Is it possible to fall from grace?
So the first answer has to be "no". Jesus says:
But then comes the difficult bit: who are Jesus' sheep? Am I one of them? Is he or she? How can I be sure? How come some people who seem to be committed Christians do fall away?
John's first letter is really helpful in answering this. It's full of lots of "tests" that (if I've understood the book correctly!) are intended to both shake us up and give us assurance. For example:
[A quick aside: I can hear some of you asking: is John teaching that we're put right with God by what we do? No he isn't. But he is saying that faith that is real enough to put us right with God is also real enough to change our lives: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith" 1 John 5:4]
John seems to sum it up in the middle of his letter. He's told us in the letter what it means to be one of Jesus' sheep (to "abide in him") and pleads with us to keep on doing just that:
Maybe you're the kind of person who is naturally self-confident and you're convinced that nothing can separate you from God. In that case, reflect on John's words and let fear of straying drive you deeper in your faith.
Maybe you're the kind of person who's naturally under-confident and you're often worried that you're not one of God's people. In that case, trust God that he has promised to do everything needed to bring you safely into heaven (John 10:28)
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." John 10:27-28 (ESV)If we are saved by grace and not by anything we do (as Paul says: "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." Romans 9:16), then surely nothing we do can make us fall from that grace.
But then comes the difficult bit: who are Jesus' sheep? Am I one of them? Is he or she? How can I be sure? How come some people who seem to be committed Christians do fall away?
John's first letter is really helpful in answering this. It's full of lots of "tests" that (if I've understood the book correctly!) are intended to both shake us up and give us assurance. For example:
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8There are lots more - go read the book!
"Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling" 1 John 2:10
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" 1 John 2:15
"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning." 1 John 3:9
[A quick aside: I can hear some of you asking: is John teaching that we're put right with God by what we do? No he isn't. But he is saying that faith that is real enough to put us right with God is also real enough to change our lives: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith" 1 John 5:4]
John seems to sum it up in the middle of his letter. He's told us in the letter what it means to be one of Jesus' sheep (to "abide in him") and pleads with us to keep on doing just that:
"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." 1 John 2:28
Maybe you're the kind of person who is naturally self-confident and you're convinced that nothing can separate you from God. In that case, reflect on John's words and let fear of straying drive you deeper in your faith.
Maybe you're the kind of person who's naturally under-confident and you're often worried that you're not one of God's people. In that case, trust God that he has promised to do everything needed to bring you safely into heaven (John 10:28)
posted by Explorer at 1:49 pm
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