Apologist for keeping salvation

Question

Does the following verse imply that your salvation can be lost? It does not say, "... unless you've accepted Jesus"

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

I am specifically asking for an answer from a "keeping salvation" apologist.

Answer 1

The conventional Protestant answer is to say that you must take this verse in the larger context of the Bible, which includes statements assuring us that our salvation cannot be lost. For example, John 10:28-29, "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." And many similar verses.

Then look at, for example, Romans 6:6-7, "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."

Most Protestants therefore conclude that when you are saved, you are freed from your "sin nature". While you will still fail and fall, you will not engage in patterns of habitual sin. If you do, you are probably not really saved. That, they say, is what this verse is saying: That if you engage in habitual sin, you are probably not really saved and will not inherit the kingdom.

I'd hasten to add that we are also warned against judging the state of others' salvation. It is not my job to determine whether or not you are saved, that's between you and God.

Note I am speaking specifically from an evangelical Protestant perspective. I think a Catholic would give a very different answer.

Answer 2

In Assembly of God church, we are taught that a born-again Christian cannot sin or very rarely commit sins. We are taught that a born-again christian is identifiable from his character, for the old-self is buried in baptism and we put on the new-self. We become a new man after baptism.

5.2 The Evidence of Salvation

The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.

Ephesians 4:24 "...and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Titus 2:12 "It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..."

(http://www.calvarywilmington.org/assemblies-of-god/christian-beliefs/16-fundamental-truths.php)

If we still commit sin because of our weakness, all we have to do is confess our sins to God, ask for forgiveness and repent.

I think this is the same in many other Protestant Churches.