Is it possible for true Christians to forfeit their salvation under certain circumstances?
Hi.
Welcome once again to Little Lessons.
This is the third Little Lesson we'll be discussing this subject of the security of the believer.
Is it unconditional or is it conditional?
You know, when you believe in Jesus, does that guarantee that you've got salvation,
there's no possible way that you could ever forfeit what you've got or is that security
conditional?
That you would continue in the faith, as evidenced by your continued walk of obedience to the
commandments of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
If you've been listening to the last two Little Lessons, you know that I'm in that particular
camp.
We want to walk and love toward one another.
We want to realize that the most important thing is not can you lose it.
The most important thing is do you have it right now?
And if you do have it, there needs to be some evidence that you've got it in your life,
faith without works is dead.
But I said in our last time together that one of the most obvious texts that shows us
that it is indeed possible for a true believer to revert back to a life of sin and to miss
out ultimately on salvation and eternity and the Kingdom of Heaven, it's right in the Olivet
Discourse, Jesus speaking to his closest disciples.
After he tells them about all of the signs that will precede his coming, he begins to
warn them repeatedly of the importance of making sure that you're ready.
So, I'm going to begin in Matthew, chapter 24 and verse number 43, the first of three
stories that Jesus tells that all have the same moral, make sure you're ready because
if you're not ready, there are dire consequences for not being ready and again, he's talking
to Peter, James, John and Andrew.
So, he said, but be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time
of night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed
his house to be broken into.
For this reason, you also, Peter, James, John and Andrew must be ready for the son of man
is coming in an hour that when you do not think he will.
Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household
to give them their food at the proper time.
Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
Truly, I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
So, there was a slave who was ready, but now contrasted with that is the evil slave, but
if that evil slave says in his heart, "My master is not coming for a long time."
And he begins to beat his fellow slaves, so he is not loving them as he's supposed to
and eat and drink with the drunkards while we read previous episode, Paul, in fact, they
said that no drunkard is going to inherit God's Kingdom.
So, this evil slave begins to hang out with the drunkards.
The master of that slave will come at a day when he does not expect him and at an hour
which he does not know and he will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the
hypocrites.
A hypocrite is someone who professes to be something they really aren't as evidenced
by their actions.
In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now, some commentators who believe in unconditional, eternal security, reading the scripture, you
have to twist it to such a degree in order to make it fit their particular doctrine.
They say that the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth is not Hell, oh no, it's a place
outside the main portals of Heaven where it's not so bright and light, the outer darkness,
and people will be regretting, the unfaithful Christians, will be regretting that they weren't
faithful and they'll be over there weeping and gnashing their teeth for a while until
Jesus comes and as the scripture talks about, wipes every tear and then he'll welcome them
in.
Because, it's so obvious of what's being said here.
Jesus is talking to Peter, James, John and Andrew, his closest disciples, and he's warning
them, make sure you're ready and don't be like the evil slave who thinks the master
will be a long time in coming, so there's no sense in worrying about what he will think
of me or if I'm doing his will.
So, this will represent a believer who becomes an unbeliever or a believer who's a stupid
believer, you know, who's counting on something that he shouldn't be counting on, the delay
of his master.
Jesus said, you don't want to be like him because in the end, that guy is placed with
the hypocrites, there's weeping and gnashing of teeth and if you study Jesus's use of the
phrases, weeping and gnashing of teeth, it's always a reference to Hell.
Okay, so these guys are really desperate when they start saying that's Heaven.
That is followed by two other parables.
The parable of the 10 virgins.
Take note it was spoken to Jesus's closest disciples and the moral of the story is to
Peter, James and John, verse number 13 of Matthew 25, "Be on the alert, then, for you
do not know the day or the hour."
That is, you don't want to be like the five foolish virgins.
All 10 were ready at the beginning, but five of them became unready and they were not allowed
into the wedding feast.
Don't be like them, Peter, James, John and Andrew.
So, obviously, it was a possibility that those guys as free moral agents, could have become
like the evil slave and the five foolish virgins and not been ready and faced the consequences.
Then finally, we're out of time now, but the very next parable is the parable of the talents.
All of them got some talents.
One got five talents.
One got two and one got one, but the master goes on a journey, then he comes back.
And the one-talent guy, of course, buried his talent in the ground and when the master
came back, he wasn't ready.
He didn't have anything to present before him as a return on his investment.
His master says to him, "Throw out that worthless slave into the outer darkness in that place
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
He wasn't ready for his master's return, Peter, James, John and Andrew.
You don't want to be like them.
Okay, so, what's the message.
The message is, yes, it is possible.
It is possible to forfeit salvation.
That's very clear from these scriptures if you're not ready when Christ returns or at
your death, of course, and so the message is, keep following Jesus.
Strive to enter by the narrow door as Jesus said.
If you make a mistake, well just keep your heart soft.
Ask God's forgiveness, repent, get up and get going again.
All these guys didn't just make one little slip up, they had major, major flaws where
they were not ready.
So, I want you to be ready.
I want to be ready.
Let's be ready together.
All right.
Much more to be said on this subject.
Books have been written about it.
You can find more at DavidServant.com.
If you type in the words "eternal security," you'll find some articles that I've written.
Thanks for joining me.
God bless.