This morning I read where Hillsong worship leader Marty Sampson has decided to walk away from the faith.  A few hours later, I saw that Sampson had retreated from that announcement a little by saying he hasn’t totally walked away, but his faith is on shaky ground.   Sampson’s announcement follows on the heels of high profile pastor Joshua Harris’ announcement a week or so ago that he has decided to no longer follow Jesus.   Countless Christians have worshipped God to songs penned or co-authored by Sampson.  Songs he is known for include "Carry Me, "Better Than Life," "King of Majesty," "For Who You Are," "Take it All," "Came to My Rescue", and more recently "One Thing" and "O Praise the Name (Anástasis)."  Harris, a former mega church pastor, is perhaps best known for his bestselling book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” 

What are we to make of these crises of faith?  How could someone who seemed to be such a loyal follower of Christ suddenly do an about face and walk away?  Can a true follower of Christ walk away from Him forever? Can someone who walks away from Christ repent, and come back to Him?  What about the verses in the Bible that seem to say followers of Christ are eternally secure?   These are good questions.

For the past several weeks, we have been exploring some of the slogans/catch phrases believed by many to be in the Bible.  So far we have looked into the theology behind such as phrases as, “God will not put more on you that you can bear,” “Follow your heart,” and “God helps those who help themselves.”  In light of recent defections from the faith by high profile leaders in the church, it seems that it would be helpful to investigate the theology behind a couple of phrases that are regarded by many as Scripture, but are not in the Bible.  These two phrases are “The Sinner’s Prayer” and “Once Saved, Always Saved.” 

Just check your concordance or favorite Bible online and you’ll see that there is no reference for either of these phrases in the Bible.  But that doesn’t mean that neither praying to receive Christ nor the doctrine of eternal security is unbiblical.  Of course it’s a good idea for someone who is sorry for his sins and wants to be right with God to pray.  But such a prayer should come from the heart; not simply repeat a prayer phrase by phrase.  True conversion comes through the piercing of the heart, sincere repentance, and genuine faith.  As for the matter of eternal security, you’ll find a lot of support for it in the Bible.  One such verse is found in John 10:27-29 where Jesus says, “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. 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.”

 “Once saved, always saved,” however, does not mean, “No matter what I do, no matter how disobedient I am, or how indifferent I am to following Jesus, I’m still eternally secure.” This kind of carnal security is extremely dangerous and dishonoring to our Lord.  There’s more to being a faithful follower of Christ than observing a ritual or getting your hands on a “Get out of hell free” card.  But being a faithful follower doesn’t mean you have to live a perfect life, either.  “Falling away” is not being tempted, falling into sin, or having doubts about your faith. It is not feeling the tension that arises in you as the Spirit battles against the lusts of the flesh.  “Falling away” is a conscious turning away from and renouncing of Jesus Christ. It can only occur after one has professed to be his disciple and become part of his church.  True sheep who stray will be recovered, but presumption is dangerous. Presumption, carelessness, and indifference to God’s warnings are a sure sign of dull hearing.  No one ever gets to the point where he doesn’t need to be warned that he is becoming dull of hearing.  Even high profile leaders in the church can have a crisis of faith.