In the previous study, we saw Jesus’ emphasis that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of God but those who do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21-27). Paul iterated this truth when he doubly warned the church in Galatia that those who practice the deeds of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God, i.e., the actual territory or place of God’s dwelling not just His authority or power (Galatians 5:19-21).
Before we may wonder if Jesus and Paul meant exactly what they said, we find Jesus admonishing His Church with this same truth after His death and resurrection: “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:5-6). In this text, Jesus was addressing the members of His church, who already had their names written in the book of life. He warned them that it is only those who overcome, whose names He will not erase from the book of life. With this, Jesus clearly showed that although one can have his or her name in the book of life, it can still be erased. “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). In Jesus’ words, the way to prevent your name from being erased from the book of life is to overcome, which definitely means that those who do not overcome will have their names erased – otherwise His admonishing to overcome would have been totally irrelevant. However, none of the words of this Revelation He gave us is supposed to be trivialized or tempered with (see Revelation 22:18-20).
We read this same truth in Hebrews as well. Hebrews 10:25 reads, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near”. This is not an exclusive message to Jews or Hebrew Christians but to the Church – just as the book of Romans was written to Christians in Rome (Romans 1:7) but is applicable to all those called as saints (cf. Romans 15:4, 2 Timothy 3:16). The instruction for the church not to stop meeting together is immediately followed by this reason: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES” (Hebrews 10:26). From Hebrews 10:25-26, we learn that a major reason why we ought to meet together is to prevent us from going on in wilful sin (without repentance) so that we don’t end up in the lake of fire prepared for the enemies of God (see Hebrews 10:25-26, Matthew 25:41-45). The Bible doubles down on the reality of this truth in the new Covenant with the verses immediately following: “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:27-29). Friends, let us not deceive ourselves, just as it is written: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8). In other words, it is those who sow to or live by the Spirit who inherit eternal life. To sow to the flesh or make a practice of sin is to reap destruction and be excluded from the kingdom of God. And we ought not to be confused or deceived concerning this (Galatians 6:7-8, Galatians 5:19-21).
One of the major signs Paul gave to precede the coming of Jesus is apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4). The Greek word translated apostasy is “apostasia”, which means defection from truth or falling away (not a departure or rapture from the earth). What Paul wrote was a repetition of what Jesus said will happen in the last days: “And at that time many will fall away…” (Matthew 24:10). You have to first belong to the truth to defect from it. Unbelievers cannot commit this apostasy since they do not belong to the truth to begin with so as to turn away from it. It is also worth noting that the Greek word translated apostasy does not mean that one will necessarily have to be baptized and/or make a statement of renunciation of their faith before they can become an apostate. Rather, 2 Thessalonians 2 shows us a root cause of this apostasy, which is due to the condition of a person’s heart. We read this in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 “Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish (Greek word apollymi – also means eternal miserly in hell), because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved (Greek word does not mean salvation from sin alone, but also being kept save or rescued from destruction). For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness”. Here the Scriptures teach that for those who do not love the truth but rather take pleasure in wickedness, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe lies and be damned. These are like those who choose to sin so much that God gives them up to a reprobate mind (see Romans 1:28). The reason for the deluding influence that comes upon them and the resultant destruction is not because they did not know the truth but because they refused to love the truth so as to obey it, and rather took pleasure in wickedness (see 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-12; 1 John 5:3, John 14:21, John 14:15). This is a root cause for the apostasy that is prophesied to precede the second coming of Jesus. Therefore, in these last days, do not fall for the deception that you can choose to practice sin all you want without repentance. You deceive yourself into eternal damnation if you do.
The Bible also teaches that the command not to receive the mark of the beast is given by God not to the world but to His church, to whom He specifically wrote the book of Revelation (see Revelation 1:1, Revelation 1:4, Revelation 22:17, Revelation 14:9-12). If God believed in “once saved forever saved” or a pre-tribulation rapture then why will He be warning the members of His church now not to receive the mark of the beast when it shows up lest they be eternally damned and be thrown into the lake of fire forever?
The truth is that we do not become robots after putting our faith in Jesus. God does not take away our free will and He does not violate our will because we are saved. He promises to neither live nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) but we have the choice to stay with Him or walk away. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Scriptures to say that many will defect from the truth and fall away in these last days. May we never be among those who will be deceived to walk way from the faith in these last days, especially in this hour of false grace teachings, which essentially encourages sinning without repentance. No where in Scripture do we find the doctrine of “once saved forever saved”. As shown from Scriptures, it is indeed “once saved forever saved” if you stay saved.
Dr. Kwadwo Omari
October 30, 2022
A Very Important Message
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Therefore, If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I invite you to put your faith in Him. Pray the prayer below to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour: “I come to you God in Jesus’ name and surrender my life unto you. I repent of my sins and I ask You to forgive me all my sins. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with my heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. I thank you God for saving me, in Jesus name, Amen”. If you sincerely prayed this prayer, believe and be assured that you are saved, for the Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13, Romans 10:9-10, Acts 16:31). Find a Bible believing church to attend so that you can be discipled to grow in the ways of God. You can also email me ([email protected]) and I will be happy to grow together with you in Christ.