Can we lose salvation?
How would you answer the question, “Are you saved?” “The Catholic should reply: ‘As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24; Eph. 2:5-8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 2:15; Phil. 2:12) and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:12-15). Like the apostle Paul, I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2; 2 Tim. 2:11-13)”[i] Read Ephesians 2:8-10. It says that we are saved by GRACE, through FAITH, acted or lived out in GOOD WORKS. Saved by Grace, through Faith, acted out in Works, all three are needed. God’s grace, His invitation, His call is primary. Our response, which is faith is secondary, the fruit of grace and faith are the good works evident in our life.
Can we lose salvation? Yes! Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith.” To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be “working through charity,” abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.[ii] God does not force us to love Him, to accept Him or to stay with Him. “If another person gives us something as a grace – as a gift – and even if we did nothing to deserve it, in no way does it follow that our actions are irrelevant to whether or not we keep the gift. We can lose it in all kinds of ways. We can misplace it, destroy it, give it to someone else, take it back to the store. We may even forfeit it by later displeasing the one who gave it – as when a person has been appointed to a special position but is later stripped of it because of mismanagement. The argument fares no better when one turns to Scripture, for one finds that Adam and Eve, who received God’s grace in a manner just as unmerited as anyone today, most definitely did demerit it – and lost grace not only for themselves but for us as well (Romans 11:17-24).”[iii]
Give an example of a time in which you have been given a great gift and you lost it, destroyed it, gave it away or returned it. How did the giver of the gift respond? Did the giver find out? How does God respond? Sin is an offense against God. Is God offended when we lose, destroy or give the gift of salvation, a gift gained by the passion and death of His only beloved son?
TV – “Everybody loves Raymond” – POP CULTURE CONNECTION – 3:30
Classic scene from Season 4 - The Tenth Anniversary. Ray tapes a football game over Ray and Debra's wedding video. An example of how people feel when a “gift” or memory like a wedding video is mistreated, lost, overlooked. Debra is offended and hurt. Do we care as much about our salvation, a gift, that is often never thought about or cared for.
The Church in the Council of Vatican II makes it very clear that salvation can be lost stating that it is possible to endanger our eternal salvation. “One of the gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and the practice of their daily lives…The Christian who shirks his temporal duties toward his neighbor, neglects God himself, and endangers his eternal salvation.”[iv] In our world when someone uses the word “endangered” we usually think of endangered species and there immediate action that takes place, even laws put in place to protect what is endangered. The truth of the matter is that we should see our salvation as endangered, in the sense that we must “work out our salvation” and rely daily on the grace of God. The Church prays, “Lord, our God, King of heaven and earth, for this day please direct and sanctify, set right and govern our hearts and our bodies, our sentiments, our words and our actions in conformity with Thy law and Thy commandments. Thus we shall be able to attain salvation and deliverance, in time and in eternity, by Thine assistance.”[v] Satan would love for us to feel as if we are “ok” and that there is no way we could lose the gift that God has given us. He would love for us to lose our reliance on God.
Activity - The Boat Analogy by Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine gives an analogy of four boats, each boat represents a view of salvation. It would be good to explain each boat and then ask, “Which is the Catholic view?” Most people say that either 2 or 3 is the Catholic view. The Catholic view is Boat III. The Church leads us safely to heaven but we have the free will to stay or to jump off.
BOAT I – A row boat. By Grace you are called to the row boat and get in the boat. When you get in the boat you take ahold of both ores and row yourself to heaven. This is the heresy of Pelagianism (Fifth Century). “Pelagius stated that man is born morally neutral and can achieve heaven under his own powers.”[vi] We row ourselves to heaven and do not need God’s help.
BOAT II – A row boat. By Grace you are called to the row boat and get in the boat. When you get in the boat God is rowing and gets the boat going in the right direction, but eventually God gives over the ores to you and you row without the aid of God and arrive at heaven. This is the heresy called Semi-Pelagianism (Fifth Century). “Once a person has entered a state of grace, one can retain it through one’s efforts, without further grace from God.”[vii] Why do we know that God does not just get us going, “start the boat in the right direction” and then let us go alone? One, there is never a point in which we can “save ourself” or “do it alone”. Two, God never abandons us, He is always with us. Another variation of this would be both God and man each having an ore. What would happen if we have an ore and God has an ore? We would go in circles for two reasons, one, God would never stop rowing and we would and two God would always row better.
BOAT III – A sail boat. By Grace you are called to the boat and get in the boat. Once you are in the boat, the sail is filled with wind “holy spirit” and the boat sails to heaven. You just have to stay in the boat. You are able to jump off the boat if you like (free will), if you jump off the boat you are able to be rescued and get back on the boat (reconciliation) The Boat is the Church. Is it easy to stay on the boat? What would make us want to jump off the boat? To stay on the boat we have to believe in where the boat is going and we also have to trust the boat. We look around often and see other boats going in other directions. Many times it looks like more fun on the other “party” boats or maybe the jet skis (people living solo, doing what they want and going where they want).
BOAT IV – A sail boat. By Grace you are called to the boat and get in the boat. Once you are in the boat, you are chained to the mast of the boat and are unable to jump off. You are safe on the boat sail right to heaven. This is the heresy of “sola fide” or “faith alone”, all you have to do is believe, this leads to the heresy of “once saved always saved”
Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel, “The one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”[viii] We pray in the Our Father “lead us not into temptation.” The temptation is to jump off the boat, to live the Church, to abandon the faith. There is “a picture of a battle raging back and forth between God and the world. We keep throwing new reserves into the battle, the religious motivations that are meant to keep us faithful.”[ix]
What are the religious motivations in our life? How do they keep us faithful? How are they like reserves or reinforcement in the raging battle? Many of our prayers and devotions act as reserves in battle, maybe we try to pray a rosary daily. A weekly prayer group or catechism class gives us the support we need. Mass is the number one fortification in our life and the main religious motivation. Sacramentals, such as scapulars, a crucifix or rosary that we wear may remind us in the day’s battle to lift our mind and heart toward God.
Search: Are we saved?
[i] The Essential Catholic Survival Guide; Catholic Answers; page 242
[ii] CCC - 162
[iii] The Essential Catholic Survival Guide; Catholic Answers; page 238
[iv] Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et spes, 43
[v] Common of Prime, Officium Divinum (Divine Office)
[vi] The Essential Catholic Survival Guide; Catholic Answers; page 362
[vii] The Essential Catholic Survival Guide; Catholic Answers; page 363
[viii] Matthew 24:13
[ix] Sunday Sext (Noon Prayer); Officium Divinum (Divine Office), page 31