What about those

who were Christians

and then rejected Christ?

           

 

You may hear someone say that they knew someone who was a Christian but aren't anymore or that they themselves were a Christian but that they aren't anymore.  Can someone become a Christian and then not be a Christian?  

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand“.

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This verse clearly indicates specific phrases to answer this question: 

"I give them eternal life". 

Could that possibly mean a temporary eternal life?  Obviously a contradiction.

"no one will snatch them out of my hand“.

This clearly indicates that God doesn't loose anyone who has accepted Christ, and that no one could ever overpower God.

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So what seems to be happening?

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What is most likely true is that the person who believes they were a Christian and now doesn't probably never was a Christian, and the same for anyone who thinks they were a Christian but changed their mind.  Remember, Truth isn't just a matter of belief. 

 

What is probably true is that what they believed they accepted as Christianity was actually their wrong understanding of Christianity.  So they never actually accepted Christ and became a true Christian.  They actually never were a Christian.

1 John 2:19    They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

 

We saw in John 10:28 in the previous question that once a person has truly accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, God will never allow anyone to change that.  He has paid too high a price.  Again, John 10:28:

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand“.

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I used to be a Christian 

www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Atheism/I_used_to_be_a_christian.htm

You Didn't “Used to be a Christian”

www.jesus-is-savior.com/Basics/used_to_be.htm

5 Lies I Used to Believe About Being A Christian

www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/5-lies-i-used-believe-about-being-christian

 

I used to be a Christian... but converted to Islam

www.christiantoday.com/article/i.used.to.be.a.christian.but.converted.to.islam/39001.htm

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If a person believes that they “used to be a Christian but aren’t now”, but they don’t know what a Christian actually is, then they can’t have been a true Christian, can they?  It is easy to think, “But weren’t they sincere?” in their belief.  Remember though, someone’s sincerity doesn’t determine truth, does it?  A person can be sincere but be sincerely wrong.  Being sincere has nothing to do with what is true, and just because a person sincerely believed they were a Christian, didn’t make it so.

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In the link above where Sarah Ager claims she was a Christian but converted to Islam, she indicated:

"I can't remember the moment when I stopped believing that Jesus was the son of God, but I remember how I felt – I wasn't sure what I was or what I believed anymore. I had been so sure before."

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When Sarah states that she ”can’t remember when she stopped believing that Jesus was the son of God”, do you think her belief was based upon the evidence or a feeling?  At the end of this comment, she states “I had been so sure before”.  It seems that her confidence was based upon how strongly she believed and her sincerity.  Again, sincerity and confidence are not the basis for something being true.

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Compare Sarah's motivation to convert from Christianity to Islam to Nabeel Qureshi's motivation to convert from Islam to Christianity. 

Nabeel Qureshi: A Short Testimony

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKSuGHXUY_0

 

Sarah refers to two Muslim women in a class she took,

"they had such a beautiful way of expressing their faith" 

She also indicated from the quote above, 

"I remember how I felt"

Nabeel's feeling was that Islam was the truth.  However, he investigated the evidence and became a Christian because of the evidence, not because of his feelings.

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Can you now see how those who have called themselves Christians, but are not now, that they in reality never truly were Christians?

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Next Page:  Don’t I Need To Get Right With God First?

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