The Eternal Security of the Believer in Messiah

Among those who consider themselves “evangelical Christians,” and even within the Messianic Movement, there is a major division on the doctrine of eternal security. On one side of the dividing line are those who believe that the work of salvation is totally dependent upon G-d, and since G-d cannot change His mind, once one is saved one can never lose that salvation. On the other side of the line are many who reason that since salvation is dependent upon one’s faith, if one allows his/her faith to waiver, or demonstrates lack of faith by a willful act of disobedience (sin), then that person’s salvation is lost until the faith is regained or the sin is properly repented of.

The very deity of Yeshua HaMashiach stands or falls upon His ability to save to the uttermost, to save—and to keep saved—those whom the Father has entrusted into His care. If He us unable to absolutely and permanently save and to bestow eternal life upon those who have come into a saving covenant relationship with Him, then He is not  G-d, the Scriptures are a lie, our faith is absolutely in vain, and we are all totally lost without any possibility of hope.

To understand why I am so adamant about this concept, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the very nature of salvation.

It is first necessary to clearly understand that everyone who comes to Yeshua HaMashiach is given to Him by the Father, and it is Yeshua’s responsibility to keep secure those whom the Father has given Him.

John 17:1-26 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. … I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ... I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. ... I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. ... I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word ... The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, ... Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ...”

John 6:37-45 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. … No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”

It is also important to notice that all those whom the Father has given to the Messiah will receive eternal life, Messiah will never cast them out, and of all those whom the Father has given Him, none will ever be lost but all will be raised up on the last day. It is therefore impossible to once come to Messiah and then to be cast out.

Mankind does not choose to come to Messiah, but rather it is Messiah who chooses men and women from out of the world.

John 15:16-19 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ... but I chose you out of the world, …”

It is impossible to come to Messiah unless and until we are called by HaShem.

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

We only come to God because it was decreed from before the foundation of the world that we do so.

Romans 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:3-11 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ... In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [the faith through which you have been saved] not of yourselves, it [saving faith] is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast [you can't even boast that you were saved by your own faith!]. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

Once we have entered into a covenantal relationship with HaShem through the Messiah, there is no power in the universe that can separate us from God, not even ourselves.

John 10:27-30 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

If you claim that you can “leap out of the Father’s hand” you are claiming that you are more powerful than God!

Romans 8:29-39 For those whom He foreknew [a completed action with results that carry on forever], He also predestined [a completed action with results that carry on forever] to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined [a completed action with results that carry on forever], He also called [a completed action with results that carry on forever]; and these whom He called, He also justified [a completed action with results that carry on forever]; and these whom He justified, He also glorified [a completed action with results that carry on forever]. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you are currently in a covenantal relationship with Yeshua HaMashiach, according to Romans 8:29ff it is because you have been foreknown by God, predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, called to the relationship with Him, justified, and glorified. In the Greek text all of these actions are described in the verb tense that indicates that the action has been completed with the results of those actions continuing on forever. If you have been foreknown, predestined, called, and justified, then according to the Greek text you have already been glorified with the results of that glorification continuing on eternally. You have already been glorified and seated in the high places!! It is a done deal! As Yeshua said at the moment of His death, “It is finished!”

Ephesians 1:7-14 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. ... In Him also we have obtained [a completed fact!] an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. … having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

If you are in a covenantal relationship with HaShem it is He, and not yourself, Who is performing the work of sanctification in your life.

John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13 ... the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Acts 13:38-41 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: “Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.”

Philippians 2:13 NAS … for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 1:6 NAS For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

The Lamb’s Book of Life

Psalm 69:18-29 Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies! … All my adversaries are before You. ... May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous. But I am afflicted and in pain ; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.

Notice that the Psalmist, who is the only one to refer to the Book of Life in the Tanakh, expects his (and HaShem’s) adversaries to not have their names appear in the Book of Life, but he anticipates that by HaShem he will be “set securely” on high. That is, he expected his salvation to be eternally secure.

Philippians 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rav Sha’ul indicates that all of his fellow workers’ names are already written in the Book of Life.

Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

Revelation 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

Note that anyone whose name has not been written in the Book of Life “from the foundation of the world” will worship the anti-messiah [antichrist]! It is thus made abundantly clear that all who are “saved” had their names written in the Book of Life from the “foundation of the world.” If our salvation is dependent upon anything that we can have ever done, how can it possibly be that our names were recorded in the Book of Life thousands (or millions, or billions) of years before we were born?

Matthew 25:31,34 But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. … Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Ephesians 1:3-8 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. ...

Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

In the Greek text of the Book of the Revelation, the critical phrase of the last sentence reads literally, “if anyone’s name was found never having been written in the book of life ...” They were cast into the lake of fire not because their name had been removed from the book of life, but because at no time had their names ever been written in the Book of Life.

Revelation 21:22-27 I saw no temple in it [the New Jerusalem], for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there ) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Only those whose names have been written once and forever in the Lamb’s Book of Life may enter the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Yeshua HaMashiach says that He will not erase the names of the “overcomers” from the Book of Life. But who are the “overcomers” of whom He is speaking? Yochanan, the talmid whom Yeshua loved, tells us exactly who these overcomers are whose names will not be erased from the Book of Life.

1 John 5:1-12 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ... He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

If you believe (experientially, not just intellectually—explanation follows) that Yeshua is the Mashiach, the literal Son of the Most High, you are by definition an overcomer, and your name will never be erased from the Book of Life! What is the proof that you are an overcomer? That you keep His commandments (Torah). The reverse must also be true: if you do not keep His commandments (Torah), then you are not an overcomer, you were not chosen from the foundation of the world, and your name has never been written in the Book of Life.

Yochanan also gives us a number of very important additional points concerning our salvation.

1 John 2:1-29 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments [the Torah]. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments [the Torah], is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word [Torah], in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. … I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. … They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness [obeys Torah] is born of Him.

1 John 5:13-20 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. … We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

This epistle of Yochanan teaches us a couple of very important things about our eternal security. First of all, his repeated use of the word “know” is not the Greek word that refers to an intellectual acceptance of truth, but rather the word that refers to the sure knowledge that comes only through having experienced that truth. For example, as a child in school you read about the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, and you have seen pictures of it in the newspapers, in books, and in the movies. You have an intellectual knowledge of the probability that it actually exists, and that you haven’t been fooled by trick photography or cinematic special effects. Then as an adult you go to Washington, DC, and you actually visit the Lincoln Memorial. You walk up its marble steps and you stand in awe before the statue of the great president. Having once done so, you now have an experiential knowledge that it is real.

The second great truth that Yochanan presents here is that those who once appeared to be among the elect and who have apparently left “the faith” have done so not because they have lost a salvation that they once had, but rather “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” He also affirms that the reason that he felt it necessary to explain this truth in such detail is that there are those who are teaching that your salvation can be lost in order to deceive you (1 John 2:26).

If you cannot believe that your salvation is secure and that you have eternal life as your present possession, then you cannot know whether you are or not saved. If you cannot know experientially that you are saved, then you can have no confidence. If you have no confidence, then you can have no faith. If you have no faith, then you cannot be saved! If you believe those who deceive you by teaching that your salvation can be lost, then you are not an overcomer; you have been overcome by the evil one! This issue is just that important!

The Rules of Language and Logic

Furthermore, it is absolutely impossible to accept the argument that a true Believer in Messiah can ever lose his/her salvation without totally violating the rules of language and logic.

One rather effective argument that I like to use to illustrate the effect of the rules of grammar and logic applied to the “eternal security” issue goes something like this (use your imagination and find a version that you're comfortable with):

Q. The Scripture says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ...” — what kind of life?

A. Eternal life!

Q. How long does “eternal” life last? Ten minutes? Twenty years? Until the next time I sin? Until my faith waivers? Until I stop believing? Until I get tired of being a Believer and decide to quit? Until I decide give the gift back to G-d?

A. Well, duh! “Eternal” means an eternity! Forever!

Q. So “eternal” means “everlasting, never ending” or “incapable of being destroyed”?

A. Yes, of course.

Q. If it can ever be destroyed or come to an end then, by definition, it isn’t really “eternal,” is it?

A. Well, I guess not.

Q. If you once had “eternal” life and now you don’t have it, then your “eternal” life ended. If it ended, then it wasn't actually “eternal,” was it?

A. No.

Q. Then, without violating the very laws of language and logic, it is absolutely impossible for you to ever once have eternal life and then at some later point NOT have it! So, the only way that it is possible for you to EVER not have “eternal” life is if you NEVER had it in the first place!

Without totally destroying the rules of language and logic, there is simply no argument that can counter this one! By all rules of logic, a thing either “is” or it “is not.” A thing cannot logically both “be” and “not be” at the same time. Thus, “eternal” life can never be “not eternal.”

So the Arminian (the “technical” term for one who believes that salvation is not eternal, from the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius of the late 16th and early 17th centuries who formalized the concept) will then argue:

But I knew so-and-so who was a “good Christian” (or similar description) and who was a Deacon / Elder / Pastor / Leader / Rabbi (pick one) in his church / assembly / synagogue / denomination (pick one) and who turned his back on G-d and is now a thief / alcoholic / drug addict / womanizer / homosexual / satanist (pick one). He was obviously saved and now he isn’t.

Their logic is faulty from the very start! By what criteria do they determine that this person was EVER saved? That he “walked the aisle” and said the right “magic words” and got dunked in the pond or creek or river and joined the church / assembly / synagogue? That he put on a good show and paid his tithes? That he taught Torah class / Sunday school and maybe even went to Bible school / seminary / yeshiva? And was maybe a pastor / rabbi / priest?

NONE of these “activities” in either the “plus” column or in the “minus” column have anything at all to do with entering into a “saving” relationship with Messiah. They are all mere externals!

When Messiah finally judges each of us He will either say, “Well, done, faithful servant,” or “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” Notice that nowhere is it written that Messiah ever says, “Depart from Me, I knew you once and then I didn’t know you any longer.” To all those who are condemned He says, “I never knew you.”

So the real question is not whether one can lose his/her salvation. The real question is whether s/he ever had it in the first place.

Those who continue to insist that they can lose their salvation are either ignorant of the Scriptures [“You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29)], or they may not actually have it to lose. [“Ignorant” is not a derogatory or judgmental term; it simply means untrained, untaught, or uneducated.] For if they actually had full confidence in the Giver of Life (which alone leads to eternal life), and correctly understood the Scriptures and the power of God, they should know that they already have as their present and permanent possession the eternal life that He gives.

If you listen to their arguments very carefully, they are almost always based on either (a) a faulty premise, (b) circular reasoning, or (c) Scripture verses taken out of context.

For example, I can show you in Scripture where it clearly states that “there is no God”! If you don't believe me, go to bible.crosswalk.com and do the word search and you will find it — in its proper context!

The following email message is rather typical of the messages that I receive on the subject of Eternal Security:

Shalom,

I believe that a Christian can lose his/her salvation. Hebrews 10:26 (and following) and 2 Peter 21-22 teach that after you come to the knowledge of Messiah, and you become a Believer, that it is possible to lose your salvation if you decide to reject Him after having once received Him.

A lot of Christians I talk to say you can’t lose your salvation, and they say that if you reject Messiah you weren’t a Christian in the first place.

Am I wrong in this?

God Bless
D.B.

I said above: “If you listen to the arguments very carefully, they are almost always based on either (a) a faulty premise, (b) circular reasoning, or (c) Scripture verses taken out of context.”

DB’s concerns are clearly based on Scripture verses that are taken out of their context, and according to 1 John 2:26 (see the discussion above), those who teach that it is possible for a person to come to saving faith in the Messiah and then lose their salvation are trying to deceive the Believers.

Hebrews 10:26 in context is speaking not about our salvation, but about Messiah’s eternal work as the ultimate High Priest and His completed atoning sacrifice of His own blood.

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge [intellectual knowledge, not experiential knowledge] of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses [violates Torah] dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Verse 22 says that we can draw near to God in full assurance of faith; that is, fully assured and convinced that we have eternal life as a present and permanent possession. Verses 23-25 are about how we can support one another in the faith. Verses 26-31, in the context of Messiah’s work as High Priest, indicate that since Messiah has offered His own precious shed blood in the heavenly Temple, there is no other sacrifice (the “blood of bulls and goats”) that will provide a covering for our sins. That is, once we have come to the intellectual knowledge that Messiah’s sacrifice provides the true propitiation, if we reject that sacrifice and fail to enter into the experiential acceptance of His completed work of salvation, there is no other sacrifice that will save us, and we will “fall into the hands of the living God.” The only hope that we have for salvation is to put our full trust in Messiah Yeshua — there is nothing else in the universe that can cleanse us of our sin. As we have discussed above, there is a significant difference between intellectual knowledge to historical truth and experiential knowledge of that truth. Verses 28 and 29 tell us that the Torah provides the death penalty upon the testimony of two or three witnesses, and asks if the Torah is that severe for those who reject it, then how much more severe will be the consequences of rejecting the sacrifice of the Son of God. There is absolutely nothing in this passage about once coming to a covenantal relationship with Messiah and then leaving that relationship.

Second Peter 2:21-22, in context, is a discussion of the fate of false prophets and false teachers who only pretend to be called by God to minister to His people. They have heard the Gospel of Messiah and have an intellectual knowledge of the truth, but they reject the truth in favor of their own lusts. They have never come into an experiential relationship with Messiah.

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds ), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties [“I bind you, Satan, and all your demons in the name of Jesus!”], 11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these [false prophets and false teachers], like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They [the false prophets and false teachers] count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. 17 These [the false prophets and false teachers] are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves [the false prophets and false teachers] are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they [the false prophets and false teachers] have escaped the defilements of the world by the [intellectual, not experiential] knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they [the false prophets and false teachers] are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them [the false prophets and false teachers] than the first. 21 For it would be better for them [the false prophets and false teachers] not to have known [intellectually, not experientially] the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment [the Torah] handed on to them [the false prophets and false teachers]. 22 It has happened to them [the false prophets and false teachers] according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

Another passage that I am often asked to explain is the Parable of the Sower.

Matthew 13:1-9 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Yeshua explained (interpreted) the parable to his talmidim and gave them a similar parable to provide further illustration.

Matthew 13:18-23 “Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

In Yeshua’s explanation (interpretation) of the parable to his talmidim, He said that there are four kinds of people who hear the word of the kingdom:

 1. The first kind hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand at all, either intellectually or experientially. The evil one comes and snatches it away; it goes in one ear and out the other.

 2. The second kind hears the word of the kingdom with an intellectual curiosity, plays with it for a while, and then moves on to things he finds more interesting.

 3. The third kind hears the word of the kingdom with an intellectual understanding only, tries it for a while, and then gets enmeshed in “the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth” – that is, the things of the flesh are more important to him than the things of the spirit – and he decides it just isn’t worth the effort.

 4. The fourth kind hears the word of the kingdom, understands it intellectually and internalizes it so that it becomes true experiential knowledge, an integral part of his being. This is the only one of the four who enters into a covenantal “saving” relationship with Messiah.

Mishnah Avot (5:15) provides a similar [though not exact] illustration of four types of learners:

“There are four types of students: