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Is It Possible for a Person to Fall From Grace?
Is It Possible for a Person to Fall From Grace?
By Derek Long
A common doctrine held by many in the religious world
today is the teaching of “once-saved-always-saved.” Many believe
God’s word teaches once a person is saved they can never lose their
eternal salvation. An example of such teaching is seen in the 2000
Baptist Faith and Message (a document produced by the Southern
Baptist Convention. It says, “All true believers endure to the end.
Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit,
will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the
end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation,
whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and
bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on
themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation” (The Baptist Faith and Message. Retrieved from
http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp). Another example of the
doctrine of “impossibility of apostasy” is seen in the Westminster
Confession of Faith. It says, “God doth continue to forgive the sins
of those that are justified; and, although they can never fall from the
state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s
fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance
restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins,
beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance” (The Westminster
Confession of Faith - Chapter 11 - pages 54-55. Retrieved from
https://www.pcaac.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/
WCFScriptureProofs.pdf) Does the Bible teach the above doctrine or
not?
Galatians 5:4 clearly says it is possible to fall from grace. It
says, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to
be justified by law; you have called from grace.” It is impossible for a
person to become estranged from Christ if they were never in a
right relationship with Him. It is also impossible for a person to fall
from grace if they had never received God’s grace. A passage such as
Galatians 5:4 should be enough to settle the matter but many other
Bible passages show it is possible for a Christian to fall from grace.
Here are a few such passages:
• John 15:1-6, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and
every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more
fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you,
unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me
you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out
as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them
into the fire, and they are burned.” Jesus is depicted as a vine with
His disciples being pictures as branches. Jesus expects His
disciples to bear fruit. If His disciples do not bear fruit, Jesus tells
us they are taken away and burned in the fire (vs. 6). A branch cut
off from the vine shows it is possible for a person to fall from
grace.
• Simon the sorcerer serves as an example of a person who fell from
God’s grace. Acts 8:13 tells us Simon did what it took to be
forgiven of his past sins (Mark 16:16). When Peter and John
come to give the people of Samaria the Holy Spirit, Simon wants
to buy the power Peter and John have. Peter rebukes him saying,
“Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of
God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor
portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of
God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if
perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see
that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity” (Acts
8:20-23). Simon was now in sin again and needing to receive
God’s forgiveness.
• Hebrews 3:12 provides us with a warning saying, “Beware,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God.” It is possible for brethren (those
who are saved) to develop a heart of unbelief and end up departing
from God.
• 2 Peter 1:10 and Philippians 2:12 encourage us to be diligent to
make our call and election sure and work out your own salvation.
If it were impossible to lose our salvation, why would verses like
these exist?
• 2 Peter 2:20-22 says, “For if, after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and
overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For
it would have been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them
according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’
and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’” Here
we read of people who escape from sin but end up in a position
which was worse than what they were initially in. The above
quotes from the religious writings of men do not match what is
taught in these verses.
Many other passages teach the opposite of the doctrine of
“once-saved-always-saved.” Here are a few more you might
examine on your own - 1 Timothy 1:18-20; Hebrews 10:36-39; Jude
5; Revelation 3:5. Let’s be careful to believe what the Bible teaches
and not the doctrines and commandments of men.
- Bulletin_-_10_13_19.pdf (65.48 kB)
