IT is a common delusion, shared in by many, that the believer in Jesus can fall away and be lost. This mistake arises from what is taught in the New Testament about falling away from profession, being confounded with falling away from Christ. Take, for instance, 1 Corinthians 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): “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.” Here the apostle presents himself as one really the Lord’s, as well as a preacher; and the proof of this was, that he kept under his body, else, although a preacher, he might be a cast-away, ―that is, one might 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), where 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,―the teaching being, that the sow, in spite of her washing, is a sow still; and so with those who turn away, their nature is unchanged, and although for a time they were kept out of the mire (escaped the pollutions of the world, verse 20), they prove by returning to it, that they never were Christ’s sheep, and that they never were born again. A sheep, it is true, may get into the mud, but instead of wallowing in it, will be miserable, and will want to get out. Thank God, the sheep of Christ are safely kept; carried home on the Good Shepherd’s shoulders, and they are as safe now as they will be in heaven. Read. John 10:27-2927My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27‑29); notice those four words, “they shall never perish.” To illustrate this I will relate a story told me by a friend.
An old man, who had been preaching for fifty years, was talking to him about falling away, when the substance of the following conversation took place: ―
“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 know some have lost their place in heaven, ― Satan and his angels, for instance?”
“Oh! but Christ did not die for them.”
“But 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?”
His reply was, grasping his friend’s hand, “No! it will make me no safer then than it does now.”
He had been preaching for fifty years, and had only for the first time learned the fullness of God’s present salvation.
A year or two after, the friend was summoned in haste to what proved to be the death-bed of the preacher.
“James,” said the dying man, “I sent for you to hear my dying testimony. It is pleasant to look back on a well-spent life.”
“Yes,” was the reply; “yours has been a very good life.”
“James,” said he,” it is all nothing. I am a poor sinner saved by grace, going straight to glory solely through the blood of Jesus. I want you to read for me.
His friend read 1 John 3:1-31Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:1‑3), and then left him, and a few days after he fell asleep.
Reader, are you saved? M.