21 Jan If A Christian Cannot Lose Their Salvation, What Happened to Judas?
John 17:12 – “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
Jesus picked 12 guys to be His students for a few years knowing that at the end of His earthly ministry, resurrection from death and return to Heaven, they would carry forth His mission, message, and ministry.
In a shocking plot twist, one of those men was a betrayer named Judas Iscariot. Before anyone knew that Judas was a double agent working for Satan, Jesus knew his heart and plot and prayed publicly to forewarn others about this man and foreshadow his demise.
Some have speculated that Judas was a believer who lost his salvation. But, Judas never was a believer. Judas did not lose his salvation. Judas did fake his salvation. There are five reasons we should see Judas as an unbeliever from beginning to end.
One, Jesus predicted that Judas’ betrayal and destruction would fulfill Old Testament Scripture. One of many Scriptures that Jesus was referring to is found in Zechariah 11:12-13. Written in 500 B.C. it prophesied, “they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’…So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter”. As prophesied, Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and threw into an area in the Temple before hanging himself (Matthew 26:15, 27:3, 27:9).
Two, Jesus knew one of His men was a Devil. John 6:70 says, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”
Three, Judas was stealing from Jesus throughout the entire time he was the ministry bookkeeper. Jesus said that our treasure and heart are connected, revealing our true priorities (Matthew 6:19-21). Jesus said we cannot serve both the real God and the demon god of money named Mammon (Matthew 6:24). In John 12:6, Jesus says of Judas, “he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it”.
Four, God did not make Judas sin, but knew how he would behave and predicted it in advance so that true believers would see what a fake believer is like. Jesus’ prayer in John 17:12 was clear that Judas was part of God’s grand plan to bring salvation to the world. Here’s how various translations say it:
• “the one who was destined for destruction” (CEB)
• “the son of perdition” (KJV)
• “the son of hell” (TLB)
• “the one doomed to destruction” (NIV)
Five, Judas was so in agreement with and allegiance to Satan that he actually opened himself to be completely possessed by the Devil. We read in John 13:27, “Satan entered into him”.
Are you certain that you are a true believer in Jesus Christ and not just faking faith?
