Those who hold the false doctrine of a believer losing his salvation probably don’t realize the seriousness of the error. If we take the doctrine through to its logical conclusion, we’ll see that it is blasphemous. There are false charges brought against God Himself, which are very serious indeed. We now give a few examples:
1) God would be a liar!
If what they are saying is true, then God cannot be taken at His Word. His Word clearly states that Christ's sheep will “NEVER PERISH.” If one of them ends up in hell, then His Word cannot be trusted. This insidious attack strikes at the faithfulness of God and His Word. Thankfully, “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Num. 23:1919God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)). Whatever way a person may try to get around the word “never,” in the end, it still means NEVER!
2) Christ would end up in hell!
Since the Word of God says that the Lord will "NEVER" leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)), if we were to lose our salvation and end up in hell, then God, who cannot go back on His Word, will have to put Christ there too.
3) The Holy Spirit would end up in hell, too!
Scripture plainly says that He will be with us “forever” (John 14:1616And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)). So, if one believer ends up in hell, it means that the Holy Spirit will have to be there too.
4) Christ’s work of atonement on the cross is really not sufficient
Christ’s work of atonement on the cross is really not sufficient to secure a person for heaven; it merely gets him on the road there! Christ gets the believer on the road to heaven initially when he first believes, but then the believer must do his part to secure his salvation by walking uprightly all his days. Hence, the believer's salvation is a conditional thing, dependent upon how he behaves after he is saved. In essence, what is really being said is that there are two parts to a person’s salvation: Christ's part on the cross and the believer's part of walking rightly throughout his life. Sad as this erroneous doctrine is, it makes reaching heaven a product of the believer’s own work. At the bottom of this blasphemous teaching is a system of works—something the Bible decries (Rom. 4:4-54Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4‑5); Eph. 2:8-98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9); Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)). On the cross, the Lord did not say, “I am finished,” which could imply that He did His part of the work, leaving something for us to do. He said, “It is finished.” The work of redemption was completed on the cross and there is nothing left for us to do!
There is nothing to do,
There is nothing to pay,
Jesus did all in His own blessed way.
If a person could get himself to heaven on the basis of keeping himself from sin, when he got there he would be able to say, “I'm here not only because of what Christ did on the cross, but also because of what I did. Those who aren't here, though they may have believed, didn't do their part like I did. I walked the walk, and they didn't, so they’re lost, but I’m saved.” If that were true, it is only right that that person should get some of the credit for being in heaven. He would actually have quite a bit to thank himself for! Now, we ask our readers, Does that honestly sound like the truth of God?
A great test of whether a doctrine is true or false is simply whether it exalts Christ or man. If it exalts Christ, it is of God; if it exalts man, it is error. This false doctrine makes something of man and it demeans the work of Christ. It is blasphemy.