Can a Born-Again Man Apostasize?

Anyone who believes that one who has been truly born of God can get out of relationship with God and be finally lost is blind to great sections of truth in the Word of God. They look at some experiences in life instead of at the Word of God, and judge the Word by what they see in life, rather than judging life by what they see in the Word.

Martin Luther gave a very neat and beautiful answer to this question. Luther had a servant named Elizabeth, who, in a fit of displeasure, left without giving any notice. She subsequently became dangerously ill, and in her sickness she requested a visit from Luther. On taking his seat at her bedside, he said, "Well, Elizabeth, what is the matter?" "I have given away my soul to Satan," she replied. "Elizabeth, listen to me," rejoined the man of God. "Suppose that, while you lived in my house, you had sold and transferred all my children to a stranger. Would the sale and transfer have been lawful and binding?" "Oh, no, for I had no right to do that." "Very well, you had still less right to give your soul to the Arch-Enemy; it no more belongs to you than my children do. It is the exclusive property of the Lord Jesus Christ; He made it, and when lost He also redeemed it; it is His."

The one who has been made a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, has the very life of God. It is eternal life. By its very nature, there could be no other kind of divine life except eternal life. If we know anything about ourselves, we can say quite frankly that if God had not intended to keep us when He saved us in the first place, He might just as well not have wasted His time to begin with. But He has said Himself that we may be confident of this very thing that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). Truly we may believe in eternal security.

But it should be recognized that just as it is possible for an individual to stand up and preach and later apostatize, it is also possible for a man to deceive himself into thinking that he is saved. It is important that the Christian give diligence to make his calling and election sure. We do believe in eternal security, but we do not believe in eternal presumption. Let a man examine himself.

1. If Christians cannot loose their salvation, what about those people who have left the church?
2. What does the Parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30 teach us about eternal security?