Verliezen, kan je redding?
"Jullie zullen door iedereen worden gehaat omwille van mijn naam; maar wie standhoudt tot het einde zal worden gered." Matt. 10:22.
"Jezus zei tegen hem: 'Wie de hand aan de ploeg slaat en achterom blijft kijken, is niet geschikt voor het koninkrijk van God.’" Luk. 9:62.
"als wij volharden, zullen we ook met hem heersen; als wij hem verloochenen, zal hij ons ook verloochenen" 2 Tim. 2:12.
"Wanneer we willens en wetens blijven zondigen nadat we de waarheid hebben leren kennen, is er geen enkel offer voor de zonden meer mogelijk". Heb. 10:26.
En als zij die zich door hun kennis van onze Heer en redder Jezus Christus hebben losgemaakt van het vuil van de wereld, daar weer in verstrikt raken en er opnieuw door worden beheerst, zijn ze er erger aan toe dan voorheen. Het was beter voor hen geweest de weg van de rechtvaardigheid nooit gekend te hebben dan die weg wel te kennen, en zich vervolgens af te wenden van het heilige gebod dat hun is overgeleverd." 2 Pet. 2:20, 21
Zie ook: Matt. 24:13; Luk. 17:31, 32; Joh. 8:31, 32; 15:1, 6; Gal. 6:9; Jak. 1:12; Heb. 6:4–6; 10:36.
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We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation. Otherwise, the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, may hurl us forth from our life. Barnabas (c. 70–130, E), 1.138.
The whole past time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger. . . . Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called, we fall asleep in our sins. For then, the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, will thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. . . . And you should pay attention to this all the more, my brothers, when you reflect on and see that even after such great signs and wonders had been performed in Israel, they were still abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found to be, as it is written, the “many who are called,” but not the “few who are chosen.” Barnabas (c. 70–130, E), 1.139.
[WRITTEN TO CHRISTIANS:] Since all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him and forsake those wicked works that proceed from evil desires. By doing that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For where can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Clement of Rome (c. 96, W), 1.12.
Let us therefore repent with the whole heart, so that none of us perish by the way. Second Clement (c. 150), 7.522.
Let us then practice righteousness so that we may be saved unto the end. Second Clement (c. 150), 7.523.
For the Lord has sworn by His glory, in regard to His elect, that if any one of them sin after a certain day which has been fixed, he will not be saved. For the repentance of the righteous has limits. Filled up are the days of repentance to all the saints. But to the unbeliever, repentance will be possible even to the last day. . . . For the Lord has sworn by His Son, that those who denied their Lord have abandoned their life in despair.
Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.11.
There is but one repentance to the servants of God. Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.21.
If you do not guard yourself against [anger], you and your house will lose all hope of salvation. Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.23.
Put away doubting from you, and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord, saying to yourself, “How can I ask of the Lord and receive from Him, seeing I have sinned so much against Him?” Do not reason with yourself in this manner. Instead, with all your heart turn to the Lord, and ask of Him without doubting. For then you will know the multitude of His tender mercies and that He will never leave you, but will fulfil the request of your soul. For He is not like men, who remember evils done against them. Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.26.
The apostates and traitors of the church have blasphemed the Lord in their sins. Moreover, they have been ashamed of the name of the Lord by which they were called. These persons, therefore, at the end were lost unto God. Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.41.
I hold further, that those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation [i.e., the Mosaic Law], and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death—you will by no means be saved. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.218.
These men of old time, . . . for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of great disgrace. Accordingly, what will the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord’s coming, and have become the slaves of their own lusts? Truly, the death of the Lord brought healing and remission of sins to the former. However, Christ will not die again on behalf of those who now commit sin. For death will no more have dominion over Him. . . . We should not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of olden times. Rather, we should fear ourselves, least perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but are shut out from His kingdom. And for that reason, Paul said, “For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also not spare you.” Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.499.
It was not to those who are on the outside that he said these things, but to us—lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such thing. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.500.
Knowing that what preserves his life, namely, obedience to God, is good, he may diligently keep it with all earnestness. Irenaeus (c. 180, E), 1.522.
Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.525.
God’s greatest gift is self-restraint. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you,” as having judged you worthy according to the true election. Thus, then, while we attempt piously to advance, we will have put on us the mild yoke of the Lord from faith to faith, one charioteer driving each of us onward to salvation. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.374.
He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the Gospel not turn back, like Lot’s wife, as is said—even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation. And let him not go back either to his former life (which adheres to the things of sense) or to heresies. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.550.
It is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope, nor the endurance of one day; rather, “he that endures to the end will be saved.”
Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.600.
God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning the past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out. For only the Father is the one who is able to undo what is done. . . . So even in the case of one who has done the greatest good deeds in his life, but at the end has run headlong into wickedness, all his former pains are profitless to him. For at the climax of the drama, he has given up his part. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.602.
No one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.244.
The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins. Tertullian (c. 198, W), 3.673.
We ought indeed to walk so holily, and with so entire substantiality of faith, as to be confident and secure in regard of our own conscience, desiring that it may abide in us to the end. Yet, we should not presume [that it will]. For he who presumes, feels less apprehension. He who feels less apprehension, takes less precaution. He who takes less precaution, runs more risk. Fear is the foundation of salvation. Presumption is an impediment to fear. . . . More useful, then, is it to apprehend that we may possibly fail, than to presume that we cannot. For apprehending will lead us to fear, fear to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us.
Tertullian (c. 198, W), 4.19.
Some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised [to give]. So they turn His liberality into His slavery. . . . For do not many afterwards fall out of [grace]? Is not this gift taken away from many? These, no doubt, are they who, . . . after approaching to the faith of repentance, build on the sands a house doomed to ruin. Tertullian (c. 203, W), 3.661.
God had foreseen . . . that faith—even after baptism—would be endangered. He saw that most persons—after obtaining salvation—would be lost again, by soiling the wedding dress, by failing to provide oil for their torches. Tertullian (c. 213, W), 3.639.
Hoodwinking multitudes, [Marcus, the heretic] deceived many persons of this description who had become his disciples. He taught them that they were prone, no doubt, to sin. However, he said that they were beyond the reach of danger because they belonged to the perfect Power. . . . Subsequent to baptism, these [heretics] promise another, which they call Redemption. And by this, they wickedly subvert those who remain with them in expectation of redemption. As if persons, after they had once been baptized, could again obtain remission. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.92.
A man may possess an acquired righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.266.
Certain ones of those [heretics] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a way that they cannot be lost. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.308.
The same reply must be given to them with respect to the statement of the apostle. . . . On whom does He have mercy? . . . He has it on those who are capable of incurring destruction if they did not receive mercy. They will obtain mercy in order that they may not incur that destruction of which they are capable. That way, they will remain in the condition of those who are saved. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.309.
He who has not denied himself, but denied Christ, will experience the saying, “I also will deny him.” Origen (c. 245, E), 9.464.
Being a believing man, if you seek to live as the Gentiles do, the joys of the world remove you from the grace of Christ.
Commodianus (c. 240, W), 4.214.
Let fear be the keeper of innocence, so that the Lord, who of His mercy has flowed into our hearts in the access of celestial grace, may be kept by righteous submissiveness in the home of a grateful mind. Otherwise, the assurance we have gained may beget carelessness, and so the old enemy will creep upon us again. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.276.
There remains more than what is yet seen to be accomplished. For it is written, “Praise not any man before his death.” And again, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” And the Lord also says, “He that endures to the end, the same will be saved.” Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.283.
You are still in the world. You are still in the battlefield. You daily fight for your lives. So you must be careful, that . . . what you have begun to be with such a blessed commencement will be consummated in you. It is a small thing to have first received something. It is a greater thing to be able to keep what you have attained. Faith itself and the saving birth do not make alive by merely being received. Rather, they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God. The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said, “Look! You have been made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” . . . Solomon, Saul, and many others were able to keep the grace given to them so long as they walked in the Lord’s ways. However, when the discipline of the Lord was forsaken by them, grace also forsook them.
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.284.
I ask . . . that you will grieve with me at the [spiritual] death of my sister. For in this time of devastation, she has fallen from Christ.
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.298.
He who wills that no one should perish, desires that sinners should repent, and by repentance, should return again to life.
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.333.
They should not think that the way of life or of salvation is still open to them if they have refused to obey the bishops and priests. For in Deuteronomy, the Lord God says, “And the man that will do presumptuously and will not listen to the priest or judge, . . . that man will die.”
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.358.
[ADDRESSED TO CHRISTIAN LEADERS:] Endeavor that the undisciplined ones should not be consumed and perish. As much as you can, by your salutary counsels, you should rule the brotherhood and take counsel of each one with a view to this salvation. Strait and narrow is the way through which we enter into life. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.358.
It is clear that the devil is driven out in baptism by the faith of the believer. But he returns if the faith should afterwards fail.
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.402.
Although they forsake the fountain of life, the [heretics] promise the grace of living and saving water. . . . Begotten of treachery, they lose the grace of faith. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.425.
Whoever that confessor is, he is not greater, better, or dearer to God than Solomon. Solomon retained the grace that he had received from the Lord, as long as he walked in God’s ways. However, after he forsook the Lord’s way, he also lost the Lord’s grace. For that reason it is written, “Hold fast that which you have, lest another take your crown.” Assuredly, the Lord would not threaten that the crown of righteousness might be taken away if it were not that the crown must depart when righteousness departs. . . . “He that endures to the end, the same will be saved.” So whatever comes before the end is a step by which we ascend to the summit of salvation. It is not the finish, where the full result of the ascent is already gained. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.428.
To anyone who is born and dies, is there not a necessity at some time . . . to suffer the loss of his estate? Only let not Christ be forsaken, so that the loss of salvation and of an eternal home would be feared. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.439.
We pray that this sanctification may abide in us. For our Lord and Judge warns the man who was healed and quickened by Him to sin no more—lest a worse thing happen to him. So we make this supplication in our constant prayers, . . . that the sanctification and quickening that is received from the grace of God may be preserved by His protection. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.450.
There is need of continual prayer and supplication so that we do not fall away from the heavenly kingdom, as the Jews fell away, to whom this promise had first been given. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.451.
The quarrelsome and disunited . . . will not be able to escape the crime of brotherly dissension. For it is written, “He who hates his brother is a murderer.” And no murderer attains to the kingdom of heaven. Nor does he live with God. A person cannot be with Christ if he had rather be an imitator of Judas than of Christ. How great is the sin that cannot even be washed away by a baptism of blood! Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.454.
What a wonderful providence, how great the mercy, that by a plan of salvation it is provided for that more abundant care should be taken for preserving a man after he is already redeemed. . . . Nor would the infirmity and weakness of human frailty have any resource, unless the divine mercy, coming once more in aid, should open some way of securing salvation, by pointing out works of justice and mercy. So, by almsgiving, we may wash away whatever foulness we subsequently contract. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.476.
You are afraid that perhaps your estate might fail if you begin to act generously from it. Do you not know, miserable man, that while you are worrying that your family property may fail, life itself and salvation are failing! Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.478.479.
He says, “He that endures to the end, the same will be saved.” And again He says, “If you continue in my word, you will truly be my disciples” [John 8:31, 32]. . . . So there needs to be patience in order that hope and faith may attain their result. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.487.
Let us press onward and labor, watching with our whole heart. Let us be steadfast with all endurance; let us keep the Lord’s commandments. Thereby, when that day of anger and vengeance comes, we may not be punished with the ungodly and the sinners. Rather, we may be honored with the righteous and with those who fear God. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.491.
Those who are snatched from the jaws of the devil and delivered from the snares of this world, should not return to the world again, lest they should lose the advantage of their leaving it in the first place. . . . The Lord admonishes us of this in His Gospel. He taught that we should not return again to the devil and to the world. For we have renounced them and have escaped from them. He says, “No man looking back after putting his hand to the plough is fit for the kingdom of God.” And again, “Let him that is in the field not return back. Remember Lot’s wife.” . . . So we must press on and persevere in faith and virtue. We must complete the heavenly and spiritual grace so that we may attain to the palm and the crown. In the book of Chronicles it says, “The Lord is with you so long as you also are with him; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” Also in Ezekiel: “The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in whatever day that he may transgress.” Furthermore, in the Gospel, the Lord speaks and says: “He that endures to the end, the same will be saved.” And again: “If you will abide in my word, you will be my disciples indeed.”
Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.500.
In the Gospel according to Matthew: “Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire” [Matt. 3:10]. . . . Even a baptized person loses the grace that he has attained, unless he remains innocent. In the Gospel according to John: “Look, you are made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing happens to you” [John 5:14]. Also, in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God abides in you? If anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him” [1 Cor. 3:16, 17]. Of this same thing in the Chronicles: “God is with you, while you are with Him. If you forsake Him, he will forsake you” [2 Chron. 15:2]. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.542.
As to one who again denies Christ, no special previous standing can be effective to him for salvation. For anyone of us will hold it necessary that whatever is the last thing to be found in a man in this respect, that is where he will be judged. All of those things that he has previously done are wiped away and obliterated. Treatise on Re-Baptism (c. 257, W), 5.674.
He put a seal upon him, for it is concealed as to who belong to the side of the devil and who to the side of Christ. For we do not know out of those who seem to stand whether they will fall or not. And of those who are down, it is uncertain whether they might rise. Victorinus (c. 280, W), 7.358.
A son . . . who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and of having his name removed forever from his family. How much more so does a person [deserve to be disinherited] who forsakes God—in whom the two names meet that are entitled to equal reverence: Lord and Father? . . . Of what punishments, therefore, is he deserving who forsakes Him who is both the true Master and Father? Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.155.
The righteous man, since he has entered upon a hard and rugged way, must be an object of contempt, derision, and hatred. . . . Therefore, he will be poor, humble, low, subject to injury, and yet enduring all things that are grievous. And if he will continue his patience unceasingly to that last step and end, the crown of virtue will be given to him and he will be rewarded by God with immortality for the labors that he has endured in life for the sake of righteousness. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.165.
We believe that our children have been corrected when we see that they repent of their errors. And though we may have disinherited them and cast them off, we again receive, cherish, and embrace them. Why, then, should we despair as if the mercy of God our Father might not be appeased by repentance? He who is both the Lord and a most indulgent Parent promises that He will remit the sins of the penitent. He promises that He will blot out all the iniquities of the one who begins afresh to practice righteousness. The uprightness of one’s past life is to no avail to him who lives badly, for the subsequent wickedness has destroyed his works of righteousness. Likewise, former sins do not stand in the way of him who has amended his life. For the subsequent righteousness has wiped away the stain of his former life. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.191.
[True] repentance makes a man cautious and diligent to avoid the faults into which he has once fallen through treachery. No one can be so prudent and so cautious as not at some time to slip. Therefore, God, knowing our weakness, out of His compassion has opened a harbor of refuge for man— that the medicine of repentance might aid this necessity to which our frailty is liable. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.191.
If they tear themselves away from this pernicious slavery, all their error will be forgiven them—if they have corrected their error by a better life. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.191.
He who sins after his baptism, unless he repents and forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna.
Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.398.
How do you know, O man, when you sin, whether you will live a sufficient number of days in this present state in order that you will have time to repent? For the time of your departure out of this world is uncertain. And if you die in sin, there will remain no repentance for you.
Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.400.
The Holy Spirit always abides with those who are possessed of Him, so long as they are worthy. . . . The Holy Spirit remains with a person so long as he is doing good, and He fills him with wisdom and understanding. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.462.