The Chapel - Rediscovering God Changes Everything.

In the last question, we addressed whether or not someone can lose their salvation. Along these same lines, although an entirely different type of question, one can ask, “If I forsake God does he forsake me?”

When we falter in our faith, Jesus does not lightly give up on us. He has incredible patience. Every generation has its stories of people who wandered off and found their way back.

God is gracious, but he does have his limits. There can come a point in which the heart is so hard and the mind is so made up that Jesus can be utterly rejected. If we're talking about someone you know and love, this is the time to pray, because the stakes are so high.

We have to remember that Christianity is a covenant — a binding agreement between two parties: the Christian and the Christ. All covenants have conditions. When God made a covenant with Israel, he promised them that he would never leave or forsake them (Deuteronomy 31:6), but that promise was conditional. A mere 10 verses later, God predicted that Israel would forsake him, so he in turn would forsake them (31:16-17). When the temple was dedicated, God promised that he would be there forever (1 Kings 9:3); a scant four verses later he said he would reject that temple (9:7). Why? Because he knew they would forsake him and worship other gods (9:9). God's promises are conditioned on the faithfulness of his covenant people. He isn't breaking his promise; he is upholding his end of the covenant.

The new covenant with Jesus is no different. There are incredible promises of lasting salvation (John 10:28), the command to remain in him (John 15:4), warnings of what happens if we don't (John 15:6), and promises of blessings when we do (John 15:7). Paul put this all in perspective when he said: “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us” (2 Timothy 2:11-12 NIV). Our position in Christ is secured because of whom he is. But Peter warns us to “be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position”; instead we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:17b-18a, emphasis mine).

God's part in this covenant is to provide salvation through his Son Jesus, and fill us with the Holy Spirit. Our part is to remain faithful. If we forsake him, he will indeed forsake us. Is anything in this life worth the price of turning from him?