In one way, you cannot lose your salvation. In another way, you can.

And neither position contradicts the other.

Last week, we talked about the importance of having full confidence in our salvation, and how the only way to have that is by performing a biblical “self-examination”—which does NOT entail works-righteousness, but the true (and radically simple) form of repentance/faith through which we were originally saved.

Today, I want to take a deeper look at the spiritual mechanism that makes the certainty of our salvation real, without also leading us to take it for granted.

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Sometimes, when Christians disagree on big issues—like the issue of “once saved, always saved” vs. “you can lose your salvation”—it’s not because one side is right and the other side is wrong. It’s because both sides see something true and important, but neither side sees how the (seemingly contradictory) truths fit together.

Often, the Bible leaves us in this kind of predicament:

Are we not supposed to judge anyone (Matthew 7:1), or are we supposed to judge one another (1 Corinthians 4:5; 5:9-6:3)?

Are we saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) or by works, as well (2 Corinthians 5:10; James 2:24)?

Are we in the flesh (Galatians 2:20), or are we not in the flesh (Romans 8:9)?

Have we died to sin (Romans 6:11), or are we still dying (Luke 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:10)?

There are many such examples as these, which I believe are God’s way of saying to us, “You’re never going to understand (let alone agree) if you don’t seek and rely on ME for understanding.”

It also invites us to humble ourselves before each other, considering heavily the fact that our brothers and sisters on the other side of the argument may actually be seeing something, too, at least in part.

When we do neither—i.e., when we don’t rely on God or submit to one another—we can argue until we’re blue in the face (as we have been for centuries on some of these issues), throwing around the scriptures that best defend our positions, but we will get nowhere.

God cares far more about our humility and our reliance on him than he does on giving us perfect understanding. And so, he’ll withhold it until we learn the lesson.

With that in mind, in our pursuit of having confidence in our salvation, I am going to submit to you an idea that I don’t think the natural mind can comprehend, let alone agree with or appreciate. But it validates BOTH the notion that we cannot lose our salvation and the notion that we can. In short, both are true at the same time, and neither diminishes the other.

If you’ve read what I’ve written in No Longer I about our union with Christ, you should at least have a framework for what I’m about to say. If not, you may find the following somewhat difficult to understand, in which case I encourage you to go read that entire book (I think you’ll like it ;))

One of the most puzzling verses in the New Testament.

Let’s take a look at one of the most puzzling verses in the NT—1 John 3:9:

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning [literally he cannot sin] because he has been born of God. (ESV)

And also in 1 John 5:18:

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning [literally does not sin]… (ESV)

The first thing I want to address in these verses is the language. The plainest translation of the Greek is “cannot sin” and “does not sin”; however, modern translators have read their own theology into this verse and decided that John couldn’t have possibly meant what it seems to say. Hence, the translation choice of “cannot keep on sinning” and “does not keep on sinning.”

We shouldn’t get too hung up on which of these is more accurate, though, because the glaringly obvious truth is that it doesn’t really matter. Every Christian, after being born of God, can and does indeed sin AND keep on sinning, which makes you scratch your head, wondering why John would have said this.

If this wasn’t Scripture, I’m pretty sure most Christians would call it heresy. But we’ve got to deal with the fact that it breaks our conventional theological mold.

On top of this is the fact that, within the same letter, John clearly reveals that he believes Christians are capable of sinning, hence: “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

So then, what could John have possibly meant?

Nearly everyone I’ve heard try to explain this verse has concluded that what John really meant to say is something like “everyone who has been born of God starts sinning less” or “cannot continue sinning at the same rate they were before.” But if that’s what he wanted to say, why did choose language that most plainly sounds like “we cannot sin” and “we do not sin”? Would you ever choose that language based on your theology? Or (like I assume most Christians would do) would you actually be VERY careful to NEVER say it this way because you know that we all can and do still sin?

Seriously, if you wouldn’t say it in a way that sounded more like something you definitely don’t believe than something you do believe, then you shouldn’t expect that John would either. Shouldn’t we apply the same (or greater) level of intellectual integrity to our brother, John—whose words we deem the word of God—as we do ourselves? I think we should.

All that in mind, we must then conclude that John had a revelation that we don’t have—something that allowed him, with integrity, to move fluidly between two apparently contradictory theological positions: (1) We cannot sin. (2) We can sin.

Naturally, most people will hold the latter position because it is most obvious. However, while it’s true in one way, it’s not really the Truth. In fact, it’s only true outside of the Truth (i.e., the man Jesus Christ); therefore, it isn’t where the real power lies.

Moreover, if the only position you hold is that you can and do sin (or that you can and do keep on sinning—again, the distinction is irrelevant), then based on 1 John 3:9 and 5:18, you must conclude that you aren’t born of God.

Tell me, then—based on this criteria, who is born of God?!

No wonder this verse (and others like it: e.g., Romans 6:1-2) has caused so many Christians to doubt their salvation!

But it need not be so, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. And soon, you’ll see how all this relates to the “once saved, always saved” debate.

You must choose between putting on Christ or regarding yourself according to the flesh.

As I’ve argued extensively in my book, No Longer I, our union with Christ (that is, oneness in spirit with him), is the central mechanic of the gospel. It’s how every aspect of the good news (past, present, and future) gets applied to us right now. And in it, there is immense revelation that reveals the cohesion of the Scriptures.

You must understand, when we talk about “putting on Christ,” as Paul said we are to do (Romans 13:14), this doesn’t refer to merely trying your best to obey God today. It doesn’t really refer to anything besides prayerfully believing the good news that Christ is in you. Even more, that he defines you, that he is your life and your identity, apart from whom you have no life. That you are an extension of Christ himself (1 Corinthians 6:17; 12:12). This being joined to him occurred when we were baptized into Christ.

So again, how might we “put on Christ”? It is quite simple, but it requires faith in God regarding what he says about you.

Look in the mirror, and see Christ in you, as you, yourself as his incarnate presence on earth. If you can’t say (by faith), “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me,” then you haven’t gotten it yet. That isn’t a state you work towards over time; it’s something that is given to you the moment you became his own.

Put on this truth, which God has revealed in his Holy Scriptures, and you’ll see that you cannot simultaneously say (1) “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me,” and (2) “I can keep on sinning.” For Christ can neither sin nor keep on sinning.

Those two positions are mutually exclusive. We must choose between one of the two, or else we are double-minded. And whichever we believe will produce the matching fruit.

Christians will argue, “But I can sin!” And they’re not wrong. It’s a fact that we all still stumble in many ways, that we are all still capable of being deceived and falling into sin. However, the Truth (which is Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ, the Word of God) is that we are God’s righteous ones, and in him, we cannot sin. In truth, we cannot sin. And in Truth, we must abide.

If you try to understand this any other way than what I’ve prescribed, you will never get there, and it will always be a contradiction. The only way is first to put on Christ—such that you can say, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me”—and then derive every other statement of belief from that central point of focus. (This is Spiritual Thinking 101.)

If you do this, you’ll realize that here (that is, in Christ, believing the truth) you really cannot sin. But you’ll also realize that if you put off Christ, you can sin. (By “putting off” Christ, I don’t mean that you literally cast him out of yourself, but that you regard yourself according to the flesh and not according to Christ, effectively failing to put him on by faith and walking with an un-renewed mind.)

So there are two realities: (1) You cannot sin, and (2) you can sin. The first is true in Christ, in the Spirit; the second is true in the flesh. In which will you abide? With which will you identify? To which will you renew your mind?

Now, let us view our eternal security the same way.

Think about this for a second:

If it is “no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), then how could I lose my salvation? Say that again, and really consider it.

If it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, then how could I be cut off from the Lord? Seriously, think about it! Can Christ be cut off from the Father?!

If you “put on” Christ (which you may do by simply applying Paul’s statement in Galatians 2:20 to yourself)—with revelation, not just intellect—you will see that your righteousness, your future, your destiny, and your security are absolutely certain. You will see that you are never to doubt your salvation, but you are to have the same confidence as if you were Christ himself, for you are a member of him.

Put on Christ, and you’ll see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you cannot not be saved. As sure as Christ is risen, as sure as Christ is righteous, as sure as Christ is one with the Father, so am I, and always will be!

What confidence! What security! How recklessly I trust my Lord, and how little I fear my enemy, who the Lord has put under my feet! To God be the glory for granting me this wondrous position and commanding me to “put it on.”

But by now, you should see that it works the other way, too. If I do not put on Christ, if I regard myself according to the flesh, if I do not repent and renew my mind, then any confidence I have regarding my salvation would be misplaced.

Just as the statement “I cannot keep sinning” makes no sense apart from the “No Longer I” reality, so the statement “I cannot lose my salvation” makes no sense apart from the “No Longer I” reality.

Apart from putting on Christ (that is, apart from repentance, in the way I wrote about it last week), our eternal security is devoid of the substance that makes it true.

This is amazing news for those are repentant, and it should strike fear and grief into those who are not, with the ultimately aim of leading them to repentance, that they may then rightly have assurance of their salvation.

So now, we see how the Scriptures make sense, how it is that we can (1) believe wholeheartedly that we cannot lose our salvation, while (2) taking very seriously the warnings to continue in the faith and not to fall away. The latter truth leads us to repentance, in which the former truth becomes (or remains) my reality.

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There’s a lot more I could say on this topic, and I’m sure I could’ve said it much better. But I’ve hit my God-given time limit on writing this week’s article!

If you’ve found it helpful, please let me know. And especially if it left you with more questions, please let me know!

I want to build a community to talk about these kinds of things, and that starts with you.

Soon to come are bi-weekly/monthly community calls and a private community chat for paid subscribers, where we can talk about all things pertaining to the gospel, house church, the Holy Spirit, and all the good stuff. Not just theologizing, but living it out practically.

Let me know your thoughts on it below:

As always, much love.

Jake