CAN YOU LOSE YOUR SALVATION ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN?

A personal view by BRYCE KAYE

WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK? MANY CHRISTIANS DO BELIEVE THEY COULD FIND THEMSELVES IN "HELL" WHEN THEY DIE.

About 20 years ago I used to be a Mormon. They, like other cults, believe the way to God is through good works. Mormons are lovely, sincere people given to many kindly "Christian" acts. They believe the more good deeds they perform, the greater chance they have to get to the Mormon heaven when they die. They say they have the be "worthy".

I remember one very dear old Mormon lady who was very insecure, but she was kind, charitable and later poor because she had given most of her money away. She would never sing that popular hymn:

Come, oh thou King of Kings,

We've waited long for Thee,

With healing in Thy wings,

To set Thy people free..."

When I asked her why, she told me she was not yet ready for Jesus to come. She explained that last month she felt ready and worthy but only the week before she had had wrong thoughts about someone and so she was unworthy now. "I would not be able to go to the Celestial Kingdom and see my Heavenly Father," she explained. I could not imagine this dear lady having wrong thoughts about anyone. I used to feel humbled in her presence. She set a fine example to all who knew her.

This dear lady's problem was, of course, that she believed in the wrong Jesus (see my study on Mormonism). This is what deception is. To put it bluntly; the founder of the Mormon Church invented a character and named him Jesus and told his followers to obey this Jesus. This false Jesus only saves with conditions and this is the Mormon problem. They have to earn their way to the Mormon heaven through good works. One time a Mormon is OK, then later they're not! How I would long to tell that dear lady that it is by grace we are saved, through faith and this is not from ourselves, it is a gift of God, it is not by works so that no one can take any credit (Eph 2:8-9). She will long since have joined her ancestors and by now know for certain she relied on the wrong Jesus and her good works.

I know only too well what it is like to feel so insecure; "Am I or aren't I?". I was glad to be away from such insecurity. Now I'm saved by the real Jesus and it is a wonderful feeling to know He will not let me go. Although I understand why some Christians feel insecure I think they are wrong. Certainly the Bible does not teach it.

Imagine my disappointment when I heard a Christian "teacher" say; "...But you can lose your salvation". "Oh, no!" I thought, "This Jesus is no better than the Mormon Jesus!" I thought I was safe in the arms of Jesus, already seated in heavenly places - surely I couldn't be kicked out of heaven? I was horrified! Beware of Christian teachers! Just because they claim to have that "ministry" doesn't mean they are teaching the truth - however good their delivery of it!

Don't take my word for it either - study it for yourself.

I made up my mind to find out through prayer and study whether we really are secure in heaven or not. I am pleased to share the results with you and what I believe to be the truth:

BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS?

We are talking here about born again believers. This is according to John 3. We're not talking about those who have been attending "church" and been "Christened" or "Confirmed" and who can recite creeds from the man-made church system. This does not mean they are born again! 2 Peter 2:1-3 and 19:22 talks about false prophets and teachers - they are intellectual Christians - not born again. Do read these passages. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us Christians from inside.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

To whom is it that the devil whispers; "You're going to hell when you die"? Well he doesn't tell those who really are going there, does he? They're the last people he wants to know! THE DEVIL IS A LIAR! He whispers it to those who are NOT going to hell to undermine their faith. Fear comes from the devil NOT God our loving Heavenly Father. So if you hear a whisper that you're going to hell, don't believe it!

THE SPIRITS BEHIND THE TEACHING are of unbelief, blasphemy and pride. I bind these spirits in the name of Jesus and loose into this teaching belief, truth and teachability.

SIN CONSCIOUSNESS is the result of believing you can lose your salvation. You become preoccupied with sin and not Jesus. You become sin conscious. Sin has been dealt with. You then become anxious but Jesus told us not to be anxious about anything (Matt 6:31). He took upon himself all our anxieties (Luke 22:44).

THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD:

I don't know about you but I trusted my earthly father completely, he was a good man. How much more can we trust our Heavenly Father? Galations 3:26 says we are sons of God. 1 John 3:1-2 says we are children of God. Jesus tells us to call God, "Our Father in Heaven" (Matt 6: 9-15). Romans 8:15-16 even says we should call Him "Daddy". It's no accident God tells us to call Him Father. You fathers; can you stop being a father? Have you ever thought of that? You can stop being a husband, a friend, a master, colleague - but you can never stop being a father. Likewise our Heavenly Father cannot stop being our Father.

Paul, God's representative, says to the Thessalonians (1 Thess 2:10) that he did not come threatening them with the wrath of God but like a father to children. Would you threaten your children with banishment from your family to get them to behave themselves? Of course not! You know it would fail in the long run. Don't you think God knows that?

Fear is a poor motivator. It is crude and often an admission of failure. It can produce quick initial movement which rarely lasts. Fear comes from the pit of hell not from our Heavenly Father. He, like the good Father He is, is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24). Our inheritance is guaranteed once we believe (Eph 1:13-14). What could be clearer than that?

There would be something illogical about our Heavenly Father if He had done all the work before the foundation of the earth (and we are predestined to be His children, Eph 1:3-7, Rom 8:29-30) then to throw us out of heaven especially as He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

GRACE:

GRACE is the work God does for us. WORKS is the work we do for God. God is all powerful and all knowing therefore His work is perfect - He cannot fail. Phil 1:6 says God will complete His work in us. We may be sure He will. One of the most moving scriptures in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 when God says; "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Praise the Lord for that!

You DO a job until it is DONE,

While you're DOING the job, it's not DONE,

When you're DONE, you're not DOING,

You can't be DOING and DONE at the same time!

Jesus said, "It is finished".

Ask yourself: "Am I DOING or is it DONE?"

WE CAN TRUST JESUS.

We can rely on Jesus. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus intercedes for us. Colossians 3:4 says we will appear with Him in glory - not might but will. Belief in Jesus purifies us (1 John 3:3). Nothing will separate us from God's love according to Paul (Rom 8:31-39).

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14) and good shepherds don't lose their sheep! No one can snatch His sheep out of His hand - what could be plainer than that? He even emphasises it by saying no one can snatch His sheep out of His Father's hand as well! The Shepherd even leaves the 99 sheep and goes to look for the one that has strayed (Luke 15:4).

Jesus is our advocate with the Father (John 2:1). If we can lose our salvation it means that Jesus has lost His case - but He can't lose because he's omnipotent - so we can't lose! What a comforting thought is Job 16:19-21: Our Advocate pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend - thank you Jesus.

John 6:37-40 says it is God's will that Jesus will not lose any of us and Jesus says He will do the Father's will. Jesus says the reason He has come down from heaven is to do the Father's will. The Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life and He will raise us up in the last days. Do you think Jesus will fail? Not the Jesus that I know!

Ephesians 1:13-14 says we are guaranteed our inheritance. John 5:24 says we have crossed over from death to life. Jude 24 says Jesus is able to keep us from falling. 1 Peter says that our new birth can never perish, spoil of fade. Verse 23 says we are born of imperishable seed which can only have one meaning - that our salvation will not perish.

UNDERSTANDING GOD'S OMNIPRESENCE IN TIME AS WELL AS SPACE.

For some believers it is difficult to understand God's omnipresence in time as well as space. What helped me to understand it was the law of cause and effect which states for something to cause something else to happen it must be greater than the effect it causes. God is the First Cause of all things so He cause the effect of time. This means He is outside or greater than time. This in turn means He is omnipresent in time. This again means He sees everything happening at once. He does not see Genesis taking place, then Exodus through to Revelation. God sees the whole of history and the future happening at once.

This answers many questions such as how Jesus could be crucified before the foundation of the world when the Bible says it was 33 AD (although there are other reasons beyond the scope of this study). How God knew Jeremiah before he was born. Another mind bender is that Jesus could be present in the flesh before He was born! How does God know the end from the beginning?

The golden rule to understanding these things is to not consider time. In eternity there is no time. It was only created for this earth. Time (and space for that matter) are unique to this earth. Once this can be understood it is a small step to fully understand why a true believer cannot lose their salvation. ONCE WE HAVE BELIEVED WE HAVE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THOSE PEARLY GATES.

On this earth we are governed by time and space but once we move to things spiritual, time and space are excluded. We are seated in heavenly place NOW. The marriage supper of the Lamb has taken place, is taking place and will take place! We must not try to put God in a box. To believe we can lose our salvation means we are applying our own carnal, finite mind to this principle rather than the infinite mind of God.

I believe that staggering though the thought is, Jesus paid for all the sins we would commit knowing full well what they would be in advance because He is omnipresent in time. If He knows in advance what sins we will commit then it follows that no sin we will commit will cause us to lose our salvation once we are born again.

GRACE OR WORKS?

Eternal security v eternal insecurity could be stated more simply as grace v works. If you believe we are saved by the grace of God then that is a gift from God (Rom 6:23). We believe God's gifts to be irrevocable, don't we (Rom 11:29)? We rely totally on God for the gift of salvation which is irrevocable. If on the other hand, we rely on our own works to get us saved then we are on insecure ground.

Any discussion on this subject with one of the cults will inevitably come to James 2:14 onwards: "...What good is it if a man claims to have faith but no deeds? Can such faith save him?" Then verse 26: "...Faith without deeds is dead." This chapter of James explains very well the root of misunderstanding of insecure Christians. A cult claims that faith is not enough - you need to work for your salvation and by implication if your works are not good enough you don't make it. The true interpretation of this scripture is that if your faith is not deep enough to produce good works then you faith isn't up to much. IT IS NOT THE TRUE FAITH THAT SAVES. Those who show no signs of the new birth by not producing good deeds have probably not been born again anyway. As James asks; "Will that kind of faith save anyone?" (v14 LB.)

Galations 5: 4 says; "...You have fallen away from grace." As Paul says; "You foolish Galations....after beginning with the Spirit are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (3:1-3). Things haven't changed much have they? Christians still try get to heaven by works. Man often tries to complicate thing when God has made it so easy. This is what this study is all about and the Galations were at it 2000 years ago. Here Paul is saying that if they choose the law they are rejecting grace and they will be out of fellowship with God. Paul is encouraging them to come back into the fold of the true gospel and away from the law. "...You have fallen away from grace" is an over statement, a dramatisation to get their attention. If they had really fallen away from grace it would have been useless Paul trying to get them back - they would be lost!

OVERCOMERS:

Revelation 3:5 says overcomers will never be blotted out of the book of life. Now that's great for the overcomers isn't it? Who are the overcomers though? Surprise, surprise it's we who have been born again! 1 John 5: 4-5 tells us that an overcomer is one born of God: "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes That Jesus is the Son of God." If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God then your name will not be blotted out of the Book of Life! It doesn't say that on the balance of probability you'll be OK so long as you don't do anything silly - it says your name will NOT be blotted out. How can this be misinterpreted to mean your name could be blotted out?

DISOWN OR DENY?

2 Timothy 2: 11-13 confuses some. The NIV appears to say Jesus will disown us but I do not believe it means that at all. The NIV says: "If we disown Him He will disown us." Well that sounds pretty unambiguous until we check other versions:

My King James and New Revised Standard versions put "deny" in place of "disown". This would seem to be more accurate. Oh, how careful we have to be! My concordance tells me the Greek word "arneomai" is mainly translated "denied", "deny", "denies" or "denying". My Greek interlinear also translates "arneomai" as "deny".

It also seems that at face value that the passage contradicts itself. On the one hand Jesus is saying that if we deny Him, He will deny us - yet if we are not faithful to Him He will still remain faithful to us because as He is in us He cannot deny Himself. Which is it? I believe Jesus is saying He will remain faithful to us no matter what we do. If we deny Him the good works He expects us to do then He will deny us the associated blessings but this does not mean loss of salvation - that would mean disowning us! There is a world of difference between deny and disown. I have often denied my children favours to discipline them but I have never disowned them. It is clear the NIV has got it wrong here.

REWARD FOR GOOD DEEDS: Revelation 22: 12 tells us that Jesus will give to everyone according to what he has done. This has nothing to do with loss of salvation as many think. It is just reward for good deeds. This scripture tells us we are Jesus' reward, a humbling thought but it suggests it has nothing to do with us.

FAITH V WORKS:

Hebrews chapter 10 also causes problems for many but there really is nothing in the chapter to cause us to feel insecure. Don't forget Hebrews was written to Messianic Jews challenging them to leave behind their old Mosaic ways and follow the way of the New Covenant. Verse 10 says we have been made holy once for all through the sacrifice of Jesus. The Greek word is "ephapax" meaning, "once for everyone all at the same time". It does not mean we have been made holy once and if we transgress we cannot be made holy again - therefore we are lost forever. Verse 14 says He made prefect forever. Verse 17 says He will remember our sins no more - not no more until the next time. Verse 26 tells them that if they choose the law they will fail and only judgement awaits them. The writer is comparing law with grace. He's saying that if they keep on sinning Jesus died only once and under grace there are no repeated sacrifices of bulls for the payment of sin. If they persist in sinning they will be disciplined by God. They cannot just trample the Son of God under foot and insult the Holy Spirit and not expect His punishment. This does not mean loss of salvation.

Hebrews chapter 6 has caused problems for some also. Verse 1 speaks of the foolishness of trying to be saved by works but to have faith in God. This is easier understood in the Living Bible. Verse 4 onwards talks of the difficulty of bringing to repentance those believers who are just carrying on sinning. They prefer their sin to the light. Whilst they're sinning they're not interested in repentance. It is impossible to bring them back into fellowship with God whilst they continue to sin.

In verses 7-9 the writer is using good communication skills by talking about things his readers understand - the land and the crop it produces. "Land" obviously refers to the believers and "crop" to the fruits of the believer. The believer who produces good fruit receives blessings from God. Those believers who produce bad fruit are useless and even what they have produced will be burned. Any farmer knows that if the land begins to produce weeds, one way is the burn off the weeds and stubble. He does not destroy his land, only what it has produced. He then goes on to say that he is confident his readers are producing good fruit - the kind that comes from believers.

PHYSICAL DEATH: In Matthew 24: 13 the word "saved" refers to physical death in context. In verse 9 the word for death is, "apokteino" which is death from being killed. "Saved in Matthew 10:22 also refers to physical death in context as both "death" words in verse 21; "thantatos" and "thantatoo" both again refer to physical death.

1 John 5:16 says there is a sin that leads to death and a sin that does not lead to death. The death word here again is "thanatos" - physical death.

UNBELIEVERS AND BELIEVERS are referred to in Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. It refers to the producing of fruits by the believer and not the believers themselves. The seed is the gospel. In verse 4 it refers to unbelievers and the rest are believers.

CUT OFF? In John 15 says Jesus is the vine, the Father is the gardener and the branches are believers. The NIV says; "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit." This suggests we're cut off from the presence of the Lord if our works are not good enough - salvation by works? No, there's a whole lot more to it than this. Firstly, even though the NIV says, "cuts off" it means we're reading too much into it. It is a harsh interpretation anyway. The King James says "taketh away", the NRSV says "removes" and my Greek interlinear says, "Every branch in me not bearing fruit, He takes it." The $64,000 question is; where does He take it? He is referring to believers not bearing fruit and He takes them somewhere - but where? This is the Greek word "Airo" which according to my concordance is a positive word. "Take up" would seem to be more appropriate or "take", "picked up", "take away", "pick up", "taken", "get", "took", "taken - takes or took away", "lift up" and so on. In Matthew 4:6 and Luke 4:11 "lift..up" is the same "airo" - to lift up in their hands - not cut off in or take away in their hands. It is quite clear to me that the Lord is saying here that; "He takes away and lifts up every branch..." or "takes up".

In verse 4 onwards Jesus tells us that believers cannot bear any fruit by themselves. Oh, that Christians could get a revelation of this! Any fruits (works of the flesh - however impressive on the surface) not of Jesus are useless. We're still here on earth to do good works for Jesus and if we do not perform for Him we may just as well be taken to heaven prematurely for all the use we will be to Him, or as verse 2 puts it; "Takes up every branch not bearing fruit". If we remain in Him we will bear much fruit.

Verse 6 seems to say if we do not remain in Him we're just like a branch that is thrown away and withers - useless to Him. This verse in an intriguing one as it seems to change from singular to plural. This is best highlighted in my Greek interlinear and reads: "Unless anyone remains in me, he was (is) cast outside as the branch and was, (is) dried, and they gather them into the fire they cast, and they are burned." If you look at this passage carefully and bear in mind the context of a man bearing fruit for Jesus, you will see that the passage starts by referring to one man (singular) and this fruitless man is cast outside. Then they gather "them", who? It cannot be the man, there is only one of him. It reads gather "them" so we have to look back to the last plural context which is in verse 5 "much fruit", so "them" refers to the fruits. They gather up the useless fruits and burn them! Why do this? Jesus tells us in verse 4; that no man can bear fruits by himself, (only the useless fleshy kind) he has to remain in the vine, if not he will have to be removed outside His team and his useless fruits burned up.

CAN YOU SEE? USELESS FRUITS WILL BE BURNED UP - NOT THE BELIEVER HIMSELF!

DISCIPLINE: Hebrews 12:5-6 tells us about the Lords discipline, that He is our Father and disciplines His children as our earthly father would do. (This is the reason for satanic attack on fathers in modern society). The Greek word here is "paideia" meaning discipline for training purposes. Our Heavenly Father is training us to be better, improving us. Many of the scriptures we have looked at when viewed with this is mind reveal God's purposes.

Realising we are saved by grace is not a license to sin, of course. If we sin and do not repent and pray according to 1 John 1:9, He will discipline us. He will not throw us out of the family - we will not lose our salvation over it. Having a revelation that Jesus is really in us is the best incentive I know not to sin.

Believing you can lose your salvation inevitably leads you into salvation by works - it can do no other! You then try to live the law. By doing this you put yourself under the curse of the law and become sin conscious and find you need a priest to pray for you under the law. But believers are priests and we have a High Priest - Jesus and He is the only intermediary with the Father. He is fighting our case all the time and He cannot lose because He is omnipotent. When we ponder what Jesus has done for us it is the great incentive not to sin (Titus 2: 11-13).

CAUTION:

There are those who say they are Christians but are not. There are those who respond emotionally. There is a sudden burst of enthusiasm and then they are not seen again. They were not saved in the first place. There are those who say the "Sinners Pray" and then carry on doing as they have always done (I acknowledge this can take time initially but signs are seen early on) - they are not saved either - they have no new nature. How do we know the saved? - By their fruits. There are those who are intellectual Christians and can teach false doctrine when they may not be saved themselves. They sound so convincing. The man made church system is full of them! I include here those who say there was no resurrection, no virgin birth, homosexuality is acceptable and so on. Jesus said; "Not everyone who says Lord Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven".

Disagreement on doctrine such as the subject covered in this study, should be brought out into the open and debated. The devil wants it hidden! After reading the evidence in the Bible it is difficult to see how anyone would think they could lose their salvation once they have been born again - it would quite simply be UNBELIEF. Think about that! I believe Jesus when he says He will not lose any of us (John 6:37-40).

JESUS I LOVE YOU.

I believe You Jesus that You are always with me. You hold onto me. You guide me. You cherish me. I cried out to You and You heard me. You did not reject my prayer or withhold Your love from me. You are worthy of praise Almighty God. You are the Saviour of the world Who daily bears my burdens. My soul finds rest in You alone. You are my Rock and my Salvation. You are my fortress and I can never be shaken. You are the Almighty God and my soul thirsts for You - I long for You. In You I trust and will not be afraid, nor will I doubt for You are all powerful. You are the Creator of the universe - the Cause of all good and the Opposer of all evil. I will not fear when evil comes for I will not trust in the world but in You my God and Saviour. You watch over me and I love You. You delight in me because I fear You. I put my hope in Your unfailing love. How awesome You are that You created everything yet count the hairs on my head. You saved me, not for what I do but because I believe. How noble You are that You saved me from the wrath to come. Why did You choose me Almighty God? What do you see in me? Yet You tell me I am Your reward! Your love astounds me - Your mercy overwhelms me. I fail You every day and You still love me - I fail You when I say I will not fail You and You still love me. Surely I am not worthy of Your love but You tell me You will always love me. Your love is awesome. I bow down before You. Jesus, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Creator of all things, my Saviour and my Friend I love You!

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APPENDIX 1

I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED BY CHRISTIANS WITH THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES. MY RESPONSE IS AS FOLLOWS:

Galations m5: 1-4: As we know, the Galations seemed to have chosen the law and Paul is telling them that they have to live the whole law. They think that grace has no meaning for them yet grace is the only things that matters. They have temporarily fallen out of fellowship with God (see my study on Bible Chronology) because they have chosen the law. This does not mean they have lost their eternal salvation.

Romans 11: 21-22 is comparing Israel with the Gentiles. "I am talking to you Gentiles." verse 13. Paul is asking whether God rejected Israel? He follows it by saying He did not. There is a remnant who is saved by grace but even the others have not stumbled beyond recovery. However, because of their transgressions salvation has come instead to the Gentiles. Paul is publicising his ministry to the Gentiles in the hope Israel will envy the Gentiles and want to become part of it. A Rabbi said to me some time ago in Carlisle that his people often envied our personal relationship with God. A relationship he said they did not have. Scripture really does span the ages.

The Gentiles, Paul says, have been grafted into the root of Israel. Israel were cut off at the time of the cross or possibly at the time of Stephen's martyrdom, because of unbelief and the Gentiles replaced them. Paul prophesied that the Gentiles should not be arrogant about this (but alas we were) or we will be cut off. If God did not spare Israel He would certainly not spare the Gentile nations because of unbelief either. Don't forget Paul is talking to the Gentiles here and he says in verse 22-23 that the Gentiles will be cut off if they fall into unbelief. He says Israel could be grafted in again.

This prophecy has already been fulfilled. Israel was cut off because of unbelief. The Gentile nations were grafted in. Now these Gentile nations have also been cut off because of unbelief. The "times of the Gentiles" were fulfilled with the process beginning in 1914 and ending in 1933 as prophesied by Daniel (see my study on Bible Chronology).

Colossians 1: 23 is no threat the our salvation either. True faith always has the quality of permanence. One who has been born again will go faithfully to the end although with many stumbles on the way - but we know what to do about that - don't we? (1 John 1: 9). The devil sets a snare for us to fall into but the Christian falls only to rise again (Proverbs 24: 16). True believers do not forsake the faith for long. I do believe these so called "if" passages are a test for the soul. It is important to understand the difference between spirit and soul (see my study on understanding the soul).

1 Corinthians 15:2: It was this gospel by which the Corinthians had been saved. They should hold fast to that word which he preached to them - unless, of course, they think they believed in vain. It is the gospel of the resurrection by which they have been saved - unless, of course, there was no such thing as the resurrection, in which case they would not have been saved at all - they had believed in vain. (My Greek interlinear says, "Unless in vain ye believed". The NSRV says, "Unless you have come to believe in vain." The KJ says, "Unless ye have believed in vain."

2 Peter 2:19: These are pretend Christians. Those who say they are believers but are not.

1 Timothy 6:10: Many wander from the faith but the Shepherd goes after the 100th sheep. This does not mean loss of salvation.

1 John 5:16, Hebrews 10:22-29 and 6: 4-6 have already been covered in the study.

1 Timothy 1:19: Scripture warns us it is possible to preach eloquently and yet be nothing within. Some have done this just like the ship's captain who has thrown away his compass and wrecked his ship. Some Christians ignore the promptings and wreck their ship of faith. This does not mean lost salvation. There are many ways we can wreck our faith. I have seen it happen to some Christians who have back slidden and they have had to start the building all over again. As Paul says; he has handed over to satan Hymenaeus and Alexander for punishment to be taught not to blaspheme. Christians need disciplining, I know I do from time to time. Hebrews 12 is another example but it does not mean loss of salvation.

1 Timothy 3:6: To fall under the same judgement as the devil is to seek high position for which a person is not qualified because of pride. Then as satan, brought low. A novice would soon become puffed up with pride.

1 Timothy 4:1: A prophecy of apostasy that has already been fulfilled many times. This is the "latter days" and I was originally a Congregationalist. Then I became a Mormon. I abandoned the faith and followed deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. What better example could there be? Those who do this are not true Christians in the first place. Indeed the following verses could be applied directly to Mormonism.

1 Timothy 5:15: Paul here is showing that it is not just speculation but some had already turned away from the path they knew to be right. They had actually taken new but unbelieving husbands and as such married followers of satan. This again does not mean loss of salvation.

2 Peter 2:20-22: The world is full of those who say they are Christians but they have to produce fruit as we have discussed earlier. I led someone to the Lord some time ago. Since then nothing seems to have happened. They say all the right things, even quote scriptures. They say, "Lord, Lord" but I wonder. I see no signs of the new birth. James 2 tells us faith without works is dead. If we say we have faith but do not produce fruits - action - works - deeds then it is dead faith and that kind of faith will not save us.

There are many who turn from a life of sin and begin to clean out their houses yet they have not been born again. They're just doing what is right but they don't know Jesus. They only know the person who has preached to them and their testimony is based on him. They then follow false teachers down a religious road. I don't just mean the cults either. It could be a strong leader of a Christian fellowship and they follow the pastor, not Jesus.

There are also those who follow liberal teachers and they end up worse than before. their latter state is worse than before. If they thought they knew the way of righteousness before as pretend Christians, then turn away from it, when they want to turn back they cannot. They will see nothing worth turning back to. They will be worse off than if they had never known a sort of righteousness. However, if they want to turn away from their wicked ways for the first time and receive a genuine conversion the path of righteousness will be clear to them.

Jude 5: At the start of the nationhood of the Jews God did destroy all those who did not believe. Likewise He will destroy all those in our nation who do not believe.

Bryce Kaye.