Do believers have the ability to abandon their salvation?
To answer this question, we must look at the interplay between the sovereignty of God and the free will of humanity.
The Scriptures teach us that God is sovereign, yet humans have been given the responsibility for their free moral choices.
Human Responsibility
From the standpoint of human responsibility, God now calls / declares to all people to repent (Acts 17:30; Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Mark 6:12), and also promises that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:13; John 3:15–16). Yet the Bible also records that salvation does not depend on the human will.
Salvation isn’t dependent on the man who wills, wants or works for it but rather on God who has mercy (Rom. 9:16). The redeemed are those characterized as those who were born, not of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
In addition, two essential components of the salvation that is repentance (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25) and faith (Eph. 2:8–9; Phil. 1:29; Acts 16:14) are granted by God.
Apart from the workings of God in the heart of man the scriptures also record that no one would ever come to Him, since “there is none who seeks for God” (Rom. 3:11; cf.8:7–8; 1 Cor.2:14;2, Cor.4:4; Eph.2:1–3).
God’s sovereignty in Salvation
God is absolutely sovereign in salvation. Any errant theological systems that make salvation dependent on man’s will in effect dethrone God, and is a clearly contrary to the Scripture.
Jesus said that no one can to Him unless the Father first draws him (John 6:44, John 6:65).
Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV)
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Unbelievers are spiritually dead and can only be made alive through the saving work of God.
We can sometimes get it wrong by thinking of our salvation as though we were drowning in the ocean and God sent us a life jacket to save us. The truth is that we were dead in the bottom of the ocean and we needed God to revive us.
The unbelief of spiritually dead sinners cannot prevent the saving work of God. God has chosen the elect since eternity past, and He will graciously and irresistibly call them to Himself at the appointed time.
Christians are kept secure in Christ not by their own efforts. Rather, they are preserved by the keeping power of God through faith.
1 Peter 1:5 (NKJV)
who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Believers are required to take on the responsibility to believe and trust in HIM and God takes on the responsibility to keep the believer.
As believer’s we should continually take advantage of the means of grace that God has provided for His Children. As we cannot keep ourselves, we can humbly submit to the mighty keeping power of God within us.
We can work out our salvation as God works within us (Phil; 2:12-13).
Christians cannot keep themselves, but they can submit to the mighty keeping power of God within them
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