Expert: Marvin Howard - 8/2/2011

Question
Hello! Thanks for your time. I would like if you would to explain a little about how a christian can loose their salvation. How do these terms fall into play in loosing your salvation?

Hebrews 6:4
Backsliding
Willful sin Hebrews 10:26
Apostasy
Matt 7:21-23 and how we believe the wrong thing or false prophets.
Stumbling
Sons of disobedience, not enduring temptation or not doing the will of God.

I know that would take 3 weeks to explain all that but just a summary of how a christian can do these things and go to hell.

Answer
Hi!

Josh, forgive me for the time it took to get to you. My fiancé is having knee and ankle problems that sent her to the doctor, and now her mother is dying of cancer. I have not had much time to take care of things. I will do my best to answer this for you. I hope I understood the import of your question.

Let’s begin by examining the Scriptures you cited (in context); one by one.

Hebrews 5:9-6:6, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 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, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

To begin, I want to offer my paraphrase in hopes of clarifying this for people who do not speak 17th Century English.

“We are speaking of Christ and His Priesthood; in contrast to the Levitical Priesthood. You are having difficulty understanding it. You should know it already, but you are not growing as you should. You should already be teaching this, but you are still only beginning level students. But, we must go past the beginning level to instruct those who already learned this. We cannot teach you again how to become Christians. We cannot teach you again that Judaism is not longer true religion. We will do this, if God allows, If you received the knowledge that comes with Christianity, and have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then fall away, you kill Jesus all over again because you lost the salvation that His sacrifice provided at first. Since you are not growing, you will either have salvation, or not, regardless of how much time we spend with you. You will either learn and grow; or you will die on the vine”

In other words, the Apostles had so much to teach they didn’t have time to repeat their lessons for those who were too slow. It was up to those Christians to grow or wither.

Hebrews 10:22-34, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.”

Here is my paraphrase.

“Be sure of your faith and have fellowship. After you are baptized, where God will clean your heart with Christ’s blood, help one another do good things. Don’t skip church like some. This is even more important when trouble is coming. If you sin on purpose by skipping church, after becoming a Christian, the blood of Jesus will no longer save you. Instead, Christ’s coming will be a time of fear, not joy, because you will be going to Hell. God’s punishment is more severe than physical death, and it is rightly so because the sacrifice was better. Sinning on purpose after becoming a Christian stomps on the blood of Christ in contempt, saying you don’t want it anymore. This is blasphemy of the Spirit. God will give you the reward you deserve. Instead, remember the days, after you had salvation, where people made fun of you. Remember the suffering you endured. While going through these trials you did things like a Christian; such as helping me because I am in prison. You sacrificed what you had because you knew doing so was needed to get to Heaven.”

Matthew 7:15-23, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This passage is different in context. It is given during the Sermon on the Mount. This is Jesus giving instructions to people who are not Christians. They are still so new in their understanding they can be easily fooled. With Christians the principle will be the same, even though circumstances are different. With that background, here is my paraphrase.

“Don’t listen to false teachers. They teach part of the truth, but their purpose is not to save you, and listening to them won’t save you. Good things never come out of evil things. Salvation cannot come from partial truth. False teachers cannot give you enough truth to keep you from being lost. If you listen you will go to Hell just like the bad fruits are burned. You can know if what they say is true. You can be fooled to think you are doing right, but thinking it won’t get you to Heaven. You have to do God’s Will; not follow man’s error. At Judgment, you may think you did right, but you do not have an excuse because I told you differently. You preferred to have your ears tickled with lies, so you did not love me. I don’t know you because you did not listen.”

Josh, people who believe in Calvinism, as opposed to being Christians, start with faulty premises. They teach “forgive and forget” because God forgives and forgets. In other words, they think that after forgiveness it is like those sins never happened. This is the origin of “Once Saved Always Saved.”

Nevertheless, I want to look at four passages before I finish this answer.

Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the REMISSION of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Emphasis mine, MRH)

Matthew 18:23-35, “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And HIS LORD was wroth, and DELIVERED HIM TO THE TORMENTORS, till he should pay ALL THAT WAS DUE UNTO HIM. So LIKEWISE SHALL MY HEAVENLY FATHER DO ALSO UNTO YOU, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” (Emphasis mine, MRH)

Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

Hebrews 10:17, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

People who teach the T.U.L.I.P. do not know just how evil it is. They are like the false teachers (all denominationalists, MRH) spoken of by Jesus in your last reference. They sound like truth and cause people to go to Hell. Let’s look at the principle behind the first, two passages, and support it with a duplicate, Greek lexicon study from the last, two.

People think remission means forgiveness. It doesn’t. Consider how the word is used in other applications. The most common use of this word today is in the field of Oncology. When cancer enters remission, it does NOT go away. It just quits growing. It is the same with sin. We quit sinning more and more: it quits growing, but it never stops (1st John 1:6-8). Acts 2:38 is not written with sins vanishing. It is written with their being arrested where they do not get to cause ultimate damnation unless we make them grow again.

Matthew 18:23-35 is the parable of the unjust servant. AFTER being forgiven, the first man sinned. When he sinned, was his punishment only over the new sin? No, he had to repay the original debt because it was once again charged to him. Then the parable goes so far as to say specifically that God will do the same thing with us. AFTER we are forgiven, we can still go to Hell over the sins we committed BEFORE forgiveness because they are still there, and they can be charged to our account yet again if we are so ungrateful of our salvation that we do not do what is right.

This brings us to the last, two passages. In Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17, people misapply the word, “Remember.” This Greek word, “μνάομαι” (mnaomai - mnah'-om-ahee), does not mean to forget. Rather, when you look at all the roots and origins, it carries a meaning of, “not chewing.” In other words, God doesn’t constantly talk to Himself and complain that our sin is unfair. It is still on the books, and will be on the Books till Judgment. At that time Jesus blood will clothe us and make our appearance palatable to God; because He can’t look at us in our own clothes of sin. If we don’t put on Jesus as our wedding garment before we step into eternity, we are lost. If we put it on for the wedding, but change it again before the wedding starts, we will not have it on and will not be admitted to the wedding feast.

If we have a friend that gives us the price of a ticket before we go to a performance of some kind, and we leave that ticket price at home, we will not be admitted because the money we have on our own is not sufficient. Our spiritual blood is not of sufficient value to atone for our sins. We will pay all that we have, but because it is not enough we will not get into Heaven.

Josh, if I didn’t understand the meaning behind your question, please let me know. I will try to get an answer for you that meets your needs.