The Permanency of Regeneration

Can a person, once made alive by the Holy Spirit and granted a new heart in regeneration, fall back into a state of spiritual death? Or, as is commonly stated, can we ever lose our salvation if we have in fact been saved? No study of regeneration could be complete without considering this question, so it is to the issue of the permanence of regeneration that we now turn.

Although many Christians believe that they can lose their salvation, and they consequently live in fear of slipping out of God’s hand, the entirety of Scripture compels us to conclude that regeneration is permanent. If we have been given a new heart, we will have that new heart forever. Perhaps one of the clearest passages that teaches this truth is Philippians 1:6, where the Apostle Paul tells us that if God begins a good work in us, He will certainly complete it. That good work is the work of God’s grace in regeneration and then everything that flows from it. Paul was talking to the Philippian church about his partnership in ministry with them, but not merely about their laboring together. That partnership originated in grace, since it would have been impossible without the conversion of the Philippians, and it could not at all be considered complete until the goal of that partnership was reached—namely, their full and final glorification. As with the Philippians, God never starts a work in people that He does not finish. Regeneration—and the whole of salvation—is a permanent state.

Few truths bring greater comfort. If we really thought that regeneration could be lost, we would have to be afraid all the time that we might commit a transgression that puts us back under condemnation. Knowing that no one—not even the sheep themselves—can snatch God’s sheep out of His hand allows us to rest in Christ and to enjoy our Creator (John 10:28). Because we recognize our safety, we are all the more eager to continue coming to Him all the days of our lives. Our continual coming to the Savior is important because the permanence of regeneration does not mean that we make a decision once and never act again. The Christian life involves effort at working out our salvation in fear and trembling—that is, in reverential awe of God (Phil. 2:12). But this work to put sin to death and to cultivate holiness is grounded in regeneration and is worked in us by the Holy Spirit over the course of the Christian life. Regenerated people, therefore, will surely never be lost.