BACKSLIDING TO HELL by Mike Peralta (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

I realize the Blood of Jesus covers us when we truly repent and live the Christian life genuinely from the heart. This is why Paul said in Romans 2:7 that, “those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.” Believe me, I know that it is only by being covered with the Blood of Jesus that anyone will go to Heaven, Eph 1:7. But as will be described later, there are very strong Scriptures that tell us that THE BLOOD OF JESUS DOES NOT COVER SOMEONE WHEN HE PERSISTS IN AND DELIBERATELY KEEPS ON SINNING. Hebrews 10:26-31, 2 Peter 2:20-21, Jude 1:4-5, Romans 11:17-22, etc., I realize that this is something we do not hear much, if at all, from the pulpit. But it is extremely vital that you believe God’s Word about this. It really can mean the difference between you or someone you know going to Heaven or going to Hell. Sin always destroys. And when you deliberately keep on sinning you are in danger of Hell, Hebrews 10:26-31.

The reason Eve disobeyed God is because she chose to DOUBT AND NOT BELIEVE God. God told her - you shall surely die if you eat from the tree of good and evil. Instead, Eve chose to believe Satan's lie which was that she would not die if she ate from the tree of good and evil.

As Genesis 3:1 shows, satan can be very crafty. And we must always be on guard against his schemes and deceptions. That is why Jesus instructed us to “be as shrewd as serpents, but as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16.

It is also instructive to understand why Eve was disposed to doubt God’s Word - because of the lust of the eyes. The enticement of sin and doubt work very much together. This is the situation for those who love their sin and feel they can get away with it, and not lose their salvation, because they have been led to believe that “Once Saved Always Saved.” Can’t you see how the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine is a direct attack against God’s Word - casting doubt on God’s first warning to man that “If you eat of it, sin, you will surely die” ?

And can’t you see that any doctrine that leads to doubt of God’s warnings is not of God? And can’t you see that through doubt of God’s warnings the way is made clear for someone who wants to sin to go ahead and indulge their lust? Can’t you see that the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine truly is a license to sin? And lastly can’t you see that any doctrine that gives a license to sin cannot possibly be a correct and godly doctrine? Do you really think that God would put forth a doctrine that encourages evil?

Those who don’t seek to live in sin may end up believing the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine because they try to depend on their own fallible human minds “human wisdom” instead of the Holy Spirit and all of God’s Word together, to make sense of God’s assurance of salvation Scriptures. For they make the mistake of forsaking, that is doubting or practically rejecting, for all intents and purposes, those Scriptures that warn believers about falling away because of sin. Hebrews 10:26-31, 2 Peter 2:20-21, Revelations 3:5, Exodus 32:30-31, Genesis 3:1-6, Ezekiel 18:24-32, Ezekiel 33:12-13, John 15:6, 1 John 2:3-4, 1 John 3:7-8, 1 John 3:10, Luke 15:11-32, Luke 12:42-46, Titus 1:16, and many others.

As you can see, in the fall of Adam and Eve, man first destroyed His relationship with God through a lack of faith. In contrast, it is now through faith that man regains and remains IN relationship with God. With this, it is now very understandable why God puts such a premium on faith - not just for your initial salvation but throughout all your life. If you believe God - which means believing His Word - then you will subsequently obey Him. If you doubt God then you will, at some point, disobey Him. In other words, if you choose to doubt God then you will get ensnared with the lies and deceptive power of the enemy.

Take as another example, the people in the city of Nineveh repenting at the preaching of Jonah. They repented because they believed God’s warning. Let us read.

Jonah 3:4-10. “On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.’

THE NINEVITES BELIEVED GOD. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

I wish I could write the four words in Jonah 3:5a in 100 foot letters: THE NINEVITES BELIEVED GOD! The Ninevites repented because they believed God!

But let’s say that the people in Nineveh had decided NOT to believe Jonah. What if they had said to themselves, “The Lord will not destroy us. We’ve been carrying on this way for scores and scores of years. God will not destroy us. He is too good to destroy us.” What do you think would have happened? Almighty God most definitely would have destroyed them.

But the Ninevites did believe God. And because they believed God they subsequently obeyed Him and acted in the way that pleased God. Hence we see the truth of Hebrews 11:6 which says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” From this we see that faith and obedience to God is very much intertwined.

Why am I making such a big point about having faith in God’s Word? The reason is because the Scriptures that I will be presenting in the rest of this book will involve passages that you probably have either “breezed over” too quickly in the past to properly and fully understand, or that have been “explained away” and so practically rejected, for all intents and purposes, by those who promote the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine.

It is extremely and vitally important that you do not reject the Scriptures that warn of the dangers of falling away. All Scripture is to be believed and not to be ignored, taken lightly, or doubted. For it may be that those scriptures you ignore or doubt, or drop because other Scriptures, that you prefer, seem to contradict it, can make the difference between salvation and damnation. Those Scriptures indeed can make the difference between Heaven and Hell - either for you or someone you know. Because of this it is vital that any interpretation of Scripture must adhere to all the relevant Scriptures and not just those parts you prefer.

On the other edge of the sword, and remember it is the same sword, the assurance of salvation Scriptures are also very valuable and are to be believed as written and as they are intended. Many times people fall into sin, accept defeat, feel like they are powerless to overcome it, and don’t believe that God will or has forgiven them when they validly repent. Others feel that even when they genuinely confess and repent of their sins, God will not forgive them until they perform some kind of penance or something to make up for their past sin. The Lord knowing this has included both type of Scriptures, as well as others such as forgiveness Scriptures, for example the scripture 1 John 1:9.

Remember, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”, 2 Timothy 3:16, The point here is to believe all of God’s Word - especially those Scriptures you don’t prefer. In fact it is probably those scriptures that you don’t prefer that you are most susceptible to deception and error. It is not wise to ignore or reject any Scripture.

We must approach God's Word with an intention to believe fully and obey fully - without ignoring any Scriptures relevant to the case at hand. For spiritual truth cannot be worked out soley or even primarily through mental means. It must be worked out with faith in all of God’s Word, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and in actual practice. You obtain the assistance of the Holy Spirit by praying earnestly for understanding of Scripture and with a true willingness to obey it., This is the only way to a right understanding of God's Word - especially those Scriptures that seemingly contradict each other. This principle is in accordance with our Lord's teaching in John 7:17 where He said, "if any man does His will, he shall know of the doctrine." The essence of our Lord's word here is that understanding follows obedience.

Therefore, when it comes to spiritual truth, the goal is to walk it out in faith rather than to just figure it out. When we do walk it out in faith, the understanding part of it will amazingly take care of itself. This is not to suggest that the study of Scripture ought to be abandoned. Rather, I'm specifically addressing the proper motive and attitude by which we are to approach our study of the Scriptures., The Scriptures are given to us to be fully believed and fully obeyed, so that we can “be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

With this in mind let us look at how destructive and fatal, unbelief and doubt of God’s Word can be.

Jude 1:4-5. “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.”

As you know, deliverance out of Egypt is symbolic for deliverance out of the evil world system into the Kingdom of God. In Jude 1:5 God saved the people. Then they believed not or entered into unbelief so He had to destroy them! God destroyed those who did not believe Him after He had saved them! “the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.”, Jude 1:5.

Here in Jude 1:4-5 we have such a perfect description of the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine. It has changed the grace of God into a license for immorality. It denies Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord by, for all intents and purposes, permitting disobedience without much penalty - thereby denying Christ’s Lordship.

And what is the ultimate consequence of such immorality and unbelief? According to Jude 1:5 it is DESTRUCTION!, “but later DESTROYED those who did not believe”, The type of destruction described in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 whereby “He will punish those who . DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS. They will be punished with everlasting DESTRUCTION, Hell, and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.” The destruction being talked about in Jude 1:4-5 and 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 is everlasting