“They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (I John 2:19)
Now this is what many think John is saying with that statement: “They fell away from the Lord, but they were never truly saved, for if they had truly been saved they would no doubt have remained faithful to the Lord, but they left the church that it might be manifest that they were never truly saved.”
But is that what John was really saying? Or, was he merely saying some – like the agnostics prevalent in John’s day – were departing from the apostle’s doctrine and teaching as they never truly accepted what the apostles of the Lord taught in many matters.
Scripture presents salvation as a process of two distinct parts: 1) justification, and 2) sanctification. Justification is a past event in a believer’s life and occurs at the moment one truly believes Jesus Christ died to save them, repents and is then baptized into union with Jesus Christ. “Know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ (that is, baptized into fellowship with Jesus Christ) were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).
The picture true baptism portrays is that when the repentant believer is lowered beneath the baptismal waters he is being buried. The old former YOU has thus been put into the grave. He has died and is no more alive. The one raised up from that watery grave is the new man (or person, male or female) in Christ. “Our old man (our former self) is crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed (left behind, corrupting in the grave pictured by baptism), that henceforth (from that moment forward even to the end of our lives) we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin” (See Romans 6:6-7). Every prospective candidate for baptism ought to be told this: “Brother (or sister), the person that you have been up to this point in your life is now considered dead. When you go down into the baptismal waters you are, in a real sense, being buried. When you are raised up from those waters you are to reckon yourself to be a new person in Christ, one now dead to sin, a child of God and a citizen of heaven.”
But that is not the complete salvation experience. When raised from that watery grave the second, all-important part, of salvation begins – your sanctification! You have not yet been truly and completely saved. You have been justified from the guilt of your sinful past. You are now saved only in that respect. You have had God’s Holy Spirit imparted to you to enable you to go on with the Lord as in His office of High Priest He brings you to perfection of character. This is a process, and, for most, it will take the remainder of their earthly life. At any time, from that point forward, they, like Demas, can throw in the towel, neglect their salvation, abandon Christianity for another religion, or even become enemies of Jesus Christ. The Lord will work long and hard to retrieve and save any who even begin to stray in any such manner, but He will NOT possess you as some demon might. He will not force you to stay on the course of sanctification. It is possible you could resist all his efforts to turn you around. Once justified, you could end up lost. “How shall we (believers) escape if we neglect so great salvation?” (See Hebrews 2:3). “Christ (is) as a son over his own house, whose house (family) are we IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end (of our lives or our Lord’s return, whichever comes first)” (Hebrews 3:6) “Take heed, BRETHREN, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD” (Hebrews 3:12). “For we are made partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning of our confidence (in Him to save us) stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14). I trust the foregoing has given enlightenment to some minds.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley