QUESTION:
So, you mean to tell me that Demas who left
Paul because he loved the present world more than the gospel as stated in
second Timothy, four verse 10, would go to heaven anyway, even though he
abandoned the faith?
ANSWER:
For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved
this present world: There is no conclusive evidence
that Demas forsook the faith. Paul says he forsook him, not ‘the faith’.
In addition, we cannot interpret, having
loved this present world, to mean, necessarily, that he was a materialistic
man, or that, he loved the honours or wealth of this world. It could be
interpreted that he simply ‘desired to live’. He was not willing to stay with
Paul, and subject himself to the probabilities of persecution or martyrdom;
and, in order to secure his life, he departed to a place of safety.
So, there is no reason why Demas should be
held up as an example of a worldly man. That he desired to live longer; that he
was unwilling to remain and risk the loss of life, is indeed clear. That Paul
was pained by his departure, and that he felt lonely and sad, is quite
apparent; but I see no evidence that Demas was influenced by what are commonly
called worldly feelings, or that he was led to this course by the desire of
wealth, or fame, or pleasure.
QUESTION:
So, that means I can go back to doing
whatever I want to do? I could live a life of sin and debauchery, and then go
to heaven anyway because I accepted Christ 30 years ago or 20 years ago? Makes
no sense.
ANSWER:
Coming back to your point on a ‘backslider’
scenario. I’m happy to be realistic and chat about this, as the point is, it
can happen. So, let’s investigate.
If we cannot rely of God’s absolute grace
and justification through Christ’s cross work, then let’s take grace out the
picture. To do this, we have to go back to Israel in the Old Testament and Gospel
periods. In order for a Jew (or any human) to be saved without God’s grace through
Christ, we had to have a sacrificial system in place with a priesthood. Israel
had this, and their sins were covered by means of the blood of bulls and goats,
sacrificed under a priesthood covenant.
Today, there is no Israel under covenant.
There is no temple. There is no alter and mercy seat. There is no priesthood.
Even worse, we are all as Gentiles today, and, without Christ, we are, as Paul
put it, “… having no hope, and without God in the world:” Eph 2:12.
My point is, even the best of us, without
God’s grace, will not be saved. There is no amount of good works or merits that
we can conjure up to appease God. We cannot earn or purchase salvation in
ourselves, because we are sinners. The cost is too high, and we deserve the penalty
of our sin, death. There is no one who can even come close to doing ANYTHING to
warrant God in giving that person a free pass into heaven. Even if we never
sinned, we still deserve death, because sin is inside us. Sin is in our core
and our nature.
So, with this said, our only hope is God’s
grace, offered as a free gift.
God has made it incredibly easy for us to
get saved. Just believe in Jesus. There is no need to work for it or maintain
it. There is no small print in the contract and there are no hidden catches.
God says, believe in Jesus, and trust that His cross work is full payment for
your sins, and you will be saved. Just read Romans chapters 1 to 8 to get the
full details.
The point is that it is not our work to
begin with. All this is determined by God Himself. It is God who says that faith
in His Son is full payment for our sins. Then, salvation is further guaranteed by
God saying that there is no work to do to earn it. There is no work to do to
maintain it. Why? Because the work needed, to guarantee FULL salvation, is
already done by Jesus Christ. We are gifted salvation freely by simply trusting
in Jesus. Once the gift of life is given, do you think God will take it back,
saying… “Oh, I made a mistake! I miscalculated my intentions. You are too wicked,
and your sin is too great. The blood of my Son is too cheap, and His sacrifice
on the cross is too weak to include your wickedness”. Let’s assume, God was
talking to you, a murderer, or a pedophile. If he said that to you, then God
would have to also say that to a law-abiding citizen who lied to his parents in
one moment of weakness. Why? Because that law-abiding man, as good as his life
was, is still a sinner like you, a murderer. Sin is sin. If you fail in only
one law, you fail in them all.
Without God’s grace and the gift of life
through Christ, there is NO HOPE for any one of us. We are all the walking dead,
on the highway to hell.
QUESTION:
... I’m sorry, but it does matter what we
do physically. ... Repentance is still key to salvation. One cannot cheat on
his wife, reconcile with her, and then figure he could go out and just cheat on
her all he wants to now, because he has been reconciled.
ANSWER:
In a sense, you are right when you say it
does matter what we do physically. What we do physically will not affect our
salvation, but it will affect our position and prize at the Judgement Seat of
Christ. That is a topic for another day, but as for our salvation, that is
sealed and cannot be lost. The scriptures below confirm this.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
The verse above is in reference to the
Judgement Seat of Christ. This is an event exclusively for those saved today,
as members of the Body of Christ. If our work is our own, and not the work of
the Spirit, that work is burned at this event. In other words, if a person is sincerely
and genuinely saved today, believing in Jesus as his only hope, but then
chooses to not abide in the written Word and provide the Word an opportunity to
renew his mind and influence his life, preferring to ignore Paul’s grace doctrine
and do his own worldly and sinful things, his salvation will stand, but he will
suffer loss at the Judgement Seat. Why does he not lose his salvation? Because
it was not his to lose. His salvation is a gift of God. The condition of his
salvation is not linked or dependent on his life or choices, but by the faith,
the cross work, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, freely imputed to him
when he placed his trust in Christ. That is the ONLY condition for God to save
him. If God expected anything more of you, you’d lose your salvation, not to
mention that you’d then have earned your reward and have the ability to boast
about it, which God would NEVER allow, as the glory is Christ’s alone.
Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I hope that clarifies some of the things I said in my post. Sorry for the length of this reply, but it is necessary to fully explain and qualify my points.
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