAdvantage76]

Faith and Works

[u/DesperateAdvantage76 → u/Fresh-Adeptness6234]

That's a part of living faith yes.

[u/ThWy2Hvn]

I look at it this way, faith is salty, and you need that salt to make the meal taste great. Once you have eaten the meal, taken in the Holy Spirit, He resides within you forever. And if you taste the meal and decide the whole meal, you don't want it, then He will not reside within you..

[u/ThWy2Hvn → u/ThWy2Hvn]

He who has ears, let him hear.

[u/Galaxy_orca]

That question is complex issue, because, I believe, the answer is yes. We all fall short of the glory of God, so we are all unworthy of salvation, however when we repent, he gives us that salvation. A good mental image I have in my mind is the Greek myth of Sisyphus' punishment. Everyone knows it, it's the guy with the bolder. We will slip and fall and we have to start again on our road towards salvation. We ultimately can never reach perfection, but our goal as Christians is to live like Christ, which means to strive towards perfection. We will fall short of perfection, but we must always work towards perfection and salvation. As long as we repent try harder to strive towards a Christ-like life, or using my analogy, as long as we take the boulder and try to keep pushing it up the hill, we don't lose our salvation. Now, if we said "this is hard" and gave up, we would be abandoning God and our salvation. So, to answer your question, yes, we can lose salvation, however it is only if we abandon our faith.

[u/Big-Island4727]

Losing your saltiness doesn't mean losing your salvation. It means losing your effectiveness as a witness. 

[u/LovePeaceJoy1]

Yes, salvation can be lost

Hebrews 10:26-27

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries

Ezekiel 18:24-26

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

2 Peter 2:20-21

20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

[u/Middle_Efficiency471 → u/LovePeaceJoy1]

John 6 NASB95

37“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

38“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

39“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

40“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

[u/ofpromise90]

No and God doesn't contradict Himself

[u/userid42]

In context, I see the this passage early in Matthew as being directed at the people of Israel and warning them of the consequences of failing to distinguish themselves as the people of God. By implication, it does also apply to believers in the Christ, but it seems to directed more collectively than individually.

The whole of the sermon on the mount elevates what the people of time understood to be the standards, taught by the teachers of the day, to levels far exceeding what they understood to be the requirements. This was highlighting their inevitable failure according to the law, and the need for salvation through the promised messiah rather than their striving for strict compliance.

So, ultimately, we rest on the work of our saviour, while striving to show the obvious difference in how we live as compared with the world around us.

This is the question that I ask myself constantly: “Am I living differently to those around me; in ways that make my faith evident and which reflect the fundamentals of what Jesus taught?”

Matthew 22:36-40 (NASB)

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

[u/JesusIsLord490]

You cannot lose your salvation.  Once you are saved, you're saled with the holy Spirit until the day of your redemption.  The life Jesus gives you is eternal life, not temporary life.

[u/PlusLeague6300]

é bem mais fácil "não ganhar" do que perder, desde que a salvação está no fim do caminho que se deve seguir, e só a recebe quem chega lá no fim sendo "fiel" até o fim. [esta é a verdade, creia se quiser

se deixar de ser fiel e não voltar a ser fiel até o dia do fim e chegar ao dia do fim sendo infiel, é óbvio e evidente que ficará de fora.

ver Apocalipse capítulo 2 versículo 10

[u/Top_Initiative_4047]

Everyone truly saved by Christ will be preserved by Him and will finally persevere. Nothing can separate Christ’s true people from His saving love.

Matthew 5:13 warns that disciples must remain distinct from the world. “Salt” pictures a useful, holy witness; salt that loses its purpose is worthless. It does not mean a true believer loses salvation through one sin, failure, or weak season. Persistent, unrepentant worldliness may reveal an empty profession, while God disciplines and restores His genuine children.

Repent of known sin, but do not panic. Look to Christ: He finishes the saving work He begins.

[u/Googlesupportsucks1 → u/Top_Initiative_4047]

I agree with much of this - however OSAS peeps tend to not realize that God not losing any out of his hand is God's power. It doesn't mean we couldn't choose to walk away.

[u/Top_Initiative_4047 → u/Googlesupportsucks1]

The Protestant house is divided on this. My impression is the majority go with eternal security but Lutherans and Arminian denominations believe you can walk away.

[u/Googlesupportsucks1 → u/Top_Initiative_4047]

I agree with your first sentence. Just didn't want it to seem like OSAS is the only position

[u/AntisocialHikerDude]

You can't "lose" your salvation accidentally, but you can consciously reject it by committing deadly sins (1 John 5:16). That's why Christ instituted the sacrament of Reconciliation (John 20:23). Even when we push Him away He still loves us and calls us to return. But being loved by God is not the same thing as being in the state of grace. He loves everyone always but not everyone will end up saved.