When Heaven’s door slams shut

The scripture states that once a man accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, that he becomes a new creature in Christ, one who repents of his past sins and vows to turn his life around.  Should this man fall prey again to the corruptible temptations of the flesh that previously drug him down and refuses to take steps to overcome his addictions, he thereby commits spiritual death and is in danger of hell’s fire.  

Dr. J. Harold Smith in his famous sermon, “God’s Three Deadlines,” states that such a person is guilty of “sinning away his day of grace” and is beyond forgiveness.  “When the individual continues in grievous sin, the day will come when God will knock for the last time. He will make His last plea,” cautioned Dr. Smith. “Then He will take flight and leave that person desolate, doomed, and damned forever.” When God withdraws His grace, according to Dr. Smith, the individual will be “turned over to the devil for destruction of the flesh.”

Hebrews 6: 4-6 issues a parallel warning: “For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who were once enlightened, those who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the age to come.  If they abandon their faith, they are crucifying the Son of God again and exposing Him to public shame.”  This passage is saying that the man who has experienced the immeasurable relief of receiving the free gift of God’s forgiveness is without excuse if he returns to the truly vile sins that once characterized his life.  “If we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” asserts Hebrews 10: 26.

It is bad enough when a church member falls into egregious sin and brings shame to himself and discredit on his church, but it is worse when he crucifies Christ afresh by refusing the atoning power of the Savior’s blood shed for him. According to Hebrew 6: 7-8, the fate of unrepentant sinners is the same as unproductive crops that produce thorns and thistles: “God blesses the land which has drunk the rain that falls upon it and brings forth vegetation to those who cultivate it; but if it produces thorns and thistles, it is in imminent danger of God’s curse and will be destroyed by fire.” 

There is another belief that “once saved, always saved,” meaning that one who has accepted Christ cannot lose his salvation. This belief had its origin in 16th century Calvinism. Contrarily, the Catholic Catechism 161-162 declares that the precious gift of salvation can be lost. Christians who have returned to “walking with the devil” should take heed before Heaven’s door slams shut.