A Christian can not lose salvation

This debate is not one that threatens one's salvation but leads one into false teaching to those who already have salvation and those seeking it. So we are here to clarify our positions on this issue. I will start off with the topics my opponent mentioned in her opening round and then move on to my argument. MY OPP/R1) I reject the idea that once a person who has gained eternal salvation will cease to believe in God. I can accept that one's faith or belief can weaken by hardships but will never cease completely. It is my contention that once a person gains eternal salvation they are a new creature in Christ. This does not mean they become sinless or never find hardships again to test their faith but that their faith will always remain either strong or weak. They never lose free-will to choose sin over righteousness but what they do gain in salvation is the overwhelming conviction for repentence unto God and the desire to spread God's love and word to others when oppurtunity provides. I deny the fact that a truely born-again Christian in Christ can ever fully walk away from Him. I ask my opponent how can one who gained salvation and became a new creature within Christ then become the old creature again or lose that grace? There have been many who believe, in fact satan believes in Christ, but they refuse His powers and salvation grace, making them to not ever recieve the full grace of salvation. MY ARGUMENT C1) Grace not works If we were to believe that we could lose salvation then that would lead us to try and keep it by works and this is not the case(Gal 3:1-6). The true gain of salvation is not by works but by faith and grace alone(Rom. 4:3-25;Rom. 6:14-23; Eph. 2:5-10). Our salvation is by accepting Christ by His sacrifice and by no works of the self. Many shall do good works in the name of God and still they are not of God but of themselves, seeking salvation by good works and that is not possible(Mat. 7:21-23; Rom 11:5-6). Once salvation is given then works do follow and we see this throught the book of James. This does not mean that we need to do works to recieve salvation or we must continue to do works to keep it. If our faith is strong in Christ then many works will show that but if we become weak in our faith then so will our works become less. We are to live as saints and holy once we recieve salvation(1 Thes. 4:1-9). We are born again as Sons of God and are passed from death into life(John 10:27). A person can appear to be saved then seemingly fell away from Christ completely but they were never truely known by Christ. The gospel says that Christ's true sheep shall never perish(John 10:28; John 3:15). Going back to the statement that one can become weak in faith but that faith still rest inside them, even if they deny it. They can deny it but later it will become stronger even after many years. This clearly shows that the person did not fully lose it even if they claimed too. If the gospel tells us that we cannot perish then how does one lose salvation? How can we be seprated from God when the gospel suggests that nothing can seperate us? Salvation is not dependant on anything we have done but what Christ has done. Therefore keeping salvation is not by anything we do or not done and we can not lose it. We are saved by the actions of Christ and not any of our own. Claming that we must always obey God or live as the Word suggest to maintain our salvation is equal to saying that Jesus's death was not enough for our salvation(Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3; Titus 3:5). C2) New creature in Christ As I said in RD.1 to be a Christian is not just someone who says prayers, or went to church, or is just part of a Christian family. These are no doubt part of the Christian life, they are not what makes someone a Christian. A true Christian is by faith, who has fully recieved Christ, who fully trust and believes in Him and His Word(John 3:16; Acts 16:30-31; Eph. 2:8-9). There are many who appear this way by actions and words but in their heart they do not truely believe or have faith. My opponent will say that if we do not live a good Christian life then we will have our salvation took away. Or that the person can fully fall away from God and will go to hell once salvation had once been granted. This is not true, God will not cast away what He hath purchased(Rom. 11:1-3). In fact salvation is forever lasting(Isa 51:6-8). Christ has redeemed us and made us new creatures in Him(2 Cor. 5:15-19; Luke 5:38; Mat. 9:17; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). For us to lose salvation that once was gained then the new creature would have to be reversed. God would have to reverse the purchase He made and paid for us with His own blood. Once we have become a new creature in Christ then it is impossible to seperate us from Him. We are preserved in Christ(1 Thes. 5:23; Jude 1:1). How can one be preserved in Christ then become unpreserved? C3) Salvation is eternal There many verses that suggest that you cannot lose salvation(John 10:25-29;Heb. 13:5-7; 1 John 2:19-21; Rom. 8:38-39; 1 John 5:13). We are clearly justified with Christ alone(Rom. 5:1). If we could lose salvation then that would mean that we are not justified by Christ blood alone but by our own actions. The only action required from us is the action of acceptance. That acceptance is in Christ, in repentance and in faith. In John 3:16 we are told we have eternal life by God's salvation, how then can God break that clear promise given by taking it away at some point? We are granted glorification for who God makes justified(Rom 3:8; Rom. 8:30; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:24). If we are justified, then how can one lose salvation? This would make this verse a error and does not give us any guarantee at all. Eternal life can not be given and then be took back if it was eternal to begin with, that would be a lie. We are have been entrusted and sealed with salvation(Eph. 1:11-13;2 Pet. 3:9). God is also not slack, He does not break His promises. Once we have called upon Christ for salvation and sought Him with repentance, we are saved. We can commit horrible sins and still hold on to salvation but that does not mean we will not answer for them. All we have to do is put our full faith in Christ to recieve salvation and it is perminate. We are even allowed to go in and out of the door given us(John 10:9). We can not lose our salvation, ever, once it is given unto us. REFERENCES: . http://carm.org... . http://www.gotquestions.org... . http://www.dividedbytruth.org... . http://www.biblebelievers.com... . http://www.truthortradition.com...http://robertwells.tripod.com... Back to my opponent. .. .. ..