14-07-07 Can a true Christian lose his salvation once and forever?

Just came back from Care Group(CG) and got really inspired to share sth with you out there.

Can true Christians lose his/her salvation forever?

According to Hebrews 6:4-6, a true Christian CAN lose his salvation. Salvation is a very precious gift. We must not take it lightly but protect it safely.

But seriously, if one has ALREADY tasted the wonders and greatness of God, why in the material world WOULD one turn away from God? Unless... It's a DELIBERATE ACT to test God, right? And clearly Jesus has also told us NOT to do that in Matthew 4:7b and Luke 4:12b "You shall not tempt the LORD your God."

I mean, sure... You say,"But God is a merciful and loving God who's very, VERY forgiving!!!"

Of course, He is. But does that mean you are ALLOWED to push Him to see far you CAN go until you WON'T be forgiven?

My CG leader gave quite a good analogy. Imagine you're being swept down some rapid river of life by temptations and worries of the world and Jesus comes along and throws you this Rope of Salvation. It's only up to you whether or not you WANT to grab the rope or not, right? The fact of the matter is that if you opt NOT to grab that rope, it's your loss but the rope will STILL be there, right? Salvation will always be there, available for you to grab onto.

Okay, next situation. This Ezrah and I came up together while having a wonderful discussion just now. Let's say you decide to grab onto this Rope of Salvation. While Jesus pulls you onto the Shore of Eternal Life, free of all the sins and hardships of the world. Then, while He's pulling, you suddenly, for your own reasons, decide to throw away the rope... It'd be out of your reach should you want to grab on to that rope again, right?

John 3:16 ~ "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Right? According to my CG leader, the original Greek version goes to say that whoever CONTINUES BELIEVING in Him will CONTINUE TO have eternal life.

So... Guys and gals and aunties...(Uncles all too busy working, won't be here reading one...) I urge you all to ponder on this thought and to take your gift of salvation seriously and do NOT, I repeat... Do NOT take God for granted. Our imperfect humane self has a limit to our patience which we tends to be pushed often but do NOT try to push God's limit... He IS God.

Here, I hafta give lots of credit to Ezrah Nyanat and Chung for their wonderful insights on the topic as we pondered on it tonight. They unceasingly provided many quotes from the Bible that I had no idea existed before... My hats off to you both!

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." ~ Hebrews 6:4-6
Verses courtesy of www.biblegateway.com