Can Believers deny the Lord and lose their salvation? This has been the subject of long-drawn debates among many Church folks for centuries. Just ‘deny the Lord’ like Peter did (Matt. 26: 34; 69–74) and Zappa…doo your salvation is gone, just like that. Sounds more like a fairy tale to me!
Those who believe the trash
that salvation is ‘temporary,’ depending on our performance, and can easily be lost, are always quick to fling up their man-made red card, for denial, as
though they’re those in control of people's salvation. It’s as though we’re
in a football match and they are telling the umpire when and to whom to show
the way out of the pitch—you have denied the Lord, leave the pitch!” One of
their best Bible passage is 2 Timothy 2: 12, 13, which reads;
2 Tim 2: 12 “If we suffer, we shall
also reign with him: IF WE DENY HIM, he also will deny
us...” (Bold letter emphasis added).
2 Tim 2: 13 “IF WE BELIEVE NOT, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (Bold letter emphasis added).
This is not time for debate – who’s right or wrong! Many would rather eat rotten religious corn and keep
their Church dogma than eat fresh bread from the hands of Grace. There’s no
need for such debate here. I am simply going to share the truth the Lord
awakened me to see, in the most non-religious way that you may have ever come
across. So fasten your seat belt.
For those coming to this
understanding new, may this teaching be an awakening that will end all
difficulty you might have encountered studying the above passage, had you never
come across this post.
As for those of you who over the years have found the above passage to be one of the toughest New Testament passages to understand, and have always been approaching it from a religious perspective because of legalistic teachings flying here and there. I believe that through this teaching, the Lord is offering you a fresh perspective that will bring an end to all difficulties if only you are willing to come with an open heart ‘to learn-to unlearn-to relearn’ and embrace Grace truth.
You see, almost all misunderstood passages of Scripture, such as this one we’re examining, become very simple when they’re studied in the light of Christ and of our redemption in Him, bearing in mind what Christ has accomplished for us already in His finished work of Grace. But then we have many legalistic theologians who in their religious state of mind, compound issues, thereby bringing many to the same confused state of mind into which they have been trapped. This they’ve been doing through the ages, but not anymore!
This is not to say I don’t value the work of theologians, I certainly do, but of course, not when their interpretation of scriptural passages as this one under study, contradict the plain truth of our redemption in Christ and of the irrevocable realities of the New Birth and the New Creation life. Many in the Church have been held in fear to 2 Tim. 2: 12, 13, because of the legalistic interpretations of religious theologians.
So it always behooves that again and again we rely on Scripture for light, rather than depend on the sham that religion gives as interpretation.
Everything I'll be explaining here will be in the light of the realities of the Gospel of Christ which the Pauline revelation unveils. And once you comprehend the simple truth here explained, all difficulties and muddiness that the adversary has used the advocates of legalism to plant in the heart of many, through their religious teachings, will all immediately fade away into oblivion. Enjoy your read!
WHO IS PAUL
TALKING ABOUT?
2nd Timothy 2: 12,
13 appears to so many, as one of the most misunderstood passages of the Pauline epistles, because of the poor way it has been translated, which does not aid clarity of that passage, and that's why the
advocates of the ‘Arminian school of thought’ of “temporary salvation,”
have for so long bastardized it among others, using that passage to make baseless attempts at refuting the reality of
our eternal security in Christ, because of the following statements found in vs.
12 and 13, of that passage, which read;
“IF WE DENY HIM, he also will deny us.” (vs. 12, emphasis added)
and,
“IF WE BELIEVE NOT, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (vs. 13, emphasis added).
The only reason for whatever confusion anyone may have about these two statements in 2 Tim. 2: 12, 13, is simply because they’re not approaching that passage in the simplicity of the information supplied there, and in other passages of Scripture that help shed further light on this. They’re always reading their own religious or dogmatic ideas into that passage, instead of following it in the light that scripture has provided us.
First, the context which begins from 2 Tim. 2: 8 through to vs. 13, shows that Paul is talking to the Believers about their secure relationship with the Lord and its benefits, and also about another category of people. As the passage suggests, it doesn’t seem Paul is referring particularly to Believers in Christ only in vss. 12 and 13, but also to those other people whom he is talking about. So the first thing we are to do is ask ourselves this very important question, apart from Believers, “Who else is Paul talking about?” or “Who is he referring to?” We are about to find out shortly.
You see, a lot of Believers and even preachers, not recognizing this simple fact, have interpreted 2 Tim 2: 12, 13 from a religious viewpoint, to suggest that Paul is referring to Believers, and based on this misconceived notion, they assume he is saying that Believers can renounce their salvation, or deny the lord and lose their salvation. This is the traditional view of that passage, held by many, but it’s wrong.
That’s not what Paul is saying. He is not saying
that ‘Believers can deny the Lord and lose their salvation.’ All pieces of evidence supplied by the context of that passage that talks about "denying the Lord, and being denied by Him," show that Paul is referring not to
Believers in Christ, but to that other group which he refers to in that
context as “THE ELECT.”
About the Elect he is referring to, Paul speaks;
2Ti 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the ELECT'S sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Notice what Paul says here. He says “...I endure all things for the ELECT’S sakes.”
Wait a minute, doesn’t the term ELECT in that verse refer to Believers in Christ? Not at all! This is where many have fumbled thinking the word ELECT in vs. 10 refers to Believers in Christ. Like I said, it doesn’t! How can this be?
WHO THEN ARE
THE ELECT REFERRED
TO BY PAUL IN 2
TIMOTHY 2:10
Let me talk a little about the term ELECT.
The term is from the Greek word “Eklektous”, which
can also be translated as “The Election,” or “The Chosen.” This word simply
means;
∎ “Those whom GOD chooses and calls His own,” (Old Testament method), or
∎“Those who on their own willingness accept the call of the Gospel to become GOD’S children by faith in Christ.” (New Testament method).
Notice I have split the meaning or usage of this term into its Old Testament usage, in contrast to its New Testament usage.
I have done this simply to help us realize that the usage of the term "ELECT" as it relates to the Jews under the Old Testament, differs from how it is applied to Believers of this New Covenant era. Many are not aware of this.
Under the Old Testament, GOD ‘chose’ or ‘picked out’ the Jewish nation as His ELECT (Isa. 43: 1; 45: 4; Psm. 135: 4) because of the Abrahamic covenant, which He cut with Abraham. So under the Old Testament, ELECTION was more like a ‘SELECTION’ of some sort. GOD chose the Jewish nation out from among all the nations of the world, to be His own people, in order to bring the Messiah into the world to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant.
For us in this New Testament age, when Scripture calls us GOD’S ELECT, it does not mean SELECTION. Many think the word ELECT as it relates to this New Covenant or Grace dispensation refers to those whom GOD has ‘selected’ or ‘picked out’ for salvation. That’s nonsense!
In this New Covenant age, GOD doesn’t ‘choose,’ ‘select,’ or ‘hand pick’ anyone in particular for salvation in Christ. A person becomes GOD’S ELECT today by personally receiving Christ, based on the free expression of their own volition. GOD doesn’t force salvation on anyone, otherwise everyone in the world would’ve become Born Again automatically.
So Paul tells us that, right from the beginning, even before the foundation (or overthrow) of the world, GOD chose or determined that anyone who comes to Christ automatically becomes His ELECT, but then, He wasn’t going to be the one forcefully conscripting people into Christ. People would have to decide for themselves, just as Adam was allowed to choose for himself which of the trees in the garden to eat (Gen. 2: 15 – 17). So GOD, still acting based on His love, has to allow everyone to decide for themselves where they want to belong.
He had to make this decision based on His love, and in view of the new system that He was going to introduce through Christ, after the fall of Adam. GOD planned this transcendence (something beyond a mere restoration or renewal to a former state) of man, ahead of time, or ahead of the fall of the first Adam, the plan was concluded, that anyone who willingly accepts Christ under this Grace age will automatically become His very own ELECT.
This is what the apostle Paul is talking about in Ephesians 1: 4; 2: 10. Election today is not a selection, as religionists have for long wrongly applied.
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