Judas Iscariot Demolishes Eternal Security
The Apostle Judas Iscariot
Eternal security proponents face many difficult passages of Scripture, that is, difficult for them because they clearly contradict their treasured and beloved doctrinal myth. The contradictions from Scripture concerning their teaching exist either by specific example or simple declaration pertaining to this subject.
Also, remember this about the apostle Judas Iscariot: he was sent forth to preach, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those having leprosy and to drive out demons (Matt. 10:6-8)! Mk. 3:14,15 state that the Twelve, including Judas Iscariot, were given spiritual authority by Jesus to drive out demons! For a person to indirectly say that the apostle Judas Iscariot was never a Christian is to say that Jesus chose Judas, who was unholy, to be his holy representative! It also says Jesus violated 1 Tim. 3 by placing a child of the devil in the highest office in the church -- apostle (1 Cor. 12:28)! That is blasphemy and would make Jesus a sinner! [Please see our article, He was never really saved to begin with.]
Moreover, Jesus quotes from Ps. 41 and attributes it to the apostle Judas Iscariot in Jn. 13:18b. That full verse from Ps. 41 is: "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me," v.9. Please note that Judas was once Jesus' "close friend whom I [Jesus] trusted"! Since Jesus "knew what was in a man" (Jn. 2:25), that is, in his heart, how then could Jesus trust Judas in the early days of their companionship if Judas was never saved? Also, Ps. 41:9 states that Judas was Jesus' "close friend" at that same time. Could that be possible if he was never saved?
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Mat 27:5)
(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. (Acts 1:18)Judas committed suicide by hanging himself. Apparently, afterwards the rope or limb broke or was cut by someone and his body fell headfirst and his intestines spilled out. This is not a contradiction as the Mormons try to make it into one. The death of Judas Iscariot was by suicide. So where did Judas Iscariot go after his suicide? Let's look at the details. It is obvious that the Apostle Judas Iscariot went to Hell after betraying Jesus and committing suicide:
Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born (Mark 14:21).
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:12)Because of this fact, the eternal security proponents are left with no alternative but to dogmatically insist that Judas Iscariot was never really saved to begin with or forfeit their belief in eternal security, something which few of them seem to be willing to do.
"Judas is a prime example of a professing believer who fell into absolute apostasy. For three years he followed the Lord with the other disciples. He appeared to be one of them. Presumably he thought of himself as a believer, at least at the outset. It is doubtful that he joined Christ's band with the intention of turning against him. Somewhere along the line he became greedy, but that could hardly have been his motive in the beginning; Jesus and the disciples never had anything of material value (Matthew 8:20). Apparently Judas initially shared the hope of Christ's kingdom, and he likely believed that Jesus was the Messiah. After all, he also had left everything to follow the Lord. In modern terminology, he had 'accepted' Jesus ...."
"Yet, while the others were growing into apostles, Judas was quietly becoming a vile, calculating tool of Satan. Whatever his character seemed to be at the beginning, his faith was not real (John 13:10-11). He was unregenerated, and his heart gradually hardened so that he became the treacherous man who sold the Savior for a fistful of coins. In the end, he was so prepared to do Satan's bidding that the devil himself possessed Judas (John 13:27)" (p.99, emphasis ours).In his first aforementioned paragraph, MacArthur mentions twice that the apostle Judas Iscariot "followed the Lord"! In the latter of these two, he elaborates by saying of Judas, "He had left everything to follow the Lord." Yet, later in this same article, he states, "Judas illustrates false discipleship" (p.104)! This is illogical! A false disciple cannot be one who has "left everything to follow the Lord"! According to Jesus, one must "give up everything he has" or he can't be His disciple (Lk. 14:33)! Certainly, Jesus wasn't speaking of false discipleship here.
Furthermore, as you can see, MacArthur has the apostle Judas Iscariot "join[ing] Christ's band," as if it already existed before he came on the scene! In contrast, the Biblical account states the following:
"When morning came, he called HIS DISCIPLES to him and chose twelve of them whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor" (Lk. 6:13-16) (ibid.).Please note: the first time we hear of Judas Iscariot, we are informed that he already was a "disciple." Furthermore, he was "called" and "chosen" by Christ Himself to be an "apostle" at the same time as the other twelve. See also Jn. 6:70. Judas did NOT just "join" Christ's band which already existed, as this eternal security teacher writes, for he was already part of that group!
MacArthur also erroneously has the Twelve, that is, minus the apostle Judas Iscariot, "growing into apostles" instead of instantly being made "apostles" by Christ Himself! Judas too was of this group "chosen" over the other disciples that were present to be the Lord's apostle! This fact about instant apostleship is also shown elsewhere in Scripture and confirmed by the origin of Paul's apostleship (Rom. 1:1). One NEVER "grow[s]" into an apostle, as MacArthur teaches!
Other eternal security proponents say Judas was called a "devil" (Jn. 6:70), a "thief" (Jn. 12:6), and "Satan entered into him" (Jn. 13:27), how then could he have been saved? Such overlook the truth that one's spiritual condition can CHANGE from righteous to evil as exemplified with Demas, the Prodigal Son and Solomon.
Some have also confused the truth stated in Jn. 6:64 to mean Judas never believed even from the beginning. However, it doesn't say that at all! The verses read, "'Yet there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them (plural) did not believe and who (singular) would betray him." Notice there are TWO groups referred to here. This is evident in the Greek. One is plural in tense that didn't believe from the beginning and the other is singular in tense referring to Judas who would betray him! The Wuest translation renders Jn. 6:64 as follows: "But there are some of you who are not believing. For Jesus knew from the beginning who THEY WERE who were not believing, and who the ONE WAS who was betraying him."
Eternal security proponents are obviously so accustomed to hearing illogical argumentation such as these to support their doctrine, they seem to be desensitized as to how absurd it is to be taught that one of the original Twelve apostles, "chosen" by Christ Himself, was never really saved, as must be asserted! If not, eternal security would be logically refuted! This apparent absurdity might be why the teachers of such almost never refer to Judas by his church title -- "Apostle," the highest office in the New Testament church (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11)! Can you remember the last time you heard an eternal security teacher refer to the Lord's betrayer as "the Apostle Judas Iscariot" or "Judas Iscariot, the Apostle" who became a traitor? Again, to maintain a belief in their doctrine, the eternal security proponents shockingly believe the Apostle Judas Iscariot was never saved! Shocking!
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the FLAMING ARROWS OF THE EVIL ONE. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Eph. 6:10-18).To adopt the eternal security understanding that the Apostle Judas was never saved is to do away with his fall from such a high spiritual position, which is also a prime indicator of our intense, spiritual warfare and its casualties! Our spiritual war will never end for us, that is, until we die physically or get caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Considering this, Jesus both advises and at the same time declares the sad future for many who know Heaven is a reality, "Be endeavoring with a strenuous zeal to enter through the narrow door, because many, I am saying to you, will seek to enter and will NOT be able" (Lk. 13:24, Wuest).
The true plan of salvation (for everyone including Judas Iscariot the apostle) is repentance towards God and faith in Christ Jesus (Acts 20:21). We prove our repentance by our deeds (Acts 26:20). The Lord Jesus taught the road to life is "hard" and only a "few" will find it (Mt. 7:13,14, NKJV). Many get saved, but afterwards fall away (Lk. 8:13; Jn. 6:66; 1 Tim. 1:19; etc.). In other words, after initial salvation we must endure to the "end" to enter the kingdom of God and escape the lake of fire (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11). That is what the Apostle Judas Iscariot didn't do! Eternal life comes to the repentant the moment such believe on Jesus for salvation (Jn. 3:16; 6:47; 1 Jn. 5:12,13), but there is another important aspect of eternal life that many are totally unware of in our day because of the false teaching of eternal security. According to true grace teaching, eternal life is also a HOPE (Titus 3:7), yet to be REAPED (Gal. 6:8,9) in the AGE TO COME (Mk. 10:30) for only the ones who PERSIST IN DOING GOOD (Rom. 2:7) and DO NOT GROW WEARY AND GIVE UP (Gal. 6:9).
If a saved person sows to please his sinful nature he'll die spiritually (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 6:8,9). The prodigal is a clear example of this (Lk. 15:24,32). The end result of sin is spiritual death, so DO NOT BE DECEIVED (James 1:14-16). For more information regarding the believer's security, see Our 801 page book, The Believer's Conditional Security, is the most exhaustive and comprehensive refutation to eternal security ever written. It will not be refuted!
Because of the teaching of once saved always saved, grace has been taught as a license for immorality for so long, and without challenge, that when Scripture is quoted, such as 1 Cor. 6:9,10 or Rev. 21:8, it is disregarded, and the giver of God's Word is falsely accused of teaching legalism, bondage, works, etc. This reflects how truly dark are the days in which we live! Moreover, other sources distort terms, like Jimmy Swaggart Ministries to teach a license to sin covertly under the cross, even though Jimmy Swaggart believes Judas Iscariot lost his salvation!
The ACID TEST question is very revealing. Do you know it? Please visit our No Eternal Security Book page to read about our new 801 page book, The Believer's Conditional Security: the most comprehensive and exhaustive refutation to the teaching of once saved always saved that has ever been written! That book includes even more apostle Judas Iscariot facts and the related.
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