The other day a friend, John Yantis, came into my office and saw the title of an article I had printed out. The title said, “You Can’t Lose What You Didn’t Earn.”
He said, “Yes, you can lose what you didn’t earn.”
Who is right?
Can we lose something we never earned?
Let me start by acknowledging that the author was talking about everlasting life. We don’t earn it. We can’t lose it. So, he was correct in that specific case.
But John was talking about the general wording of the title. He was saying that there are things we have received as gifts that we can lose.
In a sense, both are right. There is something we did not earn which, once received, we cannot lose. That is everlasting life and its associated spiritual guarantees.
But nearly everything else that we have been given but did not earn, we could lose.
Here are some things we did not earn, but can lose:
- An inheritance (Luke 15:11-32).
- A gift given (Luke 19:20-26).
- Physical life (1 John 5:16).
- Sobriety (Eph 5:18).
Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer famously said that thirty-three things are given to us the moment we believe. All those things are irrevocable.i But they are all directly related to everlasting life. For example, his list included regeneration, forgiveness of sins, justification (declared righteous), citizenship in Christ’s coming kingdom, indwelling by the Holy Spirit, baptism into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, being sealed forever, etc.
It is important to note that the title’s other implication is true. The title implies that we can lose things that we have earned. There are many spiritual things that a believer has earned, but which can be forfeited. For example, a believer who has become spiritually minded (1 Cor 2:14-16) can lose that and become carnally minded once more (1 Cor 3:1-4; 2 Pet 2:18-22). A Christian might be positioned to rule with Christ in the life to come, yet forfeit that by falling away (Matt 24:45-51; Luke 8:13). A believer might rise to the position of elder or pastor, yet forfeit that position due to moral failure. Christian spouses can be divorced due to immorality. Fellowship in a local church can be lost by someone whom the church’s leaders must excommunicate because of doctrinal or moral defection.
Of course, people also earn many earthly things that can be lost—savings, jobs, houses, cars, reputations, etc.
The Bible has lots of warnings. If we do not walk in the light of God’s Word, we will lose much. While we can’t lose everlasting life, we can lose the abundance of life God wishes us to experience now and forever.
Why would someone who is sure that he’s eternally secure live for God? Because that is the only way to have fullness of life. And because only if we live for God will we be a blessing to our spouses, children, neighbors, coworkers, and everyone who encounters us. The fact that everlasting life cannot be lost is not a reason to live like the devil. Only a fool would live like the devil. The return on investment is very poor when we go to the spiritual far country (Luke 15:11-32). Sin brings a passing pleasure (Heb 1125) that is far outweighed by its long-term pain.
Keep grace in focus and you will not lose the blessings that God has given and is continuing to give you.
i I disagree with a few of Chafer’s thirty-three points. For example, he said that believers are new creatures in Christ. I don’t understand 2 Cor 5:17 as teaching that believers are new creatures. That verse should be translated, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” Also, I don’t agree that believers have been elected and predestined to eternal life, as Chafer suggested. In the Bible, election is to service and predestination is to ultimate conformity to Christ for all who have believed in Him.
