WILL GOD EVER TURN HIS BACK ON SOMEONE? WILL HE EVER REJECT ANYONE?
Sakkie Parsons
Someone wrote to me as follows:
We had a discussion in our cell group, and the question came up:
“Will God ever turn His back on someone? Will He ever reject anyone?”
What is your opinion?
In this writing, I am sharing specifically with people who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, because it was a child of God who asked me this question. Otherwise, this would be far too long.
Here is how I understand this matter from the Word of God. I must immediately say that many may disagree with me and with those who believe, as I do. But someone asked me my opinion, and this is what I believe and how I live accordingly.
Let me begin by saying this clearly:
Our Lord will never turn His back on anyone, nor reject anyone, who has accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
Not even if a person turns their back on Him will our Lord turn His back on that person or reject them.
Think of the parable of the prodigal son.
That said, I must also immediately add that, as I understand the Word, I do not believe there is such a thing as:
“Once saved, automatically always saved.”
Allow me to explain:
Man was created in the image of God:
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Because we are created in the image of our Lord, there are certain characteristics we have that distinguish us from all other life on earth. Two of these I want to share with you:
First, we are immortal.
Our Lord is immortal, and because we are created in His image, we are also immortal.
Every human being who has ever been born, is being born, or will be born, will one day leave this earthly body and spend eternity either in Heaven with our Lord or in hell, eternally dying the most dreadful death yet never actually dying.
One thing that will never happen after conception is that a person can cease to exist.
Only your body dies and returns to dust.
Second, because we are created in the image of God, you and I have a will of our own—just as our Lord does. And our Lord respects our will, just as He desires us to respect His will.
For example, our Lord desires that the entire world be saved:
John 3:16–17
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.
Yet, because He respects our will and did not create us as puppets, Jesus said while on His way to Golgotha—knowing full well that most people would reject His great sacrifice:
Matthew 7:13–14
Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.
On another occasion, Jesus asked two questions. To me, the second is deeply sorrowful, especially remembering that He was walking toward Golgotha to be, as the Word says, our Passover Lamb, making it possible for the whole world to be saved:
Luke 18:7–8
Will not our just God defend and avenge His elect (His chosen ones) who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf? I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?
I could quote many passages showing why I do not believe in “once saved, automatically always saved,” but I will limit myself to the following, which show that a believer can separate themselves from our Lord—and that sometimes this separation becomes permanent.
Remember, in the passages I’m about to share, Jesus is not speaking to outsiders but to His followers—people like you and me:
Matthew 24:12–13
Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold. But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved.
If only those who endure to the end are saved, then our Lord is saying there will be people who began the journey but did not continue to the end—and thus will not be saved.
Jesus also warns:
Matthew 24:42, 44
So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming…
You too, be continually ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.
Think of the five foolish virgins who were once ready but later were not (Matthew 25).
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
Yes, we can drift so far from Christ that we go “past the point of no return,” where we no longer hear the voice of the Holy Spirit—and, tragically, no longer even care.
Hebrews 6:4–6
For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come, and then have fallen away [it is impossible] to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.
So, child of God, let us use the will we have—because we were created in His image—in the right way.
Mark 13:35–37
Therefore, be continually on the alert—for you do not know when the Master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—[stay alert] in case He should come suddenly and unexpectedly and find you asleep and unprepared. What I say to you I say to everyone: Be alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!
Remember what happened to the five foolish virgins who were unprepared.
Now, if you read this and find yourself wondering—or better yet, concerned—that you may have drifted away, rejoice greatly:
You are not yet beyond the hearing range of our Lord who is still calling you back!
Our Lord is still saying to you today:
James 4:7–8
So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you.
For you who are persevering and watchful, hold fast to this promise:
1 Thessalonians 5:5–6
For you are all sons of light and sons of day; we do not belong to the night nor to darkness. So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and sober [self-controlled, wise, spiritually attentive].
Revelation 3:21–22
He who overcomes [through faith] I will grant to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.
Sakkie
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