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The following are questions
concerning passages that some like to use to support the view that a true born
again can fall away and lose their salvation. Nearly all of these questions
have been taken from emails sent in to the ‘Jesus Plus
Nothing’ website. There is no doubt that there are passages in the Bible which
are difficult to understand. Quite a few of the questions mentioned below, deal
with passages that have been debated for centuries. They are debated because
they are difficult! In the end however, there is no middle ground that can be
taken as to whether a true born-again believer can lose their salvation. It is
either ‘yes’ or it is ‘no’. Jesus is either able to keep us
secure, or He isn’t. I have put these questions and answers together to form
this study because I am sure that others have had these, or similar questions,
in their mind. For those that are interested, I would also like to recommend
two books by William MacDonald that have been very useful to me – Firstly his
commentary on the entire Bible, the ‘Believers Bible Commentary’. And secondly
a book on eternal security that he wrote called ‘Once
in Christ, In Christ Forever’. Both of these books are very useful resources
and they cover a much wider range of questions than could be expressed in this
study.
Question 1: What does ‘falling away’ or
‘turning away’ mean to a saved person?
In looking up these verses again, I found it
interesting that the term 'fall away' was used by the Lord Jesus of His 11
disciples at the time of His arrest. The disciples deserted Jesus as was
predicted and Peter obviously denied Jesus three times. This was said to be a
'falling away'. (see Matt 26:31-35) Obviously, this is
not a loss of salvation. For the true believer it may involve a temporary
period of backsliding or time of being out of fellowship with God. It is times
when for one reason or another, the believer is having difficulty in his
Christian walk. The believer would not however deny what they believe in their
heart, even though their walk would not match what they believe. But note that
even though Jesus said they would 'fall away', in the
very same context, he also said to Peter that he had prayed that his faith would
not fail and when he returned, to strengthen his brethren. (Luke 22:32) In
other words, true believers may fall at times but their faith does not fail
because Jesus intercedes for them. Concerning this intercession we are told 'hence, also, He is able to save forever those who
draw near to God through Him (true salvation), since He always lives to
make intercession for them.' And when do true believers need Jesus'
intercession more but when they are struggling? See also John 17:6-12
concerning this intercession by Jesus for His believers. In this ‘High
Priestly’ prayer, Jesus makes it clear that the ones that God has given Him he
keeps safe! See also Rom 8:32-34 where Jesus' intercession is used as one of
the points to show that we cannot be separated from the love of Christ.
In contrast to this are several other
passages which speak of apostasy. The first falling away is temporary and is in
regard to their walk. For a true believer however, they will never deny their
faith in the Lord Jesus. And, like the true prodigal son, they will return.
Apostasy however, as mentioned in Heb 6:6 and 1 Tim 4:1 amongst other verses,
speaks of a falling away from the faith - an abandonment of the faith and truth
of the gospel. This is prophesied to increase greatly in the end times. As Heb
6:4-7 states this is done by those who very much look like they are genuine
saved believers. They have known everything that is needed to be saved; they
have felt the conviction and drawing of the Holy Spirit, maybe even seen other
signs that enable them to make a genuine decision. They may even go along with
Christian teaching for a while... but they become apostates... prodigal pigs
who turn away from it all, deny the truth and go back to the mud.
Concerning apostasy (deliberately falling
away and turning from the truth of the faith) William MacDonald writes in the
Believers Bible Commentary - 'Apostasy is
a sin which is only committed by unbelievers, not by those who are deceived,
but by those who knowingly, and wilfully and maliciously turn from the truth...
Apostasy should not be confused with backsliding. A true believer may wander
very far from Christ. Through sin his fellowship with God is shattered. But he
can be restored to full fellowship as he confesses and forsakes his sin.'
Titus 1:10-16 also talks of those that 'turn
from the truth' calling them 'empty talkers and deceivers'... those who are
'defiled and unbelieving' and it says that they profess to know God but
by their deeds they deny Him.' This is no sheep of God we are talking about
here. More like a wolf!
Question 2: Are the people spoken of in 2
Peter 2, who had knowledge of Jesus and then left,
true believers who have now lost their salvation?
J. Vernon McGee, a well loved Bible teacher,
wrote about this passage, saying that that there are
prodigal sons (Luke 15) and there are prodigal pigs! (2 Pet
The people
mentioned in 2 Peter 2:22 are prodigal pigs who do not have a true saving
faith. We should also see the context that this whole passage is talking about.
The whole chapter is concerning false teachers and false prophets. They
‘forsake the right way and go astray’, ‘revelling in their deceptions.’ Doesn’t
sound like sheep to me!
Question
3: …I read the passage Hebrew 6:4-6. This has put a great fear in my heart for
fear I will not be able to fully return and receive the Spirit in my life.
Can you shed some light on this passage for me?
There are only
three ways you can take a passage such as this.
To say that it is
true Christians who have lost their salvation (as no 1 does) doesn’t line up
with the promises in the rest of God’s word for God’s true sheep that salvation
is secure (such as John 6:37-40, John 10:26-30, and Rom 8:33-39 especially in
light of Rom 11:29 plus heaps of others). Nor does the fact that these people
can’t repent (if they were true Christians) line up with other scriptures such
as the prodigal son, 1 John 1:9 and the overall teaching of the New Testament.
So I don’t believe point 1.
Point 3 doesn’t
really make sense to me (it being a hypothetical argument) as the whole passage
seems to be giving a clear warning to someone! Its just who is the warning for?
Point 2 is what I
believe, and here is why.
In the Believers
Bible Commentary, William MacDonald writes
‘Some
earnest Christians are troubled when they read Hebrews 6 and similar passages.
Satan uses these verses especially to unsettle believers who are having
physical, mental, or emotional difficulties. They fear that they have fallen
away from Christ and that there is no hope of restoration. They worry that they
have drifted beyond redemption’s point. The fact that they are concerned about
it is conclusive evidence that they are not apostates! An apostate would never
have any such fears; he would brazenly repudiate Christ. If this sin of
apostasy does not apply to believers, to whom then does it apply? It applies,
for instance, to a young man who makes a profession of faith in Christ, but
then something happens in his life. Perhaps he falls into gross immorality. Or
perhaps he goes off to college and is shaken by the anti-Christian arguments of
atheistic teachers. With full knowledge of the truth, he deliberately turns
away from it, completely renouncing Christ, and viciously tramples on every
sacred fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. The Bible says it is
impossible to restore such a one to repentance.’
Question
4: What about Hebrews 10:25-30? What is the ‘wilful sin’ mentioned and is this a loss of salvation?
Heb 10:25-30 is
basically a parallel passage to the Heb 6 passage previously mentioned. We
should always remember that Hebrews was written to Hebrews – that is,
Jewish believers in the first century. That doesn’t make it irrelevant for us,
but we should at least read it in its first century context. For a Jew to
become a Christian in the first century (and now!) basically meant the death
sentence as far as their relationship with their family was concerned. They
lost any right to an inheritance and came under extreme pressure (including
physical persecution) to leave Christ and go back to Judaism. And that is what
many did, even though for a while they looked like true believers. Read Heb
10:25-30 with this in mind. The wilful sin mentioned in verse 26 is linked to
the verse before it because it starts with ‘for if..’.
The verse before it is speaking of leaving the assembly of believers. The
wilful sin that this passage talks about is leaving Christ and going back to
Judaism, which was happening. Under Judaism, and what they were going back to,
there no longer remained a sacrifice for sin (vs 26)
(because God didn’t accept animal sacrifices anymore after Jesus had died for
all sin, for all time.) But only judgement could be expected (vs 27 – it is also interesting that Hebrews was written
only a couple of years before the destruction of
Like I said at the
start, this passage is a parallel passage to Hebrews 6, speaking of the
apostasy of those who give up their profession of faith in Christ. The warning
is given of what will happen to those that do this. But like the passage in
chapter 6, the writer of Hebrews doesn’t leave true believers with this thought
of judgement. In chapter 6, at the end of the warning he wrote: ‘But, beloved, we are convinced of better
things concerning you (the true believers), things that accompany salvation,
though we are speaking in this way.’ After the warning in chapter 10, the writer
gives the same encouragement to true believers when he writes: ‘But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction (the professing
believers who became apostate), but of those who have faith (true believers) to
the preserving of the soul.’
Question 5: What does this mean, "Who
ever has will be given more and who has not what little he has will be taken
away?"
Jesus used this phrase a few times and its
meaning should be read in keeping with its context. For instance, in Matt
13:11-12 it is saying that to those who have faith in Jesus (like the disciples
He was talking to at the time), more light (in this
case the knowledge of the parables) will be given. Where as those who don't
believe (like the religious leaders He had previously been speaking to) not
only will they not get anymore light, but what they have will be taken away. Hence
Jesus spoke in parables so that only His true disciples would understand.
It is also used in Matt 25:29. All of Matt 25
is speaking of the judgement that will occur when Jesus returns to set up His
kingdom at the end of the tribulation. All of these illustrations (the virgins,
the talents, sheep and goats) are used to express what Jesus had mentioned
earlier in his parables. ie
that the wheat and the tares will grow together right up until the time of the
harvest (the end of the age). The wheat has been planted by the Lord. The tares
have been planted by Satan in the same field. There is no real separation of
them until the end. So in many cases there are the false and the true within
the same field. They may even look similar. See Matt 13:37-43. There will be a separation of the true and the
false at the return of Jesus for His bride, and also when He returns to earth
to set up His Kingdom. Matt 25, in all its different forms, shows the
separation of the true believers from the false, with the false thrown into
Hell. In the parable of the talents, there is a false servant. He calls Jesus
'a hard man'. He had been given abilities but had chosen not to use them. The
abilities he had, and the freedom to exercise his will, would now be taken from
him. He would be thrown into hell and in doing so 'the little that he had (the
opportunity to believe and bear fruit in accordance with that salvation) would
be taken away'. The true servants however showed the reality of their living
faith in using their abilities wisely and were rewarded by entrance into the
Kingdom. Whoever has (true faith) will be given more (entrance into the
kingdom!)
Question 6: What does it mean that a branch
that doesn’t bare fruit will be cast into the fire? Does that refer to a saved
person that does nothing for Christ like witnessing or being active in serving
Christ?
There are at least three common, yet
different interpretations that are given of this difficult verse.
1. It speaks of a saved person who has lost
their salvation and is thrown into Hell.
2. It speaks of a professing Christian who,
while they look like they have saving faith, prove by their life that this is
not the case, and are thrown into Hell.
3. It speaks of the works of unfruitful true
believers whose works are burned at the judgement seat of Christ. They
themselves are saved ‘but as by fire’.
My own personal view would be the second
point. I don't believe the first point as 1 Cor
The Bible Knowledge Commentary says of this
passage -
vs 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off. The phrase
“in Me” does not mean the same thing as Paul’s words
“in Christ.” Here it is part of the metaphor of the Vine and seems to mean, “every person who professes to be My disciple (a
branch¯) is not necessarily a true follower.” A branch that bears no fruit is
obviously dead. Therefore, like Judas, it is cut off.
Question 7: In the parable of the sower the
last seed that is thrown on good soil, is that the only group that is saved?
I don't believe the primary purpose of the
parable was to give a definition of who is saved. It was intended to show what
leads to fruitfulness. Having said that, we can speculate of course and
scripture certainly gives us clues. The first group, who had the word snatched
away are said to have not come to salvation at all. (Luke 8:12) Of the second
group, who 'believe' for a while, wouldn't be saved. They probably responded
out of the wrong motives and when hardship comes they are out of there! I'll
say more on this in the 'Hells best kept secret' question. The third group is
where it gets trickier. In real life you can’t just fit everyone into a nice
little box. For instance, this third group believed and started to grow. The
thorns, which are the worries of this life, and other worldly things, slowly
grew up and choked the fruitfulness of this plant. This is a slow process of
choking. Would I say this group was saved? Yes and no. In real life this group
would contain real believers I believe. All of us are in a battle to not allow
the things of this world to choke our fruitfulness for God. I can definitely
say that I battle with this all the time. Sometimes it has very little hold on
me, and at others I find myself caring about the worries and pleasures of this
world. That is why I said that the purpose of this parable is not really about
who is and who isn't saved. It’s about what leads to fruitfulness for God's
kingdom.
Question 8: What if a person continues to
fail the test we are given?
Not quite sure which test you are talking about.
Jesus spoke of knowing the wolves in sheep’s clothing by their fruit. Other
passages, such as some of Paul’s letters tell us to discern the true from the
false by what a person teaches. 1 John also gives a test of genuine believers
(because there were many apostates around at that stage as well!) Obviously
there should be outward signs of the new creation which true believers are in
Christ. 1 John
1 John
If a 'believer' continued to fail these tests
I would agree with John that they hadn't been saved to begin with. But we
should be careful not to shoot our own wounded!
Question 9: "Faith with out works is
dead..." What is dead faith to someone who is saved?
By its very definition, someone who is saved
cannot have 'dead faith'! If their faith has saved them then it is alive! James
is speaking about mere belief (as indicated in verse
Question 10: In "Hell's Best Kept
Secret" by Ray Comfort he gives an illustration of a man on an airplane.
The first man is told that if he puts on the parachute his ride would be better.
After a while, when others are laughing and he realizes it doesn’t make it
better at all, he takes it off. Does
this mean someone can get saved then decide they don’t want to be saved?
Nope. I have enjoyed Ray Comforts books and I
know that this is not what he is saying. He used this illustration to show the
stupidity of our evangelistic methods. He is saying that we invite people to
come to Jesus because it will make your life easy and so they do! Then when
they find that it isn't easy they give up their belief! But what did they give
up? Not a true faith but a ‘belief’ in a stupid gospel invitation that makes
Jesus not to be Lord or Saviour but some kind of Father Christmas! They have
placed their 'faith' in a much distorted truth that doesn't prove true. These
'converts' are the shallow soil converts spoken of in the parable of the sower.
They are shallow because they have no conviction of sin, and no real awareness
of their need of a saviour. They just 'try' Jesus just as easy as they would
'try' something else. When difficulty comes the shallowness of their root gives
them away because they are not seen anymore. The focus of Ray Comforts books is
to use the law in evangelism to convict the sinner of their sin. Once they see
their sin, is doesn't take long for them to look for a saviour and true faith
results! Even in 'Hells Best kept Secret', in a chapter called 'Who are the
backsliders?', Ray Comfort writes
'A genuine conversion will stand no
matter how great the adversity. "Though he fall,
he shall not be utterly cast down" Psalm 37:24'
And to that quote I would add the rest of that verse, as it tells us why the true believer is never utterly cast down - 'Because the Lord is the one who holds his hand.'
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