{"id":3547,"date":"2015-09-29T09:07:59","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T07:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/?p=3547"},"modified":"2015-09-29T09:07:59","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T07:07:59","slug":"is-it-possible-to-fall-from-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/?p=3547","title":{"rendered":"Is it possible to fall from grace?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Yes<\/strong><\/span>
\n\t4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace<\/span>.<\/em>
\n\tGalatians 5:4  NASB<\/p>\n

4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
\n\t5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
\n\t6 and then have fallen away,<\/span> it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.<\/em>
\n\tHebrews 6:4-6  NASB<\/p>\n

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
\n\t21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment<\/span> handed on to them.<\/em>
\n\t2 Peter 2:20-21  NASB<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No<\/strong><\/span>
\n\t… and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish<\/span>; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.<\/em>
\n\tJohn 10:28  NASB<\/p>\n

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
\n\t39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus<\/span> our Lord.<\/em>
\n\tRomans 8:38-39  NASB<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SAB Contradiction 165<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Intro<\/strong>
\n\tA serious question raised by the critic. Is it possible to fall from grace? Having once accepted Christ, is it yet possible to be lost forever? Some texts seem to suggest so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jesus about eternal life<\/strong>
\n\tThere are definite statements of Jesus that eternal life is forever, not one day excluded (especially in the Gospel of John: 3:16, 36,  5:24,  6:47,  10:28). It would be cruel if Jesus spoke about eternal life in a philosophical or idealistic way: something desirable but not attainable for man. Christianity would be a cruel belief if it were to preach eternal life without offering the means of partaking of it. It is a blessing that John already in the preface of his Gospel removed this possible accusation. In John 1:12 it is definitely stated that whosoever accepts Christ receives new life in Him.<\/p>\n

Having said this, it is—concerning the question of contradiction—sufficient to discuss briefly the essence of the three texts presented. None of these texts says that one can fall from Christ<\/em>.<\/span> That’s the kernel of the matter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hebrews 6:4-6<\/strong>
\n\tThe point in this passage is: “it is impossible to restore them again<\/em><\/span> to repentance”. This is completely in accordance with the proclamation of the Gospel. There is only one thing necessary to enter the Kingdom of God: repentance and accepting Jesus as Savior, the One who heals the heart. When Jesus has entered therein He will remain there. No one will give up his home, neither does Jesus. So if someone has “fallen away”, he\/she cannot again<\/em> come to repentance as this didn<\/em>’<\/em>t happen at all in the past<\/em>. He\/she has to come to repentance for the first time<\/em>, understanding that all past Christian experiences were momentary blessings and not of eternal value already, which is the main point of the Christian message.<\/p>\n

E.g. many young people educated in a Christian environment may perceive when leaving home that they seem to have lost their belief. How is that possible? they ask. Some possibilities are open. Did they let Jesus sleep in their boat? If they once accepted Him, they have to awake Him to still the storm. Or they have to discover that Christianity is not only a belief of forgiveness, blessings and nice words, but also a belief of to be or not to be, life or not life. They have to come to the insight that they have a desperate need for a personal belief in Jesus Christ. It requires repentance as yet and then to accept Him really.
\n\tNo contradictory text<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Galatians 5:4<\/strong>
\n\tIn this passage Paul speaking to gentiles, says that whoever is seeking justification by the law (circumcision), does not experience justification through Christ: “You have fallen from grace.” He says this to those who are already Christians that if they would seek justification by the law (circumcision) they would lose the profit of Christ (Galatians 5:2). However he adds: “ I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded.” In other words Paul warns the Galatians and is speaking hypothetically in his teaching. He is not even saying that they have fallen from Christ.
\n\tNo contradictory text<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2 Peter 2:20-21<\/strong>
\n\tThe apostle Peter also shows that it is possible to fall away from “the way of righteousness”, to turn one’s back to God’s blessings. Compare the comment on Hebrews 6:4-6 above. To become a Christian needs true repentance as yet—that is the recognition that one is a sinner and that Jesus is Savior—and then to accept Him as Lord in the inner self by prayer. 
\n\tNo contradictory text<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No Bible Contradiction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A serious question raised by the critic. Is it possible to fall from grace? Having once accepted Christ, is it yet possible to be lost forever? Some texts seem to suggest so. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,33,35,42,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-peter","category-galatians","category-hebrews","category-john","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3550,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3547\/revisions\/3550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}