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There Is No Second
Chance!
MP3
Over the years, I have found members holding to a
false belief that God gives people a second chance [opportunity]
in His plan of Salvation. I have even encountered members who
believe that if you fail in attaining God's call to the first
resurrection, He gives you a second opportunity in the second
resurrection. One man I once knew even believed that God will give
Satan a second chance and allow him his old position as archangel.
None of these ideas are true.
God's word is quite explicit on this. My favorite verse is the
only one that uses the word "plough". It is in the book of Luke.
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his
hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
–Luke 9:62 This is saying in
essence, that no person, having been called to the Salvation Process and
falling away is fit for the Kingdom of God. If we fall away, even
once, there is only one end for us and that is the lake of fire.
Remember the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? They were
members of the church, but they did a very wrong thing. They sold
a possession to give the money to the church. However they kept
back some of the proceeds for themselves. When they brought the
proceeds to Peter, he asked them why they had allowed Satan to fill
their hearts to lie to the Holy Spirit. They both were killed
about three hours apart. Then in verse 11, it says, "And great fear came
upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things." If
these two were getting a second chance at salvation, where would be the
fear? No, the fear came upon the church for they saw that
Salvation could be lost.
The Bible talks about the fact that in all His human life, Jesus never
sinned and this is what qualified Him to rule this earth. What if
He had sinned just once, do you believe God would have given Him a
second chance to qualify to be King of Kings? How would this read
in the scripture?
Here is another scripture speaking to our one and only one opportunity
at eternal life:
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of
the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse
with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it,
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is
happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to
his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the
mire. –2 Peter 2:20-22
There is nothing here about a second chance. In fact, the verse
says once someone returns to the old ways, it would have been better for
them not to have been called to the Salvation Process in the first
place. God would not have said something like this if there was a
separate accommodation for another try at Salvation.
Doesn't Repentance Indicate A Second
Chance?
Some mistakenly assume that repentance is a concept which portrays God
giving man a second chance. A man has previously repented of a
specific sin, but later slips and sins that sin again. Instead of
immediately being denied the Kingdom for the single sin, God gives us a
second chance by allowing a second repentance of that sin. Indeed,
we could conceivably sin the same sin a number of times in our lives and
always have the ability to repent. Regardless of how this seems,
it is not support for a second opportunity at salvation.
Repentance is a one-time process. There is only one repentance
period offered to every one who is called. When God calls an
individual, He calls him or her first to repentance for past sins.
After baptism and the laying on of hands, one enters the Salvation
Process. This is a lifetime process which lasts till one's death
or the return of Christ. The sub-process of repentance is
something that only takes place within the confines of the greater
Salvation Process. Everyone God calls has but one entrance
into the Salvation Process. If He remains in the process till
death or the return of Christ, they reap salvation. Should
they fall away for any reason, they lose the Kingdom. The one
period of repentance takes place in this single Salvation Process.
Further, God is not looking just for acts of repentance but for a person
who has an attitude of repentance. David was a man after God's own
heart because he had an attitude of repentance. He was a repentant
man.
Isn't It Easy Then for One to Fall from the
Salvation Process?
Actually it is not. One does not fall from the Salvation process
for a single sin or even a number of sins within his or her life in the
process. One actually has to work rather hard to fall from the
Salvation Process. Falling away is not an act but a process.
All processes take time. The falling away process begins with
backsliding. See our Bible study on
the difference between backsliding and falling away. A
firstfruit can always repent of backsliding and stop this process dead
in its tracks [see rare exception below].
The point is, God has given us a great opportunity by calling us as
begotten sons of God. He has given us a very workable process to
achieve this end and the Holy Spirit to make sure we can both enter the
process and remain therein. It is just that He calls us only one
time.
There is no second chance.
The man that wandereth out of the way of
understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. –Proverbs
21:16
Further Reading
Rare exception to concept of falling away vs. backsliding.
Menu-driven, Open-forum Bible Studies:
Menu Items
10 -
16 -
17
Bible Study: "Backsliding
vs. Falling Away"
Sermon:
Moment of Judgment - are we in the time of the ten virgins
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