There are many promises in the Word of God that say if you are His then you are His permanently.

But the bible also says in 1 Timothy 4 that some will leave, abandon the faith. Some people that you thought were saved will not only walk away but actively pursue and promote false teaching.

“Now the Spirit explicitly says that some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,”

WHO is Paul talking about here? HOW does this kind of thing happen? WHAT does this look or sound like? Could this happen to me?

How is it that some people, who look, act, speak, worship, teach, and in all aspects appear saved end up falling away?

In 1 Timothy, Paul says that the Holy Spirit, says that in “latter times”, some will depart from the faith. These are not Paul’s predictions or guesses on what might happen. This statement comes directly from God. Compared to the clear and true revelation of God in Christ, we see confusion and lies are already present in the early church just as they are today. People have the appearance of godliness but without true power. They will be treacherous, intentionally sinful, always learning yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2Tim 3). Eventually, they will aphistēmi (to desert, withdraw, fall away, become faithless, shun, flee from) the faith they once claimed to have.

Some active, knowledgeable people who profess Christ right now will end up falling away in the end. It is inevitable, it will happen. Give it time and you will see it personally. This person could reject Christ in one month, one year, one decade…only Christ knows.

When the trials of life come to a believer, their faith is strengthened.

Testing produces endurance and maturity. When the same trials hit someone test-driving a relationship, you see the true nature of the person. They end up blaming God. They reject Him with bold statements like “I don’t believe that stuff anymore”, or “I can’t believe in a God that would allow ____ to happen.” This person has made a decision to live in an open-consistent-long term rebellion against God because God didn’t deliver in a way that they expected.

Pastor John MacArthur, “An apostate is someone who departs from the faith they know, the faith they understand and the faith which they previously affirmed. It is not someone who never knew but someone who knew, not someone who never believed but someone who even on the outside believed, not someone who never behaved but someone who once behaved according to the revelation of God. But because the heart was never in it, because they never really knew God. ”

Sometimes it is revealed in sneaky and subtle ways.

Those who promote false doctrine often eliminate the core of the gospel and display a shiny veneer of god-ish-ness. This is a feel-good faith that believes as long as things are going well, financially secure, healthy then this Jesus following thing is okay.

That is a very different situation than the person who has a desire to follow Christ but has sin in their life. We’re not talking about the person who stumbles and falls into sin, but gets back up and confesses-repents and moves again toward holiness. This is not a situation where trials and hardships cause us to struggle with our faith, to ask God for help. That is the wonderful grace of progressive sanctification. He is changing us over time.

So, can I be secure in my faith?

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:28)

“For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:38-39)

“Now it is God who strengthens us, with you, in Christ and has anointed us. He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

Christ says that once you are His that no person or thing in the universe can separate you from Him. No force from the outside can separate a person, who is pursuing Jesus with his heart, from the love of Christ. Even the gates of Hell are not powerful enough to strip away or pull apart what God has joined.

So, can a person who is a follower of Christ on the outside, regardless of how convincing they appear, decide to leave Him and depart from the faith? It is most certain. We have seen it and will continue to see it.

So, can a person who is a follower of Christ on the inside (in his heart) decide to leave Him and depart from the faith? He will not! Again, John MacArthur, “true believers have increasing joy, increasing peace, increasing satisfaction, increasing assurance and do not apostatize…they do not.”

Who is a true believer and who isn’t is not for us to try to figure out. Our role is to run hard after Him.