To all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just to give you one example of a single verse that answers that question, rather than showing you over 200 of them, here is a verse from Peter's second epistle that states:
"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position." (2Pe 3:17)
The word "fall" in this verse is translated from the Greek word ekpipto. According to the Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, ekpipto means "to fall off or from, Act_12:7; Act_27:32; met. to fall from, forfeit, lose, Gal_5:4; 2Pe_3:17; to be cast ashore, Act_27:17; Act_27:26; Act_27:29; to fall to the ground, be fruitless, ineffectual, Rom_9:6; to cease, come to an end, Jas_1:11; 1Pe_1:24."
According to NASEC, ekpipto means: "to drop away, fig. to lose, become inefficient: — failed (1), fall (1), fall away (1), fallen (1), falls off (2), fell off (1), run aground (3).
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, ekpipto means "to drop away; specially, be driven out of one's course; figuratively, to lose, become inefficient:—be cast, fail, fall (away, off), take none effect."
According to Thayer's Greek–English Lexicon, ekpipto means "to fall out of, to fall down from, to fall off; metaphorically to fall from a thing, to lose it, to perish, to fall; to fall from a place from which one cannot keep; fall from a position; to fall powerless, to fall to the ground, be without effect."
This same greek word ekpipto is used in the New Testament to refer to flowers falling and ships running aground.
I have just cited four reputable, Greek-language Bible resources (Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, NASEC, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and Thayer's Greek–English Lexicon), which all indicate that ekpipto can mean "to lose."
The "secure position" Peter was referring to is our secure position in Christ, known as the divine promise of our salvation, which some people falsely teach is eternally secure. But it is actually conditionally secure, since Peter the apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit warned that you must be on your guard, so that you do not "lose" (Gr., ekpipto) your secure position or salvation. Obviously there would be no need for Peter to warn believers to guard against losing their salvation if it were not possible.
Also see the LSJ Lexicon online and Blue Letter Bible for a more in depth definition of ekpipto.
Closing Words
Based on the definition of the Greek word ekpipto, the verse in 2 Peter 3:17 that we have studied could be translated like this: Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and lose your secure position in Christ by falling from it, thereby forfeiting it and perishing.
Indeed, Scripture teaches that our secure position in Christ is conditional, as I have clearly explained and proven in my article called The Conditional Security of the Believer. In it, I show 24 positive conditions in Scripture for maintaining your secure position, which contain the word "if", as well as 30 negative conditions -- or warnings found in Scripture-- for those who do not keep the conditions, which also contain the word "if."
My article called New Testament Books Disproving Eternal Security shows that most New Testament books contain one or more verses disproving the once-saved-always-saved heresy. There are hundreds of these verses, more than half of which are the very words of our Lord Jesus Himself.
Another article of mine called Drifting Away highlights 22 Greek words in the New Testament Bible that mean to forfeit one's salvation, abandon one’s faith, drift away, turn aside from the truth, forsake the straight way, stray, wander, or become apostate and fall away from the Lord.
My post called The False Gospel of Eternal Security contains numerous articles I have written disproving OSAS, which no one has ever been able to contradict or refute. If you still have any doubt about this matter, or know someone who is confused about it, please share this article with them.
Attribution notice: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image courtesy of Beth Ariel Congregation, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only. We have no affiliation at all with that ministry, nor does use of this image imply any endorsement of their teachings.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, you are invited to check out the series called The False Gospel of Eternal Security. If you would like to become a disciple, consider enrolling in our Doulos Training School. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
