Can One Have Eternal Security if They Believe Someone Else Can Lose Their Salvation?

Summary

Grace in Focus – Episode Summary:

Can One Have Eternal Security if They Believe Someone Else Can Lose Their Salvation?
Grace Evangelical Society – January 29, 2026
Hosts: Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr

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Episode Overview

In this concise but theologically rich episode, Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr tackle a nuanced listener question submitted by "Liam": Can someone truly possess eternal security if they believe that it’s possible for someone else to lose their salvation by rejecting Christ? The discussion unfolds within the context of Free Grace Theology, assurance of salvation, and the unbreakable promises of Jesus regarding eternal life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Clarifying the Listener Question

• The core question: If someone thinks others can lose salvation by rejecting Christ, does that belief mean they themselves aren't saved?
• Bob and Sam note the question’s complexity and try to clarify if it’s a hypothetical or if Liam holds this view himself.

  “His question is, do you guys hold that if someone thinks that someone else could lose their salvation by rejecting Christ as their Savior, that means they're not saved.” – Bob [00:54]

2. Assurance Based on Christ’s Promise, Not Subjective Experience

• Bob recounts stories of people claiming assurance because they’re certain they will never fall away—through mystical experience or special divine revelation.

  • Example: A charismatic pole vaulter who was sure he'd never fall away because “the Holy Spirit told me I’m not going to fall away.”
  • Example: Dr. James Dobson's father, a Nazarene, who was convinced (after a dream) that he would persevere to the end and be saved.

  “He told me one day, he said, yeah, I believe people can lose their salvation, but I know I won’t. I said, okay, how do you know that? And he says, because the holy spirit told me I’m not going to fall away.” – Bob [02:16]

  “God in a dream told him ... ‘You’re going to be in heaven with me forever; you’re going to persevere.’” – Bob [03:20]

• The hosts assert both are examples of false assurance—assurance should rest on Christ’s promise, not subjective conviction or mystical experience.

3. Scripture’s 'Never' Statements—The Foundation for Eternal Security

• Sam and Bob point to biblical promises of eternal security—especially from the Gospel of John—underscoring that everlasting life, once given, cannot be lost or revoked.
  • John 3:16: “Never perish.”
  • John 5:24: “Has everlasting life; shall not come into judgment.”
  • John 6:35: “Will never hunger/thirst.”
  • John 11:26: “Will never die.”

  "There's so many never statements in the gospel of John." – Bob [05:01]
  "He who hears my word and believes in who sent me has everlasting life shall not come into judgment ... has already passed from death into life." – Sam [05:11]

4. Countering Objections and Hypotheticals

• They discuss how people often bring up “what if” scenarios (e.g., unforgivable sin, faith dying out, becoming an atheist) and explain that all such hypotheticals must bow to Jesus’ explicit, unconditional promises.

  “We can ask all these questions... Or we could go to what Jesus said, where he says, never, never, never, has everlasting life... In light of those ... ultimate statements… if someone rejects Christ as their savior, but they already had everlasting life, do they lose... No, they can't, because it lasts forever.” – Bob [05:44]

5. Can a Believer Stop Believing and Still Be Saved?

• They cite knowledge of believers who fell away or became atheists (example: a pastor’s son who became an atheist in college).

  • Conclusion: Such individuals remain born again—because salvation rests on the moment of faith in Christ, not continued faith or behavior.

  “That young man is still born again, even though he's an atheist. Why? Because once a person believes in Christ, he has everlasting life... everlasting life is everlasting life.” – Sam [08:10]

• Quoting professor Dr. Charles Ryberry:

  “If it could be lost, then it has the wrong name, right?” – Sam [08:27]

6. False Assurance vs. Saving Faith

• Assurance based on performance, perseverance, or mystical revelation is unreliable—only faith in Jesus for the free gift of eternal life saves.

  “Unless at some point he got the fact that it was simply by faith in Jesus, that he had everlasting life. Apart from perseverance, apart from works... he was not yet born again, even though he was confident he was.” – Sam [09:30]

7. You Can’t Add a ‘But’ to Eternal Security

• Bob emphasizes: You cannot claim to believe in eternal security and then add caveats tied to behavior, perseverance, or beliefs about others.

  “You can't say ... I believe in eternal security but, because there's not a but, right?” – Bob [10:06] “Once you say that, you’ve contradicted ‘I believe in eternal security.’” – Sam [10:18]

• Assurance must be based on the promise of Christ alone.

  "He didn't promise, whoever believes in me and keeps on believing ... It's just whoever believes in me has everlasting life. That's the promise he made." – Bob [10:33]

8. Interpreting Key Greek Grammar

• Sam explains that John 3:16’s present participle ("the one who believes") means the one who at any point believes, not continuous, unbroken belief.

  “Because it's a present tense, you've got to continuously believe... The problem ... that would mean there's not a single born again person on the planet yet... Jesus promises that the moment we believe in him, we're secure.” – Sam [11:00]

• Analogy: John the Baptist is called “the baptizer” even though he hasn’t baptized anyone in 2000 years—the participle describes his identity, not an ongoing action.

  "Once we believe, we are secure forever... Our assurance needs to be based on Jesus' promise, not on any kind of mystical revelation..." – Sam [11:53]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There’s so many never statements in the gospel of John.” – Bob [05:01]
• “That young man is still born again, even though he's an atheist. Why? Because once a person believes in Christ, he has everlasting life. And as one of my professors ... said, everlasting life is everlasting life. If it could be lost, then it has the wrong name, right?” – Sam [08:16]
• “You can’t say… I believe in eternal security but, because there’s not a but, right?” – Bob [10:06]
• “Once we believe, we are secure forever... Our assurance needs to be based on Jesus' promise, not on any mystical revelation we think we've had... It's just Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it.” – Sam [11:53]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:54] – Introduction and clarification of Liam’s question.
• [02:16-04:37] – Real-world examples of false assurance and subjective certainty.
• [05:01-05:44] – Scriptural foundation for eternal security ("never" statements in John).
• [06:41-08:27] – Handling difficult cases: believers who fall away or become atheists.
• [09:30-10:22] – Difference between false assurance and saving faith.
• [10:06-10:56] – “You can’t add a ‘but’ to eternal security"; clear statement of Free Grace position.
• [11:00-11:53] – Greek participle in John 3:16 and assurance grounded in Jesus’ promise.

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Conclusion

Wilkin and Marr affirm that salvation and assurance rest entirely on faith in Jesus’ promise of everlasting life. Believing salvation can be lost—whether for oneself or others—undercuts the very definition of “eternal” in eternal life. The episode underscores that assurance must be grounded in Jesus’ word, not human perseverance, mystical experiences, or conditional theology.

“Once we believe, we are secure forever... Our assurance needs to be based on Jesus' promise.” – Sam [11:53]

For those interested in exploring this topic further, the hosts recommend focusing on the repeated, unambiguous 'never' statements in the Gospel of John and resting in Christ's promise, not personal performance or speculation.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. Can eternal salvation ever be lost or revoked? Where does true assurance come from? And what is false assurance? Thank you for listening. This is Grace in Focus. Glad you're with us today. And we are a ministry of the Grace Evangelical society. Our website, faithalone.org you can go to that website and find out a lot about us. You can get resources there, read and research thousands of articles that we have about our free grace position. And we have a free online seminary where you can earn an MDiv degree. Our national annual conference is coming up soon. Get all the [e-mail] and now with today's question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr.

[B]

All right, Bob, we've got a question from Liam and this is on a trial. Eternal security. The way he's worded his question, it's a little hard to follow. But we're gonna do our best and I think there's some good discussion that we can derive from this. His question is, do you guys hold that if someone thinks that someone else could lose their salvation by rejecting Christ as their Savior, that means they're not saved. So.

[C]

But he had another first question, didn't he? Or he said he agreed with us on something. What was.

[B]

Yeah, he started by saying he agrees with us on eternal security and that in order to have eternal security, you have to believe that you can never lose your salvation.

[C]

Okay, so let's hit that and then we'll go to the second half. So he's saying he agrees with us, that you have to believe that you have salvation that cannot be lost in order to be born again. But then he says, what about the person who thinks somebody else can lose their salvation? How does he put it? By rejecting Christ and.

[B]

Yeah, rejecting Christ as their Savior, as.

[C]

Their Savior, they would lose salvation. So putting those two together, I think this is what Liam is saying. I think Liam is saying he knows for sure he won't reject Christ as Savior. He knows for sure he's not going to fail to persevere. He's sure that he's going to persevere in faith and good works. Now, how he has that certainty when even the APostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:27 didn't know that. I don't know. But I will tell you this. I had a friend in college, he was a pole vaulter. I was a 400 meter, 800 meter guy. Anyway, this pole vaulter came to our Athletes in Action Bible study and he Was from a charismatic background. So he believed people could lose their salvation. And when he was in our Bible study, we talked about eternal security. And we talked about the fact the one who believes in Jesus has everlasting life and it can never be lost. And he told me one day, he said, yeah, I believe people can lose their salvation, but I know I won't. I said, okay, how do you know that? And he says, because the holy spirit told me I'm not going to fall away. So he had special revelation from God that he wasn't going to fall away. Let me give you another example that I think Liam would find interesting. I grew up in arcadia, California, which is where focus on the family was born, because Dr. James Dobson lived in arcadia, California, when he started focus on the family family. Dr. Dobson's dad had a massive stroke or heart attack and nearly died. And he ended up living, I think, six to nine months after that. But while he was recuperating from this massive, near fatal attack, God in a dream told him, I've got some good news for you. You're going to be in heaven with me forever. You're going to persevere. So I heard Dr. Dobson say on the radio, this is fantastic news. I know for sure my dad's going to be there. Well, Dr. Dobson was Nazarene, and Dr. Dobson believed you could lose your salvation, but he also believed God could reveal to someone they won't fall away, and if so, that person could know they were eternally secure. So I think what Liam is saying is not, I know I am secure forever, regardless of whether I fall away or not. He's just saying, I know I'm secure forever. That's what's required. And therefore, I could believe that somebody else could lose their salvation. How did he put it? By rejecting Jesus as your savior.

[B]

Yeah. And just to give him some credit, it's not clear whether this is his view or someone asked him a question about this or what. But, yes, the question he's asking cannot be reconciled with eternal security, Because I think rather than chasing rabbit holes, we could say, look, Jesus promised, whoever believes in me for everlasting life has it. It can never be lost. It can never be stolen. It can never be revoked. There's so many never statements in the gospel of John.

[C]

Okay, so let's give a couple of them. John 3:16.

[B]

That's a good one.

[C]

Never perish.

[B]

Never perish. Has everlasting life.

[C]

Has everlasting life. John 5:24. He who hears my word and believes in who sent me has everlasting life shall not come into judgment that is regarding everlasting life, that is won't be at the Great White Throne, judgment to be judged, but has already passed from death into Life. Or John 6:35, the one who comes to me will never hunger. He who believes in me will Never thirst.

[B]

Yeah, 1127. That's Martha.

[C]

Yeah, 1126. He who lives and believes in me will never die. And then Martha affirms she believes that.

[B]

Right? So those things all make it very clear, Liam, that once someone receives everlasting life, it lasts forever. So you can. There's a thousand questions we can ask. What if someone commits the unforgivable sin that people like to go to? What if someone, you know, like James 2, talks about their faith, dies or they have dead faith? We can ask all these questions and say, well, what about this? What about this? What about this? Or we could go to what Jesus said, where he says, never, never, never has everlasting life. Has everlasting life will, you know, has already passed from death into life. And so in light of those very clear, very definitive, ultimate statements, we can look at all these other questions and say, okay, if someone rejects Christ as their savior, but they already had everlasting life, do they lose the everlasting life? No, they can't, because it lasts forever. So I think that's a better approach than asking. I mean, it's a good question. I'm glad he asks it.

[C]

Right?

[B]

But you can substitute his question with a thousand other questions, and the answer to all of them is going to be the same. If someone has everlasting life, then it's going to last forever. It can't be lost. It can't be revoked. No one can snatch you out of the palm of God's hand. They can't lose it, period.

[A]

It's coming. It'll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society's National Conference 2026, May 18th through the 21st at Camp Kopas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas, right on the lake, with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship and wonderful free Grace Bible teaching information and online registration [e-mail] events first timers waive registration fees. Faithalone.org events Let me mention a couple.

[C]

Things related to that. First of all, I think what we can say, Sam, with that Katina verses you mentioned, where you were talking about the unpardonable sin or someone who falls away and this sort of thing, whatever those verses Mean they can't contradict John 3:16 or all those never verses. And secondly, if a person says, well, what if this person does this? Does it prove they weren't born again in the first place? Or, well, no, that can't be, because that would contradict all of the never statements. And it is clear in Scripture that a believer can fall away. There's warnings all through the New Testament. Let me give you a quick example. A friend of mine, he and I graduated together at Dallas Seminary in 1982. He has pastored for many, many years. His son grew up in Awana, and his son came to faith when he was a young boy and he was involved in Awana all through elementary school and I think middle school. And he was very strong in his faith until he went off to college. During that time, he fell away from his faith and became an atheist. Well, that young man is still born again, even though he's an atheist. Why? Because once a person believes in Christ, he has everlasting life. And as one of my professors, Dr. Charles Ryberry, liked to say, everlasting life is everlasting life. He said, if it could be lost, then it has the wrong name, right? And remember, we talked about all those never statements. Think about the pole vaulter. I knew he had assurance. He was certain he was saved, but that was false assurance. Unless at some point he got the fact that it was simply by faith in Jesus, that he had everlasting life. Apart from perseverance, apart from works, apart from anything else, he was not yet born again, even though he was confident he was. And the same thing with James Dobson's dad. If he didn't at some point believe that simply by faith in Jesus he was born again. The fact that he had some dream or whatever that told him he was going to persevere, that's false assurance. Hopefully Dobson's dad came to faith in Christ at some point and got the fact that it was a free gift and it was by faith alone. And the same thing with the pole vaulter, but nobody's born again by believing. If I'm faithful to the end, I'm going to make it right.

[B]

To bring it back to Liam's question, you can't say, and I'm not saying this is what Liam is saying, but someone can't say I believe in eternal security but, because there's not a but, right?

[C]

Once you say that, you've contradicted I believe in eternal security, right?

[B]

So if you're going to say I believe in eternal security, but this believer I know became an atheist. They rejected Christ as their savior. They're now saying Jesus isn't their savior, they aren't born again. Whatever they're saying, if you think that means, oh, okay, that means they've now lost their salvation or lost their everlasting life, then you haven't understood the promise that Jesus made because he didn't promise whoever believes in me and keeps on believing in me, or whoever believes in me and never there's nothing else. It's just whoever believes in me has everlasting life. That's the promise he made.

[C]

That's a great point. And you know, you've heard people say the present tense in John 3:16, which it's actually not in the indicative, it's actually a participle, but it's a participle with the definite article. The. The one who believes or whoever believes. They say, because it's a present tense, you've got to continuously believe your whole life. Well, the problem with that view is, first of all, that would mean there's not a single born again person on the planet yet, because until you've continuously believed, you're not yet born again. But secondly, what it would mean is Jesus lied to the woman at the well because he said, one drink and you'll never thirst again. Jesus promises that the moment we believe in him, we're secure. And the present participle, the one who believes means the believer. And I'm a believer the moment I believe and I remain that way even if I stop believing. Think, for example, of John the Baptist. He's called Ha baptizedon in the New Testament. Same thing. Present articular participle. Well, John hasn't baptized anybody in 2000 years, but he's still John the Baptist because once he baptized people, he became the baptizer. And that sticks with him forever, even if he never baptizes another person in the same way. Once we believe, we are secure forever, and so we are eternally secure if we believe in the promise of everlasting life. Our assurance needs to be based on Jesus promise, not on any kind of mystical revelation we think we've had, that we're going to persevere or something else. It's just Jesus said it, I believe it. That settles it. Well, very good, Liam. And all of us, let's keep grace in focus. Amen.

[A]

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