A. Nowhere in the New Testament (NT) can such a thing be found in specifically direct words. However there is much said that leads us to conclude we are eternally secure and therefore our names forever retained in the Book of Life.
Many verses assure and reassure us of our life in Christ being eternal, starting with the well-known John 3:16, "...shall have everlasting life." (KJV)
In John 10:28 Jesus says He gives His 'sheep' eternal life and that they will never perish. Further to that, He adds, "..no one can snatch them out of His hand," and goes on to say, "..no one can snatch them out of His Father's hand"; therein is divine double protection. We do not earn our salvation, it is a "gift of God". Hence we become slaves of righteousness, to God, and holiness which "results in eternal life"' it too being a gift (Rom 6:18-23). Will He rescind on His gift?
Relatively 'easy' for us; a gift. However, to God, this came at great cost: costly grace. We often take this for granted, yes. God went so far out of His way to "foreknow" us, "to predestine, call, justify and glorify" us (Romans 8:28-30). It cost HIM so, so much--the very life of His one and only Son; I do not believe He would ever let us go if at once we were His.
First Corinthians 6:11 says, "washed, sanctified, justified" in the Lord Jesus Christ's Name and by the Spirit of our God. Again, if God was willing to do this for us believers, is He going to annul His work?
I do not believe for one minute that it even crossed God's mind to disinherit us nor to cut us, His heirs, out of His will. Look at Gal. 4:6-7. "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts...since you are a son, God has also made you an heir."
Ephesians 1:11-14 tells us, "...you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit...guaranteeing our inheritance until redemption...". This is like the cattle ranchers who brand their cattle with their unique, respective brands. God has "branded" His heirs of redemption with His Holy Spirit. He is not going to let us go so easily!
We find in Rev 22:17 that "...the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" The child of God gets to go back to God along with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee. God is our "all-the-way-Home-Saviour". He's not going to erase us out of the Lamb's Book of Life.
Being "handed over to Satan" seems to mean to place the brother (or sister) into Satan's domain, i.e. the world. The purpose for this is correction, not condemnation.
Take a look at the brother in 1 Cor 5:5. Paul handed that man over to Satan so that his "...sinful nature would be destroyed but his spirit saved". He did learn his lesson as we read of Paul strongly urging the Corinthians to reinstate him into the congregation (2 Cor 2:5-11). It can be deduced that he was a saved man who had sinned, repented, and eventually rededicated his life to Christ. He was not saved, lost, saved, and never had his name erased from the Book of Life.
Paul also hands Hymanaus and Alexander over to Satan (1 Tim 1:18-20). They had been led astray, even to the point of blaspheming. It should be noted though that blaspheming in the NT doesn't always mean "to curse God", rather it can mean "to speak ill of others". Perhaps they had been backstabbing others or speaking maliciously; details aren't given. The context does not appear to regard eternal security but discipline of believers who had shipwrecked their faith".
To have "rejected" sound teaching does not mean lost but rather to teach us that this group of believers started out well, but had not maintained fellowship with their Savior and by their actions brought shame upon His Name and themselves.
Similarly to being "handed over to Satan" for correction are those who have "wandered from the faith/truth". The believer in James 5:19-20 had fallen into sin. This does happen in the life of many Christians but there are other spiritual Christians who have helped those who have gotten into deep sin and have shepherded them back to the Lord.
Try to paddle a canoe in a straight line towards the opposite bank and against the wind; it's difficult but not entirely impossible. So too the "rescued" brother or sister can be brought back to the Lord with great sustained effort. That person had not stopped being a child of God nor had had his/her name revoked from the Lamb's Book of Life. The everlasting quality of God's gift is genuine.
True, the everlasting quality of God's gift is genuine and although the child of God may have wasted years in sin, that which he has done for the Lord will be tested. Because of those wasted years much may be "burned up" but he himself will still be safe if "only as one escaping through the flames." (1 Cor 3:10-15).
There is another scenario of "having wandered from the truth" that is akin to the terminology of having "tasted" of the "heavenly gift". The Scriptures 1 Tim 6:10, 20, 21; Heb 3:12-14; and Heb 10:26-29 will show that "the faith" the people purported to have could be questioned.
First Timothy 6:10 is not so much of having the faith and losing it but "did they ever have it"? The same tenor can be see in 1 Tim 6:20, 21 where "intellect is prominent and God's ways are questioned. These are not so much of saved/lost/saved verses but, were they ever truly saved."
The Hebrews verses can be viewed in the context that many of the Hebrew people had heard and known of the gospel but had never received Christ by a definite act of faith" and forthwith turned back to Judaism. They turned back and "openly despised the cross". A true child of God would never despise the cross or the One who died for Him. A true believer would not fall back but must keep up their guard against sin and the pleasures of this world.
A blatant example, esp of Heb 6:4-6 would be Judas Iscariot. He had been with Jesus for those 3 1/2 years witnessing Jesus's life, miracles, etc and even performing miracles and preaching himself. He came to a very sad, remorseful, faithless end. He had "tasted" but had never accepted for himself and therefore had never gotten his name written in the Book of Life.
Some verses in the NT may appear ambiguous in that they use the terms 'if', 'might' or 'should'. This seems to put the English-thinking mind in quandary. However, the NET (New English Translation) states in Titus 3:7, "...and so, since we have been justified by His grace we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life". Often in the NT 'if' and 'should' could be translated 'since'. 'If' and 'since' show what would be logical result, not a question of result.
The Hebrews 3:6 'if' is not a negative 'if' but rather an "expected" 'if'. A true believer WILL hold fast--it is expected. The context of Hebrews is not church doctrine rather the Person of Christ and/or the Living God. We do not hold fast in order to retain our salvation but as proof we have genuinely been saved. A true child of God will endure. Their names are eternally stamped in the Lamb's Book of Life (Heb. 3:14).
Another passage that may present a challenge is 2 Peter 2: 19-22. It looks like someone had accepted Christ but then had gotten "entangled" in the world again. Verse 22 is rather dramatic in saying the "dog returns to its vomit" and "a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." In the Old Testament (OT) a dog and a sow are considered unclean animals. Reference here would indicate that that is what the person who supposedly "escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" is -unclean- and had never actually accepted Jesus with a definite act of faith. The person was in the same category as Judas and the others who'd only "tasted" but had never made it their own. Again, their names would never have been in the Book of Life. "The Lord knows those who are His" (2 Tim 2:19). We can never judge the heart of any particular individual. All we have to go on is their "good deeds"...
Titus 3:5-7 indicates we are saved to do good works NOT by good works, therefore we cannot work for our salvation in any way, shape or form. It is the gift of God. The grace of God is a gift. Eternal life is a gift. Faith, itself, is a gift (Eph 2:6-10; Romans 6:23). God's gifts are eternal. He does not withdraw them. He's thought all this out before we were born. He sees us as seated with Him in the Heavenly realms; as if we were/are already there in past and present eternity! Praise the Lord!
Hebrews 10:14 appears to be a contradiction of terms..."because by one sacrifice He has made us perfect forever those who are being made holy". If God has made us perfect forever (Romans) why are we "being made holy" (James)?!
In God's eyes we are "perfect forever" made righteous by Him through the blood of Jesus Christ at the time we accepted Jesus as Savior. God's Word tells us in Heb 10:17-19 that "our sins and lawless acts" God "will remember no more". They've been "forgiven". No more sacrifice for sin needed.
The "being made holy" phrase may be where the confusion lies. This is the sanctification part. That process by which the Holy Spirit purifies us daily, if we let Him, and make Jesus, not just our Savior but our Lord and Master as we live our lives in pleasing obedience to Him. (1 Cor 6:11).
God asks us to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:13-15). We can never actually attain total holiness of mind on this earth but He wants us to "aim for perfection"; that holiness (2 Cor 13:5, 7, 9-11) so that we will be a greater witness and testimony for Him.
This sanctification process isn't even fully man's responsibility; so that even when we fail we do not lose our salvation nor will we have our names erased from the Book of Life. Our salvation does not hinge on our ability or lack thereof to be sanctified of our own accord. Salvation comes from God and is His gift to mankind.
In 1 Cor 6:11 we see our washing, sanctifying and justification is in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. As Joyce Meyer in her book Battlefield of the Mind says,
"When a person receives Christ as His personal Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in Him. The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God just as a person's own spirit within him is the only one who knows his thought, so the Spirit of God is the only One who knows the mind of God.
"Since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and since He knows the mind of God, one of His purposes is to reveal to us God's wisdom and revelation. That wisdom and revelation is imparted to our spirit, and the spirit enlightens the eyes of our heart, which is our mind. The Holy Spirit does this so we can understand on a practical level what is being ministered to us spiritually." Thus we are not left up to our own devices.
Salvation then is a "better and lasting possession" (Heb 10:32-34). As 1 Peter 1:3-5 points out, God "has given us new birth...an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade...and is being kept in heaven for us."
Mankind cannot help themselves and would likely mess it up therefore God keeps our inheritance safely guarded in heaven for us. It was God's plan all along to "chose us and elect us". He will not abandon nor euthanize us. He says, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee..."(Heb 13:5 KJV).
I boldly and confidently conclude with a resounding "NO!" God will never erase a person's name from the Lamb's Book of Life even if he wanders away from the truth, no longer believing or following God's teachings. The person is safe and eternally secure.
THE END
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