According to the Bible, a Christian can be stripped of their salvation even after they've accepted Jesus and received forgiveness for their sins against God. It's written in the Bible that Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (
Matthew 7:21). It's also written in the Bible that Jesus also warned of this possibility in his parable of the sheep and the goats (
Matthew 25:31–46). On the contrary, in some verses in the Bible, it's implied that salvation is a free gift given by God and it can't be earned by good works. For example,
Romans 10:9–13 states that if someone declares with their mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believes in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, they will be saved. This passage states that whoever calls on Jesus' name will be saved. Furthermore,
Ephesians 2:8–9 states, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
But in Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats, it's clear that he rewarded the "sheep" with eternal life for their good works: feeding the hungry, giving water to people who are thirsty, inviting in a stranger, clothing the needy, visiting the sick or people in prison. And the "goats" were lambasted by Jesus for not feeding the hungry, giving water to people who are thirsty, inviting in strangers, clothing the needy, and not visiting the sick or people in prison. In fact, he cursed them and sent them to eternal damnation. They were very shocked when Jesus accused them, and they asked him when they did not do these things. He replied, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." It's obvious that the "goats" lacked the good works to be rewarded with eternal life, in spite of the fact that they had accepted Jesus as their lord and savior and were Christians. I think it's clear to see that Jesus' warning and his parable contradict
Romans 10:9–13 and
Ephesians 2:8–9, which state that salvation is a free gift from God and it isn't earned by good works. Honestly, it sounds like one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kinds of things.