Okay, I think we’ve pretty well established that it is possible for a believer of his or her own volition to walk away from God and as a result have his or her salvation reversed.
Check out this verse from 1 Timothy.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,..”-1 Timothy 4:1
Well there you have it.
Paul is telling us in no uncertain terms that there will be some believers who will fall away from the faith.
He’s not saying it could happen.
He’s saying it will happen…for sure.
Honestly, it amazes me how some churches can even come up with a doctrine which asserts that once one trusts in Messiah it is impossible for that person to renounce their faith or replace their faith with a set of man-made doctrines.
Because such a notion is so easily refuted in the Scriptures.
Again, let me make it clear there is no force on earth that can force you to renounce HASHEM against your will…unless that force is you of course.
I don’t wanna scare anyone here into thinking they could easily lose their salvation.
So let me make a couple of things clear.
As long as you keep your trust in God, you are safe and protected.
You are not going to be cut off just because you broke a commandment or two.
To renounce your faith means you completely renounce that HASHEM is Lord and go fornicating after other gods.
I’m talking about committing full blown idolatry here.
The New Testament makes it clear that we are completely free to renounce our faith just as we were free to accept it.
In fact, the New Testament warnings are based on the pattern established here in Deuteronomy.
If in spite of all that God has done for them, Israel decides to turn away from God, He will send them back to Egypt.
That’s the pattern.
As scary as that proposition is, I do have some good news.
The good news is that it is possible for a person who has walked away from God to repent and return to the Lord.
Yeshua’s story about the prodigal son is a perfect case in point that this is true.
And later on in the Tanach, we will see this also pertains to Israel.
Check out this verse from the Apostle James.
“My brothers, if one of you wanders from the truth, and someone causes him to return, you should know that whoever turns a sinner from his wandering path will save him from death and cover many sins.”-James 5:19
Notice James says that if a brother falls away, he is in danger of “death”.
What kind of death are we talking about here?
Well, we can’t be talking about physical death that all mortals experience because we are all assigned to physically die once.
No…this is speaking of eternal death, a total separation from the Lord for all eternity.
James is saying if someone helps bring a brother who walked away from the faith back to God, he will have saved his brother from eternal death.
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