Five ways believers could
possibly jeopardise their eternal destiny
It
seems that believers in Christ have nothing to fear regarding their eternal
destiny as nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).
Furthermore,
believers have been chosen and destined to be God’s people and have been sealed
with the Holy Spirit, “who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance”
(Ephesians 1:4-5, 13-14).
It
seems they have already bought their ticket to heaven. And, one day when their
sojourn on earth is completed, they will get to enjoy eternal bliss.
True,
in most cases, believers have this
assurance that their eternal destiny is safe and secure. Even when they sin, provided
they confess their sins, repent and start over a new leaf, their eternal destiny
remains secure.
God
often disciplines His children who have gone astray. But He also draws them
back to Him with the cords of love and gives them multiple chances to repent. Hosea
was told by God to woo back his unfaithful wife, mirroring God’s attitude towards
wayward Israel.
The
Parable of the Prodigal Son and the account where Jesus forgave the woman
caught in the act of adultery speak volumes about a God who is slow to anger
and willing to forgive. Indeed, where will we be if not for the grace and mercy
of God?
However,
under special circumstances, believers may risk losing their salvation:
- FAILURE
TO OVERCOME DECEPTION
Let’s
consider each in turn.
If
believers continue to sin with impunity—their consciences progressively hardened
despite the prompting and conviction of Holy Spirit—they might reach a point of
‘no return’ when their chances of getting to heaven may be seriously jeopardised.
“I
wish to remind you, as you all know, that God, when once he had brought the
people out from Egypt, afterward
destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 1:5). For an amplification of
this reference in Jude, go to 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 below. **
If
we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will
consume the enemies of God (Hebrews 10:26-27).
And when
people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved
by sin again, they are worse off
than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to
righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to
live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its
vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud” (2 Peter 2:20-22).
WILLFULL DENIAL
If
believers willfully deny God—whether it out of rebellion or in the face of
persecution—their eternal destiny may also be at stake.
If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
(2
Timothy 2:12).
Then they
will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all
nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate
one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he
who endures to the end shall be
saved (Matthew 24:9-13). This means that believers have to remain faithful and
strong amid persecution. Only overcomers get the crown.
For it is
impossible to restore again to
repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly
gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have
tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they
then commit apostasy, since they
crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt. For land
which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation
useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it
bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is
to be burned.
(Hebrews 6: 4-8).
FAILURE
TO OVERCOME DECEPTION
When
believers are not discerning and vigilant and fall prey to deception, then
their place in heaven may no longer be assured.
The
coming of the lawless one is
according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with
all unrighteous deception among
those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Yes, and
all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil
men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:12-13 *).
But there were also false prophets among the
people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring
in destructive heresies, even
denying the Lord who bought them, and bring
on themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1*).
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in
doing this you will save both yourself
and those who hear you (1 Timothy 4:16*). This implies that if we embrace false doctrine, we will not be saved.
Notice from these preceding three references * on
deception, we can infer that both deceivers
and deceived—perpetrators and victims—bring
destruction upon themselves.
Then many
false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he
who endures to the end shall be
saved (Matthew 24:10b-13). Here we note that believers have to preserve themselves unscathed from deception in order that they
might be saved.
PRESUMPTUOUS
FAITH
Some
might pat themselves on the back and say, “Well, we have been serving God for
many years, and have been mightily used by God to minister in signs and
wonders. Since God has been using us as channels to bless others, He definitely
must be pleased with us, right?” This may be true. But it may not necessarily be
so.
To
assume that performance can replace
a personal relationship with God is
being presumptuous. Here’s why:
Therefore by their fruits you will know them. “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: 20-23).
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I
possess’(Luke 18: 11-12).
“I know
all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were
one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit
you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’
And you don’t realise that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked (Revelation
3:15-17).
Like
the Pharisee and the church at Laodicea in Revelation, we might think we are
spiritually rich. But, in fact, we are just the opposite—spiritually poor.
We
are most blessed, Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, when we recognise
we are spiritually poor (Matthew 5: 3) and hunger and thirst after
righteousness (Matthew 5:6).
Here are two examples of presumptions with serious consequences for those who embrace it:
- To
think that our future sins have been forgiven at conversion is to come under
deception. http://bit.ly/1dXOjBB
- Similarly,
we are also deceiving ourselves when we think can afford to get rid of sin
consciousness in our lives. http://bit.ly/1ghthQF
FAILURE
TO PERSEVERE
Hebrews
chapter 10 reinforces the fact that persevering faith is needed to remain
saved:
But
my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
But
we do not belong to those who shrink
back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
(Hebrews
10:38-39).
Self-discipline
to finish the race:
“Do
you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the
prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.
Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have
preached to others, I myself should
become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Fight
the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12).
I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. (2
Timothy 4:7).
But
how many have the faith to persevere?
Jesus laments in Luke 18:8b: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find
faith on earth?”
Don't shoot ourselves in the foot
If
someone tells you it is written in scriptures that nothing can separate us from
the love of God, you ought to point out that it is also
written in the Word that we, on our part, can choose
to deny God or continue living in sin, thereby nullifying God’s love for us.
While
it is true we cannot be separated from God’s love because of His great mercy, we
can choose to shoot ourselves in the foot by denying God or continually
living in sin. Through these senseless volitional acts, we are nullifying God’s love towards us and jeopardising our eternal security.
Similarly,
when we are presumptuous in our walk with God, fall prey to deception or fail
to persevere, we cannot be fully assured
that our eternal destiny will be secure.
This
post might seem harsh to some. However, I make no apology for these unpalatable truths. If
one chooses instead to listen to "feel good" teachers who feed you with soothing, ear-tickling
messages, one is free to do so. Everyone has the choice of free will. There is
no coercion.
This
blog, Porridge for the Soul, strives
to present to you the whole counsel of God. Not just what people would normally
like to hear but the whole truth. Most
of the references alluded to here will not be brought up by those who overemphasise
grace.
There
are two sides to God’s character: He is loving and merciful as well as holy and
just. If we are forced to make a difficult choice between these two sides of
God’s character, it is better to err on
the side of His holiness rather than on His mercy. We have everything to
lose if we think He is an indulgent God like Santa Claus and, finally, it turns
out He is not.
Those
who violate God’s word in one or more of the five
areas mentioned above are not merely shooting
themselves in the foot. When we consider the fact that their eternal
destiny might be at stake, their predicament is much worse than putting a bullet to the head.
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REPETITIVE
SINNING
What
fate awaits those who sin repeatedly after they have believed?
OVERCOMING
DECEPTION
Understanding
the wiles of satan is the first step towards winning the battle against
deception. For we must not be ignorant of satan’s devices.
HANG
IN THERE, DON'T GIVE UP
Sometimes,
we don’t like to admit that trials and tests are an integral part of the
Christian experience as much as blessings and victories. However, the process
of growing into maturity involves learning to persevere through our trials and
doubts, and arriving at a place of unshakeable faith.
WHAT
TRULY MATTERS IN THE END
What
do you think is the true measure of a believer? Does it rest solely on how much
anointing or power he or she has? Or how many spectacular feats he or she can
perform?
DANGER
OF PERFORMANCE CULTURE
In
our eagerness to perform, have we lost out in that which is most essential?
FAITH
versus PRESUMPTION
Footnotes: **
SAVED
BUT LATER DESTROYED
“For
I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our
ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the
same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the
spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless,
God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the
wilderness.
“Now
these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil
things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is
written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in
revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in
one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some
of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did
—and were killed by the destroying angel.
“These
things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us,
on whom the culmination of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).
