Sometimes we portray things as being very black and white, when they consist of a multitude of greys.

Some people say you cannot ‘fall away’ from God and others say you can but it is ‘fatal’ – are either true? Is this an issue of shades of grey?

Why do some people say that you cannot fall away or cease to be a Christian or turn your back on God?

Jesus himself said that no one can snatch his sheep out of his hand:

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one." HCSB

This verse always suggests to me that at the cross Jesus had our names tattooed into his palms:

Isa 49:16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; NIV

At first sight this does rather suggest that we are “once Christian, always Christian”. However, Jesus talks about not being taken from his hand – it doesn’t say that we can’t wriggle free! Perhaps Jesus may be like some who walk around with an ex boy or girlfriend’s name tattooed on their arm – always reminded but no longer walking together?

Our Society

In the days in which many of these words were written the followers of Christ were living in constant threat of torture and death. In much of the world today the same is true, particularly in Islamic nations, but in the UK the worst we probably experience is discrimination in the workplace and a bit of ‘ribbing’ from people we meet.

When Jesus talked about times of great persecution he said:

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matt 24:9-11 NIV

Under those specific circumstances is it so surprising that some will turn away from the faith? Yet the call on our lives is that we should willingly face death for our Lord.

The writer to the Hebrews says this:

For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted God's good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt. Heb 6:4-6 HCSB

This is perhaps the most damning indictment against those who ‘backslide’ or go back to their old life, because it talks about there being no way back. It talks about those who have had a real relationship with Jesus, who have really experienced what it is to be saved, and says that there is no way back for them because of their treatment of Christ. If you like, they have burned their bridges.

This of course is the problem – they burn their bridges. There can be no way back without a bridge and if you have thrown yourself back into your old way of life then it must be very hard to ever get out again.

For if, having escaped the world's impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, "a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud." 2 Peter 2:20-22 HCSB

It would be better not to have known… a dog returns to its own vomit…a choice is made and God will not nullify our choices, he made us to rule and will not take that back from us.

Divorce

To turn back in face of possible death is a major decision – you must be committed to this life ahead of eternal life - but what about those subtle changes where people just seem to grow cold and drift away? Was it ever really real for them in the first place?

In our society, we make following Jesus really easy. You can go to a lot of churches in the UK and barely hear about sin or commitment, so if you drift away is it such a big deal? If you haven’t made a commitment to Jesus are you in trouble if you walk away? If you were never married, you can hardly need a divorce?

In the parable of the sower Jesus talks about those seeds that grow up without adequate soil and they wither and die. He also talks about those who grow up with thorns that choke the life out of them. We have to remember that:

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Cor 15:33 NIV

-  Who we hang around with may affect our eternal destiny!

Judgement

We like to know who is in our group don’t we? The reality is we never know for sure. We don’t always see the hangers-on as being just that, we don’t hear their silent prayers or see their walk with Jesus. We are warned not to judge and that is a lesson we should all learn. Just as hearts grow cold sometimes, they also warm up – it isn’t as common as growing cold, but sometimes memories are stirred and people who had grown distant in their walk with God come back to a real commitment this time.

Does this only happen to those who never really had a commitment in the past? Well in our sloppy, mushy, post-modern 21^st century, I don’t want to fall into the sin of judging others! What I am sure of is that if you are committed to God and willfully or deliberately turn back there may not be a way home. I am also sure that if you never really had a proper case of Christianity, you can meander away and then catch a good dose and return. Remember, whereas church attendance is a normal behavior for Christians, you cannot say that it defines a Christian. Sometimes people walk with us but aren’t ‘of us’.

Endurance

It is the believer’s perseverance to the end that validates a claim to Christian faith and authenticates spiritual experience :

But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith, and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. Col 1:22-23 HCSB

For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. Heb 3:14 HCSB

John says this:

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us. 1 John 2:19 HCSB

Conclusion

Fundamentally, I believe that Jesus has no intention of ever let anyone take you from his hand – but if you are determined to go He will allow it!

Those who at time of trial deny the Lord Jesus and turn their back on the Way will face a tough judgement, but thank God it isn’t ours to make.

Most people we think of as backsliders have just gone cold and may not have even had a genuine relationship with God to start with, but we should never give up praying for them. Jesus isn’t committed to excluding people, but he wants to embrace us all. The problem people face is that they exclude themselves and whenever they do we can always appeal to grace – for God’s grace is amazing and we should never claim to know more than God.

It would be foolish of anyone to think that they can go back to their old life and return whenever they wish – clearly it doesn’t work like that, but neither should we give up on those who seem to stop walking with Jesus, but always save a seat at the table for them!