Articles
True Believers
True Believers
I generally like the ESV Study Bible, but as with all man-written notes (including mine), they are subject to error. In reading the notes on Hebrews 3.14, they (in my simple summary): “if one looks like a believer but then falls away, he never was a believer.” Thus we are supposedly given great comfort that once saved we are always saved.
How do we become saved? By being a believer. How do I know I really am a believer? NEVER FALL AWAY. Humm. So I don’t ever really know that I am a true believer until my funeral?
The preacher that baptized me into the Baptist church when I was young, had a ‘religious experience’ and thus the Baptist church ‘voted’ on this experience and pronounced it ‘real and authentic’ and thus he became a member of said Baptist church. Later, he was ‘called to preach’, attended and graduated from one of their seminaries, and was officially ‘ordained’ as a Baptist preacher. THEN, after preaching for a number of years, he ran off with the church secretary. The church then withdrew and marked this man for his immoral life choice. After being divorced for this, he then proceeded to have a number of relationships with different women. The last contact I had with him he was just living with a younger woman. THEN it was said that he was ‘never a true believer,’ even though they had inspected it, voted on it, and ordained him as a ‘true preacher of the faith.’
Now, he could yet be proclaimed a ‘real believer’ IF he repented from his wandering lifestyle and returned to living out a holy righteous life. If he doesn’t do that, THEN we would know he never was a ‘real believer’ although he did everything that the others did when they believed, and was voted on and acknowledged as a true believer, added to various church memberships, worshiped faithfully for years, was called to preach, was ordained as a recognized faithful preacher of their denomination, converted and baptized others. All to no avail! It meant NOTHING. It proved nothing! One could do all of that and then, by the same people, be declared as ‘never having been a true believer’. What would he have done differently at that point in life? What comfort can others who are doing the same things take as regards to their being ‘true believers’?
The biblical admonition is a bit different from the above procedure and result. One can believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:13). It is NOT that they NEVER believed, or were to be marked as ‘NEVER having been a ‘true’ believer. They believed. They believed FOR A WHILE. Then fell away. Thus, faith is not a static thing, but a living, abiding, and changing thing. It can grow and produce fruit OR it can be made shipwrecked (1 Tim. 1:19), cast off (1 Tim. 5:11-12), and overthrown (2 Tim. 2:16-18). Such does not mean that there never was faith or that such were never to be understood as ‘believers’ (but always deceivers, wolves in sheep clothing, etc.). They may, after believing, erred concerning the faith (James 5:19-20), departed from the faith (1 Tim. 4:1), and denied the faith ( 1 Tim. 5:1). Their faith would have failed them (Luke 23:32).
Our faith is a living, active, changing part of our being. We need to feed it, guard it, keep it. Thus, we see all the admonitions to believers to ‘beware’, ‘take-heed’, ‘watch out’, ‘hold fast’, ‘guard’, ‘study’, etc. The danger is real but NOT UNAVOIDABLE. “Be thou FAITHFUL unto death and you shall receive the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10).
Hugh DeLong
Footnote: at the end of the ESV study bible note, they wrote that it is “the ongoing experience of perseverance’ that ‘results in “confidence” and assurance that one does in fact “share in Christ.” Then they conclude: “This verse then provides a grave warning to everyone who claims to be saved – that is, to examine oneself carefully to be sure that one is in fact a genuine believer, because if there is no evidence of perseverance in faith and obedience, then there is real reason to doubt that such a person has ever been saved.” WOW, our ‘confidence’ of having been saved is found in ‘continuing and persevering in faith.” Although one could have begun such, if he then loses his faith, we are to mark him as only having been a hypocritical lying pretender of faith. Talk about being judgmental…
