# Did Luther teach one can lose their salvation?



## Javilo

Did Luther teach one can lose their salvation?
It seems that he teaches eternal security in the Bondage of the Will.
Did he later change his views? Or did the teaching change after his death,
within the Lutheran church? If not, what other works of Luther did he also
teach eternal security? It seems like Luthers' theology is closer to reformed
theology than Lutheranism today.


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## Blue Tick

Good question. I've been curious about this as well.


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## Davidius

This is from Article 12 of the Augsburg Confession:



> [Our churches] condemn the Anabaptists, who deny that those once justified can lose the Holy Ghost.



I believe this confession was written primarily by Melancthon, but on behalf of the Lutheran churches to be presented to Emperor Charles V. So they aren't Luther's words.


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## wturri78

Here are some fairly confusing Q&A from the LCMS website:



> *Q. Can you lose your salvation and if you can, what do you need to do to regain it again?*
> A. The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod believes and teaches that it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith, as Scripture itself soberly and repeatedly warns us (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:17; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-19; 6:4-8, etc.). Such warnings are intended for Christians who appear to be lacking a right understanding of the seriousness of their sin and of God's judgment against sin, and who, therefore, are in danger of developing a false and proud "security" based not on God's grace, but on their own works, self-righteousness, or freedom to "do as they please."
> 
> By the same token, the LCMS affirms and treasures all of the wonderful passages in Scripture in which God promises that He will never forsake those who trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation (John 10:27-29; Romans 8; Heb. 13: 5-6, etc.). To those who are truly repentant and recognize their need for God's grace and forgiveness, such passages are powerful reminders of the true security that is ours through sincere and humble faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
> 
> A person may be restored to faith in the same way he or she came to faith in the first place: by repenting of his or her sin and unbelief and trusting completely in the life, death and resurrection of Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
> 
> Whenever a person does repent and believe, this always takes place by the grace of God alone and by the power of the Holy Spirit working through God's Word in a person's heart.
> 
> *Q. One of your FAQ answers states that it is possible for one to lose his salvation. However, in your Theses on Justification (1983) on this website it says plainly that believers have eternal assurance (paragraph 58). Which is it?*
> A. Lutherans believe both are true and Scriptural: It is possible for a believer to fall from faith and lose salvation, and it is possible for a believer to have complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If this seems paradoxical to human reason, then (Lutherans say) this is only because the teaching of Scripture itself on this issue (as on many other issues) appears paradoxical to human reason.
> 
> For Lutherans, this is essentially a matter of properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel: Warnings against falling from faith are the strongest form of God's Law, intended to warn against "carnal security" based on "good works" or against the attitude that "since I'm saved, I can do anything I want to do." Assurances of God's constant and eternal love in Christ are the sweetest and purest form of Gospel, intended to comfort those who are plagued by their sins and by their failures to keep God's Law perfectly.
> 
> Affirming both are true seems more than paradoxical, unless the two options differ in some manner of relationship. Affirming Christ as fully human and fully divine is paradoxical...affirming that Christians can lose salvation, and cannot lose salvation, seems a contradiction...maybe I'm missing something here.



I have no idea whether this relates to what Luther himself believed or taught, but it represents the thinking of a modern but conservative branch of Lutheranism.


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## Neogillist

Javilo said:


> Did Luther teach one can lose their salvation?
> It seems that he teaches eternal security in the Bondage of the Will.
> Did he later change his views? Or did the teaching change after his death,
> within the Lutheran church? If not, what other works of Luther did he also
> teach eternal security? It seems like Luthers' theology is closer to reformed
> theology than Lutheranism today.



You are indeed correct in distinguishing Luther from the Lutherans in that later Lutherans after the instigation of Melanchton returned to synergism and taught that election was based upon God's forsight of human placing their faith in Christ. You can see below what Calvin has to say about it in his Institutes:

"3. Two errors are here to be avoided. Some make man a fellow-worker with God in such a sense, that man's suffrage ratifies election, so that, according to them, the will of man is superior to the counsel of God. As if Scripture taught that only the power of being able to believe is given us, and not rather faith itself. Others, although they do not so much impair the grace of the Holy Spirit, yet, induced by what means I know not, make election dependent on faith, as if it were doubtful and ineffectual till confirmed by faith. There can be no doubt, indeed, that in regard to us it is so confirmed. Moreover, we have already seen, that the secret counsel of God, which lay concealed, is thus brought to light, by this nothing more being understood than that that which was unknown is proved, and as it were sealed. But it is false to say that election is then only effectual after we have embraced the gospel, and that it thence derives its vigor. It is true that we must there look for its certainty, because, if we attempt to penetrate to the secret ordination of God, we shall be engulfed in that profound abyss. But when the Lord has manifested it to us, we must ascend higher in order that the effect may not bury the cause. For what can be more absurd and unbecoming, than while Scripture teaches that we are illuminated as God has chosen us, our eyes should be so dazzled with the brightness of this light, as to refuse to attend to election? Meanwhile, I deny not that, in order to be assured of our salvation, we must begin with the word, and that our confidence ought to go no farther than the word when we invoke God the Father. For some to obtain more certainty of the counsel of God (which is nigh us in our mouth, and in our heart, Deut. 30:14), absurdly desire to fly above the clouds. We must, therefore, curb that temerity by the soberness of faith, and be satisfied to have God as the witness of his hidden grace in the external word; provided always that the channel in which the water flows, and out of which we may freely drink, does not prevent us from paying due honor to the fountain." [Institutes III, Ch.24, 3]

By 'some' Calvin refers to the Romanists and by 'others' he refers to the Lutherans. In the end, there really was not much difference between the Lutherans and the Arminians, but Luther, however, was a strong monergist and did place election in the sole pleasure and sovereign choice of God. The error of the Lutherans was to hold that the reprobate may be accidentally regenerated and then later fall away and be damned. I am unsure if Luther actually held to that view of if only the later Lutherans held it, but it differs somewhat from the Arminians who taught that the elect can later become reprobate and the reprobate become elect. One thing that is sure is that Luther did affirm that all the elects would persevere, just as Augustine.


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## Neogillist

wturri78 said:


> Here are some fairly confusing Q&A from the LCMS website:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Q. Can you lose your salvation and if you can, what do you need to do to regain it again?*
> A. The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod believes and teaches that it is possible for a true believer to fall from faith, as Scripture itself soberly and repeatedly warns us (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 3:17; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-19; 6:4-8, etc.). Such warnings are intended for Christians who appear to be lacking a right understanding of the seriousness of their sin and of God's judgment against sin, and who, therefore, are in danger of developing a false and proud "security" based not on God's grace, but on their own works, self-righteousness, or freedom to "do as they please."
> 
> By the same token, the LCMS affirms and treasures all of the wonderful passages in Scripture in which God promises that He will never forsake those who trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation (John 10:27-29; Romans 8; Heb. 13: 5-6, etc.). To those who are truly repentant and recognize their need for God's grace and forgiveness, such passages are powerful reminders of the true security that is ours through sincere and humble faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
> 
> A person may be restored to faith in the same way he or she came to faith in the first place: by repenting of his or her sin and unbelief and trusting completely in the life, death and resurrection of Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
> 
> Whenever a person does repent and believe, this always takes place by the grace of God alone and by the power of the Holy Spirit working through God's Word in a person's heart.
> 
> *Q. One of your FAQ answers states that it is possible for one to lose his salvation. However, in your Theses on Justification (1983) on this website it says plainly that believers have eternal assurance (paragraph 58). Which is it?*
> A. Lutherans believe both are true and Scriptural: It is possible for a believer to fall from faith and lose salvation, and it is possible for a believer to have complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If this seems paradoxical to human reason, then (Lutherans say) this is only because the teaching of Scripture itself on this issue (as on many other issues) appears paradoxical to human reason.
> 
> For Lutherans, this is essentially a matter of properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel: Warnings against falling from faith are the strongest form of God's Law, intended to warn against "carnal security" based on "good works" or against the attitude that "since I'm saved, I can do anything I want to do." Assurances of God's constant and eternal love in Christ are the sweetest and purest form of Gospel, intended to comfort those who are plagued by their sins and by their failures to keep God's Law perfectly.
> 
> Affirming both are true seems more than paradoxical, unless the two options differ in some manner of relationship. Affirming Christ as fully human and fully divine is paradoxical...affirming that Christians can lose salvation, and cannot lose salvation, seems a contradiction...maybe I'm missing something here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have no idea whether this relates to what Luther himself believed or taught, but it represents the thinking of a modern but conservative branch of Lutheranism.
Click to expand...


We typically speak of being "saved" to mean being "justified," although Scriptures use the term "salvation" in many tenses such that we were saved, we are saved, we are being saved and we will be saved as R.C. Sproul speaks of it. No, the LCMS does not appear to be holding to Luther's view based on what they say here. Indeed, they almost see contradictions in the Bible in claiming that Scriptures teach both views.


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## Dieter Schneider

I recommend The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine by John Jefferson Davis which can be found here.


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