Hebrews 6:4-8 – “…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, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned…”

The Scriptures contain many warnings against falling away or forsaking eternal life after God gives it to us (see Ezekiel 18:21-32; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 8:13; John 15:2-6; Romans 11:21-22; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12; Galatians 4:11, 5:2; Ephesians 5:5-7; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 6:4-8; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Jude 1:22-23).

Revelation 3:11 – “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” Jesus here implies an important biblical doctrine: people can forfeit or abandon everything God gives them. The Enemy of our souls wants to steal every spiritual blessing from us. Jesus is not warning about a human opponent, but rather about the forces of darkness (see 1 Peter 5:8).

Some say that this idea undermines the concept of Free Grace, because it seems to make our salvation or other spiritual blessings dependent on our own effort. It is true that we receive salvation, regeneration, baptism in the Spirit, anointing for ministry, etc. solely through God’s Sovereign choice to extend His grace and mercy to use when we do not deserve it. No one can achieve their own salvation, or can give themselves spiritual anointing. We are completely dependent on God for this, just as an infant is dependent on its parents for food and safety. (See Ephesians2:8-9; Psalm 123:2). On the other hand, just as a child can run away from home or reject a gift from his parents, so many Christians forsake their spiritual inheritance and drift into dead religion or worldliness. No one “can snatch us from the Father’s hand” (John 10:29), but we can chose to jump out of His hand if we choose. Nothing external “can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39), but the Bible never says that we ourselves cannot decide to separate from Him. “Ourselves” is the only thing that Paul intentionally omits from his list in Rom. 8.

We do not need to be anxious about our salvation, because God has given us everything we need to complete our journey. (see 2 Peter 1:3). “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) Jesus “is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 1:24) God does not suddenly forsake us – rather, people forsake Him and reject his grace.

In Revelation 3:5, Jesus says, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” Note that Jesus promises not to blot out the names of the faithful from the Book of Life (salvation). This implies that he does blot other people’s names out from the Book of Life. The unsaved or unbelievers never have their names written in the Book of Life (see Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:15). God writes our names there only when we are born again or come to salvation (see Philippians 4:3; Revelation 21:27). The fact that Jesus here indicates that He blots out some people’s names from the Book of Life indicates that we can lose our salvation if we fall away from Him – in contrast to the “once-saved-always-saved” message that some churches preach.

Let the Scriptures speak:

John 15:2-6 (New International Version) - He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Romans 11:22 (New International Version) - Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

1 Corinthians 10:1-12 (New International Version) - For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Galatians 4:11 (New International Version) - I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Galatians 5:2 (New International Version) - Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

2 Timothy 2:12 (New International Version) - If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.

2 Peter 2:20-22 (New International Version) - If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Matthew 7:21-23 (New International Version) - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Luke 8:13 (New International Version) - Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

Ezekiel 18:21-32 (New International Version) -  ²¹ “But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. ²² None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

²⁴ “But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰ “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!