John 13:12-16: Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; and you are correct, for so I am. So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 

I was recently admonished because I do not regularly preach a “once saved always saved” ministry. I was told in no uncertain terms that I should be teaching that knowledge, belief and faith in Christ is enough since that is what this particular person believes. There are many different perspectives on this subject, as well as others, that seem to cause rifts in the Body (something the enemy relishes in, I might add). 

But my response to this person was in love. I cannot teach something that Christ forbids me to say. I was then treated to a litany of quotes, mostly out of context, spoken by various apostles and noted in different epistles. My next question was unanswerable to this person: who is to be believed FIRST: the followers of Christ, or Christ HIMSELF? 

Christ gives us many examples of ways we can give up our “salvation.” Yet people choose to focus on the good parts and easy parts without having to be inconvenienced by the accountability Christ commands. When the area of discomfort comes, many then gravitate to only the scriptures that support their beliefs, rather than use the totality of scripture to GUIDE their beliefs. This is how the words of the apostles begin to carry more weight than their MASTER. 
The problem comes not from the words spoken or written. The problem is in how these words are EVALUATED. People begin to evaluate the LORD’s Words and deeds through the lens of the apostles, rather than the other way around, which is the correct way! 

We must evaluate the words and determine the meanings of the words of the apostles through the teachings of God (our LORD, Christ Jesus). This is because God does not change. His heart does not change. His commandments do not change. His expectations do not change. Christ said that the totality of scripture was of HIM. Scripture, when He stated this, was the Old Testament. This means that the entirety of the OT is about HIM. The God of the OT is HIM. 

WE change and expect Him to do so right along with us. That is our folly. So going back to the originally implied question: Can we lose our salvation? We can certainly give it up through the truth in our hearts. But the deeper meaning of this is, were we then ever truly saved? It seems plausible to me that if we are truly saved, we will not intentionally do anything contrary to Christ’s commands and we will not be ABLE to lose our salvation. But if we were capable of losing it, I submit that we likely never had it in the first place! 

Christ teaches us how to be saved. He Justified us. But He also commands us to follow Him. No one gets a free pass. It would be arrogant presumption to believe so. No one gets by without struggle and hardship, without testing and refining. Christ admonishes us to OVERCOME and dictates rewards for those who do. He also states clearly the outcome for those who choose to reject Him. Salvation is more than a belief, otherwise the devil would be saved. 
Don’t be fooled by the god of this world who loves to set snares for all, especially the elect. Always endeavor to fully follow Christ, not just pay lip service to Him. If a Christian is lukewarm, He WILL spew that Christian out!