Salvation is a gift from God. We do not earn it through work. However, sin can separate us from God. And if we continue living in sin we could die in sin, separated from God. When a righteous person turns away from righteousness, commits iniquities and dies in them, God will punish him or her for his or her deeds. All the righteousness that he or she did shall not be remembered, so says God in Ezekiel 18:21-28 (and other passages in Ezekiel).
When the prodigal son went away from his father, he was still the son of his father. However, he was no longer enjoying the benefits in his father’s house. But when he returned home, his father received him back. He did not have to be conceived again in his mother’s womb and be born physically again to regain his status as his father’s son. When he renounced the life that he was living, he was automatically restored to his position in his father’s house.
So is the salvation that God gives to us. If we stray away and return, God receives us. We do not have to be baptized again for God to take us back. However, if we remain in sin, and die in sin, then we die in sin away from God. If the Prodigal Son had remained in the foreign land, and died there, he would have died away from his father.
Some Christians hold the view that a Christian cannot fall into a similar situation. They believe that no Christian can lose his or her salvation. That is true to some extent. However, a Christian can reject salvation after receiving it. The Apostle Paul indicated the possibility of Christians apostatizing. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3, he wrote that, before the Day of the Lord, apostasy will first occur among believers in the Church, and the man of sin, who is destined for destruction, be revealed.
Furthermore, in Hebrews 6:4-6, we read that it is impossible to renew people who were once enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were partakers of the Holy Spirit. The passage says that such people are crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh and putting Him to an open shame. These people were believers who have tasted the heavenly gift and were partakers of the Holy Spirit. That means they were genuine believers. For only genuine believers can partake of the Holy Spirit and taste the heavenly gift. They were believers at some time in their lives before forsaking their faith in Jesus. They abandoned their faith in Jesus Christ and became unbelievers.
And in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the Apostle Paul tells us that a falling away – apostasy – of believers in the church will occur first before Jesus Christ returns. The Greek word used is apostasia, which means a departure, a rebellion. The word apostasia according to Thayer’s Definition, is a falling away, defection, apostasy. Strong’s Definitions include defection from truth – falling away, forsake.
The Holy Spirit chose the word for Paul. Whatever explanation we may give apart from what the Apostle Paul wrote will be our own uninspired reinterpretation of what the Apostle wrote. Paul was intelligent enough, and was inspired by the Holy Spirit, to choose the word apostasia.
You may not be happy with what Paul wrote or the word he chose. Yet you cannot change the meaning of what he intended. He chose the word under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Apostasia, as stated, means rebellion, departure. It means a falling away or departure from what one had or believed.
Paul said people will turn away from God. In 1 Timothy 4:1 Paul warns that the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some people shall depart from the faith. Departing from the faith means they first believed and held to the faith. And then decided to forsake or depart from the faith they believed and held to. The Greek word used is aphistemi. Thayer’s Definitions include cause to withdraw, to remove, to go away, to desert, to fall away. And Strong’s Definitions include to remove, instigate to revolt, desert, depart, draw (fall) away, withdraw self.
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 10:12 Paul advises, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls.” The word used is pipto, to descend from a higher place to a lower, to be thrust down, to fall from a state of uprightness, to perish, etc., (Thayer).
For this reason, we must constantly remind ourselves to remain steadfast in our lives with God. As co-workers with God, we must constantly examine our lives to see if we are on the right path with God. We must be guided by the Holy Spirit in all that we do. Because we are the channels that God uses. We are God’s ambassadors. And the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, (Ephesians 1:13-14). Ponder over this statement in Ephesians 1:13-14. We are marked or sealed for Christ until the final day that we shall be caught up to be with Him. Once we are saved, we are saved forever. We can’t lose it and go back another time to become born again the second time.
However, as we have seen from the Bible, we can, if we want to, walk away from God. Our deeds can lead us away from God. We may slowly drift away from God, and eventually drift out of the Kingdom of God completely. An individual can also intentionally reject God, as Paul says some will do in the latter times in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 1 Timothy 4:1.
God will not compel us to remain believers if we choose to apostatize, rebel or depart from the faith. However, God prefers that we remain faithful believers. This is one of the hard facts in the Bible. And we cannot change it because it is not our word. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:20 that no prophecy of the scripture is of one’s own interpretation. And Paul says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” (2Timothy 3:16; KJ2000).
Passages in the New Testament, inluding those written by the Apostles Paul and Peter, indicate that Christians can apostatize and fall out of God’s Kingdom. As I mentioned earlier, we may find some statements hard to accept. But we have no right to change their meanings. Else there would be confusion as each of us would be providing our own interpretations to suit what we want.
The Holy Spirit knew the words He chose.The Holy Spirit will not say white if He means black.
Therefore, Paul warns that there will be a falling away (apostasy) by some Christians, (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Paul again warns the young Timothy that the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teaching of demons, and the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences have been burned by a hot iron, (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
So, while God’s salvation is meant to be permanent, the individual, by his deeds and will, can walk away. God will not compel the individual if he or she chooses to walk away from the salvation that he or she received from God.
The unrighteous cannot live with God unless he or she discards his or her sinful life. So, if you decide, you can rebel against God and drift away into Satan’s kingdom. However, there is no salvation in Satan’s kingdom.
Paul’s warning that some will become apostates – (that they will rebel, they will abandon, they walk away from the true faith they had, they will reject the faith they had received) – indicates that they will make a conscious abandonment of their faith in Christ.
Some believe that such were never true believers in the first place. Well, Paul did not say that in his writing. And I do not want to go into that argument. But what I know is that Peter and Paul, in their writings, warn true believers of the possibility of apostasy occurring among believers.
The epistles were written to guide us (and warn us) on how to live righteously to complement our faith in God.
The Bible does not say that regardless of one’s actions, one will be saved and remain saved. The Bible says we are saved once, and we do not need another act to obtain salvation again. Salvation is a gift from God. However, we are saved unto good works. We do good works and live according to God’s will as proof that we have been saved from unrighteousness, (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Therefore, Paul asks, “Shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound. God forbid…” (Romans 6:1-2). If you drift way from God, you are walking away and abandoning God.
Though the gift of God is free and eternal, you can apostatize and forsake the gift (as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 1 Timothy 4:1-2). Satan has a subtle way of deceiving and seducing people. He makes people to focus on once saved, forever saved, taking their minds away from the other passages in the Bible that warn of the possibility of apostatizing. So that they may indulge in sinful acts and subtly be led away from God.
To be continued…
