2 Peter 2:20 (NLT), “And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.”

One hugely contentious debate amongst Christians is the statement, “Once saved, always saved.” Is it at all possible for us to lose our salvation, once we are born again? John 10:28-29 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.” This is truth! However, what is also true is the verse that precedes it. In John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” The sheep that listen to His voice, the sheep He knows, and the sheep that follow Him - they are the ones that cannot be snatched out of the Father’s hand. This certainly implies that there must be a living, thriving, on-going relationship between Jesus and His followers, where we are progressively in fellowship with Him, are listening to His voice and walking in obedience to it. What about the argument of once we have committed our lives to Jesus, and our spirit-man has been re-created by God, and filled and sealed by His Holy Spirit - are we ever going to be in a place where He removes His Spirit from us? Well, 2 Peter 20-22, certainly speaks of people who were once saved out of sin, and then willingly returned to their sin, placing them in a far worse spiritual state than before they were saved. Hebrews 6:4-6 makes it abundantly clear that those who were enlightened to the Gospel, received salvation, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, partook of the revelation knowledge from God’s Word and operated in His power - if they were to fall away from their faith, and continue to live in open rebellion, habitually partaking of sin - they will lose their salvation. The grace of God is powerful, and the believer never has to live in fear of losing their salvation because they missed the mark. However, a decision to deliberately and continuously harden our hearts to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in order to cater to a lifestyle of un-righteous living, frustrates the grace of God and cheapens the price Jesus paid for our redemption. Such a person has turned their back on Christ and walked himself right out of his salvation. Let’s set our hearts to never cheapen the gift of eternal life we have in Jesus, because where we spend our eternity depends on it.