JP’s Mind

Is there such a thing as an ‘ex-Christian’? Can one fall from grace, or abandon their faith, or does the idea of Once Saved Always Saved come into play somehow?  These are the questions I have been pondering for a few days.

John 2:19 They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us. ”

This Scripture makes it abundantly clear—there is no such thing as an ex-Christian. If a person is truly a Christian, he/she will never depart from the faith “…for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us…” If a person who claimed to be a Christian denies the faith, he/she was not truly a Christian. “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us…their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” No, there is truly no such thing as an ex-Christian.

It is important to distinguish between a true Christian and an “in name only” Christian. A true Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. A true Christian is a person who understands what the Bible says about sin, sin’s penalty, who Jesus is, what Jesus did for us, and how that provides for the forgiveness of sin. A true Christian is a person who has received Jesus Christ as personal Savior, has been made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and is progressively being transformed into the image of Christ. A true Christian is a person who is kept a Christian by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:13, 30; 2 Corinthians 1:22). This true Christian can never become an ex-Christian. No one who has truly and fully trusted in Christ as Savior could ever deny Him. No one who truly comprehends the evil of sin, the terror of sin’s consequences, the love of Christ, and the grace and mercy of God, could ever turn back from the Christian faith.

There are many in those world who claim to be Christians, but are not. Being a Christian does not mean recognizing that Jesus was a great teacher or even seeking to follow His teachings. Being a Christian means being a “little Christ” (the meaning of the word Christian) and a servant of Christ. There are people who have had some connection to a “Christian” church and then later renounced that connection. There are people who have “tasted” and “sampled” Jesus Christ, without ever actually receiving Him as Savior. There are some who prayed the “sinner’s prayer” and claimed the mantel of Christian only to later fall away, or reject that title. However, there is no such thing as true ex-Christian. A true Christian will never, and could never, renounce the faith. Any person who claimed to be a Christian, but later rejects the Christian faith, was never truly a Christian.

This idea concerns me, and others, for often evangelicals teach that saying that prayer gains salvation, yet how then can we explain the ‘ex-Christians’ who seem to abound?  How do we reconcile that so many fall away, ‘back-slide’ or never experience the full joy of regeneration or demonstrate the fruits of the spirit?

These are the ideas I want to explore here, starting with the fruits of the spirit:

I’ve tried to coin the phrase “fruit of the root”, but when I say it people just look at me like I’m an idiot. The idea is that true Christians demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit which is the root of our salvation and regeneration. These fruits are not a laundry list of things we must do, or ways we must act, in order to be ‘Christian’, but instead they are symptoms of our internal regeneration, they are the naturally resulting fruit based upon the roots by which we are grounded.

Gal 5:22-25  But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,  (23)  Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].  (24)  And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.  (25)  If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

“…let us also walk by the Spirit”   That is a powerful phrase. We do not behave as if we are Christians, or disciples of Christ; our behavior is a natural outpouring of that foundation which drives us, leads us, speaks to us, and reforms us. Our behavior is a fruit born of the roots of the Spirit embedded within our hearts.

Many of us, myself tops on the list, struggle daily with experiencing the fruits of the spirit. We (I) struggle with having the symptoms evidence the fact that our foundation is based in Christ and not the flesh.

I have sought answers for this predicament and have come to the conclusion that the problem, and the solution, resides in one simple word: abide.

To “abide” is to live, continue, or remain; so, to abide in Christ is to live in Him or remain in Him.  The phrase “abiding in Christ” denotes an intimate, close relationship, and not just a superficial acquaintance.

The difference between those abiding in Christ and those not abiding in Christ is the difference between the saved and the unsaved.

Abiding in Christ is taught in 1 John 2:5-6, where it is synonymous with “knowing” Christ (verses 2 and 3). Later in the same chapter, John equates “remaining” in the Father and the Son with having the promise of eternal life (verses 24 and 25).

How can we experience the symptoms of a symbiotic relationship if we do not maintain a close connection with those whom are in that relationship with us?  Can you maintain a healthy marriage if you do not see, interact with, communicate with, your spouse?  Can you fully experience the relationship if you do not share your joys, trials, concerns, victories, failures, loves, dislikes?  My experience has been that one cannot fully expect a beneficial, life-changing symbiotic relationship with someone which you are only acquainted.

In John 15:4-7, Jesus tells His disciples that having salvation is essential, using the picture of branches united to a vine. Without that vital union with Christ which salvation provides, there can be no life and no productivity. Elsewhere, the Bible likens this union to that of a head and a body (Colossians 1:18).

I’m particularly enamored of how Christ Jesus spoke of this relationship and the necessity to abide in Him in John 5:

Joh 15:1-16  I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vine-dresser.  (2)  Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.  (3)  You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you].  (4)  Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.  (5)  I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. (6)  If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned.  (7)  If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.  (8)  When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.  (9)  I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].  (10)  If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commandments and live on in His love.  (11)  I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.  (12)  This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.  (13)  No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.  (14)  You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do.  (15)  I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]  (16)  You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you.

I spoke of the ‘fruit of the root’ earlier and I wanted to point out that the esoteric aspects of personality are not the only fruits born by the root system that is within us.

We also bear the fruit of obedience to Christ’s commands (1Jn 3:24  All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us. ); following Christ’s example (1Jn 2:6  Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself. ); living free from habitual sin (Jn 3:6  No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him--deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him]. ); and the awareness of a divine presence within one’s life (1Jn 4:13  By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit.

Allow me to once again stress this point: These fruits are not things we do, ways we act, something we strive for; they are symptoms of an internal condition. They are natural aspects of the regenerate life. To attempt to portray these aspects on our own merits is hypocrisy.

Do we (I) exemplify these fruits? If not, then we need to go back to the source: Christ Jesus. We must involve Him in our daily lives through prayer and study, we must abide in Him, and He in us, and we must know that the impetus for this union comes from Him and Him alone, nothing of ourselves, thus we must call upon Him to instill His Spirit in us, as we know from His Word that it is only from Him:

2Co 5:17-20  Therefore if any person is [in-grafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!  (18)  But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].  (19)  It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).  (20)  So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.