It is a common delusion shared by many that the believer in Jesus can fall away, or "fall from grace," and be lost. In the New Testament the possibility of falling away from mere profession of Christianity is indeed presented; but this teaching should never be confounded with the thought that a saved soul can fall away from Christ.
In John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28), the blessed Savior who gave His own life for His sheep said: "They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." And in the end of the next verse He declared: "No man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand!" Double security there, is it not? Truly, the believer in Christ is "hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3).
To some, the passage in 1 Cor. 9:26, 2726I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27But 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 Corinthians 9:26‑27) seems to bear out the possibility of being saved then lost: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 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.”
In this portion of God's Word, the Apostle Paul presents himself as one really the Lord's, as well as a preacher of that Word; and the proof that he gave was, that he kept under his body, else, although a preacher, he might be a castaway, that is, one might even be a preacher and yet be lost. But a child of God cannot be lost.
Then in 2 Peter 2:20-2220For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21For 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. 22But it is 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), it speaks of those who have known the way of righteousness, and have turned from the holy commandment delivered unto them. They are compared to the dog that returns to his vomit, and to the sow that, having been washed, goes back to wallow in the mire. This teaching is that the sow, in spite of her washing, is a sow still, and the dog is still unchanged. So it is with those who have knowledge of the way of righteousness, but turn from it to their own way. Their nature is unchanged; and although for a time they were kept out of the mire, escaped the pollutions of the world, as in verse 20, they prove by returning to it, that they never were at heart Christ's sheep. They never were born again.
A sheep, it is true, may get into the mud; but instead of wallowing in it, that sheep will be miserable, and will want to get out. Thank God, the sheep of Christ are securely kept! They are carried home on the Good Shepherd's shoulders, and they are as safe now as they will be in heaven.
An earnest evangelist was in conversation with an old man who had been preaching for many years. This aged minister firmly believed one could be saved and then lost, and staunchly stood his ground. The evangelist finally asked him: "Would you be safer than you are now if you were in heaven?”
"Yes," was the reply; "we are never quite safe till we get to heaven.”
"How do you know you would be safe if you were there? For you must know some have lost their place in heaven―Satan and his angels, for instance?”
"Oh, but Christ did not die for them.”
"Did He die for you?”
"Yes.”
"What will make you safe when you get to heaven?”
"Why, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ." "Will it be more efficacious then than now?" After a moment's hesitation his reply was, grasping his friend's hand, "No! It can make me no safer then than it does now.”
He had been preaching for fifty years, and had for the first time learned the fullness of God's present salvation.
A year or two later, the evangelist friend was summoned in haste to what proved to be the death-bed of the old preacher.
"James," said the sick man, "I sent for you to hear my dying testimony. It is a happy thing to look back on a life spent for Christ.”
"Yes," was the reply; "yours has been a very good life.”
"James," said he, "my life is as nothing. I am a poor sinner saved by grace, going straight to glory solely through His life poured out-the precious blood of Jesus.”
Reader, have you this confidence? You can put your full trust in Him who died for you. He is worthy. Adapted from W.T.P.W.