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Q&A on Whether One Can Deny Christ to Avoid Martyrdom and Be Forgiven

December 16th, 2014

Due to current world events, I thought I would post my answer to this timely question. Your thoughts and feedback are welcome.

Question 372716: In the face of death, can a saved person deny his faith in Christ, and accept allah. After escaping death, confess it and still remain saved?

Note:

Profile: Male 46-60 North America

Hello and thank you for your question. You ask a good and timely question, considering what is going on in the world today. The answer is that a saved person would not lose their salvation for denying Christ in the face of death.

According to the Bible, there is *no* way that a saved person can lose their salvation. Once a person has received Christ as their Lord and Savior, their salvation is secure and sealed for all eternity.

(Ephesians 1:13) In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

(Romans 8:34-39)
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(John 10:27-28)
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

There is a verse (Matthew 10:33) “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” that people sometimes take out of context and misinterpret to mean that a believer who denies Jesus will be denied by Jesus and they will lose their salvation.

The context of this verse, however, is that Jesus is not speaking to believers but rather to the crowd (the world in general). When He says, “denies me before men”, He is not talking about a Christian having a moment of panic or a lapse of faith in the face of dire circumstances. Jesus is talking about unbelievers who *persistently* rebel against God and remain in their unbelief. In fact, God is so good and gracious, that when His children have lapses of faith, He does not condemn or even rebuke them. With His children, He uses lapses of faith to produce spiritual growth as He did in Peter’s life after Peter had denied Him three times.

God can forgive people for *any* sin (including denying Christ in a moment of fear) but He cannot forgive the sin of persistent unbelief because Christ died for those who would believe in Him. Of course, Christians should desire to be strong in the faith no matter what, but our salvation does not depend on us having perfect courage. Our salvation depends on Jesus having lived a perfect and sinless life and thus being a perfect sacrifice so that He could *fully* pay our debt to God. The last words Jesus spoke on the cross were, “it is finished” meaning that His mission was complete and His work was done. As regards our salvation, there is *nothing* we can add to what He already accomplished on the cross for us.

It is certainly my hope that if I were in a situation like that I would be strong and not deny my faith, but my courage comes from knowing that my strength does not depend on me, but on Christ.

(Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

(Isaiah 41:10) fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Our salvation does not hinge on our courage. If we are saved, our salvation is rock solid in God’s love for us through Christ Jesus. The most important thing is that we have placed our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins so that we can become one of God’s children. Once we are one of His children, He will never let us go.

Thank you again for your question and may God bless you!

(Jeremiah 1:19) They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

Unlike ·
  • Joe Maxey Ed, What a well written and sound Theological answer!
    December 15 at 1:55pm · Like · 3
  • Gina Cook I agree with Joe. well done!
    December 15 at 2:28pm · Like · 1
  • Gwen Sellers Great response, Ed! Thanks for sharing this!
    December 15 at 5:16pm · Like · 1
  • Corpuz Valdemor Avellaneda Ramil thanks bro Ed for this very clear answer.
    December 15 at 8:13pm · Like · 1
  • Sarah Van Baale I really appreciate that you addressed Matthew 10:33 – that verse is taken out of context all the time. While I don’t think it is good to deny Christ, it definitely is not cause for us to have our salvation revoked in a moment of weakness as some argue. After all, God writes in permanent ink (or blood), not with a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other! Great Job Ed!
    December 15 at 8:18pm · Like · 3
  • Corpuz Valdemor Avellaneda Ramil Permission to post your answer to forums bro Ed Chait..
    December 15 at 8:42pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait Thanks guys! It’s one of those questions that really illuminates God’s unconditional love, grace and forgiveness towards His children.

    If it’s OK with the staff, and you think it would be of benefit, please feel free to share it Corpuz.
    December 15 at 9:50pm · Like · 1
  • Lori DeGrazia Thank you for your careful answer. I think this topic is going to come up more often in the days to come.
    December 16 at 7:01am · Like · 2
  • Robert Lowry That was a great question and Ed’s answer is very comforting. There’s only one thing about it that keeps bugging me. AFAIK, there is no example in the Bible of Christians doing that. So many early Christians, the apostles, Steven, many others apparentl…See More
    December 16 at 7:27am · Like · 1
  • Sarah Van Baale I think Peter was under duress and understood that if he “knew” Jesus, he’d probably face death as well. And so he denied Christ in a moment…or 3 of weakness.
    December 16 at 7:29am · Edited · Like · 2
  • Robert Lowry Yes, Pete probably is such an example.
    December 16 at 7:34am · Like · 2
  • Sarah Van Baale But, I agree, there are not many examples of this. And I am always amazed and encouraged by those who stare death in the face knowing that Christ will rescue them from this earth at that very moment. It is a testimony to the rest of us and to the world and also a reminder that our presence here is short, our mission is ongoing, and that we don’t live for this world, but for what is to come.
    December 16 at 7:39am · Like · 5
  • Ed Chait Robert, I appreciate your point about there not being any examples of this particular scenario in the Bible. In writing the answer to the question, my goal was not to be comforting, but rather to be Biblical.

    I found, however, that being Biblical provided a very comforting answer.
    December 16 at 9:31am · Edited · Like · 2
  • Ed Chait I also think Peter is a pretty good example.
    December 16 at 9:21am · Like · 2
  • Dale Agner Ed, Thanks for your answer…and if the person has the heart of Peter, it is absolutely correct…thought there was also Judas…and he appeared to the disciples to be as committed as anyone to Jesus.
    December 16 at 1:22pm · Like · 1
  • Dale Agner Fingers hit enter before spell-check; For the heart that has surrendered, Peter is a great example. Unfortunately, there are many followers whom have not surrendered (John 6). Judas’ heart was not known/understood by the disciples until his betrayal. Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke much of “Cheap Grace”…and in a sense, Peter covers this in 2 Peter chapter 2.
    December 16 at 1:30pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait I agree Dale, but the questioner was specific about the person denying Christ being saved, so that is how I approached the question.
    December 16 at 1:34pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait I’m sensing that some people may believe that it is not possible for a Christian to fail God in this manner. That seems like it would make our eternal security conditional. Or in specific circumstances, we lose our humanity and it is supernaturally impossible for us to deny Christ?
    December 16 at 2:06pm · Edited · Like
  • Sarah Van Baale Unfortunately, on our worst days we can do things that we’d never consider doing on our best days. We’re all sinners. We all fail. But our salvation is not dependent upon our works – neither good nor bad.
    December 16 at 2:17pm · Like · 4
  • Ed Chait Amen Sarah. What really scares me more than being beheaded is knowing that my salvation is in my hands.
    December 16 at 2:18pm · Like · 3
  • Sarah Van Baale Earning salvation is a lie from the devil and found in nearly every religion…except the only one that is true! However, there are plenty of charismatic and non-denom churches that preach “back sliding” and not just in a sinful moment of weakness, but in such a way that you can lose your salvation. So, it isn’t a completely foreign idea in the Christian world, it just simply isn’t true. Like I said before, God doesn’t have an eraser, He doesn’t write in pencil, and He doesn’t change His mind. Once I am His child, I am forever His child. My salvation is secure. New believers and even some seasoned believers struggle with this from time to time. We have to be careful not to put God into a “human box.” He isn’t fickle like we are. His Word is final and eternal.
    December 16 at 6:39pm · Edited · Like · 4
  • Ed Chait I wish I could like that post more than once.
    December 16 at 2:30pm · Like · 2

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