No Apostasy, or Once in Grace, Always in Grace,
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No Apostasy, or Once in Grace, Always in Grace,
By S. OSBORN
Solomon's chance for eternal life is similar to Saul's. That he was a child of God once, no Bible believer will deny. That his heart was turned away from serving God to the service of idols, through the influence of his wives and concubines, is equally certain. Please read 1 Kings 11:1–12, and you will see his fallen condition described. And more than this, we are told that he died with murder in his heart. In verse 40, we read, “Solomon sought, therefore, to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, . . . and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.” Now apply the test of character as given by Ezekiel, chap. 18:26, and surely nothing but the second death awaits him. I will call the attention of the reader to two more individual cases, and then pass to examine the subject on a larger scale. One is Ahithophel, the counsellor of king David. His standing before God we learn from 2 Sam. 16:23: “And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had inquired of the oracle of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both with David and with Absalom.” But because his counsel was not taken on one occasion by Absalom, he became so mortified that he set his house in order and hanged himself. 2 Sam. 17:23. He was his own murderer; and we read, 1 John 3:15, “Ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Once more, Jeroboam was a wicked king of Israel. Instead of worshiping the true God, he made two golden calves, and set one up at Bethel, and the other at Dan, for the people to worship. This was a great sin, and there came a man of God from Judah unto Bethel to cry against that sin. But he had a charge from God not to eat bread, nor drink water, nor return again by the same way that he came; but as he was on his way home another way, according to the word of the Lord, he was persuaded by an old lying prophet to return with him, and eat bread. While they were eating, the word of the Lord came to him that, because he had eaten and drunk where the Lord had forbade him, his carcass should not come unto the sepulcher of his fathers. He was slain by a lion as he was returning, because he had violated the command of God, and he died in his sin. 1 Kings, chapters 12, 13. Now notice the following points:—
1. The prophet was said to be a man of God. He of course was in favor with God when he was sent to cry against the sin of idolatry.
2. He violated God's positive command, and died in that sin. Hence, according to Eze. 18:26, he must now die for that sin, which is the second death. I will now examine the case of the children of Israel, as a nation, on this point. We have an expression of their condition before the Lord in the song they sung on the bank of the Red Sea at the time of their deliverance. Ex. 15:2: “The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation; he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.” And again in verse 17: “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” Whether this promise refers to the earthly or the heavenly inheritance, it shows equally the favored condition of the Israelites before God at that time. That all their names were written in the book of life is proved from Ex. 32:33. God said to Moses, referring to the Israelites, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” Notice the following points:—
1. They were in a saved condition before God, as is evidenced by having their names recorded in his book; and,
2. By sinning they would fall from grace, or favor with him, and their names would be blotted out of his book, and such persons must share in the second death. Rev. 20:15. Paul confirms this view in 1 Cor. 10:1–12. In the first four verses, their conversion to God is set forth. We read: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them [or went with them, margin]; and that Rock was Christ.” Now I make the following points in confirmation of the foregoing truth:—
1. The Israelites were all rightly baptized unto Moses at the Red Sea.
2. They all ate of the same spiritual meat, and,
3. They all (the same all) enjoyed the spiritual blessings of Christ. Notice that they drank of that Rock that went with them—not the literal water that came out of the rock at Massah and Meribah, when struck by Moses—but the present blessings of Christ's presence to bear witness that they were his children. Now notice their fall as described in verses 5–10: “But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted,” &c. Verse 7 teaches that they were idolaters; verse 8, that they were fornicators; verse 9, that they tempted Christ; and verse 10, that they murmured. Now if these things are written for our examples, and we are guilty of similar sins, we surely shall suffer similar consequences. No Christian will deny the fact that we can, and sometimes do, lust after evil things, become idolaters, fornicators, murmurers, and sometimes tempt Christ. These sins were what caused their carcasses to fall in the wilderness. Now as we before have proved, these people were once righteous, and, according to Eze. 18:26, they are lost without hope. If we are guilty of similar sins, let me ask you, fellow-Christian, Where, according to Paul's analogy, will we stand in the day of wrath? Paul continues in verse 12: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” There is a chance of falling as long as we live; for this warning is given to the Christian church during this dispensation. The main cause of all these sins is the lack of faith. This is evident from Heb. 3:17–19. Verses 18, 19 read: “And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Lack of faith in God caused them to turn away from him and commit these sins, and thereby fail of entering into eternal rest. Lack of faith will be the hindering cause in many who start in the Christian race. “Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them.” Heb. 4:2. Both had the gospel; both had, finally, the same promises. Verses 8–11 attest this fact: “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.” Verse 8. This shows that the rest is future, “There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God.” Verse 9. This covers all God's people; and verse 11 contains an injunction to the Christian: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” According to this testimony, I do not see how any one can say there is no chance of falling away, so as to lose our eternal rest. Many of the Hebrews were slain in their sins; and Paul charges us to be careful. If there is no danger, Paul is talking very foolishly. If we die in our sins, Christ says, “Whither I go, ye cannot come.” John 8:21. “Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time to insure the great reward;
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
O hasten, sinner, to return.” The backslider is in as great danger of not going where Christ is as is one who never turned to the Lord. Eze. 18:20–32. I will introduce one more case to show the uniform dealings of God with his children in the two dispensations, and also the danger of some apostatizing. The Lord, referring to Israel, says, “The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult, he hath kindled a fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.” Jer. 11:16. Why were the branches broken? Paul takes up the same subject, and gives us the reason. Hear him: “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.” Rom. 11:17. This shows that both Jews and Gentiles are brought together in one. In verse 20, Paul tells us that they (the Israelites) were broken off because of unbelief; in verse 18, he tells the disciples not to boast against the branches; and in the 20th verse, he tells us that the Christian standeth by faith. Then both Jews and Gentiles stand by faith. The lack of faith will subject us to the same final fate, which is a failure to enter into the “rest that remaineth for the people of God.” Heb. 4:8–11. This is surely apostasy. But some can see an objection to the foregoing in the assertion: “So all Israel shall be saved.” Rom. 11:26. It is thought this refers to literal Israel; but it is evident from verse 28 that it refers to spiritual Israel. “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.” Let Peter tell us who the elect are, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience,” &c. 1 Pet. 1:2. Again he says: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” 2 Pet. 1:10. The elect then are those that do according to the teachings of the word of the Lord (and in this sense all Israel will be saved); but if they do not do these things, they will fall. Mark that this address was made to those of the same precious faith with the apostle, and hence to those who were in favor with God. The apostle continues: “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” Chap. 3:17. It is plain from these texts that men can apostatize. The whole of the 2nd chapter is devoted to the advocacy of this view. In the 1st verse the apostle speaks of the false teachers that would arise, “denying the Lord that bought them.” In the 15th verse, referring to the same characters, he says, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray,” and in the 20th verse, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Now notice the following points in favor of their conversion:—
1. The Lord had bought them.
2. As they had forsaken the right way and had gone astray, they must at some time have been in it; and,
3. Verse 20 says they had escaped the pollutions of the world. Now look at their apostasy.
1. They were entangled again, and overcome.
2. In verse 21, we read: “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.” This shows they did turn away from doing right, and were in a worse condition than before their conversion, and hence will stand a worse chance for their eternal salvation. For “the latter end is worse with them than the beginning;” they “shall receive the reward of unrighteousness;” they “shall utterly perish in their own corruption;” their “judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not;” and they “bring upon themselves swift destruction.” Can anything be plainer? In the 4th verse he brings to view the fall of angels: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” Here we see not only the apostasy of man, but also of some of the angels. Jude says it was because they “kept not their first estate,” Jude 6, showing that they were probationers as well as man.