Q: Can True born again BELIEVERS lose their spiritual POSITION in Christ?
DEFINITIONS:
"True born again BELIEVERS" = spiritually changed / saved per John 3 / Ephesians 2.
"spiritual POSITION" = How God views each person
"in Christ" = spiritually baptized into the "Body of Christ
I would like to point out some problems with your first definition:
Firstly, true born-again believers, by the nature of the term, must BELIEVE. Without faith, they are not a believer - regardless of whether they once believed or not. *Believers* cannot lose their position in Christ, but ex-believers or former believers are not believers.
John 3:16 and many other passages also point this out - only those who believe (present active participle) shall not perish but hold (present active participle) eternal life.
Romans 1:16, which you also quote, says this as well: the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (present active participle).
Second, salvation is not merely a past event. Rather, salvation is one of the 'already and not yet' concepts in scripture. Different verses say we 'have been' saved (
I Cor 6:11,
Tit 3:4-5, etc.), that we are 'being saved' (
II Cor 2:15,
I Pet 1:8-9,
Phil 2:12-13, etc.) and yet others that we 'will be' saved (
Rom 5:9-10, I Thess 5:8,
I Cor 3:15,
I Cor 5:5, etc.) A verse using salvation in the past tense doesn't contradict or overturn verses using salvation in the present reality or future fulfillment - for we are saved from the moment we first believe, continue to be saved through faith, and finally receive our final salvation from death at the judgement when we receive new, eternal bodies.
Due to these problems with that first definition, your argument in many places assumes its own conclusions, such as 'once a spirit-led BELIEVER...ALWAYS a spirit-led BELIEVER."
Beyond the problem with the first definition, many of your support verses do not seem to be saying what you claim.
Eph 2:8: Your argument implies that faith is the gift here, and that no one can then lose faith. Yet Eph 2:8, by its grammar, is saying that the gift of God is salvation, by grace and through faith. No man could work for this - salvation is of God both in its offering and its process. Even that we are allowed to be saved through faith is a gift.
What does it mean that it is by grace we have been saved, through faith, and that this is not of ourselves but is the gift of God?
Ephesians 1:13: Eph 1:13 needs to be taken along with Eph 1:14. The seal of the Holy Spirit is not to make sure we maintain faith, but is specifically the seal is a legal guarantee, along with a deposit, that those who are God’s possession (believers) will be granted the final inheritance at the judgment. These are legal terms - they say nothing of making a believer do anything or staying in a contract or never rejecting the Spirit, but are rather about God keeping His promises. If someone enters, but then rejects, the new covenant, then they also reject the seal of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as their guarantor. They cannot claim any of the promises of God, such as eternal life, for they no longer have faith, and God only wills that those who believe (continuously, not in the past) in Christ receive eternal life (
John 3:13-18.)
Can a Christian 'give back' salvation?
You also claim that "Once a SEALED BELIEVER...always a SEALED BELIEVER. Once God gives you SPIRITUAL POSITION, He does not change it." Yet there are many scriptures that directly contradict this view that one must continue to believe if they started:
II Pet 2:20-22: These people had once had personal relationships with Christ (epignosis). They had escaped the world (apopheugó) - a feat only Christ's deliverance can achieve. Then, they went back again and were once more entangled with the world and overcome (héttaomai).
Luke 8:13,
Matt 13:20-21: These received (welcomed) the word with joy like the believers of
1 Thess 2:13. They had no root, so could not endure through trials, and died like the foolish man of
Luke 6:46-49.
Lk 8:14,
Matt 13:22: These heard the word (
Rom 10:14-17,
Matt 11:15, ) but what they heard in the beginning did not remain in them (
I John 2:24). They were 'choked/cut off because joined with' the world (sumpnigó). Unproductive faith that returns to the world is talked about it
James 1:19-27,
John 15:1-4,
II Pet 1:3-11,
Luke 9:62, etc.
Luke 12:42-46: The servant of Christ who does not wait for His coming will be 'assigned a place with the unbelievers'. This is like the foolish virgins (
Matt 25:1-13).
1 Tim 1:18-20: Timothy is exhorted to hold fast (echó) to faith, the same faith others have 'thrust away from themselves' (apótheó) and suffered shipwreck (nauageó - to break, to come to ruin, to suffer shipwreck (II Cor 11:25 - Paul was in the actual ship before it broke, it was not an illusion)) concerning their faith.
Rom 11:17-24: Another branch and vine analogy, ref.
Is 18:1-7. The Israelites did not remain, and were broken off. The Gentile believers were grafted in - but
Rom 11:20-22 makes it quite clear we should not be smug in this newfound position, for God will not spare us if we do not continue with Him!
And others:
John 15:1-8,
1 Tim 4:1-15,
II Tim 2:12,
Heb 3:12-19,
Heb 6:4-6,
Heb 10:23-39,
James 1:2-12,
James 1:22-25,
James 5:19-20,
II Pet 1:8-11,
I Peter 5:8,
Matt 10:22,
Matt 18:21-35,
Matt 24:13,
Gal 5:2-12,
I John 2:24,
Rom 11:17-24,
Rev 2:5-11,
Rev 3:5,
Rev 3:11,
Rev 22:19, etc.)
More on some of these verses:
What exactly does "fall away" mean in Heb 6:6?
Does Hebrews 10:26 mean that a believer can lose salvation?
What does it mean in 1 Tim 4:1 that 'some will depart from faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits?'
2 Timothy 3:15 says that salvation comes only through faith, and Lk 6 is a wonderful parable of the importance of building on the rock (Christ). However, neither support your conclusion that once a believer is on the rock he must always remain on the rock. Jesus' point in Lk 6:47 is quite different! It is not those who once-upon-a-time heard him and acted who are on the rock, but those who accompany him (present middle), hear him (present active participle) and act (present active participle)! It is an ongoing state of being to be on the rock - hearing and acting as you accompany Christ.
It is true that nothing can take *believers* out of the hand of God. Yet as shown in the many passages above, not all people who receive the word with joy and believe, passing from death into life, actually continue in belief. Many later reject faith, and hence all the promises of God, for various reasons. Some reasons given in scripture are returning to the law to achieve their own righteousness, love of sin, giving into persecution, the cares of the world, etc.
It is true that
believers need not fear loss of position. However, believers should have a healthy fear (not an obsession) of turning back to unbelief, which would come with loss of position. There are many warnings in scripture to this effect:
Rom 11:17-22: If we do not continue in God's kindness by standing in faith, God will not spare us and will break us off.
John 15: If we do not remain in Christ, we will be cut off and burned.
II Pet 2:20-22: If we escape the world through a personal relationship with Christ (Epignosis) but then return to the world, our final state is worse than that of an unbeliever.
Gal 5:1-2: If we do not stand firm in Christ, but return to slavery to sin (such as returning to righteousness via the law), Christ is of no value to us.
I Tim 1:19: Hold on to faith, do not reject faith and consequently suffer utter ruin.
Col 1:21-23: We are reconciled to God through Christ, but only if we continue in faith.
Since rejecting faith must be done willingly, it isn't something that we need live in fear of that we will accidentally do. Nor should we worry about losing our position by stumbling in sin. However, there should be a healthy acknowledgment by all Christians that by God's grace we are saved through faith - so we should hold fast to that faith and remain in Christ, rather than rejecting God's promises and trying to achieve salvation by our own works or means.