The fancy title that people give to this topic is "Eternal Security". Or in other words, "Once Saved, Always Saved". What this refers to is the idea that once you accept the idea that Jesus paid the debt for the wrongs you've committed in your life, you are now the proud owner of a non-transferable, non-refundable, one-way ticket to Heaven. And nothing you can do or say will cause this heavenly ticket to be revoked.
John 10:28-30
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."
This is where many people get hung up right away. If I, myself, can't do anything to lose that ticket, does this mean that, when I'm young, all I have to do is say that little prayer, accept Jesus, and then I can spend the rest of my life lying, cheating, stealing, and pretty much doing whatever dirty deed I want, and then, when I die, I'll just waltz right into Heaven? What a deal! Sign me up!!
See, for many Christians, this poses a big dilemma. One group of people looks at that and says, "No way! A person who does those things isn't a Christian! God wouldn't allow them into Heaven." This seems like a pretty sane stance, doesn't it? But hold on a minute. There's a very subtle problem with it. The problem is this: If your evil deeds keep you out of Heaven does that mean, therefore, that your good deeds get you in? That would mean that, in order to get to Heaven, you need to do good things all your life. Fortunately, the Bible debunks the "good works get you to Heaven" theory pretty soundly:
Ephesians 2:8-9So, it's pretty clear that it's a gift and we don't have to do anything to "earn" it. But that still doesn't answer the question of "Christians" who live like criminals.
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Let's talk about John Calvin's answer to this question a moment. His opinion was that God picks people to be "His people". If you get chosen, you will be a Christian; you don't have to do anything whatsoever, but you also don't have a say in the matter, either. This is what he calls "irresistable grace", meaning we cannot resist it. To apply this to the misbehaving Christians, it simply means that you weren't picked, because, obviously, if you had been selected, you wouldn't be behaving this way, now would you?
I'm not inclined to agree with this. I'm not saying it's dead wrong, but it doesn't make sense to me. Here's where I'll be departing from the main road and doing a little "theology off-roading". Got your helmet and goggles on? Ok, let's go.
First off, let's attack a faulty assumption that seems to be underlying this whole discussion. It's the whole idea that "If you sin, you go to Hell. Do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200." This is where the whole problem starts. If we throw all sinners into Hell, what happens when a Christian sins? Aren't they supposed to be going to Heaven? If they don't go to Hell, does that mean they are happy forever and ever and their deeds go unpunished? Hold on a second. Are we saying that God has no other forms of punishment other than the infamous "lake of fire"? Seems kinda extreme, doesn't it? It's like dropping your son or daughter off at the local penitentiary because they colored on the wall.
Here's what I believe is at the heart of the matter: Salvation is not connected to punishment. Wait, what? Doesn't that fly in the face of Christian teaching? Nope, let me explain. At the end of all things, there are two groups of people; those who are members of God's family and those who are not. God extends the invitation to all people. It's a gift. It's free. You don't have do, say, or be, anything to "be eligible to receive this limited time offer!"
I worded that last sentence that way on purpose. You don't have to do anything to be eligible to receive, however there still is one single thing you must do. You must accept it. Let's imagine that I show up at your door with a shiny new sports car. I hold out the keys and say, "It's yours! free!" You have two options; you can either accept or refuse.
But God isn't exactly offering a new sports car, now is he. What exactly is he offering? He's offering to adopt you into his family. To me, it seems very much like adopting an 18-year old. By law, the 18-year old must accept the adoption for it to be legal. The lawyers draft the papers, both parties sign, and "presto!" another family member. This, to me, is the process that happens the very first time you say that prayer and ask God to be your heavenly dad.
To expand more on my original statement, salvation is a legal process, not a punishment. But isn't that strange? Don't unbelievers go to Hell? Isn't that punishment? Well, yes and no. Let's go back to the sports car analogy. I'm there, standing with the keys in my hand. You look at me, say "I don't believe you", and slam the door in my face. The next day, you walk out your door and see your neighbor in his brand new sports car... Now, wouldn't that be agony to realize what you missed? It's the same with God. He holds out his hand and say, "Hey, come be a part of my family!" If you say no, you will then find out what it's like when God turns his back. Is God "mean" because you ended up in an unpleasant place?
If you're a child of God and you do something wrong, I think it's likely that you'll still have to account for your deeds, even if you don't get tossed into the Lake of Fire. God may not "throw you out of the house", i.e. prevent you from living with him in Heaven, but you may get spanked, or grounded, or any other punishment he sees fit. In my mind, simply walking into Heaven knowing the deeds you committed on earth will be enough of an extreme punishment. I don't imagine it feels all that wonderful to have the Creator of the Universe disappointed with you.
Now, assuming you are a part of God's family, are there circumstances that could cause you to lose your spot in this family? i.e. Once saved, always saved? Yes, I believe there is one condition where you can lose your salvation; and that is if you reject God's gift. If you package it up and send it back, you don't have the gift anymore. I disagree with John Calvin. I think God gives everyone the free will to make that all important choice. And you can resist it if you want to. The Bible is correct, no external force can separate you from the love of God and Jesus will never leave or forsake us, however, if you leave or forsake Him, you're on your own.
This means that your salvation is not tied to the good or bad things you do. You still can't earn your way into Heaven, no matter how hard you try. It also means that if you do some horrible things in life, while still maintaining a true belief in Jesus, you'll probably get into Heaven. But you may walk through the pearly gates only to see God taking his belt off.
The difficulty is that when we look at other people, we can't see into their hearts. We can't tell whether they have accepted or rejected the offer. Only God knows for sure. However, what we can see is their actions, and those tend to be a fairly accurate indicator of whether you're a part of God's family or not. You can't declare for sure that they'll be headed to the burning trash heap on Judgment Day, but you can surely assume by their deeds that they might be and warn them appropriately.