Introduction
One of the questions that has most perplexed theologians down the centuries, and which has divided Christians and churches alike, is this one; if you are a Christian, can you lose your salvation?
On the one hand, some Bible verses seem to say, no matter how badly we backslide after coming to faith, even permanently, God has already saved us by grace, and it’s all about his sovereign choice, not our faithfulness.
For example, Ephesians 2.8-9: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Or Philippians 1.6: [I am] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Or Romans 8.38-39: I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Or consider what Jesus said in John 5.24: Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
It sounds conclusive, doesn’t it? Those who point to verses like these, and there are many more like them, often summarise this position with a little slogan, which is not found in the Bible, but is easy to remember: once saved, always saved.
But other Christians disagree, and they point to other verses in the Bible which seem to suggest something a bit different.
For example, 1 Corinthians 15.1-2: I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Or Matthew 10.22: where Jesus says, “The one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Or Matthew 7.22-23 where Jesus says, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘But Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Or Hebrews 10.26-27: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Taken in isolation, these verses seem to say that our salvation is dependent not so much on how we start out as Christians, but how we finish.
And this is not just an intellectual curiosity for scholars in ivory towers. There are very grave and serious eternal consequences tied up in this question for everyone here today.
Well, if ever there was a Bible character for whom this issue were relevant it would have to be one of the most notorious characters in all history; the ultimate villain, Judas Iscariot, who is the focus of the passage we arrive at today. Matthew 27.1-10.
Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”
“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”
Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.
The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.” After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,
“They took the thirty pieces of silver -
the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,
and purchased the potter’s field,
as the Lord directed.”
The Plot Thickens
So, this is the latest twist in the drama of Jesus’ last week. Judas, who met with the chief priests, and agreed a price to hand Jesus over to their custody, and signalled to them who he is with a kiss, is now filled with regret and admits that he has wronged an innocent man.
And when he sees that they’re determined to kill him anyway, Judas throws his blood money on the temple floor and goes off in despair to hang himself.
Matthew notices that this is yet another Old Testament prophecy that has been fulfilled by Judas in a short space of time.
The first was Zechariah 11.13, first spoken about 500 years BC, saying that the Messiah would be betrayed by a close friend for 30 pieces of silver. Not 31. Not 29.99. Thirty exactly. Which is what happened.
The second was Psalm 41.9, written about 1000 years BC, which says, “Even my close friend, one I trusted completely, one who shared my food, has turned against me” which is quoted in John’s Gospel when Judas leaves the last supper and slips off into the night.
Then this third one in v9-10, which is an echo of something Jeremiah said about 600 years BC about buying a potter’s field with silver coins.
Matthew wants us to know that, even in this chaotic tailspin of events, when the everything seems to be falling apart, God has everything under control.
This is not a disastrous tale of everything going horribly wrong. On the contrary, it’s confirmation that all is going exactly to plan. This is no tragic accident. The truth is that God, in his limitless wisdom and omnipotent power, has appointed it all since before the creation of the world.
Which leads us to another difficult question. If this is all predestined by God, and part of his perfect plan, how can Judas be personally responsible?
There are, in fact, four possibilities here.
1. It was not predestined to happen, and it was not Judas’ fault. It just randomly happened and Judas didn’t really understand what he was doing.
2. It was not predestined to happen, so it was Judas’ fault. It just happened and Judas knowingly did wrong.
3. It was always predestined to happen, so it cannot have been Judas’ fault. God pre-planned that Judas had no choice, so he cannot be held responsible.
4. It was always predestined to happen, and it was Judas’ fault. God planned it to the last detail, and Judas did evil and could have chosen another path.
Which is it? The Bible says that it’s number 4.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign, and he knows the end from the beginning, and he steers history towards its Christ-honouring conclusion, according to his glorious purpose – and that we are at the same time 100% responsible for our actions, our choices are absolutely real and we can change the course of events by the decisions we make.
The one verse in the Bible that perfectly brings together these two strands of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is in Matthew 26.24 which says this: For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
Keeping Up Appearances
Back to Judas. What went wrong? Judas is a close colleague and co-worker of Jesus. Judas is on a full-time ministry internship for three years. He’s on Jesus’ staff team. He sits down and eats with the Son of God every day.
It’s awesome, the access he has to Jesus. There is an open door from Jesus any time he wants to ask him about anything that is weighing on his mind.
Judas listens to all Jesus’ amazing teaching. He is a witness to every extraordinary miracle.
Not only that, Judas goes out as one of the twelve and the seventy-two on mission. In the name of Jesus, they proclaim the kingdom, heal the sick and drive out demons.
Peter says in Acts 1.17, “He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
Furthermore, Judas is given a position of trust; he’s the treasurer. Every generous financial contribution to Jesus’ ministry goes through him. Judas does all the spreadsheets; he keeps the books.
But secretly, he begins helping himself from the common purse. Maybe first of all, just a few shekels to settle a personal bill. But he gets away with it, nobody notices, and so he does it again. And again. And it becomes a pattern. And slowly, his heart hardens.
A few weeks ago, we read about the woman who poured out an expensive jar of perfume on Jesus’ head, remember that? Matthew says that the disciples were cross, and said it was a waste, and that the money should have been reallocated to the poor. But John’s Gospel specifies that Judas was leading the complaint.
He’s coming across as really caring about the poor and marginalised. He’s got such a generous heart. What a compassionate guy! But it's all an act. He’s licking his lips at the idea of lining his pockets. He’s a thief. For three whole years, he is stealing from Jesus, under everybody’s nose.
Tellingly, unlike some of the other disciples, Judas never addresses Jesus as “Lord.” He only ever calls him “Rabbi”. Jesus can be his teacher, but Judas is a pupil who’s not listening, and he never really comes under Jesus’ authority.
At the last supper, we saw it a few weeks ago, Judas closes his eyes and bows his head as Jesus prays for him. He lets Jesus wash his feet moments before he slips out to betray him.
Days earlier, Judas has seen his chance to hand Jesus over. The chief priests show him thirty pieces of silver and his eyes light up. That’s all it takes. Judas Iscariot loves money.
The Bible is always talking about money; unembarrassed, unashamed, often presenting our use of money as the mark for how we are doing spiritually and morally. It is a top indicator of the seriousness of our discipleship. And it’s a test that Judas catastrophically failed.
Losing Your Salvation?
So, back to my question I started with; if you’re a Christian can you lose your salvation? Where I’ve landed after years of thinking, studying God’s word, and reading books from various perspectives is this:
You cannot lose your salvation. You cannot lose it like you can misplace your keys or be unable to find your phone. You cannot inadvertently find yourself outside of Christ and shut out of heaven forever because of some oversight or lapse in concentration.
You cannot be robbed of your salvation either. Those of us who have been victims of a burglary know how devastating it feels. Something precious to you is missing. You’ll probably never see it again. You feel violated. That cannot happen to you spiritually; no one can snatch you from God’s hand.
You cannot lose your salvation and you cannot have it taken away from you.
But you can throw it all away. The Bible calls it making shipwreck of your faith. You can intentionally steer your relationship with God onto the rocks or an iceberg and bring the whole thing down to the sea bed, never to recover. It is a fearful thing.
And you can fake it. You can pretend for years, pull the wool over people’s eyes, and know the whole time it’s all an act. You can be a spiritual fraud, knowing full well that what you portray in public is not who you really are in private.
That is what Judas did; he threw everything away and he faked it.
How do I know I’m saved today? I know it because Jesus really is Lord of my life, all of it. And I know it because I’m walking with God today, and with every step I take, I enjoy the ongoing assurance of his promise that he will hold on to me until my final breath.
What Do We Learn?
So much for doctrine. Predestination v Free Will and Once Saved Always Saved v Losing Salvation are two of the fiercest theological debates in church history.
Thousands of books have been written about these two questions over 20 centuries. And we’ve skated over them in 20 minutes.
I want to spend the last 10 minutes or so asking what lessons we can take away from Judas for us.
1. Giving, not Taking
The first is this; Judas was basically a taker, not a giver. He looked after number one; he only cared about himself, his needs, his dreams, his desires, his ambition to make himself richer.
Do you have a giving heart or a taking one? Do you want to become more generous? Do you want others come to know Jesus?
The Bible says that we reap what we sow. We get out according to what we put in.
It's so much better to be a giver than a taker.
Is being part of King’s just an opportunity to get my needs met? Am I a spectator hoping to be entertained, or do I see my church as a community that I invest resources, time and prayer into, trusting that many will be blessed by what I put in?
2. Repentance, not Remorse
Secondly, how does Judas feel about what he’s done? Verse 2 tells us that he is filled with remorse. Remorse means guilt and shame. Judas feels really bad about what he’s done. He hates himself for it, he’s distraught. “What have I done?”
But crucially, he doesn’t change. If only he had hated his sin and brought it to God and repented of it and asked for mercy.
C. H. Spurgeon once said, “Among all the lost souls of hell, there is not one who can say, I went to Jesus and he refused me.”
Had Judas done that, I believe he would have been forgiven. He could have had all his guilt removed, his conscience cleansed, his despair lifted, and his hope restored.
Peter also failed Jesus, as we saw last week. He denied all knowledge of him. But he broke down, repented and returned. He brought his failures and faithlessness to Jesus, he told Jesus from the heart that he loved him. And he was forgiven and restored.
Perhaps this is where you find yourself today; you’ve messed up and you feel terrible about it. But Judas shows us that it’s not enough to just feel bad.
Bring it all to God in repentance and faith today. Tell him you don’t just want to feel bad about it, you want everything to change. Ask for grace.
Judas or Peter? Both of them followed Jesus. Both of them failed him badly. But one had a hard heart and one had a soft heart.
C.H. Spurgeon, again, said it so well: “The same sun which melts wax also hardens clay. And the same gospel which melts some to repentance hardens others in their sins.”
Don’t be like Judas who also broke down in self-loathing, but tragically never repented and never returned. He took his failures and faithlessness not to Jesus but down to the grave - and ultimately down to hell.
3. Faking, not Fooling
Thirdly, you might be able to fake your salvation, but you cannot fool the Saviour.
People can fake it to please their parents, or make their spouse happy, or fit in with friends. And it can fool them brilliantly.
But it doesn’t fool God. If you’ve been pretending, break that cycle, and get real today.
4. Doing, not Hearing Only
And fourthly, it’s not enough to enjoy good Bible teaching week by week. Judas sat under the best Bible teaching ever. It was world-class. He had the best teacher. He was a student at Jesus Christ University. It doesn’t get better than that.
Imaging asking Judas what it was like. “Who was your lecturer?” “Well, for Old Testament, we had Jesus. For Systematic Theology, we had Jesus. For Apologetics, it was Jesus as well. For Evangelism, that was Jesus too.”
But listening to great Bible teaching does not guarantee your spiritual growth. James 1.22 says, “Don’t just listen to God’s word. Do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
Terry Virgo tells of a time he was guest speaker in a church in Washington DC. He says it was a good meeting and the congregation was very appreciative. After he preached, the service leader C.J. Mahaney asked the congregation a question. How many of you have been blessed this morning?” Hundreds raised their hands straight away. He then amazed everyone by telling them they were wrong. Everyone was taken aback – including Terry Virgo! But C.J. went on to explain that Jesus said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
Judas heard every word Jesus said, but he didn’t really believe it. He heard Jesus every day, but his heart never softened. He never really responded. He allowed himself to stay passive, cool, unmoved, unreceptive, unresponsive.
Ending
Well, it’s been a serious and sobering morning in God’s word today. There’s no denying it. How could it be otherwise when the passage speaks of treachery, despair and suicide?
This is what happens when you teach the Bible through, verse by verse. You can’t just stick to the bits that make everybody feel great and go home with a warm glow. Or, put another way, preachers cannot just preach what people want to hear, they are called to preach what people need to hear.
What do you think God has been saying to you this morning? Maybe none of us are at rock bottom where Judas was in that last week. You probably wouldn’t be here today if you were.
But maybe we find ourselves messing around the top of the slippery slope he was on years earlier?
Am I letting my heart slowly grow cool?
Am I slowly beginning to withdraw and take a back seat?
Am I bringing my failures to Jesus?
Am I starting to love money and make it an idol?
Does it tug on my conscience that I’m faking it at times?
Am I getting into a habit of listening to God's word but doing nothing about it?
Am I casually steering the ship a bit too near the rocks?
If so, it’s time to turn the ship around now. If it’s you, please, I beg you, change course before you leave this building today.
Let’s stand to pray…
Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 3 March 2024
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