Something was brought to my mind when I was discussing the issue of sexual purity and I am going to be blunt about what I know. You may not like it, but you can judge for yourselves whether I speak the truth or lies.
Why did people like Judas Iscariot and Simon Magus start out as Christ's followers but later on they depart from the faith and betray Jesus? It's because their motivation for believing in Christ was wrong from the start.
Judas Iscariot was an apostle, but he was also a thief. He stole from the church's moneybag to feed his own greed. His motivation for believing in Christ was to make himself rich and prominent. This selfishness finally drove him to betray Jesus because Jesus did not become the king he wanted Him to be - so he lost his hope to become a prominent leader and Satan motivated him to betray Jesus instead. His selfish motivation for his faith eventually turned him away from God and into Satan's hands - his end was terrible and he was not saved even though he once walked as an apostle of Christ.
Simon Magus was a magician, he heard the Gospel from Philip and then converted to Christianity. For a while he even travelled with Philip so at least his conversion was genuine. But church history says that he eventually betrayed the faith and became a heretic. Why? The problem again lies in his motivation for becoming a Christian. This is recorded in the Book of Acts (Acts 8). In that account, Simon Magus saw the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated by the apostles' laying on of hands, and he tried to offer money to obtain that power. His motivation was to make himself powerful and also to escape the consequences of his sins - all about himself.
This is what apostle Peter said to Simon: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:20-23 NIV)
But what is worth noticing is how Simon responded: “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” (Acts 8:24 NIV)
Simon Magus was ALL ABOUT ESCAPING CONSEQUENCES for his sins. This motivation to escape consequences comes from a selfish heart, not a repentant heart. Peter told him straight to his face that his selfish heart is NOT RIGHT BEFORE GOD.
Read the Gospel carefully, you will realise neither Jesus nor His apostles preached a gospel to encourage people to seek escape from consequences. It was a gospel to encourage people to seek escape from corruption, to be freed from sin, not freedom from hell. It was a gospel to motivate people to seek godliness and reject evil, not seek freedom from punishment.
Acts 2:40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” - Peter's message is so clear, it was never about escaping punishment and consequences.
That is why a person who is in the faith for the sake of escaping eternal damnation cannot have truly repented. Simon Magus had this mindset seeing how he wanted nothing bad to happen to him even though he was wicked, and so was every false convert. They just want to escape consequences for their sins, but they don't want to escape corruption. They want to wallow in sin, give excuses for their wrongdoings but then still be allowed to avoid the lake of fire. How can these people be saved? They aren't.
Why did people like Judas Iscariot and Simon Magus start out as Christ's followers but later on they depart from the faith and betray Jesus? It's because their motivation for believing in Christ was wrong from the start.
Judas Iscariot was an apostle, but he was also a thief. He stole from the church's moneybag to feed his own greed. His motivation for believing in Christ was to make himself rich and prominent. This selfishness finally drove him to betray Jesus because Jesus did not become the king he wanted Him to be - so he lost his hope to become a prominent leader and Satan motivated him to betray Jesus instead. His selfish motivation for his faith eventually turned him away from God and into Satan's hands - his end was terrible and he was not saved even though he once walked as an apostle of Christ.
Simon Magus was a magician, he heard the Gospel from Philip and then converted to Christianity. For a while he even travelled with Philip so at least his conversion was genuine. But church history says that he eventually betrayed the faith and became a heretic. Why? The problem again lies in his motivation for becoming a Christian. This is recorded in the Book of Acts (Acts 8). In that account, Simon Magus saw the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated by the apostles' laying on of hands, and he tried to offer money to obtain that power. His motivation was to make himself powerful and also to escape the consequences of his sins - all about himself.
This is what apostle Peter said to Simon: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:20-23 NIV)
But what is worth noticing is how Simon responded: “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” (Acts 8:24 NIV)
Simon Magus was ALL ABOUT ESCAPING CONSEQUENCES for his sins. This motivation to escape consequences comes from a selfish heart, not a repentant heart. Peter told him straight to his face that his selfish heart is NOT RIGHT BEFORE GOD.
Read the Gospel carefully, you will realise neither Jesus nor His apostles preached a gospel to encourage people to seek escape from consequences. It was a gospel to encourage people to seek escape from corruption, to be freed from sin, not freedom from hell. It was a gospel to motivate people to seek godliness and reject evil, not seek freedom from punishment.
Acts 2:40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” - Peter's message is so clear, it was never about escaping punishment and consequences.
That is why a person who is in the faith for the sake of escaping eternal damnation cannot have truly repented. Simon Magus had this mindset seeing how he wanted nothing bad to happen to him even though he was wicked, and so was every false convert. They just want to escape consequences for their sins, but they don't want to escape corruption. They want to wallow in sin, give excuses for their wrongdoings but then still be allowed to avoid the lake of fire. How can these people be saved? They aren't.
