No Such Thing As A Former Christian

                  While watching the news, I heard a commentator say that the widow of
     one of the Boston bombers, was a Christian who had converted to Islam.  I
     immediately said outloud, "No she wasn't."
                  (I talk back to the TV sometimes when watching the news, and hearing
     misinformation from the liberal media).

                  She wasn't a Christian if she left the faith.  She is an "apostate."
     "Apostasy" is the act committed by renouncing one's faith.
                 
                  1 John 2:19 describes apostasy.


                                         "They went out from us,
                                           but they were not of us;
                                           for if they had been of us,
                                           they would have continued
                                           with us.
                                           But they went out, that it
                                           might become plain that
                                           they all are not of us."

                  These were people who claimed to be believers, but had never been
     truly born again, or born of God.  A person is not a Christian because he  has
     repeated the "sinner's prayer," or made the decision to follow Jesus," or
     "accepted Him."  False professions of faith are made quite often.

                  A person must be born again, and granted true repentance and faith by
     God, in order to be saved.  A mere intellectual acknowledgement is not enough,
     because that comes from within the person, and salvation is a miracle from God,
     not a decision made by man.

                  Departing from the faith proves that the person was never born again.
     Those who have truly received the new birth from God will endure in faith and
     fellowship and the truth.  This is the doctrine of Perseverance (or Preservation)
     of the Saints.


                  Believers are safely protected in the hands of Jesus.


                                             "My sheep hear my voice, and I know
                                              them, and they follow me.  I give them
                                              eternal life, and they will never perish,
                                              and no one will snatch them out of
                                              my hand."
                                                                              John 10:27-28


                 God will keep His children strong to the end.


                                            "[He] will sustain you to the
                                              end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus
                                              Christ.  God is faithful by whom you
                                              were called into the fellowship of His
                                              Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
                                                                               1 Corinthians 1:8-9


                Nothing can separate the believer from God.


                                             "For I am sure that neither death nor life,
                                              nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
                                              nor things to come, nor powers, nor
                                              height nor depth, nor anything else in
                                              all creation, will be able to separate us
                                              from the love of God in Christ Jesus
                                              our Lord."
                                                                                Romans 8:38-39


                                                      **********


              A true Christian will exhibit certain qualities:

                            "Goodness ,... knowledge ,... self-control ,... perseverance, ...
                              godliness, ... brotherly kindness, ... and love."
                                                                        2 Peter 1:5-7


              We can be assured of our salvation because of God's calling and election.


                                           "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more
                                             eager to make your calling and election sure.
                                             For if you do these things, you will never fall,
                                             and you will receive a rich welcome into the
                                             eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior
                                             Jesus Christ."
                                                                              2 Peter 1:10-11


                           "By cultivating the qualities (listed above), they and others
                            can be assured that God has chosen and called them.  The
                            genuineness of their profession will be demonstrated as
                            they express these virtues.
                            When God elects and calls, it is to obedience and holiness,
                            and these fruits confirm their divine source.  Those who
                            in this way give evidence of their faith will never cease
                            to persevere."
                                                                      NIV Commentary


                                                       **********


               The true believer will:

                           1. obey His commands (1 John 2:3)

                           2. walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6)

                           3. abide in Him (1 John 2:24-25)

                           4. be sensitive to sin (1 John 3:6-10)

                           5. have the Holy Spirit in him (1 John 3:24)


                                                          **********


          There is no such thing as a former Christian, because Jesus is a perfect
     Savior.  Everyone He saves, stays saved, because of Him. He will lose
     none of His children.


                                      "Therefore, since we are surrounded by
                                        so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also
                                        lay aside every weight, and sin which
                                        clings so closely, and let us run with
                                        endurance the race that is set before us,
                                        looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter
                                        of our faith, who for the joy that was set
                                        before Him endured the cross, despising
                                        the shame, and is seated at the right hand
                                        of God."
                                                                      Hebrews 12:1-2