The disobedience of Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and removed mankind from the close relationship to God that Adam and Eve had enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. From that time until the crucifixion of Christ on Golgotha, only the high priests were allowed into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. But when God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice, the payment, for the sins, not just of the Jews, but of all mankind, things changed. The covering that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn in two, because now, through the intersession of Jesus Christ, all who wished it would have access to God.
We who are Christians understand the steps that each individual must take in order to become a follower of Christ and thus acceptable to God: First comes repentance, a sincere remorse or regret for the way they have lived and a determination to change. Second, the acceptance by faith that Christ died for their sins. And finally, a physical representation of that acceptance through baptism by being immersed in water, rising as a new creature, a forgiven child of God. In Acts 2 we see the recount of Peter’s first sermon on the Day of Pentecost. When he finished, the crowd asked what they should do and “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
It seems almost too easy, doesn’t it? And yet it is simple, so simple that it confounds many. As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but to us who are saved, it is the power of God,” (1 Corinthians 1:18). But what about staying saved? Ah, here is the rub! Many Christians actually disagree about this.
Some claim that once your have repented, accepted Jesus as your Savior, and been baptized, you are done. You are saved and will remain saved. The oft quoted scripture to back this view up are Jesus’ words as recorded by John in John 10:20 where He states emphatically, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” If someone repents and is baptized but then returns eventually to his or her bad ways, their explanation is that he/she had not really repented in the first place and was thus never saved at all. Ah, but, cannot an individual who has free will remove himself from God’s hand?
Similar to this, Calvinists, some of whom founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, believed that you were predestined to be saved or lost by God, and you could really do nothing one way or the other to achieve salvation or miss it. But many Calvinists worked very hard to appear saved before their neighbors in the hopes that their constant appearance of piety would mean they were in fact saved. But Jesus tells us very clearly that appearance of piety is not a guarantee of salvation. Only true piety is. “Not everyone that says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven,” Jesus warns, (Matthew 7:21).
Are we in fact predestined to be saved or lost? Or can we repent and be baptized, caught up in the moment of a moving message and altar call, and not really turn our lives over to God at all? Or is it in fact possible, that having once been saved, we gradually slip back into our old ways and abandon God? In some Christian circles this is called backsliding.
But is backsliding supported by scripture? Actually, it is rather consistently, and many times in the words of Jesus to his followers. In Luke 9:62, we read “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” In other words, if you have once followed Jesus and then turned your back on Him, you are no longer fit to be called a Christian.
Jesus also affirms as recorded by Matthew (10:22) “. . . he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” And again, “If anyone des not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned,” (John 15:6).
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, warns that Christians must work hard to do God’s will in order to retain their salvation as he explains, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13). And to the Church at Corinth he says, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain,“ (1 Corinthians 5:2).
To the Galatians he warns, “”The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up,” (Galatians 6:9). And to the young Timothy, Paul writes (1 Timothy 2:12) “If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.“
But there exist three passages that are extremely clear and should give every Christian pause. The first two were written again by the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews. In Hebrews 6:4-6 he unequivocally states “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.“
And the Apostle Peter himself, who gave the sermon on the day of Pentecost warns us, “For if after they have escaped the pollution’s 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. 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 onto them,“ (2 Peter 2:20-21).
And Paul states clearly in Hebrews 10:26, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
Thus it is obvious that both Jesus and the apostles warn Christians about turning away from God once they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. But surely that doesn’t apply to all of us, does it? Surely if we continue to go to church from time to time, read our Bibles occasionally, and pray when we have problems, we are not backsliders like those who were saved from lives as drug addicts, or thieves, or even adulterers, and go back to the sins of their early life. So, this can not apply to us!
But if you really believe that you are in serious trouble! If any questions remain after you have read all of the scriptures I quoted for you, then consider the Lord’s Prayer. In the King James Version it reads as follows:
After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
This is often called the “model prayer” because Jesus here is teaching His followers how to pray. This example prayer should be followed by us today, and is in fact prayed in churches across the world every Sunday. But many modern translations of the Bible have changed the line “and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” to the perhaps more accurate “And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” When we consider this example of how we should pray, we find that we as Christians should, each time that we pray, ask forgiveness for our sins. Weren’t our sins forgiven when we accepted Christ as our Savior and determined to live according to His teachings? Of course. But as humans, we all tend to slip up and commit a sin of commission (telling a little lie to get us out of trouble) or omission (neglecting to visit an elderly person that the Holy Spirit has laid upon our hearts) nearly every day. These sins remain blots on the Book of Life where our names are written until we ask God to forgive them. If we never again ask for forgiveness for the sins of the day, those blots will remain. Eventually it will become habit to do those seemingly innocent, but ungodly things, and we will slip away from church attendance and from praying at all. And soon those blots will build up until our names are completely blotted from the Lamb’s Book of Life and we have, in fact, become entangled in the pollution of the world once more. We who were once saved are now lost.
Can the backslider return to God? Judas betrayed Jesus to the Roman soldiers and Peter denied knowing Jesus three time, swearing as he did so. Judas was remorseful, but could not face the Lord to ask forgiveness, and hanged himself. Peter repented, was restored by Jesus, and first brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. So, yes, you can repent again and be restored. The life of a Christian was never intended to be an easy one. Remember that Jesus speaks of us “enduring to the end.” We must not, then, assume that accepting God’s salvation through Christ is the end all of our Christian walk. It is a walk, you see, a walk with God, following daily Christ’s example and asking for forgiveness each day when we trip up. Then indeed we will spend eternity with God.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).