Continuing in the Faith

Have you ever wondered how or why Christians can walk away from Christianity and then you hear that they became Muslim or joined a religion that rejects the fundamentals of the Christian faith?  

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 1 John 2:19

Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  2 John 9

In these passages the Apostle John reveals a stunning truth: not everyone who is among us and looks like a Christian is really a born again believer.

The fact that they would leave us, meaning Christians or Christianity, and reject the teachings of Christ - his deity, humanity, redemptive work on the cross, and his resurrection, reveal that they do not have God nor ever belonged to Christ. It's not that they lost their salvation, but by rejecting the teachings of Christ they reveal that they never really belonged to Him.

This is why Paul on various occasions said that people would be saved if they continued in their faith. 1 Corinthians 15:2, Colossians 1:23. Again it's not an issue of losing salvation, but the that they never really had it - revealed by them leaving the truth of Christ.

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