I Rej3ct3d Christ Can I Accept Him Again

If you irrevocably renounced God, would he still accept you if you repent?

Discussion in 'Baptists' started by PARCmd, Mar 11, 2008.

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If you irrevocably renounced God, would he still accept you if you repent?
cremi Chief Executive Domestic Education Diva

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If you are a true believer, with the Holy Spirit living in you, can you renounce the Holy Spirit?
If you irrevocably renounced God, would he still accept you if you repent?
I don't think you can irrevocably renounce God.
If God calls you back - GO.

You would not have been the first person to "give up on God" and then repent.

It's called re-dedicating when you want to come back or walk closer to God than you have been.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. As far as I know there really isn't a sin that his death didn't cover.

So if God is calling you - go back to the cross. Lay your sins there, and know in your heart that the blood of Jesus covers all.
catch21wide Regular Member

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God will take you back even if you felt like you were a thousand miles from Him. We have to remember though that He is always one step behind you waiting with open arms to accept you back in His fold. I know I have strayed many times, but He always accepted me back. To better answer your question, read the verses below.
It's not possible to irrevocably renounce God. How would someone go about such a thing, or even think that it's possible?
The word, irrevocably, means impossible to change or revoke. Therefore, repentance (which is change) is an oxymoron in this question.
I have a sister who, at the age of 18. irrevocably renounced her family and she has kept her word for forty years now, so I know what irrevocable means.
I will pray for your sister.

But . . . you can't irrevocably renounce God. Obviously being concerned if God will forgive you tells us that it wasn't irrevocable. There is no sin that the blood of Jesus does not cover. God must have called you back, or you would not be worried if you are forgiven.

Look at Paul - he persecuted the church. He tortured, stole, maimed, killed, and yet God not only called him, but he became one of the most profound apostles of all.
arunma Flaming Calvinist

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If I may open this can of worms, what do we make of this passage of Scripture?

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

I'm not saying that this Scripture alone answers the question, but we shouldn't casually dismiss the passage as a hypothetical either. Coupled with Christ's warning on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, it seems that there is a way for people to utterly reject God to their own demise.To the glory of God, Paul would later write:

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

It seems to me that one's knowledge of God's will is a criterion that God uses in granting or withholding repentance. As Christ said,

And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. (Luke 12:47-48)

Mind you, I fully believe that those whom God has called are predestined to glorification, and will persevere to the end. But we also need to acknowledge man's responsibility here. It seems to me that only God can determine if a renunciation of him is irrevocable or not, but we should be careful to treat such renunciation with the gravity that it deserves.
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Yes. The sacrifice of Christ is open to any and all who repent.
mesue Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.

If your heart is repentant, yes. Only God, and you, can know your heart. You have until your last breath to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Once you are dead, it's too late.
Yes and amen. the Lord is kind and merciful, always giving another chance.
He would not only take you back, but He would lavish blesings upon you as Our Lord expalined in the story of the Prodigal Son.
In the parable the father even runs half way to meet the lost son, because He is looking from afar and sees the boy coming home.
God our Father is like this, always watching and hoping for us to come back to Him.
No matter what the son did, the father took his child back.
And if you speak otherwise, then this scripture serves no purpose.
If you renounced God irrevocably it wouldn't change your salvation state if you genuinely asked Him into your life initially.
At salvation, the Holy Spirit comes into us and cleanses our spirit from all sins, past, present and future, then seals us for all eternity, guaranteeing a place in heaven.

So this is like being born in to your blood family, where your parents stay your parents even when you renounce them, disobey them. God's commitment to us is greater than that even, because it is not bound by death. When we are born again we are literally born into the Family of God.. we become a citizen of heaven right at that point.

After this, all we do for God is not to keep our relationship with Him, but to be a friend of God, rather than just a citizen.

If we don't obey God, and rebel against Him, after genuinely having recieved Christ initially, God is bigger than being hooked on our emotions, and stays with us.

We can't leave Him, because He won't leave us. He is committed to us with agape love that goes beyond emotions to what He has done with our spirit.

We do things for God, because of what He has done for us, not because we have to.

Also, there are different places in heaven for those who have pursued Christ thru their lives, seeking spiritual maturity, and those who have been saved, and then done nothing, or lived worldy.

[FONT='@Arial Unicode MS']Joh 10:28[/FONT][FONT='@Arial Unicode MS'] And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand. [/FONT]
[FONT='@Arial Unicode MS'][/FONT]
[FONT='@Arial Unicode MS']Joh 10:29[/FONT][FONT='@Arial Unicode MS'] My Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.[/FONT]

[FONT='@Arial Unicode MS']Eph 2:8[/FONT][FONT='@Arial Unicode MS'] For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, [/FONT]
[FONT='@Arial Unicode MS']Eph 2:9[/FONT][FONT='@Arial Unicode MS'] not of works, lest anyone should boast. [/FONT]

(Eph 2:6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

(Eph 1:13-14) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life,

Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
So the only way that if you renounced God that He wouldn't be there, would be if you didn't mean it when you asked Him in initially, otherwise God is committed to you no matter what.

that's my 2 cents

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NZGuy
As for Hebrews 6- that verse is basically saying it is impossible to lose your salvation and be renewed because you are putting Christ on teh cross again.. when He has already done the job.. already paid for all your sins past present and future. It is like going back into your mother's womb and being born again.. impossible.
From a Calvinist perspective, your question is inarguable. A truly saved person would never renounce Christ, therefore there would be nothing to forgive. I espouse this view.
From an Arminian perspective, it is sometimes argued that God will always forgive the repentant, though Scripture would seem to suggest otherwise [Hebrews 6:4-6].
I don't get how you can irrevocably you can reject God. You can say whatever you want but take it back later on. I being a former atheist blasphemed God several times before my regeneration, but now praise him for all of his Glory.
Irrevocable means it cannot be retracted at a later time, so based on the language you have chosen, nobody who irrevocably renounces God will repent at a later time. It's simple semantics.
The Hebrews passage: From a Reformed POV it would seem impossible (because of Total Depravity) for those not elect to:...after all, when you are DEAD spiritually you don't even want to believe or have faith or even have the desire~remember God gives faith to His elect who are thereby sealed for heaven; the question you have to ask yourself is~who are these warnings for? The unelect are already damned...right?
Keep studying my physicist friend, it'll come to ya
David01 is, of course, correct in pointing out that that which is irrevocable cannot, by definition, be revoked. Perhaps a better question to ask is, "Can a Christian who commits apostasy from the Christian faith subsequently be reinstated as a member of the body of Christ?" There is only one passage in the Bible that explicitly answers that question.
Heb. 6:4. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6. and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8. but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
9. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. (NASB, 1995)

Up until the 16th century this passage was universally interpreted as teaching that a Christian could lose his salvation, and the large majority of Bible scholars today still hold to that position. Indeed, this passage of Scripture gives us the most detailed description of what it means to be saved that we find anywhere in the Bible, and the end of these saved persons who subsequently fall away from the Christian faith is eternal damnation in the fires of hell.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote his Epistle using the terminology and phraseology of the very early Church. Therefore, in order to accurately interpret the Epistle to the Hebrews it is essential to have a solid background in the writings of the very early Church and the terminology and phraseology that they used.

The phrase in verse 4, "those who have once been enlightened," is a reference to water baptism. Indeed, Justin Martyr (died in 165 A.D.) wrote that the term "enlightenment" was used as a synonym for water baptism of converts to Christianity and he uses the term "the enlightened one" for a person who has been baptized. And the ancient Peshita Syriac translation of the Greek New Testament renders the phrase in verse 4, "who have gone down into baptism."

The phrase in verse 4, "have tasted of the heavenly gift," was variously interpreted during the first 1500 years, but it was ALWAYS interpreted as describing a born-again Christian. Some, for example, saw it to be a reference to the Eucharist; others saw it to be a reference to the teaching of Christ in John 6:31-58. Still others saw it to be a reference to the forgiveness of sins; others saw it to be a reference to the blessings conferred upon the Christian believer.

The phrase in verse 4, "and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit," is an obvious reference to receiving the Holy Spirit, something that, in the New Testament, happens EXCLUSIVELY to those who have been saved.

The phrase in verse 5, "and have tasted the good word of God," is a clear reference to the Christian's experience of hearing the word of God preached and taught and the consequential experience of it in his life as a believer.

The phrase in verse 5, "and the powers of the age to come," is a reference to the miracles that were performed by the Apostles and other Christians as a foreshadowing of the kingdom to come, and to the other blessings that Christians experience now in part but shall experience in their fullness in the future kingdom.

The phrase in verse 6, "and then have fallen away," can be properly interpreted only to be speaking of falling from grace and the Christian faith, something that can NOT happen until AFTER a person is saved.

The phrases in verse 6, "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame," tell us of the absolutely horrendous consequence of a Christian falling from grace, making the death of Christ on the cross for his sins to be of no effect. This passage expressly speaks of a person who has heard the Gospel, believed it, was saved and baptized, repented of his sins, and enjoyed the blessing of being a born-again Christian—but who subsequently chose to reject Christ and return to his sins. And the fate of such a person could not possibly be any worse—it is "impossible to renew them again to repentance." Most obviously it is not impossible to renew an unsaved person to repentance if they have repented but not been born again and then fall back into sin. Therefore the person spoken of has necessarily been born again but has fallen away from the Christian faith. And the born-again Christian who, of his own free will, chooses to reject the Christ who redeemed him is beyond redemption and damned to the fires of hell for eternity.

Verses 7 & 8 are an analogy used to support the author's statements. Just as the ground which once brought forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled received a blessing from God, and the ground that yields thorns and thistles is worthless and ends up being burned, so the Christian which once brought forth good fruit unto God but who now brings forth bad fruit ends up being burned in the fires of hell.

Verse 9 tells us that the author has been warning his Christian readers about things that do not accompany salvation, things that happen to Christians who fall away from the faith. Nonetheless, he is reassuring them that that he does not expect them to fall away, as some others had done, but is convinced of better things concerning them, and things that, in their case, accompany salvation, even though he felt that he needed to warn them of the horrendous consequences of apostasy from the Christian faith.

Because of the extreme severity of the word "impossible" in this verse, many very early Christians rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews as not being a part of the New Testament Canon, but its place in the New Testament Canon is now solid and its warning is stern. A Christian who commits apostasy from the Christian faith can NOT subsequently be reinstated as a member of the body of Christ.
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But what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit than rejecting Christ as Messiah?
The book of Hebrews connects the OT to the NT - and its purpose is to show that Jesus is the better mediator of a better convenant made with a better sacrifice with better blood and offered in a better sactuary by a better High Priest who holds His preisthood forever, and that this better sacrifice is able to remove sin and because of the sacrifice, we can now approach the throne of God for help and mercy.

That verse is not saying that once a saved person rejects Christ then they can never repent so as to be saved. We can repent and believe until the day we die. It has to be understood in context and within the whole book of Hebrews.

What it is saying that if you reject Christ (as the better sacrifice, etc.), then you are lost because there will be no other sacrifice for sin. Example is one who has heard the gospel, 'tasted' the heavenly gift - but did not experience the full gift- and yet decided against Christ as Saviour, denying His work on the cross - those folks are lost as they reject the sole means of salvation available. There will be no other sacrifice available to them.
A corresponding passage is the description of the soils - one soil receives the seed (hears the gospel) and starts to grow (seems to believe, partakes in some degree - tastes) yet whithers and dies because it has no root (Holy Spirit). I would say that such a one was never accepted of God as a believer and it is God who is the one who forgives and cleanses and seals us with the Holy Spirit.
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