Can a saved person ever be lost? Can you lose your salvation after you’ve become a Christian?
No. But you can lose the joy of it, can't you? You can lose the productiveness of it. If you aren't living for the Lord, your salvation is "like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames" (1 Corinthians 3:15 NLT). Who would want to do that? Let's go on. Let's be the people God meant us to be. If we want to go on in our faith, it will take some cultivation of the soil in our hearts. The outcomes are determined by the inputs. You can't make yourself grow, but you can open your life to the grace of God which will grow you by cultivating your heart. Cultivation involves getting rid of some weeds so God has a place to grow the good crop, to bless us and make us what we ought to be. “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who heard the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit” (Matthew 13:23). Go on in faith because you are responsible for your life like the farmer is responsible for his land. Be ready so God can give you what He wants to give you. Cultivate your life so the grace of God can begin to make a difference in you.
I’ve drifted away from Christ. How do I get back?
Drifting is always moving away from something rather than moving toward something. We don’t drift toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord, we drift away. This drifting is like a sailing vessel that has been cut loose from its moorings and is being carried with the current wherever the wind blows. “Therefore,” says the writer of Hebrews, “we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). The word “give heed” in the language of the New Testament means “to apply your mind and your heart and your life to what you have heard.” We are being urged to take the message of Jesus Christ very seriously, meaning we are to apply our minds to who Jesus is—not just to know Him but to take that truth into our being. If we don’t, we’re in danger of drifting away from Christ. But God has a plan for drifters, and it's right there in the book of Hebrews.
If you are a Christian who has drifted away, the good news is that God always welcomes us back with wide open arms. So talk to the Lord. “Lord, this is where I got away from You. This is where I got lost. This is where I started to drift. I now see it.” Time has a way of giving you perspective on it. “And so, Lord, I confess my wayward heart. I confess that I allowed my heart to drift from You. And I want to come back and begin again where we left off.” And do you know what? God will take you back in a moment, and you can start where you got off the path and begin again to walk with Him.
I’ve always wanted salvation, but I never made a commitment to Christ. Am I saved?
If we haven’t made that decision to come to faith in Christ, binding our hearts to Him, we may be floating all around so close to it that it’s almost like we were saved. But there’s no such thing as being almost saved. You either are or you’re not! To become a Christian, you must make the covenant, the commitment to trust Christ.
God took the initiative when he sent His Son to die for our sins. And this initiative demands a response by those who are yet to meet Christ. Your response is to commit yourself to Christ. Jesus performed miracles so that people would believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they would have eternal life in His name (John 20:30).
Many people will miss heaven because they have rejected Christ; but many more will miss heaven because they have neglected Christ. Most non-Christians have not railed against Christ as some of the modern critics are doing; they've just neglected Him. They've just drifted right on past the message of who He is.
I believe there’ll be a day in eternity for those who have not accepted Christ, but have been in church, when God will bring to their remembrance every sermon they ever heard about Jesus Christ. What an awful remembrance – to realize that you had been so close to the harbor of salvation, attending a church where a man of God stood up every week and preached the Gospel, asking you to respond; and you listened, but you never allowed it to have any impact on your life, so you drifted past the opportunity. Surely, that will be an awful moment in one’s life.
If you miss salvation in Jesus Christ, there is salvation in no other name for there is only one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). It is possible to come to church and say, “I'd like to hear that guy teach the Bible,” or “I come here. My friends are here. My wife comes, my children come” and be so close to it, but drift on past it. And when you neglect it, there is no other place to go for salvation.
What can I do to be victorious in my Christian life?
Don't ever forget that the ambition of the devil for all of us is to keep us away from the Word of God because if he does that, he's won the battle. It's not possible to be victorious in your life as a Christian if you close the Bible up and never read it, because it is the nourishment God has given us so that we can be victorious in our walk. The devil knows that if he can keep you from God's truth, he's won the war.
God knows that if you will let the Holy Spirit take control of your life, He will guide you into all truth. He will give you the things you need to go forward in your life so that you do not become a drifter (John 14:26).