Is
it Truly, Biblically,
Possible, for a Person to
“Fall
from Grace”, or not?
There
is, in many Protestant Denominations today, the predominance of the Calvinistic
doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved”; that is to say, that once a person
is saved by the grace of God through the blood of Christ, that person absolutely
cannot “fall from grace” (i.e. “fall away”, “go astray so far as to be
lost”, “lose their salvation”, etc.). Is this doctrine, originating in the
16th century, some 1500 years after Jesus Christ established His church on the Day of Pentecost in 33 A.D. through Peter, true or
false? Souls hang in the balance. Let us look into the all-authoritative Word of
God for our answers…
(All
references taken from the English Standard Version…)
Let
us begin by looking at some Old Testament examples, as we should (Read 1 Cor.
10:1-12, noting particularly vs. 12: “Therefore,
let anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall”):
1.
God’s O.T. people could turn away:
Lev.
19:4, 19:31, Dt. 11:16-28, 1 Sam. 12:20-21, Psalm 125, Ezek. 18:24-31.
God’s
O.T. people were warned by God that they could be turned away from Him, by those
they most loved and cherished: Dt. 7:1-4, 13:1-11.
God’s
chosen children, chose open rebellion, and paid the ultimate price, becoming
enemies of God: Numb. 14; Dt. 31:20-29; Neh. 9; Ps. 106; Isa. 9:8-10:4, and
30:1-17; as well as the books of
Jeremiah; Lamentations; Ezekiel; Hosea; Amos; along with Matt. 21:23-46; and
Acts 7; etc….
…And
ultimately, “fell from grace” (The definition of “grace”, “charis”
in the Greek, is unmerited or unearned favor): Rom. 11:11-23; 1 Cor. 10:1-12;
and Heb. 7, 8, 9, and 10; etc.
Even
King Solomon, the wisest of the wise (1 Kings 3:3-14), through disobedience to
the Word of God, incurred God’s righteous wrath (Dt. 7:4, 17:14-20; and 1
Kings 11:1-10).
Note:
Those who, like Solomon, marry those whom God has expressly forbidden them to,
have, by their disobedience, turned away from God and must repent or face the
consequences of His wrath, as did Solomon: See not only above, but also: Joshua
23:6-16; Ezra 9 and 10; Neh. 13:23-29; Matt. 5:32, 19:9 with Gal. 5:19-21 and
Eph. 5:3-11, and etc….
2.
It is always about our choice: Dt. 28; Josh. 24:14-23; Book of Proverbs;
Isa. 1:1-28; Lk. 13:3.
3.
It is also absolutely clear that when a child of God (under either
covenant) chooses to turn away from God, God WILL turn away from them, and take
away the blessings they had while faithfully following Him: Dt. 28; Numb. 32:15;
Josh. 24:20; 1 Kings 9:3-9; 2 Chron. 7: 12-22, 15:1-2; Heb. 10:26-31; and 2
Peter 2: particularly verses 1, 15, and 20-22.
4.
An O.T. child of God could go “astray”: 2 Kings 21:9; 2 Chron 21:11,
33:9; Psalms 40:4, 95:10, 119:118; Isa. 44:20, 47:10; Jer. 42:18-22, 44:7-29;
Hos. 4:12; and Amos 2:14, to name a few…
5.
They have “FALLEN AWAY”:
Into terror and rejection-Ps. 53:1-5;
Into ruin, destruction, and terror-Ps. 73:1-19
See also
Psalm 101 (particularly verse 3)!
6.
Jesus said that many would “FALL AWAY” :
Matt.
24:10-13, 26:31-34; Mk. 4:13-19 (Same as Matt. 13:19-22; and Luke 8:11-14).
And in
fact, many did turn away at His tougher teachings: John 6:60-66.
7.
Jesus also said many would go “astray” and His apostles preached the
same truth:
Matt.
24:4, 11, 24; 2 Cor. 11:3-4; Gal. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:6; Heb. 3:10; 2 Peter: all
8.
The Jews FELL AWAY
because of their disobedience:
Rom.
11:22; 1 Cor. 10:1-12; Heb. 3:12-4:11.
9.
Note what Paul wrote to the congregation of the church of Christ that met
in Galatia:
“You
are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have
fallen
away from grace.” If one cannot
“fall from grace”, why would he write that?
Also
check out what He told the church of Christ that met in Ephesus (Rev. 2:5)
10.
Perhaps there are no greater, simpler, N.T. expressions of the fact that
one CERTAINLY CAN fall from
grace/lose their salvation, than those we find in the Book of Hebrews:
Please
note Heb. 2:1, 3:6-14, 4:11, 6:4-6, 10:26-39 (Reminiscent of Jer. 15:1-9…?)
‘The Books of
Timothy: 1 Tim. 1:19-20, 3:6-7, 6:9-10, and 20-21, and 2 Tim. 2:14-19, 4:1-4.
‘And
the Book of 2nd Peter: 1:10, 2:1-3, 15, 2:20-21, 3:15-18.
11.
Keeping one’s salvation once it’s been obtained is definitely
conditional according to Scripture:
John
8:31-32, 10:27-29, 15:1-10; 1 Cor. 9:24-27, 15:1-2; Gal. 5; Col. 1:21-23; Heb.
10:32-39; 2 John 6-11.
12.
Examples of those who were “once saved”, but certainly not “still
saved”, at the referenced time:
Jews
(at the time of the references listed on the other side of this sheet); Judas
(Mk. 14:10-21);
Demas
(2 Tim. 4:10, 1 John 2:15-17); Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:18-20); some of
the Galatian church members (Gal. 5:4); “Fallen” Angels (2 Peter 2:4, Jude
6); and the false teachers who denied their Master, and forsook the right way (2
Peter 2), to name a few…
If
you or someone you know has been “once-deceived, always deceived”, at least
up until this point, by the Calvinistic doctrine of “once-saved, always
saved”, then hopefully this study of references in God’s Word will help you
to better understand the biblical reality of the fact that one can fall from
grace.
It
is also obvious the Jews did; otherwise there would have been no new covenant,
no new people of God. It should also be obvious that if we could really be
“once-saved, always saved”, then we would not need most of the New Testament
to tell us how to live to please God and keep our salvation. Why also would our
spiritual leaders need to keep watch over, and be prepared to give an account
for our souls (Heb. 13:17) if it is impossible for us as Christians to lose
them?
But
most of all, how can we say that one cannot “fall from grace”, when the
Bible uses that very same, exact, language, and says we certainly can, in some
of the above references? That is like those who say that baptism doesn’t save
you, when God says, “baptism doth now
save you” (1 Peter. 3:21).
Whose
doctrine do you accept? Christ’s, Calvin’s, or “Christendom’s” at
large?