Vampires and Other Imaginary Beings

Vampires, Bigfoot, Leprechauns and Fairies.

What do the four things listed above have in common with ex-Christians?

They don't exist.

Oh, there are plenty of people out there who think they do. And I'm sure you can even find large numbers of people who passionately claim to know from personal experience that one of the five fictitious creatures named above is as real as dirt and rocks. But they would be flat out, no mistake about it, excruciatingly WRONG. (By the way, this is yet another reason that personal experience as proof of a matter should be treated with skepticism, but that is a post for another day.)

I don't care what they say.

I'd even be willing to budge on the first four. Perhaps I could be convinced that small, elvish creatures with red beards and green pointy hats live in the wilds of Ireland somewhere. Well, maybe not. But I would probably just roll my eyes (discreetly) at anyone who claimed to believe in a leprechaun. (As fun as the whole idea is, and that whole pot of gold at the end of a rainbow thing, it's kind of a shame that isn't true either.)

But believing that such a thing as an ex-Christian exists is dangerous. It can cause some real problems for the true sheep. Things like doubt and disbelief.

Let me just be blunt and perfectly clear about this issue. I realize that I run the risk of alienating some of you, my dear readers, by taking such a bold stand. Because I do realize that there are many Christians who are disagree with me on this matter. Even if you are one of them, I hope you will still come by for a visit every now and again. But at the risk of permanently irritating you, allow me to present my case from Scripture.

The most compelling case for the "perseverance of the saints" (that is the fancy term which means basically, once really saved, always saved, you can't lose salvation,) is found in John 10:27.

John 10:27-29

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."

If you believe what these verses proclaim, then in order to remove a sheep from the Father's hand, one would have to be greater than the Father. The very power and sovereignty of God, in His ability to keep the true sheep from straying, are at stake. I don't see any way around that.

Notice that I said the true sheep. Because you can't deny that there are people who once professed to be Christians, who now disavow the whole thing entirely. Some of them were even the really passionate, committed type of "Christian." (Maybe even most of them, which is a rather strange phenomenon, that probably bears exploring at a later date.) I personally know of two who at one point, seemed to all of the outside world to be the real deal. But who now profess to be atheist.

Are they ex-Christians? No. They were never Christians to begin with. Jesus did not call them by name, they never belonged to Him. They might dispute me on that point, based on their personal experience. And while I mourn for them, and feel somewhat confused that they are so blind, I don't believe that they ever belonged to Christ at all.

We know from Matthew 7:21-23, that not everyone who says to Jesus, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven. To some of them He will say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." So obviously there are people out there who have some trappings of Christianity, but who are really the wolves in sheep's clothing referred to in Matthew 7:15.

Another passage of Scripture that speaks to the perseverance of the saints is Romans 8:29-30:

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

Obviously, even Christians, the real kind, go through periods of what is so elegantly termed "backsliding." You know what that is don't you? It is when a believer goes through a time of sin and rebellion. It happens. You are deceived if you think it doesn't.

In fact, the beauty of the gospel, of God's faithfulness to the sheep, is that He makes promises to us, even knowing ahead of time that we will fail, we will sin, and yes, we will even backslide. The thing that distinguishes the wolf in sheep's clothing from the backsliding believer is the final outcome. A true believer will ultimately come to repentance, will seek forgiveness and be restored to faithful service to God. That wolf ain't going to do any such thing. (The repentance might be a long time coming, too, which is why we should be pretty cautious about pronouncing judgment one way or the other.)

But if there is never repentance and restoration, there was never a Christian.

And you can be as sure of that as you are of the fact that nobody is going to suck out all of your blood and turn you into an immortal bloodsucker yourself.

Philippians 1:6

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Isaiah 54:10

"For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall my covenant of peace be removed,
Says the LORD, who has mercy on you."