Can a Christian 'give back' salvation?
That is, is it possible for someone to abandon their faith in Christ? Is it possible for someone to only temporarily believe?
Luke 8:13
ESV - 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
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Asked July 01 2013
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Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
Jennifer Rothnie
Supporter
Imagine you have signed a contract. In particular, you have signed your name onto the New Covenant (aka the New Testament) - a legal document in which Christ fulfills -all- terms and obligations. 'Signing' is not a "work" (Rom 4:5, John 6:29 but it must be done to enter into the contract. The reward for this agreement, to be paid in the future, is eternal life. For signing this contract, you received a down payment of your future inheritance - the Holy Spirit. Nothing can make you "lose" this contract - no earthly lawyer, no hurricane, no demonic forces, etc. However, can you cancel your agreement? Can you remove your name and thus reject present salvation from slavery to sin, and give up future salvation from death? It is this question that Heb 6:4-6, Heb 10:19-30, and other passages address. Heb 6:1-6 One could call it an "advanced class" Bible study - the author is not addressing unbelievers or even new believers, but people who have been Christians a while and theoretically should be maturing. Heb 6:5-8 warns them of the case of Christians who had seen the light (II Cor 4:6), ate of the heavenly gift (John 6:33), shared in the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:13, II Peter 1:4, Eph 3:6, Heb 3:14, Col 1:12, Phil 1:7, Eph 4:4, etc), tasted the goodness of the word of God (Psalm 38:4) shared in spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4), and repented (Acts 2:38), but then fell away. Likewise, The people of Heb 10:26 had the full/personal knowledge of Christ (II Peter 1:3-11) but then returned to slavery to sin. (Abiding as slaves of sin rather than abiding in Christ), and now can only expect judgment. As such, going back to the contract metaphor, if we rip up our own contract and reject its seal (the Holy Spirit), how can we expect to receive our inheritance when the time of the contract is up (Christ's return)? Does God give partial credit? [No, He asks us to continually abide, continually believe, etc. (John 3:16) Those who do not remain, but rather leave, are thrown out and burned]. Can we ask Christ to sign a new-new covenant with us, because we tore up the first one? Can we ask Christ to die again to re-cover our sins because His first death 'wasn't enough'? No. While it is a hard teaching, Paul here and elsewhere makes clear that for a Christian, free from and dead to sin, to return to slavery to sin is a one way ticket. After being freed from condemnation, if you then once more choose condemnation, there is no "second pardon". Fortunately, defecting from Christ is very different than our continual struggle with sin, doubt, selfishness, rebelliousness, etc. (Rom 7:7-25 vs.) The church needs to come around believers who are struggling to help them, or in extreme cases hand them over to satan to be tested as to whether or not their faith will endure. (Jude 1:22, I Tim 1:18-20, Luke 15:11-31) We rarely know if someone has denied Christ vs. Just faltering through a trial. From God's perspective, He "never knew" those who believe for a time then fall away. (Mark 4:19, Matt 21:15-23) Rather, He blots their name from the book of life as if they were never there. (Rev 3:5) From man's perspective, we can indeed believe for a time and be delivered from sin - but if we do not remain, abide, continue, endure, etc, and give up the Holy Spirit...then we cannot expect to receive salvation from the second death and to receive eternal life when Christ comes in His glory. (John 15:1-8, II Peter 1:3-11, 1 John 5:1-5, etc) Belief is *continuous*! (John 3:16)