Hey Triune,
Great post. I find this talk always edifying and fascinating spiritually. What I’d like to know, and again this isn’t apologetics or me being an argumentative weenie here, is how we reconcile the idea that we are justified through faith alone with many of Jesus’s and Paul’s statements that sound as if we are judged and critiqued for some of our behavior and works? Statements like “many will come to me saying Lord, Lord,” and “it is easier to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” and a “good tree does not bear bad fruit,” etc.
It is true that our sins are covered by the righteousness of Christ, and we have been imputed with His “positive” righteousness (His adherence to the law). This cannot be undone by sin, because Christ has already suffered for our sins and paid their penalty. Therefore, our sin, in and of itself, does not condemn us.
The issue then, is falling away from faith. If we understand that faith unites us to the complete justification won for us by Christ, then one must continue in the faith in order to remain united to Christ. If faith is not present, then union with Christ is not present, and justification is not present.
There are two sets of Bible passages that speak of falling away. First, there are those which directly warn against such a thing happening to believers. One example is Galatians 5:4: 'You are separated from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by Law, you have fallen from grace." Paul had taught the true Gospel to the Galatians. They had joyfully received that Gospel and became Christians, not by appearance but in actuality. They were justified by faith, received the Holy Spirit, and miracles were performed in their midst (See Galatians 3:1-5). They were Christians in every sense of the word. But to these who had once been Christians Paul now says, “You have fallen from grace " and 'you are separated from Christ” if you attempt to be justified by the Law. What else can this mean but that they who had been true believers were in danger of falling away, of no longer being Christians. If falling away permanently is an impossibility then Paul’s words have no meaning and his very real concern is misplaced.
A second example is Luke 8:13. In this passage Jesus is explaining the meaning of the Parable of the Sower. Our Lord says, “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” Here Jesus says, unmistakably, that it is possible for someone to receive the Gospel, truly believe for a while, but then fall away, because of temptation. To those who try to say that such people were never really Christian, Jesus words disagree. He says in clear words, that they 'believe for a while " and then 'fall away ". One cannot fall away from something that one wasn’t truly a part of to begin with.
If, then, falling away is possible, what causes it according to Scripture? Technically speaking, only unbelief, that is, not believing in Jesus damns (cf. John 3:18, 36; Mark 16:16). However, the New Testament itself further nuances this. An analysis of the New Testament data reveals that both (1) rejecting the Gospel and (2) living in sin unrepentantly lead to falling away from the faith.
Rejecting the Gospel, in New Testament terms, can mean either (1a) putting one’s trust in persons or works of the Law in addition to Jesus Christ or (1b) a total repudiation of Jesus and the Christian faith, and (1c) rejecting an essential doctrine of the Gospel. An example of (1a) was the Galatian congregation already mentioned. They, who had been taught to trust only in Jesus for their salvation were beginning to trust in the works of the Law (i.e., circumcision) in addition to Jesus. Paul rightly pointed out that to do so meant to fall from grace. So also in our day, any Christian who begins to trust in their own performance or someone or something else in addition to Christ has fallen away.
(1b) above refers to the person who formally and consciously leaves the Christian faith. A Biblical example of this is probably those to whom the letter to the Hebrews was written. Many scholars believe that the epistle to the Hebrews was written as a stern warning to Hebrew Christians who were on the verge of returning to Judaism. Demas, “who having loved this present world” deserted Paul and returned to Thessalonica, is probably another example (2 Timothy 4:10). So is Judas Iscariot.
An example of (1c) is those who denied the resurrection, such as “Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some” (see also 1 Timothy 1:19-20). Some among the Corinthians were also rejecting the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12-14).
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