Saved?

 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)

 

What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a church suddenly announces that he/she has lost faith? What if this person becomes what we would consider a monster, or even (as one noted scholar has) speaks against the Church and her God? Some would say that such a person has lost his/her salvation. From a human perspective, that makes sense. The punishment for treason has generally been execution or exile. The traitor is cast out, never to return, or killed. But in today’s primary passage, Jesus says no one can snatch His children out of His hand, or out of the Father’s. Wouldn’t “no one” include the person him/herself?

Some would suggest that “them” and “they” refers to all of humanity and those who rejected Christ all their lives will (at death) discover they were wrong but be OK with it. Not even the person him/herself can snatch him/herself out of His hand.

Neither of those fits what the following passages say. The verses in Matthew tell us that there will be people who will claim to be Christians, who may even do great works in Jesus’ name, who are not saved. They may be relying on their good works rather than Jesus. But they were never saved. And if all are saved, even if one can rationalize Jesus’ death and resurrection, the problem is the rejection of Jesus’ warning that not all those who call out “Lord, Lord,” will be saved.

Is Jesus a liar? Some would say so. Others would say He’s mistaken, or that this passage was added later by someone else, so it’s not Jesus who lied, but Matthew, or Constantine, or someone else. But there’s no actual evidence of it. The few documents that seem to point to such an idea have been shown to be fraudulent. Those who wish to reject what Scripture says tend to resort to conspiracy theories.

I must draw the conclusion that those who are actually saved cannot lose their salvation, but not all who claim to be saved are.