Matthew 7:15-16 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (16) You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?”
The above quoted passage of scripture is a favourite passage that judgemental believers like to use, to justify their view that believers that practice sin were never saved to begin with, for in this passage our Lord Jesus said that we would know them by their fruits. And so their argument is that if they do not see fruits of righteousness in the weak believer, then that individual must not be saved. In context however, our Lord was not teaching us in this passage how to determine who is and who is not saved. He was teaching on how to determine who the false teachers and false prophets are, for although they pretend to be righteous in that which they teach, their lifestyles declare their true nature as being sons of the devil. And so it was never our Lord’s intention that we should look at fellow believers with suspicion, and that when we see them committing sin then we should judge them by saying that because they are not producing good fruit they must not be saved. In all the epistles the apostles taught us to pray for and restore those who are sinning, not judge them and pronounce that they must not be saved. We do that because weak believers need to be strengthened in the Lord, so that they can learn to overcome sin and thus walk in righteousness.
1 Corinthians 11:30-32 “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. (31) For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. (32) But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”
Some will argue that one, who is born-again, will never want to reverse their decision to have Jesus as their Lord. If that is the case, then why does our Lord Jesus judge certain believers so that they will not be condemned with the world? In writing to believers in the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us that our Lord Jesus judges some of His saints in this life, with weakness, sickness and even early death. So why does He do that? The apostle Paul teaches us in this passage that the Lord judges us because He is concerned about our eternal destination, for He does not want us to be condemned with the world. And so when the Lord sees that if we were to continue down a certain path that will lead us to being condemned with the world, He then steps in and judges us, rather than allowing us to be eternally condemned with the world. And so if it was not possible for believers to lose their salvation, then it would not be possible for believers to be condemned with the world. The Lord Jesus obviously knows that it is certainly possible for believers to lose their salvation, which is why He intervenes in the lives of His saints by judging them, some even with early death.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father's wife! (2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. (3) For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (5) deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that, because of his unrepentant sin, the apostle Paul instructed the church at Corinth to judge a fellow believer with physical death. This passage reveals to us that this particular believer was practicing the sin of adultery, and when confronted by the elders of the church he refused to repent of his sin. So why did Paul deem it necessary to instruct the church to hand this believer over to Satan for early death? Paul answers that question for us by telling us that he did it so that the spirit of the believer would be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In other words Paul recognised that they needed to make this intervention before it was too late, for Paul understood that if they left this believer alone that they would eventually become so hardened by sin that they would turn their back on the Lord Jesus and thus lose their salvation. It is important to note that even though this believer was practicing the sin of adultery there was never any doubt in Paul’s mind that this believer was saved, which is why he instructed the church to make this intervention. Sadly those who teach that it is impossible to lose one’s salvation would normally look at an individual like this and accuse them of never having been saved to begin with, and thus become instrumental in their ultimate destruction. And so we have seen in this section that scripture plainly teaches us that it is certainly possible for believers to reverse their decision of accepting the Lordship of Jesus, and that the Lord warns us about this. I also want you to notice the very important truth that in all the scriptures quoted in this section that the Holy Spirit is writing to born-again believers. So why is it important for us to see that truth? The reason is because those who teach the false doctrine that no believer can lose their salvation; claim that people that fall away were never really saved to begin with. The Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit however, know the difference between those who are saved and those who are not saved, and in these scriptures they are warning those who are saved.
Michael E.B. Maher
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