A few years ago, my husband, Mark, asked a very influential pastor if he believed that a Christian could lose his salvation. The pastor responded quickly saying, “I think it’s a bad question.” Because skirting the issue by not answering it wasn’t acceptable to Mark, he pressed the issue by asking the question a second time, this time in a slightly different way: “So you’re saying that someone who once believed in Jesus can lose his salvation?”
The pastor was irritated and then made the age-old text book argument, “Are you trying to say that someone who says they were once a Christian and then becomes a satan worshipper is still saved?”
Mark didn’t take the bait. He simply presented the question a third time, “My question is this: do you believe that a Christian who was once counted righteous by God can lose his righteousness by sinning and then have to earn back his righteousness for God to accept him?” I was present in this meeting, and it seemed to me like God Himself was speaking through my husband – as if God had brought this man to a crossroads and was giving him an opportunity to make the right choice.
An indescribable sense of seriousness and heaviness fell in that room. That solemn moment is etched in my memory. It was as if angels were standing in attention at the utterance of this question and the gravity of it. In the brief pause while we were waiting on this man’s answer, I became extremely aware of the unseen realm, and I heard the voice of the God in my spirit as clearly as I had ever heard it: “THIS MAN WILL NOT EXALT MY SON.” It was as if a mighty wind blew through my spirit, taking my breath away as I felt the awesomeness of the sacrifice of Jesus whose everlasting righteousness was given to us at an immeasurable cost. The fear of the Lord gripped me. It was not a terror that made me want to flea, but a utmost consciousness of His majesty, honor, and holiness.
In a very exasperated and deliberate tone, the pastor said, “I told you – it’s a bad question and I’m not going to answer it.” He then changed the subject to attempt to relieve the pressure in the room. He may have moved on, but I continued to be stunned. I had heard that doctrine espoused in one way or another my whole life; yet my awareness of the eternal blood of Jesus was so heightened at that moment that my spirit was deeply and intensely grieved.
When we believe that we can break the covenant of grace by our works, we have counted the blood of Jesus as a common thing. It is the greatest insult against the Son of God that we can make.
(from pages 282-283 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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