Presenting Biblical answers to tough questions
Q: I sometimes hear of well-known Christians renouncing their faith. How can this happen? Are they still saved?
A: When a professing believer renounces the faith and walks away from God there are several possible reasons for it. It may be this person never actually trusted in Christ but lived among Christians as a pretender (I John 2:19). While practicing good works and trying to blend in, they never experienced genuine regeneration and fell away once they could no longer keep pretending (Matthew 13:24-30).
I also believe there are cases where a believer’s struggles with doubts and questions can cause them to step away from church or the outward exercise of their faith for a time. Their faith in Christ undergoes a severe trial, even to the point that it appears to others they no longer believe (II Corinthians 1:8). However, if they are truly saved; such people will eventually conquer their doubts and return to fellowship with God and the Church (John 6:39-40; 10:28-30).
The Apostle Paul also had to deal with professing believers departing from the faith. In II Timothy he relates to Timothy the news that two of their partners in the ministry had walked away, drawing many after them. Despite this, Paul is able to maintain faith in God and shares the means for doing so with Timothy; it was his confidence that God knows those who truly belong to him and the encouragement for all professing believers to depart from sin (II Timothy 2:17-19).
While it is difficult to know for sure whether an individual who has apparently departed from the faith is a struggling believer or was never saved (and we really shouldn’t try to judge that anyway), there are several promises of Scripture that we can remain confident in regarding the truth of the gospel and our own salvation (John 6:37; 10:28; Romans 8:16; etc.). We can also show compassion and sympathy to those struggling with doubt and questions by remembering the many godly individuals in Scripture who had similar experiences, including Abraham (Gen. 15:7-8), Asaph (Psalm 73:13-17), and the Prophet Habakkuk (Hab. 1:2-4).
If you have a question that you would like a Biblical answer to, you can send it via email to [email protected] or by mail to Formoso Church; P.O. Box 66; Formoso, Kan. 66942
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