I remember when the Biblical position on certain matters like whether the punishment of hell is eternal torture or cosmic death, potentially preceded by a limited duration of pain, seemed somewhat ambiguous. When I had just become a rationalist, though I knew that seeming disparities do not necessitate genuine contradictions and that diverging evidences cannot make two logically conflicting concepts true at once (only one of the ideas or neither can be true), it appeared as if miscellaneous verses pointed in two different directions. I realized quickly that none of the verses that might initially suggest eternal torture really require this, or at least not for all fallen creatures; other passages quite clearly proclaim that death is the deserved fate of sinners who persist in deviating from the truth.
Another subject about which the Bible might seem to say conflicting things is loss of salvation, or whether a person who is "saved" can forfeit their status, along with the eternal life promised to the forgiven sinner. Unlike with the actual punishment of hell (Matthew 10:28), nowhere does the Bible say anything as direct as "You can lose your salvation by your own misdeeds." However, it does become clear upon rationalistically examining key verses individually and as they relate to each other—making no assumptions, but grasping what objectively does and does not follow—that salvation is not secure according to the Bible no matter what someone believes or does.
Let us focus on Matthew 6:14-15. Embedded within the Sermon on the Mount and immediately following the popular Lord's prayer (6:9-13), these verses address what is held up as a rigid condition of receiving forgiveness from God. How is this relevant to the loss of salvation as a philosophical matter and more specifically to the Biblical doctrine that this status can be lost? According to Christ, those who are not willing to show forgiveness will not receive it:
Matthew 6:14-15—"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins."
In this verse likely to be overlooked or casually dismissed by anyone who holds to the heresy of eternal security, one can see plainly that Jesus gives an example of an action, or an inaction, that can render a person unforgiven. Literally, what Jesus conveys without mentioning any exceptions is that whoever refuses to forgive will not be forgiven, and it is clear from other parts of the Bible that unforgiven sinners will not be permitted eternal life (such as Revelation 20:1-15), and hence are not saved. It would not make a difference if the person who withholds forgiveness was previously righteous, both according to Matthew 6:14-15 and other relevant passages (see Ezekiel 18 and 33). Should they refuse to forgive when someone else sincerely asks, they are unforgiven by Yahweh unless they conform themself to his character in this regard.
Certainly, to forgive like Yahweh (Ephesians 4:32) does entail forgiving when the sinner asks or wishes, so despite it being morally permissible and good to do so, there can never be an obligation to forgive when there is no repentance in the other party [1]. All the same, those who do not forgive in the manner in which God does will not be forgiven. It logically follows that salvation can be revoked by failing to act in accordance with the obligation to forgive those who seek it from us (Luke 17:3-4). When read free of philosophical biases in any direction, it is clear that Matthew 6:14-15 absolutely teaches that there is at least one condition to maintaining one's salvation.
The preceding context in the extended sermon of Christ, that of the "Lord's prayer", even points out the relationship between humans forgiving other humans and being forgiven by God. Jesus encourages us to pray that our debts are forgiven just as we have forgiven those morally indebted to us in that they are required to express their repentance to us, perhaps with accompanying restitution (Numbers 5:5-7):
Matthew 6:12—"And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors."
Unlike some of what Jesus says in Matthew 5, there is nothing that logically or textually renders the contents of Matthew 6:14-15 hyperbole. Quite literally, the continuation of our salvation hinges on whether we are willing to accept the same kind of reconciliation towards others that God offers to us. Justice is intrinsically obligatory between all parties, while forgiveness is conditionally obligatory. Yet to stubbornly refuse to show the mercy of forgiveness to others, potentially for much lesser sins than one's own, and then expect to receive mercy (which is not obligatory except when the sinner requests it and thus does not have to be extended!) from God is immense hypocrisy.
A proponent of eternal security might dismiss or not even bother to focus on Matthew 6:14-15 at all. Or perhaps he or she might assume it must speak of a partial state of unforgiveness before God rather than a total withholding of divine forgiveness or suspension of a soteriological pardon which had already been granted. It is easy for the irrational to misunderstand what God's mercy does and does not entail and that mercy of any sort cannot be mandatory in itself. None of this changes the fact that in Biblical theology, one can fall away from salvation. The more intentional or severe the sin, the greater the risk of forfeiting eternal life. Salvation can be re-obtained by repenting before God, for God is still eager for all to repent (Isaiah 55:6-7, 1 Timothy 2:3-6, etc.); there is nothing logically impossible or unbiblical about this. But it cannot be a trivial thing to shirk from moral duty as it is, and the stakes are higher than a subjective sense of guilt when eternal life can be turned away from.
[1]. See posts like these:
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