Once Saved, Always Saved? | Ep20

What is Meditating On The Word?

Join Wayne Burger each week as he explores various topics and scriptures and challenges listeners to meditate on God's Word more deeply.

I want us to examine one passage, 2 Peter 2, 20 and 21.

Peter writes, of course, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he said, For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the Holy Commandment handed down to them, 2 Peter 2, 20 and 21. Let's notice several significant truths in these two verses.

First, the people about whom Peter was writing had escaped the defilements of the world. That means they had washed themselves clean. They were Christians.

They were no longer bound by the sin that they had once committed. And so he says, for after they have escaped the defilements of the world, you see, the world and its enticements is a struggle that every person has. The struggle is, am I going to follow God and the leadings of the Spirit through the Word of God? Or am I going to be enticed by the world? John explained part of this when he said, do not love the world for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world.

And the world passes away and the lust thereof. He that does the will of the Father shall abide forever. Notice what John said.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world, the lust, flesh, pride of life. I believe that in 1 John 2, 15 and 16, which we just quoted, he gives us the three avenues of sin. He says the world comes to us to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.

The lust of the flesh, that's what we're struggling with. James urged us that don't say, oh sin, I sin because of God. God cannot be tinted to the evil, neither tempteth any man.

That every man is tinted when he's drawn away of his own lust, lust when it is conceived brings forth sin, sin when it's finished brings forth death. The lust of the flesh, the things about us and our flesh that crave, that are sinful. It is interesting to note that those three avenues of sin were the same three avenues that Eve enticed by.

She saw that the three was good for food, that it was the delight of the eyes, and that it'll make her wise, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. These people that Peter are writing about had escaped the defilements of the world through the lust that had been there. They had overcome that.

They had overcome the world. The people that Peter, writing about though, notice it says they are again entangled in them and are overcome. So here are people who escaped sin.

They were forgiven of their sinful life and had a relationship with God. But notice what Peter said. They are again entangled in them and are overcome.

So here's some people who had a knowledge of God and had a knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ. They were saved because of the knowledge they gained from Jesus Christ who became their Savior. Their salvation was not self-deception.

They really were saved. These people were not self-deceived and caused them to think that they were saved when they weren't. No, they really were saved.

They really had escaped. They were saved from the sinful practices of the world through what they learned about Jesus Christ. So my point here is we're going to look at this is, Peter is dealing with some people who had been Christians.

They were saved. Now, the question is, can a Christian so sin has to be lost and separated from God eternally? You see, Calvinism says no. When you become a child of God and you accept Jesus as your Savior, you can never sin enough to be lost again.

What did Peter say? They were again entangled in them and are overcome. They were saved. They involved themselves in sin, and they became entangled and overcome by sin again.

Peter says you can be lost. All the believers of John Calvin's doctrine need to read and think about this passage that says they were overcome by sin. They were really saved, but now then sin has gotten hold of them again.

They were overcome because it became entangled in sin of the world again, and they were overcome by those sins. Remember, Isaiah 59, 1 and 2 says, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is it heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquities has separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. Sin separates us from God.

Sin is not something we inherit, but sin is something we do. As I looked earlier in James 1, 15 through 16, he simply says, let no man say when he's tempted, I'm tempted by God. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempt with any man, that every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust, and lust when it's conceived brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death.

Notice we do not inherit sin. Notice we have the lust for sin. That's where it comes from.

And when we have that lust and we can participate in that sin, we die spiritually. And that's what happens to us. And then once we're saved, these people that Peter are writing about said they went back into the world, they were entangled in there and again, and overcome.

They cannot go back into something in which they had never had come out of. If they had not come out of sin, they couldn't go back into sin. Peter's point is, they had escaped the defilements of the world.

They got out of the defilements, but he says they've now gone back into it. And so what is their state? They were lost, they became saved, and they've gone back into sin, which is being lost again. They have become entangled in the sins of the world and were overcome by those sins.

When these Christians went back into a life of sin, they were in a worse condition. Notice what he said about that. He said, for the last state has become worse for them than the first, for it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the Holy Commandment handed down to them.

Notice what Peter said. There were people who were lost, they were saved, they were entangled again and overcome by sin, and he said the last state is worse for them than the beginning, for it is better if they had not known the way of righteousness. That says, Christians who fall away are in worse condition than those who had never awaited the gospel.

This indicates that there are degrees of punishment in hell, that those folks who have been saved and then go back into the ways of the world, they're going to receive a greater punishment than those folks who never knew the will of God. It is a serious thing to obey the gospel. It is a great blessing, but it can become a great curse if we turn our back against it.

How sad it is that we see and know people who were once faithful Christians, but they've gone back into the ways of the world of sin, or maybe they've gone back into the practices of denominationalism. They're doing those things that are contrary to God's will. Peter said the last state for them is worse than the beginning, for it is better if they had not known the way of righteousness than after having known it, to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered to them.

You see, that's a sad condition. And then Peter goes on and describes, illustrates their sad condition with two very disgusting illustrations. He said it's happening to them according to the true proverb, a dog has returned to its own vomit again, and the sathers wash to wallowing in the mire.

He said Christians who fall away and return to sin are like a dog that will vomit and then turn around and eat it. We probably all have seen that. Nothing more disgusting.

But he says that's what it is for a Christian who has been saved and he goes back into the ways of the world and departs from faithfulness. He is like that dog that eats that vomit. And then the other illustration is you can wash a pig if you want to and he can be nice and clean.

He turned him loose. He's going to go back to mud hole and wallow in that mud hole. That's the description Peter gives of the Christian who falls away.

We need to understand the concept that people, Christians, can fall away from the faith. The idea of once saved, always saved, is not a biblical teaching. There is the possibility of falling away.

Paul says that God is faithful who will not allow us to be tempted about that which we were able, but will with the temptation provide a way of escape that we may be able to endure it. God wants us to be faithful. He's going to do all that he can to keep us faithful.

But we have that power to depart. How sad when we do. But the good thing is that God who saved us the first time is willing to take us back the next time.

We see that so beautifully illustrated in the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal son in Luke 15 had come to his father and said, I want my inheritance. And he went out and spent it in righteous living, sinful practices, and they wound up feeding pigs.

And he said, I would like to have eaten what the pigs were eating but nobody would give them to me. For a Jew to feed the pigs was abhorrent to them. They would not touch a pig.

And that's the description of this prodigal son who had departed from the father from God. But then he said, this is what I'll do. I will arise and go to my father and say, father, I have sinned in thy sight.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Accept me back as your servant. And the father came running toward him when they saw the son coming.

We have a loving God that wants Christians who have fallen away to come back. He will come and reach us running, figuratively speaking, to grab us and hold us and to welcome us back. And that father honored that prodigal son.

He gave him a robe and a ring and shoes on his feet. He welcomed him back, not as a slave, but as a son welcomed home. That's the position of our God today.

God wants his people to remain faithful. It is possible to become unfaithful. But when that unfaithful child decides this is enough, and when we come to ourselves as it said of the prodigal son and we return back to the father, he will accept us with open arms.

The church will welcome the sinner back. That brother who's departed, they're welcoming back. It may be that some of you used to be faithful Christians.

In a former time, you had been forgiven of your sins. You served God faithfully for a period of time that something has happened in your life or in your mind and you departed. Let me assure you the church won't your back.

God won't your back. We will welcome you back. We would do anything we could to help you come back.

John gives us the plan for Christians to return in 1 John 1 in verse 8 and 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous or just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, he's writing this letter to Christians. And he said in 1 John 2 in verse 1, I write these things that you sin not, but if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And he has the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but with the sins of the whole world. John is writing his letter to assure Christians you can be saved. I want you to know that you have that salvation.

That's the message in 1 John 5 verse 13. But in the first part of that book, he says, here's what you need to do. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You see, when one is not in Christ, he becomes saved and has his sins washed away by the blood of Christ when he is baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Those people in Acts 2 who confessed that they were separated from God and they said, what have we got to do? Peter said, repent and be baptized and wash away your sins and call upon the name of the Lord. This is what Saul of Tarsus when he was a sinner was told, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.

And so those who are baptized for the forgiveness of sins reach that salvation. When that Christian departs, he does not have to be baptized again. He now has God as his father, Christ as his mediator and he simply comes back and confesses his sins and Jesus and God the Father welcome him home.

What is your spiritual condition? If you've never become a child of God, your sins are still on you. Let me urge you, you need to be baptized. Immersed in water to have those sins washed away by the blood of Jesus.

If you are a child of God who has wandered away that sin has overcome you and you've been entangled in it again, repent of those sins. Pray to God, come back to the church. We'll welcome you with open arms.

Thanks for joining us this week and spending time in God's word. Special thanks to Matt Graham, John Kachelman and LightWay Media for recording, producing, and making this podcast possible. If you're ever in the Littleton, New Hampshire area, we'd love to have you join us for worship and Bible study on Sunday afternoons at 4 at the Senior Center.

You're always welcome. For more information about this podcast, visit lightweightmedia.com slash meditating on the word and find the link there to email me to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter with more information you can use in your personal Bible study. Be sure to like, subscribe, and follow us on your favorite podcast app so that you never miss an episode.

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