On Falling Away
December 6, 2024
We've all seen it.
Usually it comes as a Facebook post, or an article, or an interview. Some big name in Christianity - someone well-known and influential, an author or musician perhaps - suddenly announces that they "can't keep living the lie," that they've abandoned the faith and become an [atheist, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, what-have-you]. It's become a commonplace enough phenomenon to barely register on the radar these days.
Another one bites the dust.
At first, in my Evangelical days, these incidents would shock me and leave me feeling betrayed. These were people that I looked up to, who I followed and learned from. Sometimes it'd be my friends from former years; I'd bump into them online, and be stunneded to discover they'd apostatized, even people who'd seemed so "on fire for God", so unshakable and sincere in their faith. Or sometimes it'd be someone far closer, perhaps even saying they'd never believed in the first place, that they'd just been faking it.
How could this happen?
And worse, if even THEY could turn their backs on Christ, what kind of a chance could I possibly have of remaining a Christian?
This was a difficult reality to make sense of. Some people thought that once you were saved, you were always saved (citing verses like John 10:27-30 and Romans 8:30), and so the people who would abandon the faith had never actually been true believers in the first place. THAT was a terrifying thought, in its implications. What if I only thought I was a believer, but was in reality just fooling myself? Would I eventually fall away, and stand before the Judgment Throne and hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you"?
Part of the issue, then, was that when I wanted to know if I was truly a Christian or not, I would look back to my moment of conversion: the prayer that I prayed as a kid, asking Jesus to come into my heart. While on the one hand I believed that I was saved by grace alone, on the other hand I was actually looking to my own work as the thing that got me in the door. Maybe, though, I wasn't sincere enough when I prayed, and in the end it'd be shown to be a fake, inadequate for salvation.
Another thing that I heard a lot was that the key ingredient to true faith (and staying in the faith) was the concept that Christianity is not a "religion," it's a "relationship." The key, then, to being and remaining a Christian was to spend quiet time with God, talking to him and listening for him to speak. As with any relationship, there is work involved, and the danger was in letting the relationship drift. Those people who fell away must have let their relationship fizzle out from neglect, then.
So two key questions needed to be answered: First, can a Christian fall away? And second, if so, how can this happen?
While the verses referenced by those who hold to Once Saved, Always Saved are true of course, there are many more that warn that abandoning the faith is a very real possibility. Here are a few:
"And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away." - Luke 8:13
"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." - 1 Corinthians 10:12
"For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:14
"But the one who endures to the end will be saved." - Matthew 24:13
"You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace." - Galatians 5:4
(And let's not forget about the examples of David and Peter, among others.)
The Bible clearly speaks as if falling away were quite possible. But if so, how does this happen? Here's what the Lutheran Book of Concord has to say about it (Solid Declaration IV.30-32):
"Thirdly, since it is also disputed whether good works preserve salvation, or whether they are necessary for preserving faith, righteousness, and salvation, and this again is of high and great importance,–for he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved, Matt. 24:13; also Heb. 3:6-14: We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,–we must also explain well and precisely how righteousness and salvation are preserved in us, lest it be lost again. Above all, therefore, the false Epicurean delusion is to be earnestly censured and rejected, namely, that some imagine that faith and the righteousness and salvation which they have received can be lost through no sins or wicked deeds, not even through wilful and intentional ones, but that a Christian although he indulges his wicked lusts without fear and shame, resists the Holy Ghost, and purposely engages in sins against conscience, yet none the less retains faith, God’s grace, righteousness, and salvation. Against this pernicious delusion the following true, immutable, divine threats and severe punishments and admonitions should be often repeated and impressed upon Christians who are justified by faith: 1 Cor. 6:9: Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, etc., shall inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Rom. 8:13: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. Col. 3:6: For which thing’s sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience."
So, falling away happens because of 1) a loss of confidence in Christ/trusting in our own works to save us, and/or 2) living wickedly and sinning intentionally.
Ok, but...what if I were to get caught in a sin but somehow blinded myself to it, and just kept going along on my merry way, thinking that I was right with God? Wouldn't it be kind of like forgetting to update your payment information with the car insurance company, and as a result (unbeknownst to you) the policy lapsing...and then later finding out that you'd been driving around without insurance for the last month (true story)? My word! what if I'd had an accident?!
What if I accidentally left the faith, and had died during that time; would I be damned?!
So, here's the thing: We humans tend to be conflict-averse, choosing to turn a cold shoulder, to punish an offender with silence while they wonder what they did - all the while smiling and saying everything is "Fine" - and let the relationship die, rather than have the awkward conversation and work things out.
My worry was that I would transgress the bounds of God's Law but I'd be oblivious to it, and He'd just turn His back on me in stony silence, and I'd blindly drive off the cliff. But God be praised, the beautiful thing is that He is not like us in this. He does not shrink from conflict but lovingly and faithfully proclaims to me His Law, so that I may see my sin and repent. He's not afraid to offend, but lets me feel the sharp sting of my sin, so that I may turn from it, trusting in Christ for forgiveness, and live. The Good Shepherd uses His rod and staff to guide me.
I'm an awful sinner, and no matter how hard I try, I keep on doing it every day. If I'm going to have any chance of staying in the faith, it can't be based strictly on my ability to avoid sin. Besides, then salvation would be resting on my own works, wouldn't it? Thankfully, it is God who promises to keep us in the faith.
Romans 8:38-39 - For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Philippians 1:6 - And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
"I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called my by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith." - Martin Luther, The Small Catechism, Third Article of the Creed
"The warnings of Scripture against apostasy and its references to those who believe only for a time are most earnestly meant. But they belong to the Law and hence apply to Christians not according to the new man, i.e., in so far as in true contrition for their sins they are concerned about grace, salvation, and election, but according to the old man, in so far as they are indifferent toward grace and salvation and yearn for the things of the world. There is no cause for concern lest time believers be deceived when preservation in the faith is promised them in the Gospel and thus their eternal election is revealed to them,. This is a purely hypothetical case. He who confidently believes God's gracious promise to keep him in faith will not fall away finally. This is a truth revealed in Holy Writ. Rom. 10:11, for instance, says: 'Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be put to shame.'" - Christian Dogmatics, Francis Pieper Vol III p. 485
Jesus desires my salvation even more than I do. He loved me enough to take on human flesh, endure pain and suffering while living a perfect life in our evil world, and then die a brutal death, taking on my sins and enduring the wrath of God that I deserved, in order to purchase for me the robe of His own righteousness in which I am now clothed, by faith. His Word rebukes and corrects me through the Law, showing me my sin as in a mirror, and through His Word He also forgives and restores me, His own beloved child and sister and friend. This forgiveness is lavished on me abundantly, continually, again and again, and made tangible in the visible Word: the Sacraments. I can return over and over to the promise made to me in Baptism, and receive Christ's own Body and Blood in the Supper, as a sign and seal of His promised forgiveness, and when my conscience is especially troubled, I can go to my pastor for Absolution. In this way He keeps me from a) not caring about my sin, and b) trusting in my own works for salvation.
If it's up to me to stay in the faith, then I am in deep trouble and without hope. But truly my salvation is all His doing, from start to finish. This is immensely comforting. God be praised, and to Him be the glory!
There's a quote that I like, that's attributed to Martin Luther, but I'm not sure it's 100% accurate, or where it's from. Just the same, I'll leave you with it:
"When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. When I look at Christ, I don't see how I can be lost."
Amen.
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