Can I Lose My Salvation? - Part Two
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
In this passage, Jesus is educating Nicodemus on the means of salvation by teaching the Pharisee that salvation is a new birth. According to Jesus, unless a man is born of water (which speaks of our first birth—the physical one) and of the Spirit (our second birth—salvation), He cannot enter into Heaven. Thus we have the principle of being born again—the first birth being our physical entrance into the world and the second being our spiritual entrance into the family of God. Two births. Neither of which can be undone.
It is impossible to be unborn after we’re born. Even if you were to die, that’s not the same thing as being unborn. That’s death, but it does not undo your birth. It cannot happen in the physical or spiritual sense. Therefore, when Jesus speaks of being born again, He is referring to a permanent state of being. Once one is born, he is born. The process cannot be undone.
To me, this concept is clear, but there are many who struggle in this area, so I wanted to cover it within this short series on salvation. Make no mistake, once you are born into the family of God, you are a child of God, and nothing can change that. No matter what you do or where you go, if you are born again (saved), you’re going to Heaven. Now, if you’ve lived a life of sin and worldly pleasure instead of one pleasing to the Lord, there will be a lack of rewards for you in Heaven, but you will be there, nonetheless. Lord willing, we’ll discuss this in more detail tomorrow when we talk about whether our works here on earth affect our salvation.
Until then, cling to this truth: born is born. It cannot be undone. Take comfort in this.