Renouncing Faith?

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 2, 2015 under Ask the Pastor |

A visitor to our website Malaysia writes:

Dear pastor, our church had a split over this: ‘Can a ‘born again’ Christian renounce his/her faith?”  Answers like, “He had not been saved in the first place”, seems unsatisfactory to me.  Please help.

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Dear friend,

Thank you for writing.  I can’t tell you enough what an encouragement it is to know that our church’s website can be a blessing to someone from such a far distance away.  It reminds me of how wonderful it will be when all of us who love Jesus will be all together in the Father’s house–no longer separated by oceans and continents, or by cultures, or even by centuries!

I really appreciate your question.  I can see from your note that it’s a very important question–one that has, to some degree, caused harm to the church in which you fellowship.  I am sorry to hear that.  I will do my best to offer my thoughts–and I hope it will help.

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I suppose a good way to answer your question would be by asking another one: Upon whom does our salvation ultimately depend?  Does it ultimately depend upon us or upon God?  The answer to that question makes all the difference.

If my salvation–my truly being “born again” in Christ–depended ultimately upon my choice or my faithfulness, then I would have to say that I certainly could renounce my faith and be lost to God.  And I have to be careful in how I state that question; because I believe there is–without question–a part that I play in my salvation.  The Bible tells us, “Believe on the Lord jesus Christ, and you will be saved . . .” (Acts 16:31); and promises that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  So, clearly I have a part to play; and without question, my salvation requires that I place a sincere faith in Jesus Christ, believe on Him, and turn from my sins.

But while I have a part to play in my slavation, I would not say that my salvation depended “ultimately” upon my choice.  The part that I play is not the thing that comes first.  Long before I would have ever made the choice would be the gracious choice of God to choose me for salvation.

Jesus once said,

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37-40).

Note that those who come to Jesus were first given to Him by the Father.  And in another passage, He said,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-28).

Anyone who is truly “born again” is not spiritually born because they chose to be born–just as no one can be born physically because they chose to be.  Our “rebirth” in Christ–or as theologians often call it, our “regeneration”–is not a thing that we do, but is something that only God does.  He “gives us” to Jesus, and then gives us life, so that we come to Him by faith.  God the Father does this as a work of His grace.  In Ephesians 2, Paul told us;

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:4-9).

That is the part that God plays–the “first part”, if you will.  And then, my part–the part where I believe on Jesus, place my faith in Him, and turn from my sins–comes only because God first did His part, and helps me to do my part.

So; I would say that because my salvation does not depend “ultimately” upon the part I play in it, then I can not ultimately do anything to be lost to God.

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Now; that doesn’t mean that a truly “born-again” Christian can’t–for a time–wander away and be unfaitful to to the Lord.  You are probably like me, and can think of many cases where that has happened.  It’s sad when it happens, too; because those who wander away bring a great deal of shame and hurt upon their lives.  It’s always good to work hard to bring such a wanderer back.  As James has written;

Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20).

But I would not say that a truly “born-again” wanderer will ever wander in such a way as to be completely lost.  I would say that he or she will ultimately return.  This touches on a doctrine that theologians refer to as “the preserverance of the saints”.  It again is something that has its basis in what God does–not in what we do.  He Himself keeps (that is “preserves”) those who belong to Him in salvation.  Like Jesus said in the passage I’ve already quoted: “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing”–even though a sincere believer (just like Peter once did) might wander away from the Lord for a time.

A great assurance of this work of God is the fact that the Holy Spirit abides in every truly born-again believer in Jesus.  As Paul wrote,

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

A believer may wander; but the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit guarantees that such a believer cannot wander far, and that he or she will ultimately repent and be restored.  Our salvation is God’s work–and He personally guarantees all His work!

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Now; how do we handle this in a practical way?  What do we do with those who wander away; and who we wonder whether or not they are truly saved?

I have found it helpful not to make too decisive a judgment call on professing Christians who wander.  I can warn them that they are wandering, and that they are living in denial of their profession.  I can watch their lives to see whether or not they are sincerely repenting of sin.  I can examine their beliefs to see if they truly profess the truth about Jesus, and can confront error when I see it.  I can watch to see whether or not they unite themselves in fellowship with other genuine believers.  But in the end, I cannot know for certain the true spiritual state of anyone who wanders.  I would have to wait to see whether or not they eventually repent, and return to Him in the end.  And in some cases, it could be that they may repent with their dying breath and make things right with the Lord–and do so without my knowing it.  In that case, I will only know their true condition when I see them in heaven.

But that’s what I do in practice.  In terms of my grasp of the truth, however, I always keep in my mind the promise from God’s word that no truly “born-again” believer in Jesus will ever ultimately be lost to Him.  And that’s because our salvation does not depend ultimately on our choice or on our efforts, but ultimately on God’s grace and saving power.

This may not answer all your questions, but I hope it helps at least a little.  Blessings in Christ!

Pastor Greg