The Plain Truth About Falling From Grace
Can a child of God sin and be lost again
The Devil has been trying to get a child of God for 6000 years, and if he has not succeeded he is a fool for not quiting. Are God's children more secure than the angels? "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement" (2 Peter 2:4.)
The unjust will be gathered out of the kingdom
"The son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 13:41-42.) "Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) It is certain that if a man is not born again, he cannot enter the kingdom. Then all in the kingdom, have born born again, and are children of God. They will weed out of the kingdom, but there are none in the kingdom, except those who have been born again: This being true, then some that have been born again--the ones that do evil--will be gathered out, and cast into a furnace of fire. Wouldn't the furnace of fire be hell?
Some shall depart from the faith
To say that a child of God cannot sin so as to depart from the faith, fall from grace and be lost again, is ignoring scriptures and making them out to be falsehoods. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their concience seared with a hot iron." (1 Tim. 4:2.) "Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith." (1 Tim. 5:12.) "Holding faith, and a good concience; which having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:" (1 Tim. 1:19.) "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." (Luke 8:13.)
Christians must be holy
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness; without which no man shall see the lord." (Heb. 12:14.) These are instructions for Christians: Without holiness no one will see the Lord. This scripture is as plain as can be, and all preachers should be telling their congregations on a regular basis.
Christians must live in accordance with the Spirit
When people are saved by repenting, confessing, being baptized, and accepting Jesus as their personal savior, they are not saved from sins not yet committed, but from sins in their past. Accepting Jesus as their personal savior means just that: He is their savior to save them from future sins; if they continue to obey him and live in accordance with the Spirit, having their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what nature desires. This is expressed in Romans 8:5-8.
Christians must live in harmony with God
Some people hold on to the misconception that after becoming a Christian they are automaticilly and continually cleansed from their sins by the blood of Jesus from then on. For a Christian's sins to be forgiven, that person must be in harmony with God. That means one must be in harmony with his will. We are in harmony with God only when we conform to his will. When we cease to conform to the will of God, we cease to be in harmony with God. This is what is meant by "apostasy" or "falling from grace." As "grace" means "favor," if you cannot "fall from grace," then a child of God cannot so live as to cause the displeasure of God and become unfavorable.
Warnings to Christians
To be realistic, you will have to conceed to the fact: If a Christian cannot live so as to lose favor of God and be destined to hell--death of the Spirit in one's soul--then a significant part of the New Testament was written for nothing. It consists of warnings to Christians not to lose what they have, and exhortations to obey the commands, and to be like Jesus; to continue in their faith; to hold out to the end, enduring the hardships and temptations, so that in the end they will receive the crown of life. If Christians could not sin so as to become lost, all those scriptures would have no meaning. The New Testament is filled with scriptures that support the need for Christians to continually be hunble; to be in harmony with God, living a holy life, repenting of the sins that are committed, as we cling to Jesus Christ, our Savior--the high priest and mediator between us and God. He made the ultimate sacrifice, so that we can receive forgiveness.
Christians must meet obligations and requirements
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness, and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:19-20.) Note that James was talking to brothers in Christ: Get rid of sin and humbly accept the word engrafted in you, (which is able to save your souls.) If the brothers (Christians) were "once saved always saved," then James would not have said this. This one scripture alone should be plain enough for anyone, even the most hardshell, to accept the reality that being saved is a continuation of an obligation by Christians to God. Carrying out the obligation or requirement, (which is able to save you,) is a must. If being saved forever was a one time act, there would have been no need for James to warn these Christians. If a Christian's sins were continually washed away by Jesus' blood, there would have been no need for James to have been urging Christians to get rid of sin and humbly accept the word planted in them (which was able to save them.) These Christians did not have a free lifetime pass to heaven. This is only one example of scripture. There are many, many, more. Do they simply not mean what they say? What about, 1 Cor. 10:12? "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Can this mean anything else but falling from grace?
Christians must stand the test
"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Cor. 9:27.) What do you think a castaway is? Doesn't that mean unacceptable? James 1:12, tells us, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." If a Christian is continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus, automatically, without doing anything; what is he to be tried for? If a child of God doesn't endure temptation, then it can only stand to reason that he won't receive the crown of life. James 1:13-14, gives a perfect explanation of how a Christian can fall from grace, experience death and be lost. Wouldn't that be the opposite of the crown of life? "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither he any man: but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Without repenting and asking for forgiveness this person will go to hell. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Hold firmly to the word or we have believed in vain
Hebrews 6:1-6 gives a chilling account of those who fall away so as to be lost again. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlighted, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." If one cannot sin so as to fall from grace, then this scripture is false, along with many more, which by their presence, render the Bible unreliable. These next two verses of 1 Cor. 15:1-2, have to be the last words on any argument of once saved always saved. "Morever, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I have preached unto you, which also ye have received, and whererin ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain." Keeping in memory what had been preached, obviously meant obeying it. These brethren have received the gospel and stand by it. They are saved if they keep in memory (obey) what has been preached to them. Wouldn't that mean living by the word? According to Paul, if we don't, we have believed in vain. Wouldn't that mean being lost and going to hell?
Many Christians are victims of cheap grace
There is a small gate to enter and a narrow road to travel in order for a Chrisrtian to get heaven. That small gate and that narrow road have been made larger and wider, as Christianity has been made easier and easier, for those who want to endulge in the worldly things of life and be called a Christian also. They want to be saved and go to heaven, but they love and engage in the sinful things of the world. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:13-14.) Many Christians expect forgiveness of sin without any cost. It is taught that the account has been paid in advance, and everything can be had for nothing. This is grace as a doctrine or principle. It means forgiveness of sins at no cost to the sinner; it justifies sin without the justification of the sinner. Costly grace means following Christ. Grace that is costly and is the pure grace of God, calls us to follow Jesus Christ, and following Jesus is the only way to recieve forgiveness of sin. Cheap grace amounts to a denial of the living word of God and is destroying the Church. The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works. Because of faith we receive grace, but faith without works is dead. "And one of you say unto to them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."(James 2:16-17.) Faith is only real when there is obedience, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience.
Christians must continue in faith and repentance
Receiving forgiveness of our sins is on the condition of our following Jesus. Following Jesus (which means following his teachings) is the key to forgiveness and salvation. Sometimes when someone dies, the question comes up: "Was he saved?" Someone may say, "Yes, he was saved," back at a certain time, maybe many years ago. That may be true. He was saved then, because he believed, confessed, repented, and was baptized. He accepted Jesus as his personal savior. He was saved at that time because all his sins were forgiven that he had committed in the past. He became a child of God, and at that time, he was saved from going to hell--free from the sin that had been in his life. Because he accepted Jesus into his life, he then had Jesus to continually cleanse away his sins, as long as he obeyed him, and lived his life for God. The cleansing of sins requires humble, sorrowful, repentance and faith. Asking for forgiveness shows a Christian's faith. We must ask for forgiveness. There must be an act of faith; an act of belief on the Christian's part. Jesus said in Matt. 7:7-8, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
What does following Jesus mean
Following Jesus means exacly what it says. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matt. 16:24.) He also said, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62.) We are saved by grace. Grace means favor. We obtain favor from God by keeping his commands. Jesus came to us from God in human form, to tell us how to be saved; how to live our lives, so as to be favorable to God. Jesus died as a one-time sacrifice for our sins. As long as we obey him, we will receive forgiveness of our sins. When we are saved we do not get a lifetime free pass to heaven. We must continue following Jesus after we take up our cross. We must continue to plough after we put our hand to the plough. We put our hand to the plough when we were saved. That's just the beginning! Preachers, especially big name evangelists, are making Christianity to easy. They are destroying the Church that Jesus built by preaching cheap grace-- grace without obedience. One cannot follow Christ and also follow the ways of the world. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and serve mammon." (Matt. 6:24.) Mammon is defined as money or worldly gain.
Confession alone will not be enough
Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21.) The one who says, "Lord, Lord," could be one who puts forward a claim on the grounds that--he said it, or he could be a doer: One of humble obedience. One has justified himself through confession. The other, the doer, has been obedient, and his doing has been with true humility, by the grace of God; with love. and according to God's will. He has put the demand of true obedience and the love of Jesus first in his life. Obeying the gospel, becoming a child of God, and then depending on the confession of belief in Jesus and regular church attendance, without loving Jesus and following him in obedience, will not be sufficient on judgement day. Everyone will stand before the judgement seat of Christ, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Cor. 5:10.) On the judgement day who will meet the test? Will Jesus say, "I have never known you."? Or will he say, "I have known you"? Has Jesus known you? Have you really known Jesus? If we follow Christ, cling to his word, and let every thing else go, it will see us through the day of judgement. There must be loving obedience--up until the day of judgement. Jesus spoke to the disciples: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matt. 24:12-13.) Depending on "once saved always saved" and following the ways of the world, can take a child of God out of that narrow road that leads to heaven, and put him in that wide and easy to follow road that leads to hell.
We must make our calling and election sure
If we were once saved always saved, what would be the need of judging the saved? The scripture says everyone will be judged. Because the possibility of falling from grace exists, it demands the need for children of God to be judged, by Jesus Christ, for all the things thay have done--both good and bad. "And besides this, giving to virture knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness chairty. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barron or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-11.) "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therin, and overcome, the latter end is worse than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb, THE DOG IS TURNED TO HIS OWN VOMIT AGAIN; AND THE SOW THAT WAS WASHED TO HER WALLOWING IN THE MIRE." (2 Peter 2:20-22.)
Conclusion
I have presented Bibical proof that apostasy is real, and that a Christian can fall from grace--become unfavorable to God--so as to be lost again. It is crucial that Christians maintain a barrier between the Church and the world, and that we stay focused on Jesus and committed to holiness, so that in the end we will receive the inheritance of eternal life.