Losing Salvation and Eternal Guarantee. The Humanity of Christ. Church Membership and Second
Baptism.
by the Rev. Walter Snyder

Q: I am curious: Can you lose salvation? I know that at times I slip away and live my life the way I
want to live it and then some event will happen and I'll come back to Christ.  Do I need to
continually renew my faith in Him or is my salvation set? Am I guaranteed a "spot" so to speak in
heaven even when I am not very faithful? Also, some people say that all you need to do is believe
that Jesus Christ is your Savior and you're in heaven. Others say that you can believe but not
necessarily will you get into heaven if you don't live a Christian lifestyle. Which is it? I've always
believed that you need to believe and that the more Christ-centered your life is, the more rewards in
heaven.

A: Anyone who believes in Christ and who he is and what he has accomplished is  saved. This is
clear from Scripture. Yet people who have faith may cease to believe and they lose their salvation.

Renewing your faith is not possible---if you try to do it. However, it is God who renews your faith
through the preaching of the Gospel, by forgiving your sins, and by feeding you with the body and
blood of his Son in Holy Communion. When you know Jesus as your Savior, you then are drawn to
God and desire to be where his Word is preached in its truth and purity.

Belief *is* all that is necessary, yet no one can believe without also acting on that faith. That's why
James could write, "Faith without works is dead." It's not that we please God by doing good. Instead,
God is already pleased with us because we are his children by adoption in Baptism and we are
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And since our Father loves us so much and Jesus did so much
for us, the Holy Spirit moves us to respond in true worship and in love for one another.

Q: Why is it vital to Christianity to believe in the deity of Jesus Christ? I am aware that the Scriptures
plainly teach the deity of Christ and for that reason alone I believe Jesus to be God (2nd person or
eternal subsistence in the Godhead). My question is *why was it necessary* that the Redeemer be
God? I have read it repeatedly "salvation required that Jesus be both fully God and fully man."
Regarding the "fully man," I have found detailed explanations for why. As for "fully God," it never
seems to be much more than the statement itself. I could use your answer as soon as possible as I am
faced with passing it along.

A: God demands perfection. He did not find this in man; He had to supply it in and of Himself. Also,
the Scriptures tell us that we cannot pay for another's sins. We can't even pay for our own sins. Thus,
the value of the sacrifice had to meet or exceed the worth of those being ransomed. There's also the
need for the strength and stamina to carry the burden of being Messiah on earth for over thirty years,
to wrestle with and win against Satan and his temptations, and to remain absolutely committed to
obeying the Father's will. For these reasons and others, no man could have possibly been Savior.

Yet as you noted in your question, it was also necessary that He be man, since God cannot die, since
it was man's sin and man must pay the price, and the like. These reasons meant that God could not
be Savior.

It was only through the God-man Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, that our
salvation was accomplished.

Q: I have two questions. First, do you have to become a member of the church and is that what
Jesus wants us to do? Second, if you were baptized as an infant, do you have to be baptized again?

A: You don't "become" so much as you are made, by Baptism, the Word of God, and the Holy
Spirit. God calls us through the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins through the Holy Ghost to become
His children and His Church. Thus, if you are a Christian, you are in the Christian Church. As a
Christian, the believer wants to belong to a gathering of Christians who truly believe and practice
Christ's Word. We are not called to be free agents, but members of the body of Christ. We are
supported, encouraged, and corrected by our fellow believers.

As for Baptism, some church bodies practice multiple baptisms when one joins a new congregations.
Lutherans, with the majority of Christendom, confess the truth of the Nicene Creed, which professes
"one Baptism for the remission of sins." This is because in Baptism, God places His holy Name on
you and makes you His child. Since He does not go back on His words, no repeat is necessary, even
if we withdraw from Him for a time.

To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send email to
askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book
"What Do Lutherans Believe."

Ask the Pastor is copyright 2001 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality,
including this disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said
republication and redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note
the United States and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural
injunctions concerning the property of others.