If one has truly trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, they cannot lose their salvation. The most well-known gospel text (John 3:16) makes this truth crystal-clear: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him SHOULD NOT PERISH but have everlasting life.” Notice, it says if one believes in Him, they WILL NOT PERISH. The word “perish” means “to DESTROY.” In Mr. W. E. Vine’s dictionary of New Testament words, he says, “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being.” If one perishes in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15) they will experience “eternal ruin; the loss of well-being.” But Jesus promises the true believer they “should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Instead of eternal ruin in hell, the believer will have eternal bliss and joy in heaven (see Matthew 7:13-14; 1^st Peter 1:3-4 and Revelation 21:1-5). Jesus emphasized this same truth (that the believer will not perish) in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” The Lord wanted to give the believer the absolute assurance that “they shall never perish.” Surely, if there was a sin that could cause us to lose our salvation and perish, He would have said so. Instead, He tells us that we are safe in His and the Father’s hand. No one, including ourselves, can “snatch us out of their hand.”

Now let’s talk about the “repetitive sin in your life.” We have seen that you cannot lose your salvation when you sin, but is there any loss involved when a believer sins? There surely is! Your experience speaks of one great loss brought about by sin: the LOSS OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. If we continue to live in unjudged sin, we will quit 1) reading our Bible, and 2) praying to God. In other words, we won’t listen to what God the Father has to say to us and we won’t be speaking to Him. We may go on for awhile reading the Bible and praying, but our heart won’t understand His words and God won’t hear our prayers. Sin has severed our communion with God, as we see in David’s words in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” David also knew that sin results in the LOSS OF JOY IN GOD’S SALVATION. After he had been convicted of his sin of adultery (with Bathsheba) and murder (of her husband, Uriah), he cried out to the Lord, “Restore to me the JOY OF YOUR SALVATION” (Psalm 51:12). There are other losses, such as the LOSS OF OUR TESTIMONY (Matthew 5:13-16) and LOSS OF REWARD (1^st Corinthians 3:13-15). One can get to the point where they LOSE SIGHT of God and heaven and forget that they are forgiven (see 2^nd Peter 1:9). That’s how much LOSS a believer can experience if he continues to live in unjudged sin.

We will end on a positive note. You can indeed be RESTORED TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, which in turn will lead to having the “joy of your salvation” being restored, along with a restored testimony and rewards for faithful service. I had quoted David’s cry of repentance to God in Psalm 51:12 and this is the one and only way to be have your fellowship with the Father restored. He started that Psalm with these words, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out m transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned—and done this evil in Your sight” (verses 1-4). David was thoroughly CONVICTED OF HIS SINS before God which led to TRUE CONFESSION OF THOSE SINS. He was also persuaded of God’s MERCY and His ability to CLEANSE HIM FROM HIS SINS. This, dear friend, is the way to true restoration. You must humble yourself before God the Father and tell Him all about your sin, with a desire to not only “confess it,” but to “forsake it.” Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever CONFESSES and FORSAKES them will have mercy.” Our heavenly Father has promised us that if we do come to him in true confession of sin, He will cleanse us from it.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1^st John 1:9). Sweet fellowship with the Father and the Son will be restored, along with real joy and a fruitful testimony before the world.  (465.1)  (DO)