CAN A CHILD OF GOD FALL FROM THE GRACE OF GOD?

     A very pleasant good morning to each one who has honored us with
your time and attention. It is good to have you in our audience and I
hope and pray that you have your Bibles open, with pen and paper
before you, that we may study together, "What Saith the Scriptures?"
Let me remind you once again, if you would like to have a copy of this
manuscript, or a cassette of this program, as well as any previous
ones, please drop us a line. The address is: White Park Church of
Christ, Route 1, Box 502, Anahuac, TX, 77514. I will try to remember
to give this again at the close of our study together. But, now to our
lesson for the morning. Most likely this lesson with be the first of a
series on a very important subject: "Can A Child of God Fall away from
the Grace of God?"
     But, first, what do I mean when I speak of a Child of God? I am
talking about a person who has examined the claims of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, and responded to His commandments. One cannot please
God without faith in Jesus Christ. So states the Hebrew writer in
Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him."  Faith
will lead one to ask the same question that was asked in Acts 2:37,
"What shall we do?" These people who asked the question had been
convicted of their sins by the message of the apostle Peter. The
answer was, "Repent ye, and be baptized everyone one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins; and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).  Those who responded and
obeyed those commands were then added to the Lord's family (Acts
2:47). They had become the children of God, born into His family. They
had been forgiven of past sins; made free by the blood of Christ. They
were made right in God's sight.
     There are those in the religious world who teach that one who is
a child of God, the one who is in the family of God, cannot so sin so
as to be lost in eternity. It is sometimes heard in these words: "Once
a child of God, always a child of God." Or, "Once saved, always
saved." Or, "God is stronger than Satan, and He will not allow Satan
to have one of His children." Our question is, Does God's Word teach
this? You should not be interested in what I believe on the subject or
in what anyone else believes, but we must be extremely interested in
what God says in His revealed truth. And to that book we now turn to
ask ourselves the question, "Can a child of God so sin as to be lost
in an eternal hell?"
     Let us keep the issue crystal clear. I am not discussing whether
or not the Child of God should sin; or if he or she will sin; but we
are discussing CAN the child of God sin so as to be lost; IS IT
POSSIBLE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN?  So our question of study we state once
again: "CAN A CHILD OF GOD SO SIN AS TO BE FINALLY LOST IN ETERNITY?
Cast from the presence of Jehovah, to dwell for eternity in Satan's
abode?
     The first scripture that I call to you attention is Revelation
2:10. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of
life." How long is the child of God to be faithful in order to receive
the crown of life? Until death. I realize that the passage is
discussing being faithful in the face of death; even if you die
because of your faith. But, it also means as long as one shall life.
Is it possible for one to become unfaithful?  Evidently it is, because
John, by the Spirit, admonished those in Ephesus to be faithful until
death.  What happens if one becomes unfaithful? That one shall not
receive the crown of life? And if no crown of life, then no eternity
in the presence of Jehovah God.
     I now read from 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, "For I would not, brethren,
have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the could, and all
passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all
drink the same spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was
Christ." Here Paul speaks of the Israelites, the children of God under
that former dispensation, the law of Moses. God delivered them from
the bondage of Egypt and freed them from that slavery. But you will
notice in the next verses that they did not remain faithful unto God.
Listen to the inspired writer, beginning with verse 5, "Howbeit with
most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the
wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we
should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye
idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down
to eat and drink, and rose up to play.  Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and
twenty thousand. Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of
them made trial, and perished by the serpents.  Neither murmur ye, as
some of the murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things
happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come." Here were God's
children, freed from the bondage of slavery, yet, they committed sins
and God refused their entrance into Canaan, the promised land.
     Did you notice what Paul was saying? He was warning the
Corinthian brethren not to commit the same type of sins; Idolatry,
fornication, murmuring. Can Christians commit idolatry, fornication?
Evidently they can, because Paul was warning them not to do these
things. Then, the apostle concludes with verse 12, "Wherefore let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Can a child of God
fall?  Paul teaches that one can fall. If one cannot fall, then why
would Paul warn against falling? Do you think that a Christian who
falls by committing these sins will be ushered into God's presence in
eternity?
     Turn with me now to 2 Peter 2:4, "For if God spared not angels
when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to
pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." If God requires
angels to remain faithful, does He require any less from those who are
His children. Are children of God any more secure than angels?
     I am reading now from 2 Peter 2:20-21," For if, after they have
escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and
overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For
it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment
delivered unto them." You will note that these to whom the apostle
Peter make reference had at one time escaped the defilements of the
world. How did they escape? Through the knowledge of the Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. In other words, they had been forgiven of their
sins, they had come out of the world of defilements. But, NOW, they
had reverted back to their old life. They had become entangled AGAIN.
What does the word AGAIN suggest to you. It means a second time. They
had been in sin, they had escaped that sin, and they were once AGAIN
entangled therein.  Peter says that they were in a worse condition now
than they had been in previously. In what way could it be worse?
Because they now had nothing to bring them out of sin. They had
already experienced the cleansing of the blood of Christ. They had now
turned their back upon that cleansing. What can be used to draw them
back? Thus, their present condition was worse than their first. They
stood condemned because they had gone back into their former deeds.
They were now overcome again. And Peter says that their condition is
now worse than it was in the first place. What was their first
condition? They were entangled in the defilements of the world. How
better could you describe a person who is lost in sin, separated from
Jehovah God, headed for eternal destruction and the horrors of hell
fire. They  had escaped that condition, but now had gone back into the
old life of sin. Indeed, they are in a worse condition than they were
previously in.
     Turning to John 15:1-6, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it
away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it
may bear more fruit. Already ye are clean because of the word which I
have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye,
except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart
from me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth
as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned." You will note in the words of Christ
Jesus, that a man may become a branch to bear fruit. Yet, that same
branch may cease bearing fruit and be cast forth and burned.  You will
notice that Christ is not discussing denominations, but he is
discussing men. These branches in Christ are not denominations, they
are individuals who have become a part of the true vine, Christ Jesus.
Yet, these branches that do not become fruitful shall be cast forth
into the fire and burned. How could one describe being lost any better
than that? Questions, my friends. Can a branch in Christ Jesus quit
producing fruit?  If so, what happens to that branch? Christ says it
is burned. Does that sound like, "It makes not difference what one
does"? Yes, it is a dangerous thing to become unfaithful, to quit
serving our Lord.
     I now read Hebrews 10:38, 39, "But my righteous one shall live by
faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. But we
are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have
faith unto the saving of the soul." In verse 32 of the same chapter,
we learn, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye
were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings." These to
whom Paul wrote had been enlightened; they had been made free from
sin; they had suffered much because of their obedience. To these he
said, If you shrink back, God has no pleasure in you. Yes, a child of
God can shrink back into the ways of perdition. And if he or she does,
the inspired writer says that God has no pleasure in you. What do you
think it means when it says that God has no pleasure in you? Surely
you would not conclude that the Lord is pleased and satisfied with
that one.
     Reading now from Jude, verses 5 and 6, "Now I desire to put you
in remembrance, though ye know all things once for all, that the Lord,
having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
them that believed not. And angels that kept not their own
principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in
everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
Would you say that the Israelites were not God's children? I doubt
that any would make that statement. And yet, these children of God
were destroyed. They did not enter into the promised land, as we seen
already in this brief lesson. If God demanded faithfulness upon the
part of the Israelites, surely He expects no less from His children
today.
     Our time has escaped us for the present, so we must continue this
subject next Sunday morning. We have been discussing whether or not a
Child of God can fall away from the grace of God and be lost
eternally. Keep your references handy and we shall continue the study
next week. As stated, if you would like a copy of these lessons,
please send us you name and address. Send them to: White Park church
of Christ, Route 1, Box 502, Anahuac, TX 77514.
     I remind you that the White Park church of Christ meets this
morning at 9:00 a.m. for Bible study; at 10:00 a.m. for morning
worship; and at 7:00 p.m. this afternoon for our evening worship. You
have a cordial invitation to "come let us reason together."

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