Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - FALLING AWAY

FALLING AWAY

As days go on, it seems that the world is heading further and further along the path toward a cataclysmic event. This seems to be in keeping with the Bible when it states:

Now…concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…

we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, 

either by spirit or by word or by letter…

Let no man deceive you by any means; 

for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, 

and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)

In the recent past, I don’t think that it has been hard to accept that there has been a falling away from the Scriptures, but whether it indicates the nearness of the event referred to above or not, only God Himself knows. In any case, most people still seem sure that they will be going to heaven eventually in spite of the fact that so many have fallen away from the word. Aren’t people told, after all, that God loves them and that such a God would not condemn anyone to a place other than heaven.

In fact, the Bible states very clearly that not all will be going to heaven; actually it does not exactly state that anyone will be going to heaven when they die but instead we are to be considered the Bride of Christ in the New Jerusalem above the earth.

Then, I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, 

coming down out of heaven from God, 

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

(Revelation 21:2)

But I saw no temple in it, 

for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 

(Revelation 21:22)

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light… 

(Revelation 21:24)

Not only does the Bible indicate that we are not going heaven when we pass, but nowhere does it indicate that God loves us individually. True, collectively, God loves the world.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believes in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life.

(John 3:16)

But individually, God apparently only loves us ‘in Christ’

…nor any created thing, shall be able to separate us 

from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

(Romans 8:39)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 

(Galatians 3:26)

Since creation came by the Word and therefore our being came by the Word:

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

(John 1:1)

All things were made through Him, 

and without Him nothing was made that was made. 

(John 1:3)

then it is only reasonable to consider that a falling away from the word leads to the opposite of creation; that is destruction. Destruction of the created as well as destruction of our being; our individuality, our purpose, our status, and overall the person we were each created to be:

…children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation 

(Philippians 2:15)

And that should give one pause and something to think about.