Can You Walk Away … Part II

There is a word used in 1st Peter 4:18 that I want to consider … it's the word "scarcely." It's used in the phrase … "the righteous scarcely be saved." I believe it is one of the most overlooked words in the Scriptures. Hebrews 7:25 does say that Jesus … "is able also to save to the uttermost (with the Amplified version adding) completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity."

Well, He can and will … if you let Him. I'm still speaking here of being "scarcely" saved … not because Jesus didn't do enough … He did.

But it seems sometimes, that certain people will not give Him their whole "heart" and "will." Because the soul has "free will" it possesses the power of choice. Your heart can say yes to God or no to God; it can also say yes to sin, or no to sin. Satan himself must gain the consent of the "will" before even he can get the heart to sin.

It is true that God has the power to force you to do what He wants … but He won't because it's your free will … not His.

Albert Barnes addressing the subject of being scarcely saved says … "It may mean the difficulty of keeping them from falling away amidst the temptations and allurements of the world. Often it seems to be wholly doubtful whether those who have been converted will be kept to eternal life. They yield so readily to temptation, they conform so much to the world, they have so little strength to bear up under trials and they seem almost ready to yield and give up everything."

Because some believers do give up and walk away, unwilling perhaps to face the battle within their souls; it truly sounds like they must have been … "scarcely saved."

The Apostle Paul also addresses believers falling away, but he uses a different illustration in 1st Corinthians 9:27 … "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."

I like what John Gill says about this scripture … "Paul's concern is, lest he should do anything that might bring a reproach on his ministry, to be justly blamed, rejected and disapproved of by men, and become useless as a preacher; not that he feared he should be a castaway eternally, for he knew that he could not be eternally lost … unless he chose to walk away from his Lord."

Adam Clarke says … "On the subject of the possibility of Paul becoming a castaway, he most absolutely states the possibility of the case … so should we have cause to fear lest this should befall us?"

Why else would Paul say in Philippians 2:12 … "My beloved … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

With "fear and trembling," meaning … with serious caution, with the utmost care; work out your own salvation, not as though you can obtain salvation by your own works, for this is impossible; but as one who has an important interest at stake, which you do; and that is … the danger of losing your own soul.

Peter has said … "Beloved, seeing you know these things, beware, take heed lest you fall; be on guard …" (2nd Peter 3:17, in Part I)

How can this happen to a believer? Does this really happen to some? Yes, it does happen. Paul gives us an example that happened in his ministry.

2nd Timothy 4:10 … "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world …"

Demas was a friend who ministered with Paul, but under the influence of the world, Demas forsook him and evidently went back to his old life. Whether of sin or not, we cannot tell.

Luke 9:62 … "Jesus said … No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Plowing requires one to look ahead; if you turn around, look back or take your hand off the handle, the furrow won't be straight, you will wander. Looking back also tends to make one receptive and willing to turn back, or to give up and perhaps cast away one's confidence in the Lord, as stated in …

Hebrews 10:35 … "Cast not away therefore your confidence" … meaning your faith and trust in the Lord. It goes on …

Hebrews 10:38-39 … "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back … But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

It doesn't do any good to start and only go part of the way. The writer of Hebrews stated that there were some who left the faith and went back into sin. It can happen. You must continue on by faith … "to the saving of the soul." Is there anything we can do that will help us continue on in our walk of faith, all the way to our destination?

2nd Peter 1:5-10 … "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, kindness and charity … give diligence (proper attention and determination) to make your calling and election sure … for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall …" (edited)

Peter is not saying your salvation is not complete. He didn't say to add anything to your salvation; you can't. He is only saying by adding these good things to your "faith life," you will be able to walk out your salvation, to live it more fully and to go all the way … "to the saving of the soul" … without turning back.

In Part I, this article began with … "Can we, if we choose to, walk away from God and lose our salvation?"

To finally answer this question, I am going to quote Roy Hicks, Jr., who I believe has given the best argument to this question I have ever heard. He said …

"When you first hear the Gospel you have a choice; you can choose salvation and accept Jesus or you can choose to walk away. If you had that right then, don't you think you still have that same right to walk away from God anytime you want? If you don't still have that right … when did you lose it?"



Comments welcome.

Can You Walk Away … Part I

Can we … if we choose to … walk away from God and lose our salvation? Or as some teach, once you are born again, and have been accepted in God's family, you can never be lost … no matter what you do.

I want to look at this question starting with what Jesus has already done and what He will continue to do for us.

Hebrews 7:25 … "Wherefore he (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Hebrews 10:12 … "After he (Jesus) had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God …"

Jesus is now seated on the Mercy Seat of Heaven and … "He ever liveth to make intercession" for us continually, without end. The general meaning is … that Jesus, as often as is needed, constantly intercedes for us through that sacrifice; and we need not fear that His mercy will ever be exhausted.

Because there is nothing else in the way of a sacrifice required by God, and knowing the work of the cross was complete, satisfying God's judgment for sin; the Apostle Paul makes one of the greatest statements found in Scripture …

Romans 8:1 … "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus …" Period!!!

Paul continues in verses 33-34 …

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

The question now arises … Why does Jesus need to continue making intercession for believers after being born again if you cannot be lost?

So … if all this has been done by God the Father, through His Son Jesus, our Lord and Saviour … why would anyone ever want to walk away from their salvation? But if they do …

What happens if a Christian does decide to walk away and return again to his old sinful lifestyle? The Apostle Peter speaks to this and it doesn't sound too encouraging.

2nd Peter 2:20-22 … "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For 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. But 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."

Can this actually happen to a Christian? Yes, I believe it can. But if it cannot happen as some teach, why is this warning given?

If a man has escaped the sin of the world through the knowledge of Christ and faith in Him; and then is entangled or ensnared again in sin, and overcome; Peter says their last state is worse than the first … for they no longer have an excuse, having once been set free from sin.

Is there a warning given in the Bible, about going back to our former sinful lifestyle?

2nd Peter 3:14-17 … "Wherefore, beloved … be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness."

The last of these four verses, 2nd Peter 3:17 in the Amplified Bible reads this way … "Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you … fall."

Beloved … that's addressed to Christians. We are to be … on guard.

Proverbs 4:23 … "Keep and guard your heart … above all that you guard …" (Amp.)

Adam Clarke says … "Above all keeping, guard thy heart. He, who knows anything of himself, knows how apt his affections are to go astray."

It doesn't always happen because of sin. Some believers have endured tragedy and heartache in their lives, and have had sorrow overtake and blind them from the truth of God to the point where they shook their fist at God and blamed Him for whatever it was that happened to them, and then proceeded to walk away never looking back.

Can anyone truthfully say that could not happen to us?

I think some people are "still born" instead of being "born again."


To be continued …


Comments welcome.

Remit Sin?

One of the last things Jesus did before He ascended back to Heaven was to breathe on His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. After doing this, Jesus said to them in John 20:23 … "if you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained." (Amplified Bible.)

The K.J.V. reads … "Whose soever sins ye remit … (supposing them to repent and believe) they are remitted, and whose soever sins ye retain (supposing them to remain impenitent) they are retained."

Does this verse of Scripture give believers today the same power that Jesus had … namely, authority to forgive sin? Can a man or a priest forgive the sin of someone else?

If so ... here arises a difficulty.

Are not the sins of one who truly repents, and believes in Christ, remitted, or forgiven, without sacerdotal absolution thru a priest or another believer? And are not the sins of one who does not repent or believe, retained even … with … absolution? What then does this commission by Jesus imply?

Before we proceed any further, I need to establish this fact ... God is the only one that can forgive sin.

When Jesus said to a man with palsy, "thy sins be forgiven thee," the Jewish scribes who heard Him reasoned within their hearts saying ... "who can forgive sins but God only?" (Mark 2:7)

This Jewish doctrine came from God as He proclaimed in Isaiah 43:25 ... "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions …"
We can forgive what others do to us by forgiving the individual for the sin done to us ... but it is up to God to pardon the sin itself.

I cannot find in scripture where the apostles ever assumed any such power to forgive or remit sins themselves, or where they exercised any such power.

The meaning then in John 20:23, is not that man can forgive sins … God only can forgive sins, and Christ being God, had the power to do so likewise. This commission, is not "authority" to forgive individuals … we cannot give absolution from sin … and by the way, there is only one priest who can forgive our sin and His name is Jesus. (Hebrews 2:17)

1st John 1:9 ... "If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If we confess our sins … not the sins of someone else. What about "free will?" What if we are trying to remit another's sin before they are ready … what then?

Notice John doesn't mention the need of a priest or any other man. Why is that?

Hebrews 4:16 ... "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

We, on our own have been invited to petition Heaven anytime we deem it necessary … without help from anyone. We reach out on our own … no pastor, no priest … just you and God. After we petition the throne of grace, Jesus then intercedes for us with God the Father. How do I know that? Because of ...

Hebrews 7:25 ... "Wherefore he (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he (Jesus) ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Hebrews 10:12 ... "But this man, (Jesus) after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God ..."

Okay … let me try and put this together. God is seated on the throne of grace, for all grace flows from Him. Jesus … after sprinkling His own blood on the mercy seat ... sat down on the right hand of God where He ever lives to make intercession for us.

If man cannot remit another's sin … how can man retain another's sin? The following is just one of the examples that I believe are in the Word of God.

In Matthew 18:15-18, we have the instruction of Jesus concerning another believer who wrongs you … (sins against you) … and what we are to do about it. We are to go to him first, privately, and talk to him. If he doesn't listen, then we take one or two others as a witness … as to his repentance or impenitence. Next we use the church and its love to convince him of his wrong … (whatever it was) … and if he still refuses to repent, he is to be treated as a pagan … according to Jesus.

Now here is where I want to tie John 20:23 with Matthew 18:18 ... "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

By taking the three steps above, the repentant believer is "loosed" from his sin … or as John says it, his sin is "remitted" … by you; and if he is not repentant, than his sin is still "bound" or "retained" … it's just that simple.

Basically, the same thought must be applied to another verse in Scripture, (also John's) which at first glance … looks as if it also states … that we can ask God to forgive someone other than ourselves, and God will do it.

1st John 5:16, tells us to pray for a brother (a believer) if we see him sin … "a sin not unto death" … if we can rightly tell them apart from … "a sin unto death." Every sin, even the least sin, in its own nature is mortal, or deserving of death. The proper wages of sin is death.

Again, God alone can forgive sin … so John says … "he shall ask." Who shall ask? The one who sees a brother sin. He shall pray to God for him … since he has not committed a sin unto death, and He shall give him life; that is ... God shall give the sinning brother life or forgiveness. How can that happen?

For a sin committed not unto death, the forgiveness or life given by God, is because of the prayers of believers for him. This does not mean that this forgiveness or life is given to the one that prays … to then be given to the sinner by the one who prays. God does it all. We just pray.

We do not give absolution to sinners. We should leave that to Jesus, our high Priest … who is the one who intercedes for us.

This commission then is to be understood only in a doctrinal way, by sharing Jesus and the Word of God with those who sin (including believers) … and then thru repenting, their sin is remitted unto them … "forgiven" … but only by God.

What is a "sin unto death?" I don't believe anyone really knows. Some have said it could be taking a persons life. Others have said it might be a sin that turns you away from God … causing spiritual death. It is unclear … no one knows.

Guard your heart.



Comments welcome.

Leaving the Doctrine of Christ

Hebrews 6:1-3 … "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of … repentance from dead works … faith toward God … And the doctrines of … baptisms … laying on of hands … resurrection of the dead … and eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit."

In the previous chapter, the writer of Hebrews has been addressing these Jewish believers in Christ, telling them they should no longer need the milk of the word but should by now be eating the strong meat of the word for spiritual growth.

It sounds as if he is reprimanding them because if anyone had an advantage starting out with Jesus, it would be them. They were descended from Abraham, had the law of Moses, the writings of the Old Testament, and some of them may have even witnessed the personal ministry of Christ or His disciples.

So with this rich history behind them, he tells them to leave the basic principles which deal only with salvation. When he says … "Leaving" … he wants them to go on to higher and greater doctrines, beyond salvation, if that is truly possible.

There is more to living for Jesus than just being born again … and I say that with a smile when I write, more than … just salvation. The word just as an adverb means … "by a small margin and nothing more." What? But the word just can also mean … absolutely. Now that's more like it.

Just … saved by the blood of Jesus … how are you just saved? It's not by a small margin. It's a rich and complete … absolute salvation.

But I'm off topic; so continuing …

Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ … The author of Hebrews is saying to them, you have been converted long enough to have understood these basic elementary truths; but you cannot remain here. You can only be an infant so long; you must mature. If you don't develop and advance beyond the basics, there is something wrong.

Let us go on unto perfection … it is proper to exhort Christians to aim high, and perfection certainly is high. The fact that the writer or anyone else may have never attained it does not make it any less desirable or proper to aim at perfection. I really question if such an attainment is even possible. To exhort a man to do such a thing however … is not wrong.

To be honest, the word perfection as it is used here doesn't mean being perfect or sinless. It really means completeness or having a more perfect knowledge of spiritual things.

2nd Peter 1:5-8 speaks of this very same thing …

"Giving all diligence, add to your faith (not to your salvation) virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Not laying again the foundation … as one does a foundation for a building. The idea is that they were not to begin building all this over again. This was not necessary since the foundation had already been laid; but they were to go on and build the superstructure and complete the building on the existing foundation.

They were not to start over with the same repentance from dead works, which if translated right means … compunction for guilt … that came from those actions related to the character of much of the religion of the Jews where there had been in the past no real spiritual life, only works of the law. Conversion to Jesus consisted in repentance for having relied on those hollow forms of dead works. It is possible that the writer referred mainly to these issues, as he was writing to those who had been Hebrews.

And of faith toward God … With writers such as John, Peter or Paul it is usually "faith in the Lord Jesus" that is spoken of; but here in this letter written to the Hebrews, it is "faith in God" that is particularly referred to. In truth there is essentially no difference; I just find it interesting that the author of this letter referred back to the wording these Jewish believers were accustomed to.

So the admonition not only to them but also left for us, is to go on to greater and deeper things in Christ. Strange as it sounds, we are instructed to leave … "the basic principles of the doctrine of Christ."

In other words … we are to grow up in Christ.


Comments welcome.