Genesis 19:12-17

12The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” 14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” 16When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

What if your friends or Children ask you a question about Christian salvation, the question like this “Can Christians lose their salvation?” What is your answer would be? Would you say “No” we never lose it, or “Yes” we could lose it? What is your response going to be? However, I want to share with you how the Bible describes that question!  

This is the story of Lot and his family escaping from Sodom, the City of destruction, to Zoar, which is the city of security. In verse 12, two angels talked to Lot saying, “Do you have anyone else here – sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here.” So, Lot tried to bring them out from the city. Unfortunately, he could not take all of them out, but only three people out of six.

There were six people, including Lot himself, his wife, two daughters, and their two sons-in-law. Lot told the five to flee from there. Among them, Lot’s sons-in-law did not listen to him, chose to stay in the city, and tried to go their own way because they thought what Lot said was joking. Lot’s wife stopped her journey in between the cities and became a pillar of salt. The six could have a chance to flee from there, but only Lot and two daughters survived. However, it reminds me to think about Jesus’ teachings of how we maintain the Christian spiritual life and find complete salvation in the New Testament.

To Take a Narrow Gate

The first one is to enter the narrow gate in Matthew 7:13-14. Entering the narrow gate means “to ask and seek and knock the door for salvation. “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” In these passages, Jesus tried to explain a continuation of the faithful Christian life to find and maintain salvation. Jesus said, only a few people enter the narrow gate, and most people choose to get into the broad way because entering the narrow gate is not easy but is challenging. But it is the way that leads to life, while the broad way leads to destruction. However, entering the narrow gate for Lot’s family was to come out from the city and take their journey to pass through the desert and come to the town of security. Lot’s two sons-in-law once had a chance to be saved, but they chose not to take their journey. They were destroyed in the city.

To Continue to Walk

The other story is The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:22. In this passage, Jesus clearly explains why many good Christians fail their spiritual journey and lose the power of spiritual vitality because they live in the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth, it takes away their spiritual vitality. However, Genesis 19:24-26 describe us why Lot’s wife could not finish her journey for salvation because she stopped running and looked back to the city. in verse 24, “the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom,” “Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” The city was desirable to stay and was pleasing to her eyes, and it made her delay her evacuation. As a result, she was exposed to a rain of sulfur and was encrusted by it. This story gives us a vivid example of why Christians lose their spiritual vitality and its complete salvation.

You Lost Me

You Lost Me is the title of David Kinnaman’s book. In his book, he talks about the challenges of the faith journeys of a younger generation who grew up in the Church but dropped out and their disengagement from the Church. I heard a similar story from my congregation about their children who stopped attending Church. Yet, the parents’ generation believes that they are Christians and will come back and become faithful Christians again. However, in Kinnaman’s research, 60 to 80 percent of them are no longer in their faith nor even consider themselves followers of Jesus. The problem is this. Many of them will return, but not everyone could. 

Kinnaman describes that there are two different types of dropouts. The first type is “nomads” who “consider themselves to be Christian, even when they are disengaged from the church.” The other characteristic group of people is “Prodigals,” who are considered to be atheists or agnostics. They believe they are no longer Christian. Some of them could not come back to Christ. They could have lost their personal salvation. It is the danger that you and I should think about for our children’s generations.

Conclusion

If someone asks me this question, “Can Christians lose their personal salvation?” I will say “Yes,” and “NO” why I want to say “NO” because God is never abandoning us when we have faith in His Son Jesus Christ. “There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). In the same way, I would say “Yes” because the Bible talks about the concept of apostasy. 1 Timothy 1:19-20 says, “holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” Several biblical texts indicate that some believers lose their salvation because they rejected Jesus Christ and abandoned God. However, God never fails you. It is impossible, but you can lose God. It is what God wants us to tell our next generation who are disengaged or dropped about the danger of a broken relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to learn a biblical truth about the meaning of complete Christian salvation through Lot’s family’s salvation story.