Can Your Soul Be Forfeited Forever? (Part II)

It Is Not Impossible For A Child of God to Sin.

My Friends, if it is impossible for a child of God to sin, why did Paul command the brethren at Colossae "lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings" (Col. 3:9)?

My Friends, they were children of God, they had put off the old man, and they were told not to lie. If it is possible for a child of God to lie, it is possible for him to sin. For Paul wrote to his brethren at Rome, "thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, doest thou commit adultery? (Rom: 2:21,22).

My friends, it is possible for a child of God to steal and commit adultery. It is possible for a child of God to become drunk. Paul wrote to his brethren at Ephesus, "And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). It is possible for a child of God to lust. Peter wrote to his brethren, "Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul" ( 1 Peter 2:11). The scriptures my friends, affirm that it is possible for a child of God to lie, steal, get drunk, and lust.

It is contended by those who subscribe to the false doctrine of the "Impossibility of Apostasy" on the part of the child of God that when he sins it is only his body that sins; he sins outwardly but not inwardly. Jesus said, however, in Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man."

The body is the instrument of sin and the outward acts of the body are within. Paul wrote to the brethren at Rome, "neither present your members unto sin, as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans. 6:13). That it is possible for the spirit of the child of God to sin is seen in this verse: "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilements of flesh and spirit" (1 Cor. 7:1). Paul was adressing his brethren at Corinth. If their spirits could not be defiled, why were they urged to cleanse themselves of all defilements of flesh and spirit? Why not the flesh only if it was impossible for them to sin inwardly? Were they commanded to cleanse themselves of that which was impossible to defiled?

The Child of God Can Be Lost:

Jesus told his disciples to "rejoice because, your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). He wrote the Philippians that their names were "in the book of life" (Phil.4:3), and the inspired writer referred to the church in Heb.12:23, as "the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven." To the angel of the church at Sardis in Rev. 3:5, the Lord wrote; "He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life." It is possible my friends, for a child of God to have his name blotted out of the book of life. Those whose names remain are those who overcome. Salvation my friends is in fact "Conditional."

It is possible for a child of God to sin; it is possible for him to lie, steal, cheat, get drunk, and lust, live with a man, and sleep with a man, outside of marriage. Now the question I pose for you my friend to consider is: If a child of God should die while guilty of these sins or any other sin, will he go to heaven or will he be lost?

Paul says in Romans 8:13, "For if ye live after the flesh, he shall die." These readers are addressed as "brethren" in the preceding verse. The epistle was written to "saints" (Rom. 1:7), members of the Lord's Church. Spiritual death is meant here because men die physically regardless of how they live. It is possible for a child of God to die in his sins, die spiritually.

Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:9-10, "Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kindgom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkdards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kindgom of God." Fornication was a sin that was committed by a member of the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:1). Paul wrote the following to his church in his second epistle: "lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should morun for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed" (2 Cor. 12:21). Paul stated in 1 Cor. 6:9-10 that those who were guilty of those sins would not inherit the kingdom of God. There were some of those sins prevalent in the church at Corinth. Paul feared that he would come to Corinth again and that some had not repented of those sins. If they did not repent they would not inherit the kingdom of God. They would be lost, and language could not be made any plainer. Who were they? They were sanctified people (1Cor 1:2), children of God.

Paul feared that he, a child of God might lose his "Reward". He wrote in 1 Cor. 9:27, "but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others. I myself should be rejected." Paul recognized that his body could become the instrument of sin; therefore he said, "I buffet my body." Paul realized that he might be rejected, and that he might lose his reward.

James refers to the erring brother in James 5:19-20 where he write: "My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a sould from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." The book of James, my friends, was addressed to Christians. In this passage being considered he has in mind those who were in sin because of past action. The child of God who errs from the truth is a backslider and he is in a serious condition. James says that if an erring brother is converted, that is, turned back to the truth, a soul is saved from death. (Eternal Punishment).

This can only mean eternal death because repentance will not save a person from physical death. It is plain that the erring brother who does not repent, turn back, is lost forever thru eternity.


My Friends, a child of God who sins will be lost is evident from 1 Peter 2:20-22. Here we read, "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. It has happend unto them according to the true proverb, the dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire." Peter draws an ugly picture of "Apostates", does he not, my Friends?

Here were those who had once "Obeyed" the gospel, they had "escaped the defilements of the world," but they were overcome. My friends, it cannot be argued that these people never were saved because we are told that they had escaped the "defilements of the world." They had lapsed into their former manner of living and their last state had become worse with them than the first. The dog and sow illustration is given and the point of the proverb is not that the dog remained a dog, and the sow remained a sow, but that each returned to its former state of defilement.

Remember always my friends, a Man was a man before he became a Christian and he is still a man, but he is a washed man (1 Cor. 6:11; Heb. 10:22). A washed sow can return to her wallowing and a washed man can return to his former life. The child of God is one washed by the blood of Christ but if he returns to his former condition he will be lost for eternity, unless he repents.

In The Conclusion Of This "Food For Thought"
I'll Be Discussing:

Warnings Against Falling
Examples of Falling
How to Keep From Falling
My Closing Remarks.

So Stay Tuned My Friends.


Jim