This
is the last post in my series about how a person cannot lose his
salvation. I encourage everyone to read the entire series but I'm
going to recap my points briefly. I've talked about how salvation is
described as a fundamental change in our nature – how we are “born
again” and “pass from death unto life.” The Bible continuously
describes our salvation using words of permanency like, “everlasting
life” and “they shall never perish.” Furthermore, the
Bible attests in many places that it is God who secures us in our
salvation and we are kept by His power, not by our own works.
Finally, I talked about how the majority of verses critics cite are
“negative arguments” where they point to a conditional statement
and argue the opposite. For example, in Revelation 3:5, God promises
to not blot from the Book of Life the name of the soul that
overcomes; critics argue that means God could blot the name
from the Book of Life if the person fails to overcome.
There
are a few verses, however, that critics cite which are not negative
arguments. It's my opinion that in every one of these cases, the
people being described are not – and have never been –
Christians. Following are a few examples.
Perhaps
the most cited passage is Matthew 7:21, “Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven
will enter.”
This
verse is cited as proof that a confession of faith alone is not
enough to guarantee salvation but, rather, confession must be
followed by good works (that is, “doing the will of My Father”).
In the context of the entire passage, however, Jesus makes it clear
that these are people who only claimed to be Christians but never had
a personal relationship with Him. Consider verse 23, “And
then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you
who practice lawlessness.’”
I've written
before
about the emphatic force used in this passage in the Greek. Jesus is
saying He, never
knew these people – not
even ever!
They are not people who knew Him then became lost. They are people
who never knew Him but thought they were saved because of the good
works they did in His name.
Another
passage sometimes offered is Hebrews 10:38, Now
the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him. The argument is made that this
means if a believer should turn away from the faith (that is, “draw
back”), then God will no longer have any pleasure in him. I don't
believe that interpretation is valid when the verse is considered in
context. Verse 39 says, But we are not of
them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. The epistle writer is clearly
intending to exclude himself and his readers from the group that
could “draw back.” He instead identifies the Hebrew audience as
those who believe unto salvation. It is only lost people who hear
the gospel and draw back that displease God.
There
are other passages people cite and providing an exhaustive list would
be too long for this series. The passages above are just example of
how some passages used to argue that a person can lose his salvation
really are talking about people who were never Christians. 1 John
2:19 says, “They
went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out,
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
In this simple statement, John makes clear that people who “leave”
the faith were really never of the faith. I'm not sure how much more
overtly this could be stated.
In
the parable of the sower (Matthew 13), the seeds that falls on the
stony ground or among the thorns represent people who seem to accept
the gospel but later turn away when faced with trials. Only the
seeds that falls in the good soil, the ones that produce fruit, are
Christians. Time after time, Jesus tells us that we can judge a
Christian by his fruit. We may not be able to look at a person's
face and know if he's a Christian but we should be able to tell by
judging his actions. There have been – and will always be –
people who claim to be Christians but really aren't. Maybe they even
genuinely believe they are. But at the end of the day, they had
never really become a sheep.
2
Peter talks about this same thing. Some people hear the gospel and
enter into fellowship with believers. Later, they return to their
former ways but are worse for it because they have heard the truth.
Peter quotes Proverbs, describing them as dogs who return to their
own vomit or pigs that return to wallowing in the mire. They never
became lambs; that is, they never experienced the life changing
transformation of being born again. They remained dogs and pigs and,
eventually, returned to acting like dogs and pigs.
Ultimately,
of course, God is the judge of who is saved and who is lost. We may
form opinions based on men's actions but God sees their hearts and He
knows who are the sheep and who are the goats. Even Christians sin.
I've sometimes said that a sheep might get dirty but a pig wallows in
the mud. Christians will also be judged for their sins. 1
Corinthians 3:11-15 talks about the time every Christian will face,
when his works will be judged by fire:
For
no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will
become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed
with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s
work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will
receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
My
sin has consequences – not just in this life but eternally. Every
moment I spend on worldly things is time wasted building a house of
wood and straw. It is time I could have spent pursuing things that
will last eternally. When other saints are casting their crowns at
the feet of Jesus (Revelation 4:10), I could be standing there
empty-handed knowing I had squandered my reward. But regardless of
whatever loss sin might cause us to suffer, Corinthians is clear that
it cannot cost us our salvation.
Read the entire series
Read the entire series
