Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
10/12/2022
If Salvation is eternally secure, How can one fall away?
Apostates had a profession of faith but not the possession of faith,
what does that mean?.
The Bible teaches that everyone who is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit is saved forever. We receive the gift of eternal life (John 10:28), not temporary life. Someone who is born again (John 3:3) cannot be “unborn.” After being adopted into God’s family (Romans 8:15), we will not be kicked out. When God starts a work, He finishes it (Philippians 1:6). So, the child of God—the believer in Jesus Christ—is eternally secure in his salvation.
Matthew 24:10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
Jeremiah 15:6 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!
So if we cannot lose our salvation, why are we warned against falling away from the Lord? It’s a good question. But first, we must understand what is meant by “apostasy.”
An apostate is someone who abandons his religious faith. It is clear from the Bible that apostates are people who made professions of faith in Jesus Christ but never genuinely received Him as Savior. They were pretend believers. Those who turn away from Christ never really trusted Him to begin with, as
1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” Those who apostatize are simply demonstrating that Jesus was never the Lord of their lives.
The Bible’s warnings against apostasy exist because there are two types of religious people: believers and unbelievers. In any church there are those who truly know Christ and those who are going through the motions. Wearing the label “Christian” does not guarantee a change of heart. It is possible to hear the Word, and even agree with its truth, without taking it to heart. It is possible to attend church, serve in a ministry, and call yourself a Christian—and still be unsaved (Matthew 7:21–23). As the prophet said, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13; cf. Mark 7:6).
they are not true believers, and they never were.
He said they will know us by our fruit. We are called to love one another and grow in our faith and show the fruit of our lives. Fruit is something that is obvious, just as looking at an orange tree and seeing NONE! Scriptures such as Hebrews 6:4–6 and Hebrews 10:26–29 are warnings to “pretend” believers that they need to examine themselves before it’s too late. Matthew 7:22–23 indicates that “pretend believers” whom the Lord rejects on Judgment Day are rejected not because they “lost faith” but because the Lord never knew them. They never had a relationship with Him.
True believers have counted the cost and made the commitment; apostates fail to do so. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit
(John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8–9).
Apostates had a profession of faith at one time but not the possession of faith. Their mouths spoke something other than what their hearts believed.
Apostasy is not a loss of salvation
but evidence of them never really having it to begin with.
Graves Into Gardens (Lyrics) – Elevation Worship ft. Brandon Lake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTvv-9zosPs
Excerpts are taken from Got Questions.
