In my understanding of "saved" versus "not saved" versus losing "salvation", I remember that God has never changed, so I look for one good example of a man of God in the OT, who lost his place with God. Did he lose his salvation?
1Ki 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
1Ki 13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
1Ki 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
1Ki 13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
1Ki 13:5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
1Ki 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
1Ki 13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
1Ki 13:8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
1Ki 13:9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
1Ki 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
1Ki 13:12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
1Ki 13:13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
1Ki 13:14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
1Ki 13:15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
1Ki 13:16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
1Ki 13:17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
1Ki 13:19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
1Ki 13:20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Ki 13:21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
1Ki 13:22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
1Ki 13:23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Ki 13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
The man of God was certainly a man of God and a prophet. His prophecies as related in the above verses were fulfilled in II Kings 23:17 about 350 years later. The man of God was saved from the wrath of the king of Israel in verse 4 above when the king's hand withered. The man of God later threw away his salvation when he failed to check in with God before going ahead and eating and drinking, in which he disobeyed God's original command to him. The man of God died by the lion because of his disobedience. [...the wages of sin is death" Rom 6:23]...
No one can take us out of God's hand, but we can always turn our back and walk away out of the hand of God.
Lot's wife from saved from Sodom, but then being saved she disobeyed God and looked back becoming then a pillar of salt.
The natural children of Israel were all saved out their bondage in Egypt, but then after crossing the Red Sea into the wilderness they repeatedly turned away from the God who had done such great miracles for them. He had saved them from the plagues that struck Egypt. He had saved them from the starvation and from dying of thirst in the wilderness. Repeatedly He had accepted their repentance for they did repent more than once for their murmuring and complaining. Finally after 10 times [Numbers 14:22-23] God decreed that none (except Joshua and Caleb) of the adults who had been saved out of Egypt would be allowed to enter into the Promised Land. They would die in the wilderness. [...the wages of sin is death" Rom 6:23]...
Do we suppose that we are special with a higher place in God than that man of God in I Kings 13? Some might say that we have more or better promises than that man of God had. That may be so, but then we should read and understand what Jesus said here:
"But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." Luke 12:48
To me it says that if we have really received more from God than any of those in the OT, then God will require more from us. If we are doing more and better considering all that God has given us, what are we likely to receive when we fail to use properly what we have been given?
We have [in the United States certainly] received time, money, opportunity, clothes, education, easy Bible access, etc. beyond what most people in most countries of the world have received at any time or place. So then... "much is given... much is required".
"... Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:21
