Happy Lord’s Day, friends! The truth of God’s Word is so profound, and Amir Tsarfati addressed the issue of eternal salvation wonderfully in this recent Telegram post. As we celebrate our Lord Jesus today, I pray you are blessed as you meditate on this truth.

One of the questions I am asked most often is, “Can a believer lose his salvation?” My answer is simple: No. Not because believers are faithful, but because God is. 

If you want the greatest proof that God’s faithfulness is not performance-based, don’t begin with the Church. Begin with Israel. They rebelled in the wilderness. They worshiped idols. They rejected the prophets. They rejected their own Messiah. Yet God never rejected them. Why? Because His covenant with Israel has never depended on Israel’s performance. It has always depended on His character. 

That is why God says: “For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” Malachi 3:6 (NKJV) Notice what He did not say. He did not say, “You are not consumed because you obeyed Me.” He said, “I do not change.” Israel still exists today for one reason alone: God is faithful. Paul confirmed the same truth: “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29 (NKJV) 

Before I continue, let me make one thing absolutely clear. When I point to Israel as the greatest evidence of God’s faithfulness, I am not suggesting that every Jewish person is automatically saved simply because he or she is Jewish. Salvation has always been, and will always be, by grace through faith in the Messiah alone. Just as Yeshua told Nicodemus that he must be born again, so every Jew and every Gentile must personally place his faith in Him. 

Israel’s preservation as a nation is unconditional because it rests on God’s covenant promises. Israel’s salvation, however, is through faith in Yeshua alone. The Bible tells us that Israel’s national salvation will take place only when Yeshua returns and they look upon the One whom they pierced. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10 (NKJV) 

God will preserve Israel until that day because He is faithful to His covenant. And on that day, Israel will be saved the same way every believer throughout history has been saved: By grace through faith in Yeshua. If God could cast away Israel because of her failures, then none of us would have any assurance of salvation.

But He didn’t. 

Israel is living proof that God’s faithfulness is not performance-based. Neither is our salvation. The Bible says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) If we did not earn our salvation, we cannot maintain it by our own efforts. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. Yeshua said: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:28 (NKJV) He did not say, “I give them life until they fail.” He said, “They shall never perish.” Either eternal life is eternal, or it isn’t. 

Paul wrote: “Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Ephesians 1:13 (NKJV) And again: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30 (NKJV) Not until your next sin. Not until your next failure. Until the day of redemption. 

Paul also wrote: “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) God finishes what He starts. Hebrews tells us: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) Our security is not found in our ability to hold on to Him. It is found in His ability to hold on to us. 

Then Paul reached his conclusion: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life… nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) Nothing means nothing. So what about Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, John 15, and Matthew 7? These are some of the strongest warning passages in the New Testament, and they should never be ignored. 

But do they teach that someone who has truly been born again can become unborn? I don’t believe they do. Rather, they warn those who have been exposed to the truth, identified with God’s people, experienced the blessings of the gospel, and yet never truly placed their faith in Christ. Others warn professing believers to examine themselves and demonstrate the reality of their faith. John explained it best: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.” 1 John 2:19 (NKJV) Their departure did not cost them their salvation. It revealed they never possessed it. 

Think about the alternative for a moment. If salvation can be forfeited, then at some point its security depends on my continued performance. That raises a question Scripture never answers. How much faithfulness is enough? How much obedience is enough? How much sin is too much? The Bible never gives us such a standard because our assurance was never meant to rest on our performance. It rests on God’s promises. 

One final thought. Repentance does not make us perfect. It never has. King David is a wonderful example. After his terrible sins of adultery and murder, he cried out to God in repentance. Read Psalm 51. There you will find not the prayer of a perfect man, but the cry of a broken sinner who cast himself entirely upon the mercy of God. David did not claim perfection. He confessed his sin, acknowledged his guilt, and threw himself upon the mercy of God. 

That is what genuine repentance looks like. Repentance is not sinless perfection. It is the broken heart of a sinner who recognizes his need for a perfect Savior. Believers are not sinless. But as they walk with the Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they should sin less - not to remain saved, but because they have been saved. The Father chose you. The Son redeemed you. The Holy Spirit sealed you. The same God who has faithfully preserved Israel for thousands of years despite her repeated failures is the God who faithfully preserves every person who has been born again through faith in Yeshua. Our confidence is not in the strength of our grip on God. Our confidence is in the strength of His grip on us. God’s faithfulness has never been performance-based. It has always been based on who He is.
~Amir Tsarfati, Telegram, 2/26/2026

Amen to that! Believing friends, go out with the confidence of His grip on you.