There is no question we are eternally secure as long as we remain in Christ. God has a
strong grip on each of us and has no desire to let any go back into our former status of
being dead in sin and cut off from Him.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance.
The purpose of this lesson will be to show you that our salvation can be lost if one totally
denies the faith.
II. God's Warning Concerning Apostasy.
1. The Bible Warns Against Disregarding Rules Of The Spirit.
One destructive heresy that has been brought on the Church is that once a person has been
saved there is no way he can again be lost. The great danger of this teaching is that it can,
in some cases, turn the grace of God into a total disregard of any regulation or rules of the
Spirit and the Bible. It can develop contempt for holiness and right living. People may think
they can walk in any way and still be in God's way.
2. The Bible warns against old and new apostates – Jude 1:3-13
Jude 1:4 "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny
the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Bible Warns Against Falling Into Sin.
Old Testament Israel is an example to us. This God-chosen nation was a type of the New
Testament Church. We can learn much from their mistakes and failures as well as their TRIUMPS .

1 Corininthians 10:11-12 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they
were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let
him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
4. The Bible Warns Against Falling Away.
The Bible is clear that some shall depart from the Christian faith. They shall leave their
secure position in Christ and return to their original position of being lost.
There is a falling away that shall come upon the Church.
Some will depart from the faith in the last days.
1 Timothy 4:1-3 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the
faith....
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside
to fables.
The fact is that one cannot "fall from" a position he has not occupied anymore than one can
come back from a place he has not been.
There has been and will be apostasy. They are the ones who "fall away" from the faith.
The word "apostasia" found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 means ones who have defected from
the truth of the Christian faith. It is a strong word implying revolt. It comes from a root word
meaning to incite to revolt, to detest and depart. The word found in Acts 21:21 where it is
translated "forsake" means to teach apostasy from the Law of Moses. We see then that the
Word of God does acknowledge that there are people who fill this category.
A word of warning is in the Bible. If it were not possible to fall from God's position of grace,
there would be no need of warning.
Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same
example of disobedience.
5. There Are A Number Of "Ifs" In The Bible Concerning Eternal Life.
1 Corinthians 15:2 ...by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I
preached to you; unless you believed in vain.
Colossians 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present
you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight; if indeed you continue in the
faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which
you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a
minister.
Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast to the end...
2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest
you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked...
2 Timothy 2:12 (NIV) …if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will
also disown us;
It says, "If we disown Him, He will also disown us." It is a simple truth that you must first be
owned by Jesus before He can disown you. To be owned by Him means you are saved.
6. There Is A Point Where God Cuts Off Those Who Turn From Him.
If God did not spare natural Israel when they committed apostasy, what makes us think that
God will spare us if we fall away. We must continue in His goodness otherwise we too will
be cut off.
Romans 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
(See verses 13-22)
Hebrews 10:31,38-39 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.. Now the
just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we
are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the
soul.
This drawing back "unto perdition" or waste and destruction is a possibility or it would not
have been written to warn us. The word perdition indicates loss of well-being, not of being.
The destruction then is everlasting without annihilation.
I don't believe anyone knows where this cut off point is. We are not the judge nor could we
because we don't have all the facts in each ease and even if we did, we would not have the
wisdom to analyze them. God is the righteous judge and there is a point where God says,
"no more – that's it!"
Eternal Security - What Does The Bible Say? Page 4
7. The Bible Warns It Is Possible to Fall Away Never to be Saved Again
There is a point where the once saved are completely reprobate in their minds and actions.
Hebrews 6 speaks of the once Spirit-filled Christians falling away to never be saved again.
Hebrews 6:4-9 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good
word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an
open shame.
This scripture shows very clearly that there is a point when a Christian has backslidden so
far that he cannot come back.
The Greek word for fall away is parapipto, which means to fall aside or to apostatize
(Strongs 3895).
This person has given up his birthright in the same way that Esau did. This place is where
backsliding has led to the ultimate place of disowning Christ as Paul warned Timothy of in 2
Timothy 2:12. This is what John refers to when he refers to the sin that leads unto death in
1 John 5:16. For this reason it is good not to even think about backsliding, because you
open yourself up to the deception that could eventually lead to a sin unto death.
1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will
ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin
leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
These Spirit-filled Christians were once:
1. Enlightened - John 1:6-12
2. Tasted of the Heavenly Gift - John 3:16 & Romans 6:23
3. Made Partakers of the Holy Spirit - Acts 19:2
4. Tasted of the Good Word of God - Hebrews 5:12-14
5. Tasted of the Powers of the World to Come - Acts 1:8 & Romans 8:18-19
The words "fall away" describe the person willful and voluntary position. It means to walk
alongside or out of the will of God with no intent of returning to God's way. This is total
apostasy. There is an open renunciation of Jesus Christ and a gathering together with the
enemies of Christ.
Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries
. . . . . . . . . . . . AMEN .

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Comment by Peace Baptist Church on October 24, 2010 at 11:02pm
PRAISE JESUS CHRIST !

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