BACKSLIDING TO HELL - Mike Peralta (fb2 epub reader .TXT) 📗

you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in DEATH! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:20-23.

As you know Romans 6:23 is a very favorite verse used by evangelists and soul winners to explain to the lost sinner that the consequence of his sinful life is spiritual DEATH - the kind that leads to everlasting punishment in Hell. “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

Jesus also used the word DEAD to describe the spiritual separation of the prodigal son from his father. “For this son of mine was DEAD and is alive again; he was LOST and is found.' So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:24.

What is even more significant about the prodigal son is the fact that the prodigal was previously with the father. This represents the person who truly gave his life to Jesus in the past, but then went back to a life of sin and immorality. And notice that Jesus referred to him, when he was in a prodigal state, as being DEAD and being LOST. The fact that Jesus used both of the words, DEAD and LOST, clearly means that the prodigal was spiritually separated from Father God. Therefore if the prodigal would have died physically while he was in the prodigal state he most certainly would have gone to Hell. Otherwise we would have to say that the LOST can make it to Heaven - but that would contradict the whole gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus again repeats that the prodigal was DEAD and LOST in verse 32 when talking to his other son, “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was DEAD and is alive again; he was LOST and is found.” Luke 15:32.

That prior righteousness does not secure eternal life with God, when a person later persists in sin, is also explained to us in the book of Ezekiel. Again, keep firmly in mind that it is the Lord God Almighty who gave us these warnings through Ezekiel, and so the meaning of the word DIE is the same as what God gave in Genesis 2:17, “for when you eat of it you will surely DIE”, and in Ezekiel 18:20a, “The soul who sins is the one who will DIE.”

Listen to and believe what the Lord promises in Ezekiel 18:24-32 and 33:12-13.

“But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.

Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 18:24-32.

Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, `The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness. If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; HE WILL DIE FOR THE EVIL HE HAS DONE.’ ” Ezekiel 33:12-13.

It is true that the Blood of Jesus covers our sins if we repent from them, but Hebrews 10:26-31 states that professing believers who deliberately keep on sinning, and hence refuse to repent, are not covered by the Blood of Jesus and that they should expect eternal damnation in Hell for their persistent deliberate sinning. I realize that this is very rarely preached but this is definitely in the Word of God, as is clearly explained in the next chapter.

God takes no pleasure in destroying anyone to Hell but justice requires Him to destroy those who persist in sin. You must, you must come to believe that God is eternally and deadly serious about His warnings about sin.

"To you My friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you Whom to fear; fear Him who, after He has killed, has the power to cast into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." Luke 12:4-5.

 

 

CHAPTER 5: THE JUDGMENT FOR A “BELIEVER” DELIBERATELY PERSISTING IN SIN IS HELL

 

Did you know, according to Hebrews 10:26-31, that for someone who previously gave his life to Jesus, the judgment for deliberately persisting in sin is Hell? This passage is so important that it would be wise to read it 1000 times, if you have to, to get the full import of and to believe what God is saying in this passage. Actually the passage is not difficult to understand. The difficult thing for most people is to believe it. The “Once Saved Always Saved” teachers skirt around this passage and “explain it away”. They come up with all sorts of elaborate reasons why “this passage does not really mean what it says.” They even misapply other Scriptures to cast doubt on the passage. But we should never use one Scripture to cast doubt on another. We do not have the authority to accept one Scripture and reject another.

Remember the Word of God is a double-edged sword, Hebrews 4:12, and it cuts both ways. Believe both types of Scriptures and pray for the Lord to give you understanding so that you can see how both can be true at the same time. As mentioned in a previous chapter, it is vital that any interpretation of Scripture adhere to all the relevant Scriptures and not just those parts you prefer.

When someone, even if it is yourself, is giving you a very elaborate explanation as to why a passage of Scripture “really doesn’t mean what it is saying.” Throw that “elaborate explanation” out the window. That elaborate explanation, even if it comes with all sorts of fancy theological words or elaborate human reasoning, is totally unreliable because it is attacking the truth of God’s Holy Word. It is better to acknowledge what God’s Word is saying, AS STATED, and take it as true. Coming up with all sorts of fancy explanations and rationalizations why it can’t be true is not going to change God’s Word. In the end, that Word is still going to be used to judge you. 

Instead of doubting God’s Word, or setting it aside, or avoiding it, face up to the fact that God is not going to change that Scripture, and pray earnestly to God to help you understand what it is saying. Like I said, read it 1000 times for days and days if you have to. If your eternal life is at stake, any price is worth knowing, ahead of time, how God is going to judge you in the end.

For now let us read Hebrews 10:26-31 at least one time very carefully:

Hebrews 10:26-31. “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.

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” NIV.

Remarks:

First notice here that this passage is referring to those, who in the past, made a true commitment to Christ, “covenant that SANCTIFIED HIM”, but now deliberately keep on sinning. Notice also that the believer who wrote Hebrews, many believe it was Paul, included himself as being subject to its warning, “If WE deliberately keep on sinning.”

Also notice that Hebrews 10:26 is talking about “after we have received the knowledge of the truth” or after coming to true salvation in Christ, which is also confirmed by the phrase “covenant that SANCTIFIED HIM”. This clearly means, like the other Scriptures here do, that one can lose their salvation. If one goes on deliberately sinning willfully, then there is no more atoning sacrifice for those sins, “no sacrifice for sins is left”. In other words if you are back willfully living a life of sin, the Blood of Jesus does NOT cover you anymore and, according to this Bible passage you can expect the “fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire” - that is Hell - if you do die in your sins, “no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Hebrews 10:26-27.

If you believe the Bible at all I very much hope you believe this Scripture as written. God does not play around with His Word. The Lord never, ever violates His Word. If you don’t believe God’s clear Word, you do so at your own eternal peril. I wish there were someway to tell you these truths softly but if I do you may not understand the seriousness of what danger you are in by continuing to pursue sin. I urge you to believe the Word of God. Men may lie or be in error - but God never speaks