We ask for a second time, "Is it possible for a true Christian to forfeit salvation
under certain circumstances?"
Hi, welcome to Little Lessons.
We're continuing on from the last Little Lesson, asking that question about can Christians
forfeit their salvation.
We've looked at 1 Corinthians chapter six verses nine and 10 where Paul definitely says
that certain categories of people who are involved in the most grievous types of sin
as a lifestyle, as a practice, these people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Obviously, Christians could revert back to those lifestyles.
Christians could become adulterers.
They could become thieves.
They could become idolaters.
Read it for yourself, 1 Corinthians chapter six verses nine, 10, and then 11, Paul says,
"Such were some of you."
You know, this doesn't characterize you anymore.
You're no longer unrighteous.
You're no longer fornicators and adulterers and idolaters and homosexuals and drunkards
and revilers and swindlers.
You repented.
You were born again.
You're new creations in Christ Jesus, but that does not preclude the possibility that
a dog can return to his vomit, to borrow a Biblical phrase that warns Christians about
going back to their former lifestyles.
We find many in times in scripture these admonishing statements to continue in the faith and strive
to enter through the narrow gate.
That's right from the lips of Jesus.
There are just plenty of reasons to believe from New Testament, Old Testament scriptures
that it's possible for Christians to stop believing, stop following, go back into their
old ways and, at some point in time, resisting the discipline of the Lord, resisting the
Holy Spirit and his conviction, that God would say, "Okay.
If that's what you want," but it's not easy to lose your salvation.
You don't just lose it like you lose your car keys.
What about those folks who say that you can't possibly forfeit your salvation?
Well, they have their proof texts.
They don't have near as many, by the way, but as I said on our previous broadcast, you
don't decide this issue by seeing who has the most scriptures.
You see who can harmonize their proof texts with the opposite viewpoint's proof text.
Probably the most common scripture that's quoted by those who will say, "No, it's impossible
for Christians to ever forfeit their salvation," are from the lips of Jesus in John chapter
10.
Here it is, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me."
All right, verse 28 of John 10, "And I give eternal life to them and they will never perish."
Whoa.
That's a nice promise there.
"And no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them
out of my Father's hand."
Well, that does sound like the believer is quite secure.
Once you got it, as one guy said, it's like a tattoo.
Even if you regret it and like to get rid of it, it's too late.
You're stuck with it.
Well, okay.
People will say, "There it is.
Eternal security of the believer.
Once saved, always saved.
I've got my verse."
Okay, great, great, great, but harmonize that now with the scores of other verses that would
bring some balance to your position and maybe help us better understand exactly what it
was that Jesus was promising here.
It seems to me the emphasis here is, "No one will be able to snatch them out of my hand."
That is nobody is going to be able to steal you from God's love, God's care, from the
salvation, the forgiveness that he's granted you and so forth.
Nobody can take that from you.
However, balancing that with so many other scriptures that would bring some balance,
you can walk away if you want to.
You know, I can say to my dog, which I don't have a dog, but if I had a dog and I said
to my dog, "Hey, man, I think you're a great dog.
No one's ever going to steal you from my house.
No, sir.
No, siree.
I'll be watching you closely and you're safe as long as you're in my house here.
I'm not going to let any thief, no dog snatchers are going to get you.
I'm going to feed you, take care of you.
I love you.
You're sticking with me til the end, my dog."
That's all true but that does not preclude the possibility of my dog saying to himself
or herself, "You know, I'm out of here.
I don't like staying with David.
There's greener pastures.
There's nicer people, nicer neighbors that I've been noticing who probably take a little
bit care of me.
I'm out of here."
My dog has freewill and I can't change that.
It's not a robot dog.
It's a freewill dog, as all dogs are.
Again, we have to balance it.
I mentioned to you I think last time Colossians chapter one.
Here's one of the zillions of proof texts Paul writes.
Colossians one and verse 22, "Yet, he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through
death," that's Jesus, obviously, "in order to present you before him holy and blameless
and beyond reproach," here comes the conditional word, "if indeed you continue in the faith,
firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you
have heard," and so on and so forth.
There it is.
There's so many scriptures like that.
Oh my goodness.
One more I might add to you, because when people ask me thoughts, whatever comes to
my mind, I begin to think of some scriptures.
I'm thinking of the Olivet Discourse when Jesus was talking to his closest disciples,
Peter, James, John, Andrew.
Those four, actually, I think and no more according to Mark's gospel.
It was very clear, though, from the other Synoptics that it was definitely not Jesus
speaking to crowds.
It was Jesus speaking to his closest disciples.
He emphatically warned them that they wanted to make sure that they should be ready when
he returned because the consequences of them not being ready were very, very dire.
Maybe in our next episode, I'll conclude answering this question in a third episode.
We'll look at the Olivet Discourse where Jesus told about all the future things that are
going to come to pass and his coming back and then he spent a lot of time warning his
disciples, "Make sure you're ready for this because, if you're not ready for this, you'll
be thrown into that place where's weeping and gnashing of teeth," talking to Peter,
James, and John.
Something to think about.
Thanks for joining me.
Hope to see you next time.
God bless.