Preface

Before we enter on these considerations let me tell you that I am not a Calvinist neither am I an Arminist. As far as this subject is concerned I define myself as a momentary agnostic; by this I mean, I don’t understand exhaustively how election works, and those who claim to understand it cannot explain it to me in a way that satisfy my intellectual integrity. As far as I am concerned both views are in the Bible. I therefore endorse the words of C.H. Spurgeon when he says:

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other. These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.” (From a sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 1, 1858, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.)

I also agree with C.S. Lewis when he writes:

“Of course reality must be self-consistent; but until we can see the consistency it is better to hold two inconsistent views than to ignore one side of the evidence… It is plain from the Scripture that, in whatever sense the Pauline doctrine is true, it is not true in any sense which excludes its apparent opposite.”

As you will see, the considerations that follow can be accepted by Calvinists and Arminists without denying their respective view. If your view opposed mine it’s ok with me. For more than two decades I was convinced a son could end up in hell, and I had a great time with the Lord then as I have now. Obviously, some of these doctrinal differences are more important for men than for God, yet truth is truth and it is worth considering it for what it is; for this purpose I wrote these considerations. I know the journey might seem long for some of you but if you persist in the path of these considerations you will understand why I believe what I believe.

Another thing I want to make clear before entering the subject is that I don’t believe a person can cross the gate of heaven regardless of behavior and continuance in saving faith, for I believe a real son will do the works of his Father until the very end, and this, simply because he is a son. Jesus could not have put it any clearer when he said:

If you were Abraham‘s children, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39).

To the person who denies the faith through unchristian behavior and works I say: “If you were God’s child, you would do the works of God”. After all,

Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him” (1 John 3:6).

According to the apostle the person who doesn’t persist in a Christian behavior or in saving faith has never known God, i.e., has never been a son in the first place. It follows he will not inherit the kingdom of God.

An introduction

1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us”

I start with this verse because these words, written by the apostle John, resume in a single phrase the essence of my belief in this respect. One must notice how clear this statement is. It can be regarded as a univocal statement, that is, it is not ambiguous, it can have only one possible meaning and only one possible conclusion. And if this seems too strongly expressed I can add: it is surely so if one takes into account the flow of the Scriptures.

In this verse the word ‘us’, in the context in which it is used, stands for all the members of God’s family, i.e. all of His children or all those who are truly part of the Body of Christ. So here John is declaring two things: 1—He says that those who leave the family of God were never part of it in the first place. 2—He also says that those who are truly part of the family of God, i.e. His children, will continue with the family of God until the very end. These two declarations I endorse. I believe the Scripture teaches it is so, and I also believe there are no verses contradicting these statements, i.e., these statements cause no tension in the Scriptures whatsoever.

This teaching will be divided in two parts:

The first part will deal with scriptures declaring that a son will always be a son, and all the sons will ultimately cross the gate of heaven. The second part will deal with scriptures that seems to oppose this view.

Part One

Consideration 1(a)

Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

The first thing I want to bring to your attention is the unbreakable continuity between one predestined and one glorified. As Paul declares: All those who are predestined will be called; all those who are called will be justified; and all those who are justified will be glorified. It follows that once a person is called this person will always be called; once a person is justified this person will always be justified; and once a person is glorified this person will always be glorified. Consequently all those who are predestined will reach heaven; or, all those who are thus called will reach heaven; or, all those who have been justified at any given time will reach heaven. All this is explicit in Romans 8:30. It is clear, categorical, and as far as I am concerned unquestionable.

We could attempt to use other scriptures to abolish the obvious implications of Romans 8:30, but the implications are so explicit and so univocal that they will always remain authoritative and absolute. Added to it, the testimony of the Scriptures supports and confirms time and again what Romans 8:30 declares and what Romans 8:30 implies.

A parenthesis

Romans 8:30 in relation to Matt. 20:16 & 22:14 “Many are called but few are chosen”

It must be understood here that there are no verses in the New Testament that can abolish (or contradict) other verses in the New Testament, otherwise the Bible would become self-contradictory. It is important to understand also that there exist different kinds of call. Obviously the call of Matt. 20:16 & 22:14 is of a different order than the call of Romans 8:30. In Matt. 20:16 or 22:14 we have a general call, “Many are called but few are chosen”. People might or might not answer the call. But the call referred to in Romans 8:30 is of a different order. This is a specific call addressed to a specific group. Those who are thus called are actually the elect.

A few examples of this specific call

1 Cor. 1:22-24 “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”. Paul says: “but to those who are called”, not, “to some of those who are called”. Here Paul is all-inclusive. This call stands in high contrast with the call referred to in Matt. 20:16 or 22:14. Here all those who received this specific call apprehend Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God, all of them without exception.

In the Epistle of Jude we have the same thing. Jude v.1 “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:”. Here all those who are thus called (not only some) are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. In fact they are so well preserved that all of them will be ultimately glorified as we read in Romans 8:30.

The author of Hebrews affirms the same thing as well. In Hebrews 9:15 we read:

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”.

Here again all those who are thus called received the promise of the eternal inheritance, all of them without exception.

So we see that Matt. 20:16 & 22:14 doesn’t contradict Romans 8:30. It simply refers to a different kind of call.

Consideration 1(b)

Now one could ask: Does the one who is called with the call of Romans 8:30, or justified, knows he is thus called and justified? After all, if he knows he is thus called or justified he also knows he will be glorified, i.e., he knows, and knows with certainty, that he will surely cross the gate of heaven at the end of the story, and this, before the story finishes.

Jude v.1 makes clear that when a person is thus called he knows he is thus called. Let’s read the verse:

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:” (Jude v.1)

Here Jude writes precisely to those who are thus called. Now if a person receives a letter and he has no way to know if the letter is for him or not, the letter is of no value at all. But the recipient of the letter of Jude knew it was written for them, and they knew it because they knew they were among those who are thus called. The same can be said about the one who is justified. As we read in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. These people can experience peace with God precisely because they know they have been justified.

Consequently since a person can know he is thus called and justified, he can also know he will certainly be glorified, i.e., he foreknows he is going to cross the gate of heaven. We can say: He knows how the movie will end, or how the story will finish. This is precisely the knowledge I have, and it is probably the knowledge all of us have. Or maybe some of you are not too sure if you will reach heaven or not, but this I doubt.

Consideration 1(c)

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

“All things work together for good to them that love God…” Who are they that love God? One thing we know! We know that all God’s children love God. This is what Jesus declares in John 8:42: “Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” Here Jesus affirms that one of the infallible characteristics of a genuine child of God is his love for God’s Son. And he who loves God’s Son loves the One who begot Him. Therefore a child of God will always love God because he will always be a child of God. Not only will he love God, he will also do God’s works:

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39).

“So all things work together for good to them that love God”. Not only to some of them but to all of them. This implies all God’s children because all God’s children love God; and they will keep loving Him until the end because they are children of God. To oppose this is to oppose what Jesus is saying in John 8:42.

But they also work together for good for all those who are the called according to His purpose, i.e., for all of them without exception. And since all of God’s children have been called according to God’s purpose, the call will certainly be followed by justification, and justification will certainly be followed by glorification.

Consideration 1(d)

Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (or foreordain, or appoint beforehand) to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

A close look to Romans 8:29 raises two questions from the very outset, which are: Who are they whom He foreknew? And: Why, or on which base, did He foreknow them?

1º affirmation: Those He foreknew in Romans 8:29 cannot refer to the basic foreknowledge God has of all men. After all God is omniscient, in this sense God knows all men. But obviously not all men are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. To believe all men are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son would lead to Universalism.

2º affirmation: The flow of the Scriptures makes it obvious that ‘those whom He foreknew’, in Romans 8:29, refers to those, and only to those, who were going to enter in an intimate and loving relationship with Him; that is, to those who were going to become partakers of Christ through the new birth, and this, by mean of a genuine repentance and genuine faith in Christ (a repentance and faith that can be expressed totally with the Arminian view in mind, or the Calvinist, or the Momentary Agnostic view in mind. It makes no difference to which group one belongs).

What is important here is not how you have entered in that intimate relationship with God, but the fact you have entered in such a relationship. Now if you have truly entered in that intimate relationship with God then He has always known you, i.e., you are among those God has foreknown. It follows you are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Consequently you have been called, justified, and as far as God is concerned glorified; but as far as we are concerned we know we will surely be glorified, that is, we know how the story will finish.

3º affirmation: So when we speak of humans we refer—consciously or unconsciously—to two groups, namely, those God has always known, or foreknown, and those God has never known, or not foreknown. Let’s read Matthew 7: 22-23:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have cast out devils? And in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.”

Here we are told that those who are ultimately found working iniquity have never been known of God, i.e., God didn’t foreknow them. But it also infers that those who are found working righteousness have always been known of God, i.e., God foreknew them.

4º affirmation: It follows that none of those He foreknew were, or are, or will be, among those He has never known. By logical necessity the opposite is also true: None of those He has never known were, or are, or will be, among those He has always known or foreknown. In other words, the same person cannot be both: a person God has never known and a person God has always known. It is logically irreconcilable.

5º affirmation: Since the Bible teaches that the person who loves God is known of God: “But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:3). It follows that if you love God you cannot possibly be among those God has never known. Consequently you are among those God has always known, i.e., among those God has foreknown from everlasting, which means, you are among those who will be ultimately glorified.

6º affirmation: In 2 Timothy 2:19 we read: “The Lord knows them that are His.” Therefore if you are His He knows you. And if He knows you now you will never be among those He has never known, which means, you are among those God has always known, or foreknown.

7º affirmation: In this light we can declare that once a person is known of God he will always be known of God. It is so because that person was in the everlasting past foreknown of Him. Consequently that person will surely reach heaven since God predestined those who were thus foreknown (Rom. 8:30). So the question is: Do you love God? Or, are you acquainted with Him? Or, are you among those who are His? Or, Are you known of God? If the answer is yes, then you will surely reach heaven. And you will reach heaven because you will behave as a child of God, not as a pagan. Your heavenly Father will make sure it is so.

8º affirmation: On the base of Consideration 1 (a) we can conclude that those who will not be glorified had never been known of God, that is, they had never entered in an intimate and loving relationship with Him. All along they have belong to the group God has never known, i.e., they have never belong to the group God has always known or foreknown.

Consideration 1(e)

(A parenthesis)

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (or foreordain, or appoint beforehand) to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29,30)

What we have just seen is what I believe and it is supported by the Scriptures. But for the sake of argument let’s suppose that those God foreknew are not those who began an intimate relationship with Him, but rather those who will be faithful until the end. If it would be so, it would change nothing about the view I am presenting. In fact, it would confirm it absolutely.

It is so because since I know I have been called and justified in accordance with Romans 8:30, and God would call and justify only those who will be faithful until the end, then by definition I would know I belong to the group that will be faithful until the end. Actually all those who have been truly justified at any given time would belong to the group that would be faithful until the end. As far as I am concerned there is no way out of it. It is what Paul declares in Romans 8:30. So the conclusion would remain the same: All those who are foreknown would reach heaven; or all those who are predestined would reach heaven, or all those who are called would reach heaven; or all those who are justified would reach heaven.

Consideration 1(f)

The epistle to the Ephesians makes clear that Paul believed every genuine Christian is predestined. Writing to all the true Christians in Ephesus he declares in Ephesians 1:11:

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will”.

Here Paul says that we, genuine Christians, have already obtained our inheritance. And he says it is already obtained because we have been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. And as we have seen in Romans 8:30, once a person is predestined his glorification is secured, or our inheritance is secured.

Consequently we can conclude that all true Christians are predestined, and if all of them are predestined then all of them will be glorified, or as Paul declares, their inheritance is secured. As we are about to see, this is what Paul attests in Ephesians 1:13,14.

Consideration 2

Ephesians 1:13,14 “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.”

The Greek word for guarantee is ἀρραβών (arrabōn), which means: Money which in the process of bying is given as a pledge or downpayment (deposit) to guarantee that the full amount will subsequently be paid (Strong’s G728). So the Holy Spirit of promise is given as a ‘guarantee’ that the full amount will be given, i.e., that the full redemption will surely come. That’s why several versions translate the word ‘arrabōn‘ with the word ‘guarantee’, such as: The New International Version, La Biblia de las Americas, La Versión San Pablo, The English Standard Version, The International Standard Version, The New King James Version, The Revised Standard Version, The New Century Version, The Complete Jewish Bible, The Amplified Bible, La Nuova Diodati, and several others (11 versions). But the word ‘earnest’ (in English), or ‘arras’ (in Spanish) or ‘gage’ (in French) or ‘penhor’ (in Portuguese) is plenty good; and it points to the same conclusion, which is: The rest will certainly come, or, what has been started will surely be completed.

In plus, the One who gave the ‘arrabōn’ here is God Himself; so the guarantee is more than secure. 2 Cor. 1:21,22 confirms it:

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

It is so because the one who has been predestined or foreordained, namely, every true child of God, will reach the glorious End as explained in Roman 8:30, and Ephesians 1:11&14.

Consideration 3(a)

Partakers of Christ

I would like to begin this consideration with a question: How many of you believe or know that you are now partaker of Christ? Are you sure? Let’s have a look to Hebrews 3:14, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if  (and only if) we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” (Or past tense, as Young literal translation and The Interlinear Greek English New Testament Wigram & Green put it.) What the verse is saying is that if you are not going to hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast to the end, you are not partaker of Christ now, nor have you been partaker of Christ anytime in the past, i.e., you were never part of the family of God. Or we could say: The person who doesn’t hold the beginning of his confidence steadfast to the end demonstrates, in so doing, that he had never been partaker of Christ in the past.

It follows that those who are truly partakers of Christ now will hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. In other words, once a son always a son, and all the sons will cross the gate of heaven. Consequently, if you are sure you are partakers of Christ now, it means you are among those who will be faithful until the end.

Remark that it is the author of Hebrews who maintains that once a person is partaker of Christ that person will always be partaker of Christ. I say this because there are a few verses in the book of Hebrews that seem to say the contrary. But as we will see in ‘Part Two’ they are not saying the contrary at all, if they would, the author of Hebrews will be contradicting himself and the Bible would become a self contradictory Book.

So we conclude that once a person partakes of Christ, at any given time of his life, that person will be faithful until the end. At least, this is what the author of Hebrews affirms.

Let’s have a look to verse 15,

While it is said, To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”

This verse, as many other verses, stands as a warning. It must be understood that those who are truly partakers of Christ are being warned not because some of them have harden their heart perpetually in the past, but rather to make sure they will never do it in the future. If a father tells his children: “Today, if you see a knife laying on the table, don’t play with it as the sons of Belial did, losing some fingers forever.” This would not mean some of his children have lost some fingers in the past. It would only mean the father is responsible enough to warn them so it may not occur in the future. To say that the warning proves that some of his children have lost fingers in the past, or will lose fingers in the future, is to reason wrongly. The warning only implies they have the potential to do so, but since they have a Father who warns them, keeping his children under subjection, caring for them, never slumbering nor sleeping, he will make sure it will never happen to any of them.

It is imperative to understand the difference between potentiality and actuality. To have the potential is one thing; to actualize it is something else. We could say for example: a sheep as the potential to get lost forever, but if the Good Shepherd is there, watching over it night and day, He will make sure this will never happen, in other words, the Good Shepherd will make sure the potential the sheep has will never be actualized.

It is so in the practical life as well. We can say: “Many people in the USA have the potential to become president”, but this potentiality will be actualized in very few of them.” Or we could say: “All of us have the potential to murder somebody”, but I don’t think it will be actualized in anyone of us. To have the potential is one thing, to actualize it is something else. Most of the potential people have will never be actualized.

So God warns His children about something that could happen, but due to several factors (among which are the warnings) what could happen will never happen. Therefore if a person would say: “What is the point to warn someone about something that cannot happen?” This person would simply demonstrate that he doesn’t take into account the factor of potentiality. I repeat: The Father warns His children time and again and in many different ways to make sure that what could happen will not happen. So His warnings are very meaningful and necessary.

Consideration 3(b)

Here I would like to ask one more question: How many of you believe you are a part of Christ’s house? Are you sure? Let us read what Hebrews 3:6 says: “but Christ as a son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

Here again the author of Hebrews says: We are His house now if, and only if, we are going to hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. If a person will not hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end, that person simply demonstrates that he has never been Christ’s house in the past. Consequently if you have been Christ’s house at any given time, you will hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Here again it is the author of Hebrews who declares it.

So the question is: Are you Christ’s house? If you have answered yes, and your answer is based on valid knowledge, then you will hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. If you say I don’t know, then you better get on your knees, for when a person is adopted in the family of God he knows he is adopted, and all those who are adopted are Christ’s house. Consequently all of them will “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

Consideration 4

1 John 2:19  “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

Here John confirms what the author of Hebrews affirms, and what Paul declares. He says that the person who leaves the Body of Christ simply demonstrates that he was never part of it. John could not have put it any clearer. Then he says: “…for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; …” Here John affirms that if they had been true Christians they would have remained with the family of God, i.e., they would not have apostatized. The message cannot be any clearer: Those who are true Christians, i.e. those who are partakers of Christ, will remain true Christians until the end. John’s declaration is so general that it may be regarded as a universal truth, which is: if “any” are truly “of us”, they will continue with the family of God until the end.

Consideration 5(a)

1 John 3:6 “Whosoever abides in Him sins not: whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him.” Here John declares that the person who at any given time decides to adopt deliberately, and more so permanently, a sinful lifestyle has never seen God, neither has he known Him. By logical necessity this implies that the person who has known God at any given time will never adopt deliberately, and more so permanently, such a sinful lifestyle. Consequently if a nominal Christian returns deliberately, and more so permanently, to such a lifestyle, he simply demonstrates that he had never known God, i.e., he was never among God’s children.

One more thing to observe here is that the one who abides in God has known Him. Therefore that person will never adopt deliberately, and more so permanently, a sinful lifestyle, because the one who adopt permanently a sinful lifestyle has surely never known God, which means, has never abided in Him. If that person would return to a sinful life style, and this permanently, he would simply demonstrate that he had never abided in God at all, or had never known Him. Using the words of John we could say: That person would thus demonstrate that he had never been of us. It must be so by necessity, otherwise the person who has known God and the person who has never known God would become the same person. This would be a self-contradicting statement. It would break all the rules of logic as well as all the rules of language.

Consideration 5(b)

1 John 3:8  “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.”

It must be understood here that John refer to the one who adopt deliberately, and more so permanently, a sinful lifestyle (as the devil did from the beginning), not to the one who may sin occasionally or temporally. It must be so otherwise every child of God would be of the devil. John knew it was not so. Writing to them who may occasionaly sin he says: “My little children, these things write I to you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

Consideration 5(c)

1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Here John attest the samething. He says that the one who is truly born of God will not practice sin, much less return permanently to the practice of sin. If you believe that the one who is born of God can practice sin permanently you are contradicting the apostle John.

Let’s put it differently. If you believe the one who is born of God can backslide permanently you are contradicting the apostle John who says no one who is born of God does it. In fact John goes a step further. He affirms that the one who is born of God cannot practice sin, which implies, cannot return permanently to the practice of sin, and it is so because he is born of God. That person might sin occasionally out of ignorance or weaknesses, but he will feel hihgly guilty and desorientated. He might even depart temporally from the path of righteousness, but the Father will deal with him and win him back to Himself. This is why the genuine child of God will always return to a righteous position. The Good Sheperd will seek him, find him, and bring him back to the fold. It follows that the genuine child of God will never depart permanently from saving faith.

Consideration 5(d)

1 John 5:18 “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

Here again John confirms what we have just seen. He declares that the one who is born of God will not return deliberately, and more so permanently, to the practice of sin. That is, the one who is born of God will ultimately be glorified. It is so because the one who is born of God keeps himself. And he keeps himself because his heavenly Father warns him constantly and effectively. The Father watches over His children 24 hours a day. He doesn’t slumber nor sleep (Psalm 121:4). He inspires and motivates us.

Conclusion

So here we have three statements from the apostle John declaring that the genuine child of God will never return deliberately, and more so permanently, to a sinful life style, that is, he will not get lost.

Let’s read these verses one more time: 1 John 3:6 “Whosoever abides in Him sins not: whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him.” Now to say that the so called Christian who return permanently to a sinful lifestyle had known God is to contradict the apostle John who says: “…whosoever sins has not known Him”

1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Again to say that someone who is born of God can return permanently to the practice of sin is to contradict John who says: “No one who is born of God practices sin”

1 John 5:18 “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him”. To insist that the one who is born of God can practice sin permanently is to oppose John who says: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin.” Likewise to say that some among those who are born of God will stop keeping themselves, and this permanently, is to disagree with the apostle John who says: “he who has been born of God keeps himself”

Consideration 6

John 6:37…40:  “All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

If Jesus would lose one of those the Father gave Him, i.e., one of those who came to Him for salvation with sincerity of heart, He would thereby fail to accomplish the will of His Father. Now we know the Son of God has always, and always will accomplish the will of His Father. Consequently we know that none of those who came to Him for salvation will get lost. All of them will attain to the resurrection of the Just. (see Philippians 3:11 “If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.”)

Then comes John 6:40 “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Here we see, on the base of John 6:39, that the Son of God will have to confirm us in the faith time and again, and this, until the very end. This He must do to fulfill the will of His Father. It is an intrinsic part of losing none of them. That’s precisely what the Scriptures teach: 1 Corinthians 1:8 says “who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. 3:1–3 adds “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.”

He will confirm us in the faith until the very end by revealing the Father’s Name to us time and again. John 17:26 “And I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” Once one is confirmed in genuine and practical knowledge, he is also confirmed in genuine and practical faith (Those of you who have read my teaching about Knowledge and Faith will understand why I say this.)

So the logic of this consideration goes this way: 1—The Father’s will is that Jesus loses none of those who have come to Him for salvation. 2—The Father’s will is also that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life. 3—Consequently to do the will of His Father Jesus must make sure we remain in the faith. He must confirm our faith time and again (1 Cor.1:8; 1 Thess.3:2). 4—We can be sure He will do this for all the true children of God.

So ultimately we face two options: The first one is to doubt Jesus can do the will of His Father in this respect. The second is to believe Jesus will surely do the will of His Father in this respect. Personally I am confident that the second option matches with what the Scriptures declare and with what I know deep inside, and I believe with what all genuine Christians know deep inside.

Consideration 7

In this consideration we will see how God will keep establishing His children throughout their journey. 1 Thess. 3:12,13 reads “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Now how will God make us abound in love? By revealing Himself to us time and again. John 17:26 says “And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it: that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Why will He make us abound in love? He will make us abound in love so that He might establish our hearts blameless in holiness before God. 1 Thess. 3:12,13 “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

2 Thess. 2:16,17 “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.” Here again we see how Jesus Christ and the Father will keep establishing His children in every good word and work, and this until the end.

2 Thess. 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.” The establishing as well as the keeping is the result of God’s faithfulness and of His competency as a Father.

Romans 16:25 “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” Here Paul is saying that according to his Gospel, and according to what Jesus preached, God has power to establish His children until the very end. And this He actually does out of faithfulness. This is an important part of the Gospel.

Hebrews 13:20,21 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” God is on the process of making His children perfect so we might walk in His will perfectly. In other words He is sanctifying us. And here I want to present a few verses that attest that God is sanctifying us: 1 Thess. 5:23,24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” John 17:17 “Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth.” Ephes. 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Jude v.1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.” All this verses attest that God is sanctifying His children through the inner working of the Spirit who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. This is the privilege of all God’s children.

2 Corinthians 1:21,22 “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 1 Peter 5:10 “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” These are a few verses showing that God will keep His children safe until the end. The fact is that God knows how to raise-up His children. He is highly competent, infinitely more competent than any human father or mother. He doesn’t need to receive teachings how to raise-up His children successfully. In fact it is Him who can teach us. He is so competent that He never fails. All His children will become decent citizen in the City of God. None of them will become brute beasts made to be destroyed.

Consideration 8

Now one could say: “Well if God does everything for us than we can remain in a total passive state.” To come to such a conclusion would simply demonstrate that an important principle is not being understood. The principle is this: God will raise-up His children in such a way that all of them will become collaborator with Him. In other words, He will train all of them to a place of basic responsibility, i.e., He will be able to require several things from them successfully. Let’s look to a few examples. 2 Thess. 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.” Here we read that God will keep all of His children from evil. Is it so? Yes it is! And this He will do because He is faithful. But we also read such verses as: Acts 15:29 “that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” Or, 1 John 5:21 that says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” Or such a verse like Jude 1:21 “keep yourselves in the love of God,”. So God expects us to keep ourselves as well. He keeps us so we may learn how to keep ourselves. It is a part of raising-up children. He wants His children to be collaborators with Him.

Of course the question is: Will His children collaborate with Him? Will they keep themselves while their Father keeps them? The apostle John answers this question in his first epistle. He wrote in 1 John 5:18 “…he who has been born of God keeps himself…” How many among the children of God will keep themselves? John says all of them, and it so because God knows how to raise-up children. Find me the best father in the world and he will be far behind God in the art of raising-up children.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:13 we read, “To the end He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God,” Here we see the goal God has for us, which is, to establish our hearts blameless in holiness before God. This is God’s work for us, this is His part. But we have also James 5:8 that says “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” So here we have God taking care of His children, but we have also God training His children just as a father who tell his child when the time comes: “Now you must tie your shoes.” The child has been trained with great love and patience, now the father wants him to collaborate. The child might tie his shoes badly for a time and step on his shoelaces and fall a number of times, but amazingly all children come to a place where they all know how to tie their shoes, some will learn faster than others, but at last, all learn the basic things that need to be learned.

Philippians 2:12 is another good example. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” Here God expects us to become co-workers with him. He is training us as any good father train his children. But He will also assist us as any good father assist His children. The next verse says: “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). In plus of it He has put His fear in our heart, giving us the ability to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. The point here is that God will work on behalf of all His children, and this in such a way, that all His true children will grow up and become co-workers with Him. In other words He will make sure, through grace and discipline and many other means, that all of His children will walk in the good works that He has prepared for them. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Hebrews 13:20,21 confirms the principle. “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Here we have God making us complete in every good work so we may do His will. We can say: “God trains His children so effectively that they will do His will.” When the author of Hebrews writes: “make you complete in every good work to do His will,” he doesn’t mean God’s children will never sin. If we look in Matthew 7:21 we read: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. By this Jesus doesn’t mean that if we depart from His will in any degree we will go to hell, but He means that if such a thing happen the true son will do God’s will and repent, asking God to forgive him. In other words the life of those who will cross the gate of heaven will be marked by the doing of God’s will. It could be compare to what we read in 1 John 3:6 “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” As we have seen in the Fifth Consideration (a) John doesn’t mean that the one who sin occasionally has never known God. But he refers to the one whose life is marked by the practice of sin.

Returning to Hebrews 13:21 the author of Hebrews adds: working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. So God trains us, forms us, enables us, and then asks us to open our wings and fly, working in us all the while to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Consideration 9(a)

In John 8:42 we see what the principal characteristic of a child of God is: “Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” Jesus affirms that the genuine child of God loves Him, and he loves Him because he is a child of God. In fact His statement is so categorical that according to Jesus the one who doesn’t love Him demonstrates by his very conduct that he is not a child of God and never was.

In John 14:21 we read: “He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” From these words we learn that he who is born of God will keep Jesus’ commandments, i.e., his possible disobedience will be constantly marked by a return to a place of obedience. And this he will do because he loves God. This love can range from minimal to maximal. Yet the child of God will love God sufficiently to be a child of God. It might not be perfected yet, but it is love nevertheless. As John declares: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). This is perfect love.

Now not all of God’s children have reached this perfect love yet. Nevertheless, on the basis of Jesus’ words in John 8:42, we can say, and say emphatically: All the true children of God love God, and this, perfectly or imperfectly, otherwise they would not be children of God. John makes it clear in his first epistle. Listen to what he writes: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). Since the child of God loves God simply because He is His child, and this according to Jesus, that child cannot depart from that love because he is a child of God. The reasoning goes this way: 1–The child of God loves God because he is a child of God. 2–To stop loving God the child of God should become other than what he is. 3–But what could make him become a person who is not a child of God? The only possible reason would be lasting disobedience. But this cannot happen because He is a child of God, and a child of God loves God, i.e., his life will be marked not by disobedience but rather by obedience. Using the words of the apostle John we can say: “Whoever has been born of God does not [indulge in] sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot [indulge in] sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). Or we could say: “The child of God will keep doing the work of God (perfectly or imperfectly) simply because He is a child of God.”

Therefore a child of God will love God until the end. In fact that love can grow greater every day. 1 Thess. 3:12 “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you” 1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” These words confirm what we have just seen. If a person belongs to the family of God he will continue with the members of that family. Those who don’t continue manifest by doing so that they were not of the family of God in the first place. Or we could say: Those who apostatize demonstrate that they were never partakers of Christ.

Consideration 9(b)

In John 8:35 Jesus refers to the eternal dwelling of God’s children. He says: “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.” Here again Jesus confirms what we have just seen. Since a child of God loves God, and a child of God will always be a child of God, he will dwell in God’s house forever. John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our stayed with him.” This eternal dwelling of God with us is as secure as the Father’s name.

Consideration 9(c)

A few things about the fatherhood of God

The first thing I want to say about the Fatherhood of God is that He loves His children and He will make sure they all reach heaven. If Christian parents do all they can to make sure their unregenerate children will reach heaven, and often succeed, how much more will God do all He can to make sure His regenerate children will reach heaven? He will discipline them, warn them, exhort them, admonish them, etc. He will give them good advice. He will inspire them and reason with them. He will put His fear in their heart so they will not depart from Him. He will keep them, sanctify them, and establish them. He will grant them wisdom and instruction. And since they are regenerated they will surely yield to their Father whom they love genuinely, for so is the main characteristic of a child of God.

Consideration 9(d)

The Father imparts godly fear in all His children

Jeremiah 32:37…40 “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, where I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.”

The everlasting covenant referred to in verse 40 is a covenant that had not been made yet, it is the New Covenant, which was actualized through Jesus Christ. This is what the author of Hebrews declares in Hebrews 13:20“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Here the author of Hebrews declares what this everlasting covenant is: It is the one established by the blood of the Lamb of God. Not the one established by the blood of the daily sacrifice. And again in Hebrews 9:15 “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”. Here the author of Hebrews contrasts the New Covenant with the first covenant. The New Covenant, i.e., the everlasting covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 32:40 cannot be the Old Covenant since the Old Covenant was not everlasting (See Hebrews 8:7—13 & Hebrews 10:8,9).

Consequently in Jeremiah 32:40 God refers to the New Covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31—34 “Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was an husband to them, said the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, said the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, said the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” As the author of Hebrews explains this New Covenant is the one that was made effective through the shedding of Jesus’ blood. In fact this New Covenant had not been made with the House of Israel yet since they had not return to God with all their heart.

Now I say all this to show that a part of the New Covenant is that God will put His fear in His children’s heart so they will not depart from Him. Actually in Jeremiah 32:40 God Himself is attesting that this New Covenant will contain two major blessings: First He will not turn away from doing them good. Second He will put His fear in their hearts so they may not depart from Him. One thing is sure, God is able to do it since He promises to do it for the children of Israel, and this, under the New Covenant, not the old.

We must also observe here that it is not wrong or unjust for God to put His fear in His children’s heart so they will not depart from Him. After all He will do it as He promised, and God never does anything wrong or unjust. By doing it God is not guilty of partiality. Or by doing it God is not guilty of infringing on the free will of man. Consequently since He can do it, and do it righteously, surely He will do it for all of His children. To say that God could do it in view to help His children but will not do it, thus leaving His children in a place of great danger, is to think wrongly about the Fatherhood of God. If the Father would do such a thing He would actually be a bad Father. But as we all know He is a good Father. So God will do all He can to safeguard His children, and one of the things He can do, does, and will do is to put His fear in our hearts to make sure we will not depart from Him. Consequently we can affirm that the people referred to in Jeremiah 32:39,40 will all reached heaven, and it is so because all of them will partake of the New Covenant, and as such, will never depart permanently from God.

Consideration 9(e)

The ability God has to keep His children under subjection

 1 Tim. 3:4,5 “One that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” Here we have one of the requirements for eldership. An elder must have his children in subjection with all gravity. If God requires it from a man who may deal with unregenerate children, how much more will He accomplish it with regenerate children? This surely is to be expected, otherwise God would not qualify to be an elder in His own Church. This conclusion is the result of a very basic reasoning: 1–An elder must keep his children in subjection with all gravity. 2–God doesn’t keep His children in subjection with all gravity. 3–Therefore God cannot be an elder in His Church. As far as logic is concerned one cannot be more basic than this. But we all know God qualifies to be an elder in His Church, consequently we know He can keep his children in subjection with all gravity.

Consideration 9(f)

The effective chastening of the Father

Hebrews 12:7—11 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8) But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9) Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected [us], and we paid [them] respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10) For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

In verse 7 & 8 the author of Hebrews affirms that all God’s children are partakers of the divine discipline, “Of which all have become partakers” v.8. In verse 9 we read how we paid respect to our human fathers who corrected us. Then the author of Hebrews ask a question: “Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” To which question all the children of God answer with an emphatic Yes & Amen! In verse 10 we read how God chastens us for our profit, the purpose of the chastening being to make us partakers of His holiness. And then comes verse 11 (here we must pay special attention) “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

So we see how Verse 11 declares that the divine chastening yields—not may yield but yields always—the peaceable fruit of righteousness. To whom? To those who have been trained by it (not to some of those who have been trained by it, but to all of them who have been trained by it). Who are they who have been trained by it? They are all the real sons (see verse 8: “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” So here we see that the chastening of God will lead all His children to bear the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and this, until the very end. Consequently all the children of God will yield fruits. They will all be among those the Father will prune that they may bear more fruit. In other words, none of them will be among those who don’t bear fruit. This is what John declares in John 15:2 “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” (I will return to this verse in PART 2). It is so because God knows how to raise-up children. He doesn’t need counselors as we do. In this respect, as in all respects, He is self-sufficient.

Consideration 9(g)

Three counsels and promises from the book of Proverbs

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Here God is giving us a counsel and a promise. He says that if we train up a child, or instruct him in the way he should go, even when that child is old he will not depart from it. Now if a a man can train or instruct a child so effectively, how much more God. Surely the effect of His training, or of His instruction, will establish us in the right way forevermore. Of course that process might last a life time but God will persevere in it. He will not give up.

Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” Here we have another counsel which is also a promise. We are told that the rod of correction will drive foolishness far from a child; it will take foolishness out of him and put wisdom instead. Again I say, if a mortal can discipline his child so efficiently, how much more God who disciplines His children with perfect wisdom and constancy, i.e., never too much, yet always enough.

Proverbs 29:15 “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” Here we have a third witness to settle the matter. The Father says that the human rod and the human rebuke give wisdom, and wisdom is much better than gold (Proverbs 16:16). How much more the divine discipline will minister wisdom to all the children of God and Through wisdom the house will be built, and by understanding it will be established (Proverbs 24:3).

Consideration 9(h)

One thing every child of God knows

1 John 3:2–3 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

Here John declares that every child of God knows something. They all know that when Jesus shall appear they shall be like Him, for all of them shall see Him as He is. This is the knowledge all the children of God have. They all know how the story will finish.

Now what is the fruit of this wonderful knowledge? Do we begin to live a life of dissolution, indulging in sin on every corner? Do we begin to enjoy the world and the fellowship with the heathen? Do we say: “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we will reach heaven.” Not at all! This attitude is not in us because we are children of God. If anyone has this sort of attitude he is simply demonstrating that he has never known God in the first place. He has never been regenerated. He has never been a child of God.

The attitude of a child of God is the total opposite of what I just described. John could not be any clearer: And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure (1 John 3:3). One must take note here that the word “hope” in the Greek, i.e. the word ἐλπίς (elpis), means, in the context of 1 John 3:3, ‘a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation’. It doesn’t have a doubtful connotation as it might be the case in English or in Spanish. It is established on valid knowledge, i.e., it is established on certainty. A sick person may say: “I hope I will be well tomorrow”. By this he only expresses a wish as uncertain as what a day may bring forth. But the Christian hope is build on the solid rock, it is as sure as the fact that God will be here tomorrow. Hebrews 6:19 says “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil;” That is the knowledge I have; and I believe all of us have. We know we will reach heaven. That’s one of the reasons why we strive to know God more: we climb, we sweat, we rest, we pray; we fear God and fight the devil; we purify ourselves calling on God to send His holy fire to sanctify the whole.

“And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). So the child of God knows he is walking towards glorification, and this knowledge motivates him; it drives and stimulates him; it encourages and prompts him to purify himself as God is pure. It puts the heart of the child of God in tune with the heart of God. So John says that the one who is sure he is going to reach heaven is motivated to purify himself. Alleluja! This infers that the one who has not this certainty will lack motivation. But happily all the children of God have it to a lesser or greater extend.

Consideration 10(a)

All the genuine sheep of Jesus will follow the Good Shepherd until the end.

John 10:4,5 “And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”

These verses attest three basic truths: The first one is that all of Jesus’ sheep follow Him, not some of His sheep, not a high percentage of them, but all of them. At least that’s what Jesus is saying. This is one of the main characteristics of a sheep belonging to Jesus: He follows the Good Shepherd. Someone may ask: What about the sheep who go astray? If they are real sheep they will return on Jesus footprint. And they will return on Jesus footprint because they are genuine sheep and the genuine sheep follow the Good Shepherd. If they delay, the Good Shepherd will seek and find them. He will make sure they follow Him until the end. In other words all the sheep of Jesus will ultimately end up where the Good Shepherd ends up, that is, in a place of glory. John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 11:42 “And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

The second thing John 10:4,5 & 27 attests is that the sheep follow the Good Shepherd because they know His voice. How many of Jesus’ sheep know His voice? All of them! At least that is what Jesus affirms.

And the third basic truth is: “They will not follow the voice of a stranger.” That is, no body will be able to deceive them unto perdition. They might get confuse for a time, more so if their growth is very incomplete, but never will they get deceived to perdition. In other words, they will not follow the voice of a stranger through the gate of hell. This third point is sustained by Matthew 24:24 which attests that the elect cannot be deceived unto perdition: “For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” To deceive the elect unto perdition is impossible, and it is so because God keep His children. The Good Shepherd is too attentive to let it happen. Consequently we know that all the elect will ultimately reach heaven.

But who are the elect? Everyone who is a genuine child of God is an elect: Colossians 3:12 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering”. And again: Romans 8:33 “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” All those who are justified are among God’s elect. 2 Timothy 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” So we see that the genuine sheep of Jesus will all reach heaven because they will follow Him until the end. If someone doesn’t follow Jesus until the end this person  demonstrates thereby that he has never been a sheep of Jesus in the first place.

There are two things that secure the safety of the sheep. First, its very nature, i.e., what differentiate a sheep from a goat: its natural ability to trust the Good Shepherd for instance, its disposition to follow Him and so on. Second, the sufficiency of the Good Shepherd in His office of Shepherd, which includes, the ability He has to keep His sheep safe and to find them if they go astray.

Consideration 10(b)

All the sheep of Jesus believe Jesus

John 10:26 “But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you.” Here Jesus declares that all His sheep believe. It is one of their unmistakable characteristics. How long will a sheep believe? A sheep will believe as long as he is a sheep. But what could cause a sheep to stop from being a sheep? Unbelief! But since the main characteristic of a genuine sheep is the fact that they genuinely believe, they will not disbelieve. Consequently they will always remain sheep. In other words, nothing and nobody can cause a genuine sheep to stop from being a genuine sheep. All genuine sheep can say, and say truly, “But we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). 

Consideration 10(c)

All the sheep of Jesus received eternal life.

John 10:27—29 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” This we have already seen. The real sheep are known of God. Consequently they will never be among those He has never known. Therefore they are among those God has always known or foreknown, this means they are predestined, which implies they will reach heaven. “And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish,”. Who are ‘them’? ‘Them’ stands for all His sheep, for as we have seen all the genuine sheep will be faithful until the end. They will follow the Good Shepherd until the end because they know His voice.If I say: “I choose all those in the room who measure more than 1 meter 90, and I give them 50 Euros.” Does it mean I give it to all of them, or to some of them? To all of them of course. The ‘them’ here is all inclusive. That’s why none of them will ever perish.

The notion that some genuine sheep could perish is foreign to John 10. There is not a single word in John 10 that can make anyone believe that a genuine sheep can perish. On the contrary: it is affirmation after affirmation, confirmation after confirmation, and declaration after declaration. Jesus could not have been more clear. And then He says: “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (verses 28,29). All the sheep of Jesus are eternally safe in Jesus’ hand and the Father’s hand. No one can possibly take them out of there.

Some have suggested that while no one can take them out of Jesus’ and the Father’s hand the sheep might walk away from there on his own volition. But this is contrary to the nature of the case, because a characteristic of a genuine sheep is that it follows the Good Shepherd, in plus of it, according to the teaching of the Master, if one sheep get lost it is the responsibility of the Shepherd to find it. The finding makes the difference between a bad shepherd and a Good Shepherd. But happily all the sons are in the care of the Good Shepherd. Let me give you an example: If a shepherd starts the month with 300 sheep and finishes it with only 68 who is to be blamed? The sheep or the shepherd? Jesus is the Good Shepherd; He will not let it happen.

Consideration 11

The One who has begun the good work in you will complete it.

Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” “Being confident” The same word is translated else where ‘persuaded’. Here Paul has no doubt in what he is saying. He is not speculating. He is not guessing. He is certain and sure; positive and authoritative; persuaded and convinced. Persuaded of what? That He which has begun a good work in you will complete it… If He has begun it, declares Paul, He will certainly complete it. If the work doesn’t get completed it is because He has never begun it. This confirms what we have seen in Ephesians 1:13,14 “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.” The One who gave the Holy Spirit as a guarantee will make sure the total redemption will come along. “God will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”, i.e., until the very end.

1 Thess. 5:23,24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” He started it, and He will surely finish it, and it is so because God is faithful. God is not the kind of person who starts something and let it halfway undone.

Consideration 12

God will confirm all of His children until the very end

1 Corinthians 1:4–9   v. 8 who will also confirm you until the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. v. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Writing to the Corinthians Paul declares emphatically that Jesus Christ was going to confirm them until the very end. In Paul’s mind there was no doubt about it. He knew Jesus was going to do it. Why will He confirm us until the end? He will do it to make sure all genuine believers could be blameless in the day of Jesus Christ. And then in v. 9 Paul insists that this divine confirmation will take place until the very end because God is faithful.

Part two

Consideration 1(a)

Is Hebrews 6:4–6 an univocal statement?

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

When we say a statement is univocal we are saying the statement can have only one possible meaning. In other words, the statement is not ambiguous. Hebrews 3:14 for instance is such a statement: “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end;”. In itself this statement has only one possible meaning. It is an explicit statement, by this I mean, it doesn’t need to be explained. If we read it as we read any other text, the conclusion is obvious, and the more we analyze it the more we see the statement is univocal. But Hebrews 6:4–6 is not such a statement as we are about to see. Consequently we will be left with more than a single possible meaning. When this happen, it is our responsibility to see which meaning fits harmoniously with the flow of the Scriptures, that is, which meaning creates no contradictions and no tension with the rest of the Scriptures.

Consideration 1(b)

A few things about Hebrews 6:4—6

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” The first thing one must settle is that there are no contradictions in the Word of God, otherwise God would be a self-contradictory Being. We know this is impossible. Another thing one must consider is that there is no scripture in the New Testament that can abolish another scripture in the New Testament. With this in mind let’s approach Hebrews 6:4–6.

If we advance that Hebrews 6:4–6 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying at least three things. First we are saying that these people, being truly saved, were partakers of Christ and didn’t hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. It follows we are also saying the author of Hebrews contradict himself since he declares clearly in Hebrews 3:14 “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end”. Consequently the same author would be saying: “Those who are partakers of Christ are so now if, and only if, they remain faithful until the end.” But he would be saying also: “Those who are partakers of Christ now might not be faithful until the end.” He would say and believe both the thesis and the antithesis at the same time. Consequently he would be contradicting himself, and the Bible would become self-contradictory.

Again if we advance that Hebrews 6:4­–6 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity we are also saying these people were truly of us, that is, true children of God. We are thus saying something like this: “They went out from us, although they were truly of us; and yet being truly of us, they have not continued with us; but they went out that it might be made manifest that some of us will not continue with us.” Now let us compare it with 1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” Now try to harmonize these two statements and you will understand the problem. The problem resides in the fact that John is saying the total opposite of what we would infer if we believe the people referred to in Hebrews 6:4–6 were true Christians who truly departed from genuine Christianity.

Again if we maintain that Hebrews 6:4­–6  refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity we are also attesting that these people had been called and justified, but they will never be glorified. Consequently we are opposing Romans 8:30 since we are breaking the chain Romans 8:30 declares unbreakable. “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Again if we maintain that Hebrews 6:4­–6 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are also undermining what Jesus declares so emphatically in John 10 where He attests that all those who have been His sheep, at any given time, will reach heaven.

Conclusion

So if we advance that Hebrews 6:4–6 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity we are saying that the author of Hebrews contradicts himself, and contradicts Paul, John and Jesus as well. In other words the Bible becomes full of contradictions. And here I have only touch the tip of the iceberg.

Consideration 1(c)

The three options of Hebrews 6:4—6

So when we approach Heb. 6:4–6 we are left with three options. 1—We can believe Heb. 6:4–6 refers to genuine Christians who have departed from genuine Christianity; in which case the Bible becomes full of contradictions and tension. 2—Another possibility is to believe that they were not true Christians, and that their real colors got eventually exposed. But this possible option is weakened by the clarity of verse 4 & 5 which obviously refers to true Christians. 3—The third possibility is to believe that the author of Hebrews gives a warning by mean of a supposition; not because it had happened in the past, but to make sure it will not happen in the future. Since the first option cannot be true by definition—at least I cannot accept it as true­—and the second option seems very suspicious, we are left with the third option. I believe the third option is the only one harmonizing with the flow of the Scriptures. Consequently I believe the author of Hebrews gives a warning by mean of a supposition, not because it had happened in the past, but to make sure it will not happen in the future.

Consideration 1(d)

Let us have a look to Hebrews 6:4—6?

First of all we must notice that different versions translate verse 6 in different ways. But happily all of them lead to the same conclusion, which is: the author of Hebrews gives a warning by mean of a supposition, not because it had happened in the past, but to make sure it will not happen in the future. So we have the ‘if’ versions. Then we have the ‘present tense’ versions. And at last we have the ‘past tense’ versions. Let us have a look to each one of them.

The ‘if’ versions

The author of Hebrews is thus saying: “For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

Now you might bring to my attention that the word “if” doesn’t appear in the Greek. But different Greek scholars believe it is inferred in the Greek context, and consequently several translations have the word “if”. (The King James, the NIV, the Webster Bible, La Riveduta, La Nueva Diodati, Les Moines de Maredsous, Chouraqui, Amplified Bible, The Revised Standard Version, The worldwide English New Testament, the New Life Version, the English Standard Version, Genova Bible, Expended Bible, etc. (14 versions). And then you have several other translations that put a reference saying “or, “if they fall away”” In Hebrews 10:26 the word “if” doesn’t appear in the Greek either, but nearly all the translations put it, and when I say nearly all, I mean 98% of those I have look at, that is, more than 36 translations. And they put the word ‘if’ because it is inferred in the Greek context. The same about the ‘it is’ of Hebrews 6:4. It is not in the Greek but all the translations put it. All this to say that there are words that are not in the Greek, but the Greek context infers them. So I looked at 36 translations and 14 of them used the word ‘if’ and several others put a note saying, “or if they fall”. Therefore the use of the conjunction ‘if’ in Hebrews 6:6 cannot be ruled out, and it points to a supposition (or a postulate) which is being used as a warning. It doesn’t point to an affirmation that what is described has actually happened in the past. Actually with the word ‘if’ Hebrews 6:6 becomes univocal, it can have only one possible meaning, which is, it expresses a supposition.

Then we have the ‘present tense’ versions

These versions don’t use the word ‘if’, but they begin verse 6 putting the verb in the present tense. So it says: “For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and falling away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” (The Interlinear Greek–English New Testament, J.B. Phillips, Contemporary English Version) The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Wigram-Green for instance puts it in the active present tense as we have just read: and falling away. Now when the verb is in the present tense, the verse can be regarded as a supposition and not necessarily as an affirmation.

If I say for instance: “For it is impossible for a kid who have had a nose for eleven years, and cutting it off with an ax, to get it back on.” Now this surely cannot be regarded as an affirmation that children have actually cut off their nose with an axe in the past. It would be a supposition that might be used as a warning in the process of raising-up children, and this in view to inculcate some fear in them so they might not play foolishly with an ax.

Or if I say: “For it is impossible for any professional football players who had the ball in his possession during an important match, and cutting it in pieces with a knife, to make a goal with it afterward.” Here again I would not be affirming that in the past professional football players have cut balls in pieces with a knife on the field, and this during a match. It would be regarded as a humoristic supposition. The moment the present tense is used the sentence can be regarded as a supposition.

The ‘past tense’ versions

It is important to observe here that the ‘past tense versions’ don’t necessarily imply an affirmation either, i.e., it doesn’t necessarily say that the ‘falling away’ has actually occurred in the past. In other words the past tense doesn’t make the verse univocal but equivocal. If I say: “For it is impossible for any professional football player who had the ball in his possession during an important match, and have cut it in pieces with a knife, to make a goal with it afterward.” Here it would not necessarily mean that football players have actually cut balls in pieces with a knife during a match in the past. It would be a humoristic supposition. Now imagine someone would conclude from the statement that in the past football players have truly cut balls in pieces with their knife on the field during an important match. It would be a mistake. That person would not get the joke. Or if a person say: “For it is impossible for those children who were at one time perfectly healthy, and having eaten three kilos of arsenic to remain alive.” Again this would not be an affirmation that some children have actually eaten three kilos of arsenic in the past. It would simply be a way of saying that arsenic should not be left in the hands of children.

So the author of Hebrews is simply supposing something, and this, in view to warn God’s children. After all he had already declared that those who have been partakers of Christ at any given time will be faithful until the end, as well as those who have been Christ’s house at any given time (Hebrews 3:6 &14). He cannot say one thing emphatically, and then say the very opposite right after. He cannot believe the thesis and the antithesis at the same time. He cannot contradict himself so openly and so absolutely. This is only logical.

 Verse 7 & 8

Verse 7 and 8 confirm what we have just seen. Let’s read the verse: “For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:7,8)

To demonstrate that Hebrews 6:4–6 refers to genuine children of God having departed permanently from genuine faith, a person must demonstrate that genuine children can stop bearing good fruit and bear only thorns and briers. The opposite is also true: To demonstrate that Hebrews 6:4–6 doesn’t refer to genuine children of God having departed permanently from genuine faith, a person must demonstrate that the genuine children of God will not pass from bearing good fruit to bear thorns and briers. Now this is precisely what the author of Hebrews does in chapter 12 as we have seen in Part One in the Seventh Consideration (f).

Let us follow the logic of Hebrews 12:7–11. All the true children of God are being disciplined and always will be (v.7,8). All those who are being disciplined yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness (11). Consequently all the true children of God yield, and will forever yield, the peaceable fruit of righteousness.This is confirmed by Romans 6:22 “But now having been set free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Here Paul is explaining what a true Christian is: It is someone who has been made free from sin and became servant of God. Then He says that these people have their fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life. Consequently we see that he fruit is the result of salvation, i.e., God saving us is the efficient cause of bearing fruit.

The same is seen in Colossians 1:3–6 “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.” When someone has known the grace of God in truth that person brings forth fruit. It follows that what we read in Hebrews 6:7,8 is not applicable in actuality to the true children of God since their life is marked by fruit bearing rather than thorns and briers; and they bear fruit because God takes care of them. Left alone they would be fruitless, but the Father will never leave them alone.

Consequently we can say that since the analogy of Hebrews 6:7,8 is not applicable in actuality to the true children of God, how can the object of the analogy, i.e., Hebrews 6:4–6 be applicable in actuality to the true children of God? Obviously it cannot. It can be applicable only as far as potentiality is concerned; this potentiality is the reason why the warning is given in the first place. And the warning is given to make sure the potentiality will never be actualized in the real life. Therefore the analogy itself demonstrates beautifully that Hebrews 6:4–6 is a supposition used to warn God’s children, and should not be regarded as an historical event. All this is sustained by Hebrews 6:9.

Consideration 1(e)

Hebrews 6:9 “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.”

Here the author of Hebrews is saying that he is persuaded that what he wrote in chapter 6:4–6, i.e., three verses earlier, will not be actualized in the life of these Hebrew Christians, i.e., he is persuaded that what could happen will not happen to them in the reality of life. Consequently in Hebrews 6:9 he is actually attesting that what he wrote in verse 4–6 was to be understood as a warning expressed through a supposition, and not as an affirmation that it had happened in the past, or that it will happen in the future. In fact he goes even further. He says that he is persuaded that what accompany salvation will be the things these Hebrew Christians will experience. What he is saying here is the equivalent of: “We trust that you are true Christians; consequently we are persuaded you will give heed to the warning, and what I have just supposed will surely not happen to you. Now how can he be so persuaded (or so convinced, or so sure) that this sort of apostasy will not happen to true Christian? Because he is persuaded the Father will keep his children safe until the end, confirming them in the faith time and again.

Now one may say: “If it is so, why did the author of Hebrews bothered to say what he said in Hebrews 6:4–6?” He said what he said because God warns His children. Warnings are a part of raising-up children. It is a part of keeping them safe. Warnings make it so that what is potentially possible will remain nonexistent in actuality. It will never be actualized. For example, a father might say to one of his children: “Keep playing with this knife and you will lose a few fingers.” This will not mean some of his children have lost fingers in the past. It would simply be a preventive statement. He would say it to make sure they don’t lose fingers in the future. Or if he tells his children: “For it is impossible for children who were once alive and drank a liter of arsenic to survive.” This will not mean that some of his children have drunk a liter of arsenic in the past and died. It would be simply a useful warning to make sure his children will stay away from arsenic in the future.

Now if the Father would not warn His children they could, out of ignorance or perhaps because of a lack of experience, make lethal mistakes (after all they have the potential to do so), this is the reason why the Father warns, exhorts, encourages, admonishes, and disciplines His children. He cares for them and watches over them night and day to make sure that what is potentially possible will never be actualized.

Verse 11 and 12 goes on the same line. Hebrews 6:11,12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Exhortations are necessary to keep children on the right path. If they would become orphans there might be a danger. But our Father is not going to die any time soon. He will exhort us and make sure we give heed to what He says. In other words, through wisdom, love, and concern, He will keep us under subjection. So we are in good Hands.

Conclusion

So the author of Hebrews warned the brethren by mean of a supposition, knowing beforehand that the true children of God would give heed to his warning. Nevertheless the warning was necessary and profitable. To say: “What is the point to give a warning about something that can never happen” would only reveal the person is missing the point. The fact is this: God warns His children because it could happen, but it will not happen because God warns His children. He also watch over them night and day. He doesn’t slumber nor sleep. All this He does to make sure what could happen will never happen.

So to use Hebrews 6:4–6 to demonstrate that a true child of God can end up in hell is to miss the point. In plus, in so doing, the person contradicts what other verses are saying explicitly, making the Bible appears a self-contradictory Book.

Consideration 2(a)

Hebrews 10:26,27 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”

Hebrews 10:26 is a confirmation of what we have just seen. In fact the author of Hebrews repeats what he had already mentioned in Hebrews 6:4–6. One must notice here that the word “if” doesn’t appear in the Greek. But basically all the translations put it, including The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Wigram-Green. And it is so because the Greek context demands it.

“For if we sin willfully”. Here it is obviously a supposition to warn believers. It refers to someone who would deliberately and permanently adopt a sinful lifestyle. The author of Hebrews doesn’t say here that those who have received the knowledge of the truth have actually done it. But on the supposition they would do it, there would remain no more sacrifice for sins. That Hebrews 10:26 is a supposition in view to warn believers is confirmed by Hebrews 10:39.

Consideration 2(b)

Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Now let’s go back a little. In Hebrews 3:6 & 14 the author of Hebrews had already affirmed that all those who had been partakers of Christ at any given time, or part of His house at any given time, will be faithful until the end. In Hebrews 6:9 he had written: “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” Now, addressing himself to all the Christians to whom he wrote, he adds in Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

The author of Hebrews affirms that there are two groups: Those who draw back to perdition, i.e., those who have never been a part of the family of God (namely nominal Christians), and those who believe to the saving of the soul, i.e., those who have been a part of the family of God (namely true Christians). But He says something else also. He says that those to whom he addresses the letter belong to the second group, not to the first. In fact He is convinced that what follows salvation will be their lasting experience. Hebrews 6:9 “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” He is convinced they will all believe to the saving of the soul. But he also believes they must be warned as a preventive measure, as well as admonished and encouraged. This is why he is persuaded that what he supposed in Hebrews 6:4–6 will not happen to them, neither what he supposed in Hebrews 10:26. He believes that as true children they will give heed to the warning and avoid injuries. The context makes it clear enough.

Conclusion

To say that Hebrews 10:27,28 demonstrates that a child of God can become an apostate in actuality is to misread the verse, or to read it superficially. The verse doesn’t say it, nor does it imply it. It only implies that the child of God has the potential to apostate, but surely it doesn’t imply that the potential has or will be actualized, that is, it doesn’t say it has happened in the past, nor does it say it will happen in the future. In plus of it, to say that a child of God can become an apostate in actuality creates contradictions all over the Bible, and it makes our heavenly Father appear a novice in the art of raising-up children.

Consideration 3(a)

2 Peter 2:20–22 “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 therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Now we must keep in mind that there can be no contradictions in the Word of God, otherwise God would be a self-contradictory being. We know this is impossible. Now if we maintain that these verses refer to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying the following: 1—First we are saying that these people, being truly saved, were a genuine part of Christ’s house. 2—It follows we are also saying Peter contradicts the author of Hebrews since the author of Hebrews declares in Hebrews 3:6 that all those who have been part of Christ’s house will be faithful until the end.

Again if we advance that 2 Peter 2:20–22 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying: These people were truly of us, that is, true children of God. We are thus saying something like this: “They went out from us, although they were truly of us; and yet being truly of us, they have not continued with us; but they went out that it might be made manifest, that some of us will not continue with us.” We are thus contradicting what we read in 1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

Again if we advance that 2 Peter 2:20–22 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying: That the will of the Father was that Jesus didn’t lose them, but unfortunately Jesus lost them and failed to do the will of His Father.

Again if we advance that these verses refer to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying: These people had been called and justified, but they will never be glorified. Consequently we are abolishing, or opposing, Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Again if we advance that these verses refer to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are also saying: They were people who knew God truly, and although they knew God truly they have returned permanently to a sinful lifestyle. Consequently we are contradicting what the apostle John writes in 1 John 3:6 “Whoever abides in him sins not: whoever sins has not seen him, neither known him.” Here John declares that the person who, at any given time, practices a sinful lifestyle, and more so permanently, has never seen God neither known Him.

Again if we advance that these verses refer to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are also saying: He who had begun a good work in them didn’t complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. We are thus saying Peter says one thing, and Paul the very opposite.

Again if we advance that these verses refer to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are also saying God’s guarantee, mentioned in Ephesians 1:14, is not trustworthy, thus putting God in a bad light.

Conclusion

If we advance that 2 Peter 2:20–22 refers to genuine Christians who fell away from genuine Christianity, we are saying that Peter contradicts Jesus, Paul, John and the author of Hebrews. In other words the Bible becomes full of contradictions. And here again I have only touch the tip of the iceberg.

Consideration 3(b)

2 Peter 2:20–22 “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 therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

So here we are left with two options. 1—We can believe 2 Peter 2:20–22 refers to genuine Christians who departed from genuine Christianity, in which case the Bible becomes full of contradictions and tension. 2— Or we can believe they were not true Christians, i.e., not of us, and for this reason didn’t remain with us. Since the first option cannot be true by definition, at least I cannot accept it as true, we are left with the second option, which is the one I believe.

One thing to notice in 2 Peter 2 is that Peter is talking about false teachers, calling them “natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed,” (Verse 12). If we believe these were genuine children of God in the past, we put God in a very pitiful place as a Father. His skill to raise-up children becomes very suspicious indeed. What a poor Father He would thus appear, unable to raise-up children; possibly in need of counsel and help. Added to it, He requires mere men to keep their unregenerate children under subjection, while He himself is not even able to keep His generate children in line. Some of them become natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed. What a total failure! What a shame! What a bad example! Unable to be elder in His own Church. And to make things worse He pretends to teach us how to raise-up children. He even gave us a Book of instruction while some of His own children become natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed. Surely this is not the Father I know, nor is He the Father I have.

It is also very meaningful to see that 2 Peter 2:20–21 begins with the words “For if”. Here the word “if” really appears in the Greek. And it points to a supposition. With the word “if” one cannot conclude that what is being supposed has necessarily happened. To draw such a conclusion would be to misread the text. If Peter would have believed that what he described in verse 20,21 was the case of the false teachers he spoke about he would not have used the word “if” as one who is not sure? But he used the word “if” because he is simply supposing something. He is not affirming it.

Actually in 2 Peter 2:20–22 we have a supposition and an affirmation. The supposition is what we read in verse 20–21, where it refers to true Christians. The affirmation is what we read in verse 22 where it refers to people who were never Christians.

The context is this: Peter, talking of false teachers, calling them natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, explains why they have arrived where they have arrived, and this after giving an appearance of godliness. First in verse 20–21 he presents a supposition, i.e., what some people might have believed had happened (because some people might have believed these false teachers were at one time real Christians) and he expressed the supposition as a warning because what he supposes here was potentially possible. Then in verse 22 he presents an affirmation in which he explains that the problem of these false teachers was not what might have been believed, or what appeared to be the case, i.e., genuine Christians that fell away, but rather the fact that their nature had never been changed, they were never true Christians.Verse 22 makes it clear enough: “But it is happened to them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” Here it is stated clearly: The dog has always been a dog, and the washed pig has always been a pig. They were never regenerated. These natural brute beasts had never known God. They had never been children of God. They were never of us, for if they had been of us they would have continued with us. They were never partakers of Christ otherwise they would have hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. They were never justified otherwise they would have been glorified. This is why they forsook the right way (v.15). They were for a while walking with us on the right way, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have remain with us and continue with us on the right way.

Consideration 4(a)

Revelation 3:5 An introduction

“He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

If we advance that this scripture means that it is possible for a genuine Christian to be ultimately thrown in hell (after all Revelation 20:15 says “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”), then we are saying at least 10 things (I will try to keep the list short). —1º We are saying that these genuine Christians had been justified but will never be glorified, thus contradicting what Paul declares in Romans 8:30. —2º We are also saying: “They had been partakers of Christ although they have not last until the end”, thus contradicting Hebrews 3:14 which says: “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end”. —3º We are also saying: “They went out from us although they were of us” thus contradicting 1 John 2:19. —4º We are also saying: “They were of us but didn’t continue with us”, thus contradicting the apostle John a second time. —5º We are also saying: “But they went out that it might be made manifest that some of us will not stay with us.” Thus contradicting the apostle John a third time. —6º We are also saying: “A genuine sheep of Jesus can stop following Jesus for good.” Thus contradicting Jesus who says “And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice” (John 10:4). And again: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27,28). —7º We are also saying the One who began a good work in them didn’t have the ability to finish it, thus contradicting what Paul affirms in Philippians 1:6. —8º We are also saying that some of those who return permanently to a sinful lifestyle had known God, thus opposing what the apostle John affirms in 1 John 3:6 when he writes “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” —9º We are also saying Jesus failed to do the will of His Father since He lost some of those the Father had given Him. —10º We are also saying the Father doesn’t know how to keep His children under subjection, declaring Him unfit to be elder in any Christian church. —And the list goes on and on. In brief, we are saying the Bible contradicts itself, and that God is a self-contradictory being.

Consideration 4(b)

Revelation 3:5  Two options

“He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

Here we are left with two options: We can maintain that the name of a genuine child of God can be blotted out of the Book of life, in which case we contradict several portions of the Scriptures, making the Bible self-contradictory. Or we can conclude that none among the genuine children of God will have his name blotted out of the Book of life. This second option is the object of my belief. It is the only one harmonizing with the flow of the Scriptures.

Consideration 4(c)

Revelation 3:5 “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

The first thing to notice is that it is nowhere mentioned in the Scriptures that a genuine child of God shall not overcome. On the contrary, we read in 1 John 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Consequently all the children of God will surely overcome; one of the reasons being: “because greater is He that is in them, than he that is in the world.”

It is imperative to understand here that a genuine child of God believes (and always will believe) that the One who has overcome the world dwells in him. “… but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). As the spanish song says: “Venceré porque Él está conmigo, venceré porque Él conmigo esta,. Venceré, vencerás, vencerá, …” That’s why the children of God overcome and keep overcoming. They might be knocked down on the process, but the Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down (Psalm 145:14).

Therefore all the children of God will keep fighting and they will all ultimately overcome. As we read in 1 John 2:14 “I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God stays in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” For as Romans 8:30 declares: “…Whom God justified, these He also glorified.” This implies an absolute victory for all those who have been justified, i.e., for all the children of God. No wonder Paul declares a few verses after, in Romans 8:37, “yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Then we have also Revelation 13:8 that declares: “And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Here we see that all those whose name is written in the Book of life will remain firm until the end, refusing to worship the beast as they had refused to worship the world. In other words, all whose name has been written in the Book of life will overcome. After all, they are the elect.

Consequently Revelation 3:5 must be regarded as a promise God gives to all those who will overcome, namely, to all His true children, and the promise is that their name will not be blotted out of the Book of life. In fact Jesus goes a step further, He says they will be clothed in white garments and that He will confess their name before the Father and before His angels. Knowing I am on the Winner side encourages me to fight the Good Fight . It encourages me to keep moving, to keep fighting and to keep disciplining myself. For I know, so to speak, how the movie will finish, and my knowledge is validated by the Eternal Word.

Conclusion

Therefore Rev. 3:5 cannot be used to demonstrate that one who was at one time a child of God can eventually ends up in hell.

Consideration 5

2 Timothy 2:15–19 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the ressurection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. ”

In the first part of verse 18 we are told Hymenaeus & Philetus “missed the mark concerning the truth” (The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Wigram & Green). Or “who concerning the truth did swerve” (Young’s literal translation). Or “who have strayed concerning the truth” (NKJV). They had gone astray on a single doctrine, namely the resurrection, but since that doctrine is a fundamental part of the doctrine of salvation, Paul had to warn the Galatians against it.

Now this going astray can happen to a genuine child of God, as it can happen to a nominal Christian. The difference between the two is that the genuine child of God will be led back to the basic truth of the Christian faith, that is, led back to the faith itself. But the nominal Christian might or might not return to the truth, that is, to the basic content of the faith. If Hymenaeus & Philetus remained in that state, it could be said of them: “They went out from the truth, but they were not of the truth, for if they had been of the truth, they would have continued with the truth, but they went out of the truth that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of the truth.”

I repeat: The genuine child of God can go astray as a sheep can go astray. He can go astray concerning the truth, or the faith, or righteousness. But since he is a genuine child of God he will surely be led back, i.e., he will certainly return to the path of truth, and in the same stroke, to the path of faith.

Then comes the second part of v. 18: “They overthrow the faith of some.” While the faith of a genuine child of God, in regard to a specific doctrine such as the resurrection, can be overthrown temporally, the faith of a nominal Christian can be overthrown permanently. One thing is certain, the faith that can be overthrown permanently is obviously not saving faith. It is a faith, no doubt, but it is not the faith of God’s elect as we read in Titus 1:1 “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness”.

The faith of God’s elect is saving faith, and it cannot be overthrown permanently as much as God’s elect cannot be overthrown permanently (see Matt. 24:24). A son can be led astray but he will eventually return to the right path if he is really a son. If someone has the faith of God’s elect, that is, the faith of those who have been called and justified, they will never depart permanently from the truth as Romans 8:30 declares. It is so because their faith is being established time and again in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:5 for instance speaks of two kinds of faith: “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” The first faith here mentioned is the product of man’s wisdom. The bad thing about this sort of faith is that it can be overthrown permanently by man’s wisdom as well. What brought it to life has the power to kill it. The latter faith is the result of God’s power and it cannot be overthrown by the wisdom or power of man. This lasting faith is precisely the faith of God’s elect. It can be attacked and overthrown temporally, but never permanently.

So all God’s elect will reach heaven, and God’s elect are those who have been justified. All of them will reach glorification because they have genuine faith: a faith established time and again by God’s power, i.e., a faith that cannot be permanently destroyed.

As we read in 1 Timothy 1:5 and 2 Timothy 1:5, faith can be genuine or feigned. In fact it can be so well feigned that at times it might be difficult to discern between genuine faith and feigned faith. But one thing is sure: While feigned faith might shipwreck beyond recovery, genuine faith will always be restored and confirmed time and again.

This is what 2 Timothy 2:19 attests. The faith of God’s elect cannot be overthrown permanently. Let us read it: “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19). Here we have the two basic kinds of faith: the faith of those who are ‘His’, and the faith of those who are not ‘His’. Those who are truly “His”, i.e., His true children, are being established in the faith forevermore. It is so because they don’t belong to the group God has never known but rather to the group God has always known or foreknown. Consequently they have been foreordained, called, justified, and surely, all of them will be glorified (see Romans 8:30). So the Lord knows them that are His. And them that are His know they are His.

Let me say a few things about those who ‘depart permanently from the faith’, or ‘who shipwreck permanently concerning the faith’, or ‘whose faith is overthrown permanently’. 1—They never had the faith of God’s elect, which means: They never had saving faith. 2—They were never “His”, i.e., they had never belonged to God. Consequently they were never among God’s children. 3—From this we deduce: They were not among those God has always known. 4—Consequently they had never been called (with the calling referred to in Romans 8:30), nor had they been justified, otherwise they would have reached glorification. 5—They had always belonged to the group God had never known.

We can say of those who depart permanently from the faith: “They went out from the faith, but they were not of the faith, for if they had been of the faith, they would have continued in the faith, but they went out of the faith that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of the faith.”

The genuine children of God can make shipwreck concerning the faith also, but God will find ways to bring them back if they are real sons. In 1 Timothy 1:18…20 we read: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” These words of the apostle Paul reveal that he was hoping the best for Hymenaeus and Alexander although they had made shipwreck. He knew that if they were true sons they would return. And if not, their true identity would be simply exposed (see 1 Corinthians 5:5).

Again I insist, verse 19 makes it totally clear “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19). Those who are truly ‘His’ are build on the everlasting Foundation. Consequently they will reach everlasting victory.

Consideration 6

Considering the Galatians

Galatians 4:11 “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.”

Galatians 4:20 “I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.”

Galatians 5:10 “I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.”

The verses that interest us here are found in Galatians 4:11 & 20, and 5:10. But before we go to these verses let me tell you very briefly the story of the Galatians, a story that finish beautifully. The church was established in the year 47 or 48. Paul wrote this epistle around the year 49 from Antioch, prior to the Jerusalem council held in the year 50. When he wrote this epistle the church was very young, i.e., one to two years old. Consequently these Christians were still children vulnerable to be tossed to and fro and carried away by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”). The Judaizers had gone there after Paul’s departure and had told them that Christianity was given to the Jews only. Consequently one had to become a Jew first in order to become a Christians after. So they had to be circumcised and so on. Many brethren in Galatia (i.e., Anthioc of Pisidia, Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium) had believed these Judaizers and their faith was being corrupted. Therefore as soon as Paul heard what was happening he wrote this epistle to them.

There is a few thing to notice when we read this epistle: FIRST—In spite of what was happening Paul considers these Galatians brethren (Galatians 1:11 “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.” Galatians 5:11&13 “11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.”, “13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”)

SECOND—He also calls them sons of God. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba Father!”. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:6,7).

THIRD—Paul affirms that all the sons are heirs. In fact in Ephesians 1:11 he says that the sons have already obtained their inheritance so to speak since they are predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

FOURTH—Galatians 1:6 confirms what we have seen earlier “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.” Here we see that they were very young Christians (‘so soon’ Paul says).

We also see that they had not turned away yet but were in the process of turning away. But even if they would have turned away (past tense), the Bible teaches that when a real son, or one of the elect have turned away, he will surely return because he has a very effective Intercessor and a very Good Shepherd.

A brief parenthesis about the effectiveness of our Intercessor

Luke 22:31,32 “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; an when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Here we see once more what we have seen in John 6:39,40 “And this is the Father’s will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Therefore to do the will of His Father Jesus must make sure our faith doesn’t fail. Consequently if a real son turned away from the faith it will never be permanently. Jesus is interceding for us, and one of His requests is that our faith should not fail, and you can be sure Jesus’ prayer will prevail.

So the Bible teaches that Jesus is interceding effectively for us. Let have a look to Romans 8:30–39 “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. If God is for us, who can be against us?’ “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us”. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Paul says nothing can.) “ For I am persuaded neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let’s have a look to Hebrews 7:25 also: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Here we see how Jesus can save us to the uttermost because He lives to make intercession for us, and His prayers are always answered. Consequently if a real son turns from the faith, the Good Shepherd or the prevailing Intercessor will cause him to return.

Consideration 7(a)

Galatians 4:11 & 20 at the light of 5:10

 Galatians 4:11 “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.”  Here Paul tells them he was afraid for them, lest he would have labored in vain. The intention of Paul in this epistle is to shake them up. One must notice here that Paul doesn’t say he had labored in vain, but rather that if they would persist in this corrupt doctrine he would have labored in vain. He is here supposing, not affirming. His warnings are motivated by fear of what could happen. A warning that is not motivated by such a fear is not a warning. Consequently verse 11 must be understood as a warning in view to make them react.

The reasoning goes as the one found in Galatians 3:4 where we read: “Have you suffered so many things in vain–if indeed it was in vain?” Here also Paul doesn’t affirm they had suffered in vain. But on the supposition they would not return to the faith, they would have suffered in vain.

In verse 20 Paul adds: “I desire to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I stand in doubt of you.” As we have seen earlier Paul didn’t doubt they were brethren (Galatians 1:11; 5:11&13; 6:1). Nor did he doubt they were true sons (Galatians 3:26; 4:6 & 7). But he had doubts about their skill to discern, about the depth of their understanding. Nevertheless, in spite of all this, we see in Gal. 5:10 how Paul had confidence in them, in the Lord, that they will have no other mind than his. “I have confidence in regard to you in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.” Here Paul is saying he was confident his letter was going to establish these Galatians on the right path.

Actually the Greek word used for ‘confidence’ is the same word than the author of Hebrews used when he wrote in Hebrews 6:9: “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” The word expresses a total confidence. Paul had this confidence because he was “confident of this very thing, that He who had begun a good work in them was going to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” (Philippians 1:6).

The fact is that Paul’s doubts and fear had been aroused by their lack of judgment. After all they were little children. Yet Paul was confident these Galatians were going to agree with him when they will read his letter. Left alone their position was doubtful indeed, but happily they were not alone, consequently there was a reason to be confident. Paul knew these spiritual children would recognize the voice of reason when they would hear it; and they did. Six years later Paul refers to the churches of Galatia while writing his first epistle to the Corinthians, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also” (Corinthians 16:1).

So in the year 49 Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia to warn and exhort them (Galatians 1:2), and six years later, i.e., in the year 55, these churches were still in fellowship with Paul and submitting to his orders. It follows they had given heed to Paul’s warnings written six years earlier. This is the characteristic of the genuine children of God. They might go astray, but one way or the other they will return on the right path. The Good Shepherd will see to it, and the Holy Intercessor will plead their cause.

Consideration 7(b)

“Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away…” (John 15:2)

What interest us here is what the expression “in Me” means in this verse? Does it mean “United to Me”? Which would mean “One with Me” (after all this is the meaning of the verb ‘unite’). Now we know from John 15:5 that the person who doesn’t bear fruit doesn’t abide in Him. We also know from John 15:5 that the person who doesn’t abide in Him is actually separated from Him. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for separated from Me you can do nothing.”

According to Jesus the antithesis of ‘abiding in Him’ is ‘separated from Him’. Consequently those who don’t bear fruits are separated from Him. Since what makes a person a true Christian is the fact that he is united to Him, it follows that the one who doesn’t bear fruit is not a true Christian. After all he doesn’t partake of His life. It follows that ‘in Me’ cannot mean ‘united to Me’. Consequently we know that “Every branch in Me” includes those who are united to Him, i.e. those who bear fruit, or those who are true Christians, but it also includes those who are separated from Him, i.e. those who don’t bear fruit, or those who are not true Christians.

To say that all those in Him, as expressed in John 15:2, are all true Christians would be a mistake, because as we have seen some of those that are in Him are separated from Him (v.5). For example in Acts 17:28  Paul wrote that every person on the face of the earth live, move, and have their being in Him. But of course we all know that Paul is not saying all the people on the face of the earth are true Christians. The expression ‘in me’ or ‘in Him’ must be interpreted according to the context, and in John 15:2 the context is clear enough.

Verse 6 confirms it absolutely: “If a man abide not in me, (i.e. if a man is separated form me) he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” Here the Lord is stating clearly that the one who doesn’t partake of His life will be cast forth as a branch. Jesus is saying the same thing in Matthew 15:13: “But he answered and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up.” The moment we read John 15:2 at the light of the Scriptures everything becomes clear.

As we have already seen, Hebrews 12:11 declares that all the real sons yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. The same with Romans 6:22 and Colossians 1:3…6. Consequently the first part of John 15:2 cannot apply to real sons. Added to it, in John 15:3 Jesus declares that all His true disciples had been already pruned (for the word ‘clean’ in this verse means: clean by pruning, as the Greek English Interlinear New Testament by Wigram & Green puts it; and as Thayer Greek Lexicon explains). Consequently all genuine Christians bear fruits.

Then we have Matthew 7:19,20, which confirms it absolutely. Jesus says, “Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.” Who are them? Those who are true Christians and those who are not. It follows that all true Christians bear the kind of fruit that manifest their real entity; otherwise it would be impossible to know who is who? Now according to John 15:2 Jesus prunes those who bear such fruit, and this, to make sure they will bear more fruit; it follows that the true Christians will always bear fruit. In fact, according to John 15:2 the true Christian will bear more and more fruit, not less and less. This is the effect of the pruning.

Consideration 8

 1 Corinthians 8:9–11 “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?”

Before we look at these verses I want to remind you that a true believer has the potential to get lost; but that potential will never be actualized because God will never permit it to happen. He will warn His children, watch and admonish them, counsel and confirm them, establish and discipline them; just to mention a few things God does for His children.

It is important to understand the context of these scriptures. The whole chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians is dedicated to food offered to idols. Paul wrote it because there were some brethren who didn’t behave lovingly towards some other members of the church. They, like Paul, knew and believed that to eat meat offer to idols was not wrong in itself, and this because an idol is nothing, and there is only one God (v. 4). But since there were some brethren who didn’t have this knowledge, i.e., they believed it was sinful to eat meat offered to idols v.7, those who were eating such meat were thus becoming a stumbling block to the weaker brethren whose knowledge was incomplete v.9–11 “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” Paul is saying here that the liberty of those who had knowledge in regard to meat offered to idols was not edifying the weaker brethren, on the contrary, it was weakening them. Now if this attitude would not have been dealt with, i.e., if it would have remained unnoticed, and the practice would have continued, it might have led some brethren to destruction. But this was not going to happen because God was now dealing with it through His servant Paul. The risk was brought to their attention, explained, and understood. Consequently what could have happened was not going to happen because God was taking care of His children there and then.

Consideration 9

Ezekiel 3:20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquitiy, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sins, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be rememberd; but his blood I will require at your hand.”

It is hard to use Ezekiel 3:20 in reference to the subject we are dealing with. And it is so for several reasons. First because in Ezekiel we deal with people who were under the law. When someone righteous or unrighteous was caught in adultery for instance he was stone to death. There was little possibility of a returning. Second, the New Covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 32:40 was not made yet. “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” Third, the majority of those called righteous in these days had not received the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was given only to a selected few. And it was so because the prophecy of Joel 2:28,29 had not happened yet. It begun at Pentecost as we read in Acts 2:17. “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28,29)

Added to it their revelation was incomplete: Matthew 13:17 “for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Consequently to use Ezekiel 3:20 to demonstrate that a real son under the New Covenant can get lost is to miss the point. It could be compare to someone who would say: “As we have seen, when a fox jump from the 22º floor he dies, consequently we have demonstrated that a swallow jumping from that height will also die.” This is why I recommend using scriptures from the New Testament. I believe the New Testament offers enough light on the subject. If we cannot find scriptures in the New Testament demonstrating that some of those who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ have eventually left the faith permanently, I think there is no use to dig in the Old Testament to find some. Added to it, the scriptures establishing the truth I have presented are so numerous and so clear that little can be done about it.

Consideration 10

Let us close by reading a few scriptures: “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” (2 John 1:8). “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). “That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;” (Ephes. 4:22). “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;” (2 Peter 1:10).

I close by saying that all such scriptures are used as a warning for the everlasting well being of all the children of God, and they will be used to make sure all the sons will cross the gate of heaven.

Conclusion

Once a person becomes a son, that person will always be a son, and all the sons will ultimately cross the gate of heaven.