Last Sunday night, on the Bible Forum, a caller asked: When I was a backslidden Christian, had I died, would I have gone to heaven? He was convinced he would not. I hope I convinced him he would.
Think about it: To be a backslider you must slide back from something. In this case, Christianity.
Maybe it's the way the term has suffered in recent years, describing anyone who willingly goes to church or has prayed 'the sinner's prayer.' Or because of the charismatic movement that loves to define saving faith as a purely human capacity we can exercise (to our benefit) or not.
The truth is, salvation is a supernatural conversion. It does not proceed from anything in the sinner. It is something that takes place on the inside (spiritually). And which is accompanied by a host of spectacular transitions and creations.
Here's a representative list.
A saved person has his sins forgiven.
He is justified in the sight of God -- being declared righteous
The "Life" of God is now his -- a quality of existence, unique to God
He is made a "New Creature" in Christ -- something brand new
He is made a "partaker of the divine nature"
He is sanctified by God -- separated unto God / from sin
He is indwelt by the Holy Spirit
He is gifted by the Holy Spirit -- for the benefit of the Body of Christ
And Paul said he was already glorified (Rom. 8:30)
Now, to say such a person will suffer eternal damnation because of his actions, is to imply that
1. some human action must have occurred to placed him in this enviable situation
2. that God has un-done all that he did in that life (see the List)
Ask a backslider: Do you know you are backsliding, right now? Do you know this is inconsistent with your testimony? Do you know you're going to have to stop this and get back to serving God?
The answers to these questions will expose the person's heart. A born-again believer answers all these questions in the affirmative. An unsaved person (according to Scripture) has no understanding of God, nor is he seeking Him (Rom. 3:11).
