Can a Child of God Fall from Grace Part II
PART 2
Is it possible for a child of God to fall from grace? Is it true that one is “once saved, always saved”? The only way to answer these questions with certainty is to turn to the pages of God’s Word, the Bible. Please consider the following:
Peter wrote: “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 unto them. But it is happened unto 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” (II Peter 2:20-22). Notice that Peter wrote about those who had “escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” The “pollutions” of this passage are not the pollutions of the air or water. Rather, Peter is writing about a “pollution” that can be escaped through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This must be the spiritual pollution of sin. Therefore, this passage is describing those who had been saved from sin.
However, Peter then warns that one can be “again entangled therein, and overcome.” If one becomes entangled in sin “again,” that must mean that Peter is writing about those who were once entangled in sin, became untangled, and then were entangled in sin “again.” In effect, Peter is saying that one can be saved from sin and then fall away and be “overcome” by sin “again.” So, there is no escaping the fact that Peter is writing about those who were once saved but then fell into sin and were overcome by sin, “again.”
Then, Peter reveals the spiritual condition of those who fall away: “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.” This must mean that one who never hears the way of righteousness is lost and remains lost. However, some escape the pollutions of the world (are saved), but then turn from the way of righteousness back to the way of unrighteousness. Those who return to the way of unrighteousness are like hogs once washed that return to wallow in the mud. Those who turn back are “worse off” than before. This must be because they were lost, then saved, but returned to a lost condition “again.” Consequently, the “latter end is worse with them than the beginning”—they threw away their salvation to return to sin.
Friend, the Bible does not teach that one who is saved can never lose his salvation. If you have been taught this, I encourage you to renounce that doctrine and believe what the Bible teaches on this vital subject!
