once saved always saved – La Vista Church of Christ

Matthew and Once Saved, Always Saved

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 21:38:27 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

Key Passages from Matthew Verses Showing One Can Fall from Grace

Matthew 5:13 — Losing One’s Saltiness

Jesus warns that a disciple can become “salt that has lost its savor,” becoming good for nothing and ultimately cast out. This depicts a believer who once had genuine influence but later becomes worthless through spiritual decline. Being thrown out and trampled does not depict being saved in any way.

Matthew 7:21–23 — Calling Jesus ‘Lord’ Yet Being Rejected

Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” These people once did works in His name but are later told, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” This shows that outward discipleship can collapse into final rejection. I never knew you is hyperbole of total rejection and denies the doctrine of faith only.

Matthew 10:22 — Salvation Requires Endurance

Jesus teaches, “He who endures to the end will be saved.” The implication is clear: failing to endure means not being saved, demonstrating the possibility of falling away.

Matthew 13:20–21 — The Rocky‑Soil Believer Falls Away

The rocky‑soil hearer “receives the word with joy” (a genuine beginning), but when pressure comes, he falls away. Jesus explicitly describes a person who starts in grace with spiritual life but does not persevere. Again, the doctrine of faith only eternal salvation is denied, and the doctrine of “Once-saved-always-saved” is denied by Jesus. One can start the spiritual life but not prepare the soil of the heart to grow deep and die spiritually. That clearly does not support once-saved-always-saved.

Matthew 13:41–42 — Former Kingdom Citizens Removed

Jesus says that at the end, angels will “gather out of His kingdom all things that offend.” These individuals were in the kingdom but are later cast into the furnace of fire, showing removal from a previously saved position. His kingdom on earth included people who fell into sin and will later be removed because they were corrupt and needed to be separated from the good.

Matthew 18:32–35 — Forgiven but Later Condemned

The servant is fully forgiven of his massive debt, but after refusing to forgive others, his pardon is revoked, and he is delivered to judgment. Jesus concludes that the Father will do likewise to believers who do not continue in mercy and learn from mercy to give it to others—clear evidence of falling from grace. Once justified and forgiven does not prove one will always be justified and forgiven.

Matthew 24:12–13 — Love Growing Cold Leads to Lostness

Jesus warns that many believers’ love will grow cold, and only those who endure to the end will be saved. Declining love leads to spiritual ruin. These people love God and His people, but they let trials diminish their love, and it grows cold so that they do not remain faithful. They will not be saved in the end. You must remain faithful to love God and His people all the way to the end. Don’t count on the false doctrine of “once-saved-always-saved”.

Matthew 25:1–12 — The Foolish Virgins Shut Out

All ten virgins start as genuine participants chosen by the bridegroom and given a job of service, waiting for the bridegroom, but five fail to remain ready with their lamps ready to give light. They are shut out of the kingdom, showing that initial readiness does not guarantee final salvation. Once-a-light-for-the-bridegroom-not-always-a-light-for-the-bridegroom.

Matthew 25:24–30 — The Unfaithful Servant Cast Out

A servant entrusted with the Master’s resources ends in outer darkness because he did not remain faithful. He begins as a servant but ends in condemnation.

Summary

Matthew consistently teaches that grace must be responded to, lived in, and persevered in. Jesus repeatedly warns that believers can fall, fail to endure, grow cold, be cut off, or be cast out if they abandon obedience and faith. The doctrines of faith only and once-saved-always-saved are clearly denied by Matthew’s gospel, as well as by all the inspired writers of Scripture.

Do you still have free will after accepting God?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:43:51 +0000

Question:

I had one of our members ask me a question I'm not sure how to answer. The question is: Do Christians who have accepted God still have free will?

Answer:

If a Christian did not have free will, then he could not be lost. See: There's No Security for the Believer in "Once Saved, Always Saved".

Submitting to God's will is a choice that each person makes. The person can still choose to be disobedient after choosing to follow God. The Israelites have illustrated this repeatedly. For example, 40 days after telling Moses and God that they would follow the covenant (Exodus 24:7), the Israelites made an idol (Exodus 32). They freely chose to follow God and then freely chose to disobey God.

No One Can Snatch Them

Jeffrey Hamilton — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 01:00:35 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

In John 10:28, Jesus points to the safety of staying within range of the Shepherd's voice. “My sheep hear my voice,” and this hearing sets the stage for the next claim: “no one shall be able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” The Father’s hand is the pen, the zone of safety. Can any of the sheep wander away? That is a different concept from the idea of another “snatching” them out. Can a sheep develop “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God?” (Hebrews 3:12). They are in the pen for greater safety. The concept is that the pen is the Shepherd’s safety zone from predators. They are all in the owner's hands when they are brought into the holding pen. They are in range of the Shepherd’s voice, and they know they are safe here in this holding pen. No one can “snatch” them here. Does this passage argue that a sheep cannot escape or get themselves out of the pen, the holding place? Is the metaphor so tight that it never allows for a sheep to look for and find a way out of the holding pen?

It is not an argument about the inability of the sheep to tune out and escape the safety pen, but about where the safety zone is that keeps the sheep safe from predators “snatching” them like they can when they are out of the pen in a grazing situation. Out of the owner's hand or pen, when they are out wandering, a wolf or lion can quickly “snatch” them in the open fields. If they wander out of range of the Shepherd's voice, there is even more danger of being snatched. Can they be snatched in the owner’s holding pen? No! Can a sheep find a way out of the pen, the “holding” area, and increase the danger to itself? He may indeed! But that is not the point Jesus was making. Two things in the context bring great security to God’s people:

Continual “hearing” or “listening” to the Shepherd’s voice, which means being careful not to wander out of range. This keeps the sheep more secure. The further out of range of “hearing” one wanders, the greater the danger of being “snatched” by the predators.
Staying in the pen, the “holding” zone of the owner, makes it almost impossible for the predators to “snatch” them out of the owner’s hand.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life…” (John 10:27–28).

Jesus gives eternal life to those who are presently hearing and following. The grammar is continuous action (present tense): hearing and following are ongoing. The security applies to the sheep, not to those who stop following. One becomes a sheep by starting to hear and follow, and if one continues to do so, one is safe. Thus, the text does not address what happens if someone ceases to hear and follow. Can one stop hearing and following? Can we reverse the process that made us become sheep? If one were not a sheep and then became a sheep, can one cease to be a sheep? The answer is a definite “yes!” We were not “snatched” from non-sheep to suddenly becoming sheep, and it is certain that we cannot be snatched from being sheep to becoming non-sheep. A process moved us from one status and nature to the other and that can be reversed if we are not very careful to continue to hear our Shepherd.

Using a different metaphor, John mentions in chapter 15 the vine and branch comparison. The sheep and hand (pen) metaphor did not mention that one could die on the vine, but in this different metaphor He shows us that it takes more than physical association. It takes actually drawing your spiritual sap from the Vine. “Abide in Me,” he said (John 15:6). That is like “abide in His hand.” It means you can cease to “abide”. If you abide, you will be drawing your spiritual energy from the Vine and will be alive, growing, producing. If you make a mental and spiritual disconnect, you quit drawing the sap of His love and strength into yourself like a branch connected to the vine, then you can die on the Vine and be cut off and thrown into the fire. The metaphor was designed to show that it can happen. It doesn’t mean the branch never was a branch or never was connected to the Vine. It just means that the branch can, for whatever reason, stop drawing energy from the Vine and then die on the Vine. “If you abide in Me” presupposes that you have the ability to either abide or not abide. Security is not a forced matter, it is something we can ensure for ourselves or forfeit for ourselves. Continue to hear the Good Shepherd and stay in the owner’s hand are the equivalent of “abide in Me” (the Vine). You can “wander” off and then get “snatched” by predators, or you can stay in the safety zone where you will not be snatched. You can “abide in Him” as a branch on a Vine, or you can cut off drawing your spiritual sap and die on the vine, then be cut off as fruitless branches and thrown into the fire. Neither metaphor speaks of the impossibility of apostacy, ceasing to be a sheep or of the inability to quit drawing spiritual sap from Jesus and dying on the Vine. In fact, both metaphors speak of how to ensure your safety: Sheep can continue to hear the Shepherd and stay in the owner’s holding pen and as a branch connected to the Vine we can continue to draw our energy from the Vine. There are ways to ensure our spiritual safety and growth, and there are ways we can exit the safety zone and enter danger zones. Neither metaphor teaches the impossibility of apostacy and spiritual danger. You can do things to “make your calling and election sure” (II Peter 1:5-13), or you can do things that can get you “cut off” and “thrown into the fire.” Be wise!

Keep a Close Watch on Yourself and the Teaching

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:15:11 +0000

by Edwin Crozier

Surprisingly, the letters written to Timothy and Titus, both evangelists, say almost nothing about what we typically mean by evangelism. When we talk about evangelism, we are usually talking about bringing the gospel to those outside of Christ. But these three letters almost exclusively talk about the evangelist’s work among the congregation of believers.

Even here at the end of I Timothy 4, Paul is talking about working with those who already believe. But notice what he says. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (I Timothy 4:16, ESV). Wait! Aren’t these people already saved? Paul is talking about Timothy preaching to the church. He is setting an example for and teaching the believers (see I Timothy 4:12).

In contradiction to the teaching of our Calvinist friends, there is no biblical notion of “once saved, always saved.” Christians need strong teaching to be saved. We need to hear the gospel again and again, even after we have responded to it, or we will drift away from it.

In just about every congregation of which I’ve been a part, I’ve met the brother or sister who thought they no longer needed the teaching. They had heard all the sermons. They had gone through all the Bible classes. They understood the truth. They continued to punch their attendance card. But it was obvious, and sometimes they would even say it out loud, that it was all really beneath them. They really just didn’t get anything out of the classes and preaching because they had been around so long and knew it so well. Oddly enough, these brothers and sisters who know the gospel so well have tended to fall away. Why? Because none of us knows it so well that we don’t need to keep hearing it.

All people need to hear the gospel. Those outside and those inside the church need to hear the gospel repeated again and again. Therefore, those who preach the gospel need to pay close attention to themselves and to the teaching. Only by careful devotion to teaching will even those in the church be saved.

Of course, this means that if we who are in the church want to be saved, we need to pay careful attention to ourselves and to the teaching.

Are you paying attention?

The Inheritance

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:17:49 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Inheritance.mp3

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Download Audio

Text: Revelation 21:6-8

I. The Christian’s relationship with God is described by several metaphors

A. We are servants - I Corinthians 4:1

1. The emphasis is on our obeying the will of our Master

B. We are priests - I Peter 2:4-5, 9

1. We are able to bring worship directly to God without anyone in between

C. We are children of God - Romans 8:16-17

1. The emphasis is on a close and personal relationship

2. But it also means we have the right to an inheritance from our Father - Galatians 3:26-29

II. What is our inheritance?

A. Eternal life - Matthew 19:29

B. It cannot be given in this life - I Corinthians 15:50

C. It is gained at the time of the redemption - Ephesians 1:13-14

1. The Spirit is the down payment or guarantee of what we have not yet received.

D. We are qualified to partake, but have not yet received - Colossians 1:12

E. Looking forward to the reward - Colossians 3:23-24

III. Though we are saved when we become Christians, what we actually have is a promise of salvation - Hebrews 9:15

A. Those who responded to Peter’s sermon and were baptized were being saved and added to the church - Acts 2:47

B. It is something that had happened - Ephesians 2:5; Titus 3:5

C. Yet it is also something that is currently taking place - I Corinthians 1:18

D. But salvation is also a future expectation - Romans 5:9-10

E. It is a promise that we are so certain of receiving that it can be spoken of as already obtained - Hebrews 1:14

F. But until we reach the place where there is no sin, it is still something ultimately in the future. We could give up our promised salvation - I Corinthians 15:1-2

G. It is waiting for us in heaven - I Peter 1:3-5

IV. An inheritance for many

A. Since Christians compose God’s kingdom, then when the saved enter heaven, they become a part of the eternal kingdom

1. An inheritance among the sanctified - Acts 20:32

2. Also - Acts 26:18

B. Thus we can say we are inheriting a kingdom - Matthew 25:34

C. Since sin will not and cannot be in heaven, those who live lives of sin will not be a part of that inheritance

1. The unrighteous will not inherit - I Corinthians 6:9-10

2. Sins are of this world, so sinners cannot be a part of the spiritual realm - Galatians 5:19-21

3. Also - Ephesians 5:5

V. The inheritance for him who overcomes - Revelation 21:6-8

A. If we hold fast to the end - Hebrew 3:14

B. It requires effort on our part - Hebrews 6:11

C. We cannot toss the offer aside - Hebrews 10:35-37

Always a Child of God?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 20:00:50 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

If it is true that “once you are a child of God, you can never be lost or cease to be a child of God,” then what happened to Adam and the rest of the sons of God? Adam is called the son of God (Luke 3:38), and the rest of humanity came from the same “Father.” Hebrews 12 calls God “the Father of spirits.” All spirits were Fathered by God. So, all of us were originally sons of God. Did we remain His children? We did not! We became the children of the devil by our choice to sin and listen to the voice of selfish lust. We then became “sons of disobedience,” and like Adam, we became separated from God, becoming “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3). It became our nature by virtue of practice to fulfill the desires of the flesh and push away from our plans the thought of serving God and righteousness.

So, it is not only possible, but it is the pattern of mankind to start out innocent as sons of God, move away from God into sin, become sons of disobedience (sons of the devil), and become by nature children destined for wrath. The Bible does not teach that once you are a child of God, you are always a child of God. Neither does it teach that once you are a child of the devil, you cannot cease being a child of the devil. Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers” and even said that Satan was their father (Matthew 23; John 8 ). Saul of Tarsus was a “Pharisee of the Pharisees” (Philippians 3). Thus, he had been a child of Satan. Could this child of the devil stop being a child of the devil? He could and did. He turned from sin to God and God adopted him into His family (Ephesians 1, Romans 8:13-15). Once a child of the devil, you are not automatically always a child of the devil. You can quit serving the devil.

It comes down to who you serve. Can you cease serving one master and start serving another? The answer is seen in Romans 6. A servant of sin can “die to sin” and can be buried with Christ in baptism (Romans 6:3-6) and rise up together with Christ to “walk in newness of life”. In Christ, we are adopted, and with adoption we have a new Father and become heirs together with Christ. Now, Adam was the son of God, and God told His son that “the day you eat of the tree in the midst of the garden, you will surely die.” That means that God’s son could be separated from His Father, and that separation would not be easily repaired. You remember that the devil said, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3). The devil was teaching that once you are a child of God, you cannot be separated in death from your Father. Do you realize that the devil is still teaching that false doctrine?

Now it is possible to always be a child of God or always be a child of the devil, but the truth is that we can all choose to change who or what we will serve. By the grace of God, a child of the devil can learn about Christ, repent of sins, and be adopted into God’s family. But it is also true that a child of God can “fall from grace” (Galatians 5:1-4), can “develop an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). A man who enters the Christian race with desire for the prize of heaven with God can “become disqualified” (I Corinthians 9:27). Paul was guided by the Spirit, and yet he did not believe that the prize was so fixed for him that he couldn’t lose it. He actually believed that if he did not discipline his body and bring it into subjection, though he had surely started out toward winning the prize, he could lose the discipline and focus of the race and become “disqualified” from the prize. If a believer becomes an unbeliever and falls from grace, he does not get the prize. The prize is the crown of life rewarded in heaven. We have to be disciplined and stay within the rules of the race, or we will be disqualified.

Paul said that the Jews have become “cut off” due to unbelief (Romans 11:20) and he told the Gentile believers that it was possible for them to get haughty and stop standing by faith, and “He may not spare you either” (Romans 11:21). In Romans 11:22 he said that severity comes to those “who fell” and if they do not continue in unbelief “He is able to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23). So, the goodness of God and the severity of God is toward those who can go either direction. You can “continue” in His goodness, or you can continue toward His wrath, or you can cease to continue in either venue. Any denial of this is from the devil. He would like you to believe that once you are a child of God, you are automatically always qualified for the prize. Don’t be haughty! You can fall from grace! Beware!

“Once Saved, Always Saved” Refuted: Can a Christian Fall Away?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 01:04:17 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

Christians (those truly “saved to begin with”) can:

Depart from the faith (I Timothy 4:1)
Wander away from the faith (I Timothy 6:10)
Swerve from the faith (I Timothy 6:21)
Abandon our faith (I Timothy 5:12)
Make a shipwreck of our faith (I Timothy 1:19)
Fall from grace (Galatians 5:4)
Desert him who called you and turn to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6)
Receive the grace of God in vain (II Corinthians 6:1)
Swerve from the truth, upsetting the faith of some (II Timothy 2:18)
Drift away from the truth (Hebrews 2:1)
Have an evil, unbelieving heart, leading us to fall away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12)
Be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-14)
Fail to reach the promise of entering into His rest (Hebrews 4:1)
Fall by disobedience to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:11)
Fall away and become impossible to restore unto repentance (Hebrews 6:4-6)
Deliberately go on sinning and no longer have a sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:26-27)
Shrink back (Hebrews 10:38)
Fail to obtain the grace of God (Hebrews 12:15)
Wander from the truth (James 5:19-20)
Forsake the right way (II Peter 2:15)
Become entangled and overcome after having escaped them (II Peter 2:20-21)
Be carried away with the error of lawless people and lose our stability (II Peter 3:17)
Commit a sin leading to death (I John 5:16)

But the good thing is that we can take these warnings to heart and do things to “make our calling and election sure, and do things so that we never stumble” (II Peter 1:5-13).

Is Election Sure?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 21:08:25 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

I have heard Calvinists make a distinction between “salvation” and “election.” They say we can lose our salvation but not our election. One is sure and the other is not, according to their perspective. This would mean that all who are temporarily saved from sin are not necessarily elected by God (the eternally secure number), but all who are elected will be saved. Let’s explore this idea further!

If “election” is something that is unalterable, then there is no way to make it unsure. You are either elected or not, and if elected, you couldn’t lose that position of eternal security. Yet, Peter told us what we must do to “make your calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10). “If you do these things” (adding to your faith virtue, knowledge…perseverance, love, etc.) “you will never stumble.” What if you fail to add these graces? You could surely stumble, and if you stumble by failing to “do these things,” you have thereby made your calling and election unsure. So, we can make our election sure or unsure. It is not unalterable!

Peter calls the brethren “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” (I Peter 1:2), but later says, “If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (II Peter 2:3). Could some of the “elect” be questionable on this matter? There should be no “if” about it if “elect” is the ultimate sure status that is absolute as to tasting the graciousness of the Lord.

To the Thessalonian brethren, Paul spoke of “knowing…your election by God” (I Thessalonians 1:4), but later spoke of being worried that the tempter might have tempted them, “and our labor might be in vain” (I Thessalonians 3:5). How could there be such a possibility if “election” is unalterable and sure? Paul said, “We live, if you stand fast in the Lord” (I Thessalonians 3:8). That sounds like election is not so sure because we could quit “standing fast in the Lord.”

Our conclusion is that some of the elect can indeed quit standing fast in the Lord, can be tempted so that labor for their souls becomes “in vain” (to no good ending), and they fail to make their calling and election sure. We must be wise in utilizing the great tools of victory available in Christ. Do all it takes to “make your calling and election sure.” If you do these things, you will never stumble.

Hebrews Was Written to Saved People

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 22:31:20 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

The inspired writer of Hebrews is not writing to people who were almost saved and could be saved with a little more persuasion, but rather, he is writing to saved Jews on the verge of giving up and returning to their former life in Judaism. The writer speaks of how they were when they were first converted to Christ and now writes to remind them of why Christ is superior to Judaism, and “holding their confession” is what they needed to do. “Hold on” is the theme that is evident throughout the book. He is not inviting them to come into Christ finally, but to hold on to what they have already confessed.

“He had by Himself purged our sins” (Hebrews 1:3)
"Give more earnest heed to what we have heard lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).
“Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling” (Hebrews 3:1).
Had Jesus as their “high priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1).
"Whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6).
"We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end" (Hebrews 3:14).
"Let us hold fast our confession," (Jesus the Son of God) (Hebrews 4:14).
"Though by this time you ought to be teachers" (Hebrews 5:12). Not a lack of being saved, but a lack of maturing.
"He is a babe" (thus these had been born again) (Hebrews 5:13).
Needed to “go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1). They already had the foundation of Christ.
They “tasted the heavenly gift” and were “partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews 6:4-6).
They had labored with love toward His name (Hebrews 6:10).
"By this will we have been sanctified" (Hebrews 10:10).
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering" (Hebrews 10:23).
"Recall the former days ... after you were illuminated" (Hebrews 10:32).
You knew you “have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven” (Hebrews 10:34).
"Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward" (Hebrews 10:35).

These were brethren in Christ, under His great High Priesthood, who had been sanctified, illuminated, made the great confession of faith in Jesus, had become “partakers of Christ” and “partakers of the Holy Spirit” and had tasted the heavenly gift, but were now on the verge of drawing back to perdition.

Thus, this entire book demonstrates that one can fall from grace, and it serves as a treatise on why discouraged believers should reconsider their discouragement and move forward with faith that will carry them all the way to the end, thereby avoiding a return to perdition. If we hold fast to the confession, steadfast to the end, there is the eternal reward, but if we don’t, we become like Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. We have trampled Jesus underfoot to get back to the old life of sin and condemnation. That would be ultimate foolishness.

If we have eternal life, do we have it permanently?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 20:44:24 +0000

Question:

If we have eternal life, doesn't that mean we have it permanently?

Answer:

We have eternal life in promise. Just as formerly, we had eternal condemnation in promise. The promise of eternal damnation is to the unbeliever who can change their destiny by belief and repentance. Change your destiny by changing your direction and heart. “And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15). We have the eternal inheritance in promise. It hasn’t become our reality yet. In the same way, eternal destruction is the promise to the unbeliever. He hasn’t experienced it yet, but that is the direction he is going, and unless he changes his mind and direction, he is under eternal condemnation.

Can he change directions? Yes! Likewise, a believer can change directions. Hebrews 3:12 says to take heed lest you develop an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Here is a person with the promise of eternal life changing directions to the promise of eternal condemnation. So, “eternal” life does not mean you automatically keep it forever, but that under the terms of the covenant, it is yours by promise, and under the terms of unbelief, “eternal condemnation” is yours by promise, but in either case, you can forfeit the promise. "And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal” (I John 2:25). It is not a “promise” if it is an actual possession that cannot be forfeited. If we have it by possession instead of promise, then hope is no longer hope since hope has been realized (Romans 8:24f). If we have eternal life in actual possession, then we are not hoping for immortality. But if it is our promise and hope, then we can lose that hope by forfeiting the terms and conditions that give that promise and hope. That would be like selling your birthright for a mess of pottage, as Esau did. Giving up everlasting life for the temporal is certainly a foolish trade.

Terry Wane Benton