Tares: Once "Saved" Not Always Saved

While I believe in eternal salvation for born again believers, there are Christians who are Christians only in name, but not in substance. Consider this passage of scripture:

Deuteronomy 9:13-14 "Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they."

Notice the words “destroy them, blot out their name from under heaven?” That means that God will literally blot out the names of people from the book of life, and he was referring to the children of Israel that verse 13 refers to as those “stiffnecked people.” Connect this to:

Jude 1:4-5 "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

Likewise, there are many false converts that crept into the church unawares, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. These are like the “stiffnecked people” whom God had saved out of the land of Egypt, but afterward destroyed them. Among the children of Israel, there were those who made it to the promised land, and those who did not. God was the one who made sure that those who believed not did not make it to the promised land. Compare these verses:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

According to Paul, the “falling away” will take place before “that day,” which according to verse 1, is the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him…” That would be the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture. That also means that the tares will fall away first, and afterwards the wheat will make it to the barn (the promised land). Likewise, God will make sure that those false converts would “fall away” before the day of of his coming (via the mark of the beast), so that their names will be blotted out from under heaven, and those ungodly men will not make it into the kingdom of God. Those would be the tares who were never saved to begin with. Afterall, can one believe and not produce the fruits of salvation?

Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."

An “honest and good heart” will inevitably come to the knowledge that every word of God in the 66 books of the Holy Bible is true, and believing the word of God, he will inevitably (not by choice) bring forth fruit with patience. Compare this to the seed of a fruit-bearing tree which when sown in a good ground will produce good fruits by nature, not by choice, but by God's design.

Mark 4:26-27 "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."

Notice how the seed of the fruit-bearing tree has a will of its own. Once it is sown in a good ground, it knows to spring up and grow, and bring forth fruits in its season. Likewise, the word of God, when sown in the good ground of an honest and good heart also has a will of its own. It knows to spring up and grow and bring forth fruits in its season, all the while, the born again believer knoweth not how. BTW, a good ground is a ground “by the rivers of water” (Psalms 1:3). It is a well-watered ground.

James 2:26 "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Likewise, James compares a faith which is alive to a body which is alive, and contrast it with a faith which is “dead” to a body which is dead. Faith without works is like a body without spirit. A body which is alive will be evidenced by the presence of life, as much as a faith which is alive will be evidenced by an activity in the works of faith. It need not be compelled, and it cannot be faked. That is also to say, “tares” will ultimately be tares. They will not do the things that “wheat” do because of their unbelief. While they may look like wheat initially, their true colours will show up at harvest time. Even nature will teach us.

Tares (poison darnel) usually grows in the same production zones as wheat. The similarity between these two plants is so great that in some regions, tares are referred to as “false wheat.” It bears such close resemblance to wheat, until the ears begin to appear at harvest time. The spikes of tares are more slender than those of wheat, and they are oriented edgeways to the rachis and have only a single glume, while those of wheat are oriented with the flat side to the rachis and have two glumes. Moreover, wheat will appear golden brown when ripe, whereas tares will be black. Recall what Jesus tells us in this verse:

Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

It is only until the harvest that their differences will be obvious: tares will be tares and wheat will be wheat. According to Jesus, the tares will be gathered first, and afterwards shall the wheat make it into the barn. Likewise, this has also happened with the children of Israel who believed not in the promise of God, and never made it into the promised land.

There are Christians who are depending on their “sinner's prayer” and church attendance as evidence of salvation, while not having the actual substance of faith in them. They would be like the children of Israel who “believed not” according to Jude 1:5. God made sure that their carcases fell in the wilderness, and they never made it into the promised land. The same will also happen before the day of the Lord comes, as signified by the “falling away” according to Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Moses tells us about those children of Israel whom God saved out of the land of Egypt, but later destroyed:

Numbers 14:32 "But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness."

This word “fall” is a reference to the “falling away” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. God made sure that those physical descendants of Abraham who believed not never made it into the promised land. The same will also happen right before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at the event which Paul calls the “falling away.” The ones who truly believe in the words of the Lord will never take the mark of the beast, and they will be accounted worthy to stand before the Lord in judgment.

Luke 20:34-36 "And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."

One is “accounted worthy” when there is an account of his deeds before God. According to this passage of scripture, they which shall be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man are the ones that have obtained unto the resurrection of the dead, so that they can die no more, being equal unto angels, the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

1 John 5:4-5 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Revelation 12:10-11 "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

These are genuinely born again believers who have overcome the world by faith in the word of God. They are the ones who shall be accounted worthy escape all these things that shall come to pass, even the temptation to take the mark of the beast, to stand before the Son of man.

Luke 21:36 "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

Those would include born again believers who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands. They are the ones who will be accounted worthy to stand before the Son of man in judgment. They have obtained unto the resurrection of the dead and shall reign with Christ for a thousand years.

Read also: