Is it possible for a true Christian to one day no longer believe in God?

[nogard]

Salvation is described as a new birth. A Spiritual birth, a quickening on the Holy Spirit followed by a sealing of the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.

A genuine born again blood washed Christian can no more not believe in God or really deny God than a butterfly can once again become a caterpillar.

The salvation that God works through His grace is so profound a change that it cannot be denied and cannot be turned away from. I am not only saved from eternal condemnation but I am made a heir to the kingdom of God. I have a place with my King, my Savior in His kingdom for all of eternity.

Shall I then prefer the eternal darkness of the lake of fire?

For the cause of Christ
Roger

so all these people who claim to have had genuine faith but now no longer believe are just lying...or mistaken...or confused? And on what basis do you make that claim? Solely because they no longer believe? So someone can be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ for 20 years of their life, but if they ever no longer believe, then all of a sudden those past 20 years no longer were genuine by default? How does that work?

When a child stops believing in Santa Claus, does that mean that child never genuinely believed in Santa Claus? When a devout Muslim of 20 years converts to Christianity, were they all of a sudden never a genuine muslim? And what do you mean by a "genuine" Christian? Their faith was genuine? How can that be quantified? If they believe it to be true and live their lives in tune with their belief, how is it not genuine exactly? Or are you saying it magically becomes ingenuine from the beginning once someone deconverts?

I understand why you believe this, especially if you follow the Calvinist doctrines of perseverance of the saints. But this way of thinking is a logical fallacy known as the No True Scotsman fallacy. I explained a bit more in an earlier post what exactly that is and how it relates to this discussion.

 

[nogard]

I sometimes say you lost 'your salvation' because it was yours all along. No where did you show how God saved you and regenerated you.
Our faith (own willpower will fail).

I know you don't know me, so you can't be sure what my faith was like at all. I understand that. But how exactly am I supposed to show you over the internet how God saved me and regenerated me? Would you care to share how God saved and regenerated you? I grew up in a Christian family. I was taught about God and Jesus from a young age. At age 7 is when I accepted Christ as my Savior, but it wasn't until 13 at a Christian summer camp that I really dedicated my life to Christ. I vowed to read the whole Bible in a year, and I did it. My faith was not just me believing in God, I had a relationship with God. I would pray at night and talk with God. I would try to live a life honoring him. I sought out His will. I delighted in worshiping Him. I felt convicted of my sins. I was a good kid during my teen years. I was considered the "good kid" at the Christian school I attended from 6th-12th grade, and that's saying something. I mean....I don't know what else to say.

It's easy to dismiss an internet stranger. But what if your sibling, or your parent, or your child, or your close friend disclosed to you that they no longer believed anymore? Could you so easily dismiss anyone you know as ever being a Christian simply because they no longer believe?

 

[crossnote]

I know you don't know me, so you can't be sure what my faith was like at all. I understand that. But how exactly am I supposed to show you over the internet how God saved me and regenerated me? Would you care to share how God saved and regenerated you? I grew up in a Christian family. I was taught about God and Jesus from a young age. At age 7 is when I accepted Christ as my Savior, but it wasn't until 13 at a Christian summer camp that I really dedicated my life really to Christ. I vowed to read the whole Bible in a year, and I did it. My faith was not just me believing in God, I had a relationship with God. I would pray at night and talk with God. I would try to live a life honoring him. I sought out His will. I delighted in worshiping Him. I felt convicted of my sins. I was a good kid during my teen years. I was considered the "good kid" at the Christian school I attended from 6th-12th grade, and that's saying something. I mean....I don't know what else to say.

It's easy to dismiss an internet stranger. But what if your sibling, or your parent, or your child, or your close friend disclosed to you that they no longer believed anymore? Could you so easily dismiss anyone you know as ever being a Christian simply because they no longer believe?

I posted my testimony a couple of months ago in the Testimony Forum.

I hope no one is basing their faith on your testimony or mine but rather on God's Word.

In your testimony you mention plenty of what YOU did (in bold)..what about Christ, what did He do? Where does Christ death for your sins come into play? How did He reveal Himself to you?
Did you ever receive His Holy Spirit? Were you born again? Are you now unborn? If so do you think He left you? Or did you leave Him?
He promised never to leave or forsake us...do you think He left you?

 

[nogard]

I posted my testimony a couple of months ago in the Testimony Forum.

I hope no one is basing their faith on your testimony or mine but rather on God's Word.

In your testimony you mention plenty of what YOU did (in bold)..what about Christ, what did He do? Where does Christ death for your sins come into play? How did He reveal Himself to you?
Did you ever receive His Holy Spirit? Were you born again?

First off, that testimony was extremely condensed. What I was trying to do was give you a snapshot of my Christian life. But you're right, I didn't mention what God did for me, for us all.

What I believed was that before I was even born, Christ had laid the path of salvation through his death on the cross. We are all lost in sin, and since God is just and perfect, our sin separated us from Him. There is a penalty for this sin and that penalty is hell. But out of love God sent His son Jesus down to earth to ultimately take on our sin and die for us, so that we may live through him. I know Christians differ on salvation a little bit, but I believed that God did the saving, not us. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are accepting his grace and committing our lives to Him. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us, to guide us. Ideally, a Christian should walk through life led by the Spirit. Although I did not believe in the Calvinist vision of predestination, so I did believe that free will was involved concerning salvation to the extent that we all choose whether or not to accept this gift of salvation. It was not forced upon us (for the elect) or barred from us (for the unfortunate unelect).

I believed all that. It was reality to me. I hope this answers what you're looking for. If not, I can try to explain again.

[Are you now unborn? If so do you think He left you? Or did you leave Him?
He promised never to leave or forsake us...do you think He left you?

I don't believe the Christian God exists anymore. So nobody left anybody from my view. I know it's hard to understand, but if God does not exist, then the Holy Spirit was never actually in you because it does not exist.

 

[crossnote]

I don't believe the Christian God exists anymore. So nobody left anybody from my view. I know it's hard to understand, but if God does not exist, then the Holy Spirit was never actually in you because it does not exist.

But you previously said, "The Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us, to guide us. Ideally, a Christian should walk through life led by the Spirit.". Were you saying this because that is what you were taught or is that what happened to you?

Now you say, "I don't believe the Christian God exists anymore." So you were truly born again (the Holy Spirit regenerated you) now you say "He no longer exists"...there seems to be a serious disconnect.

Are you saying your testimony was really a fig newton of your imagination? It may have been, but that doesn't preclude God from being real.

You say "You don't believe the Christian God exists anymore." Do you think He existed at one time and is now dead? Does His existence depend on your 'believing'?

 

[nogard]

But you previously said, "The Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us, to guide us. Ideally, a Christian should walk through life led by the Spirit.". Were you saying this because that is what you were taught or is that what happened to you?

Now you say, "I don't believe the Christian God exists anymore." So you were truly born again (the Holy Spirit regenerated you) now you say "He no longer exists"...there seems to be a serious disconnect.

Are you saying your testimony was really a fig newton of your imagination? It may have been, but that doesn't preclude God from being real.

You say "You don't believe the Christian God exists anymore." Do you think He existed at one time and is now dead? Does His existence depend on your 'believing'?

Let me just ask you, do you not believe anyone on earth has ever deconverted from a genuine belief? I mean. Take a devout Muslim, who believed at one point with all his heart that Allah was the one true god and the Koran was the inspired word of god. Then, after being introduced to Christianity, he goes through a crisis of faith, and eventually leaves Islam to become a Christian. In your eyes, was this person never a genuine Muslim?

["The Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us, to guide us. Ideally, a Christian should walk through life led by the Spirit.". Were you saying this because that is what you were taught or is that what happened to you?

I'm not sure why you are having a hard time understanding this. At the time, I believed that it was happening to me. In fact, I knew it was happening to me. It was reality to me. Just like it is reality to you. You believe that the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. In fact, you believe it so strongly that you would go as far as to say that you know the Holy Spirit is living inside of you.

But if...and I'm just saying if...if God actually doesn't exist, then the Holy Spirit actually never existed and never dwelt inside of you, even if you believe it had. Do you see what I'm saying here?

I'm not contradicting myself. Back then, I truly believed Biblical Christianity to be reality, and everything, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through salvation, was as real to me as it is to you. My deconversion did not happen overnight. It was a rather painful process that took over two years. At the end of it, my worldview had shifted and now I no longer believe. But what you are trying to do is take my current worldview and somehow retroactively attach it to my past views on reality so that they were somehow no longer genuine. At the time, they were genuine.

Now, I understand what your dilemma is, because while I may no longer believe in the Spirit, you do. So there is this issue now of this person claiming to have accepted Christ as their savior and having been filled with the Spirit, only now to be saying that they no longer believe in the Spirit. In my view, it can end there. But in your view, the Spirit still exists, so an explanation needs to be made.

The easy thing to do, which is what you are doing now, is to simply dismiss the person as ever being a genuine believer. That solves the problem rather easily. Except, it's just not true. I did have a genuine belief. And I am not the only person this has happened to. There are former pastors, missionaries, ministers, and others who have literally sacrificed their relationships, their posessions, and parts of themselves to stay right with Christ and who loved God and believed they were filled with the Holy Spirit who now no longer believe.

I guess you could just continue to ignore us and pretend we don't exist. Or you could ask what would it mean if we did exist. Does the Holy Spirit leave us, does it stay? According to the poll, most people believe it leaves us. Although for Calvinists, that's a tough sell due to their belief that the holy spirit never leaves us. It makes for an interesting discussion I suppose.

 

[sparkman]

Seventh Day Adventists, along with Armstrongites, have a distorted sense of reality. I was a second generation Armstrongite so I know this from experience.

You should get involved with a sound Christian church with sound teaching. These two groups know virtually nothing about core issues of salvation and that is what you need help with.

My recommendation is an Evangelical Free church. I have also been to a Christian and Missionary Alliance church.

Don't assume that you know a lot about the Bible and Christianity because you were in a church that claims to know "the truth". What they call "the truth" is far from it.

Seventh Day Adventists are better off than Armstrongites though..at least they don't typically declare all non Sabbathkeepers to be unsaved like Armstrongites do.

I know you don't know me, so you can't be sure what my faith was like at all. I understand that. But how exactly am I supposed to show you over the internet how God saved me and regenerated me? Would you care to share how God saved and regenerated you? I grew up in a Christian family. I was taught about God and Jesus from a young age. At age 7 is when I accepted Christ as my Savior, but it wasn't until 13 at a Christian summer camp that I really dedicated my life to Christ. I vowed to read the whole Bible in a year, and I did it. My faith was not just me believing in God, I had a relationship with God. I would pray at night and talk with God. I would try to live a life honoring him. I sought out His will. I delighted in worshiping Him. I felt convicted of my sins. I was a good kid during my teen years. I was considered the "good kid" at the Christian school I attended from 6th-12th grade, and that's saying something. I mean....I don't know what else to say.

It's easy to dismiss an internet stranger. But what if your sibling, or your parent, or your child, or your close friend disclosed to you that they no longer believed anymore? Could you so easily dismiss anyone you know as ever being a Christian simply because they no longer believe?

 

[sparkman]

Let me just ask you, do you not believe anyone on earth has ever deconverted from a genuine belief? I mean. Take a devout Muslim, who believed at one point with all his heart that Allah was the one true god and the Koran was the inspired word of god. Then, after being introduced to Christianity, he goes through a crisis of faith, and eventually leaves Islam to become a Christian. In your eyes, was this person never a genuine Muslim?



I'm not sure why you are having a hard time understanding this. At the time, I believed that it was happening to me. In fact, I knew it was happening to me. It was reality to me. Just like it is reality to you. You believe that the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. In fact, you believe it so strongly that you would go as far as to say that you know the Holy Spirit is living inside of you.

But if...and I'm just saying if...if God actually doesn't exist, then the Holy Spirit actually never existed and never dwelt inside of you, even if you believe it had. Do you see what I'm saying here?

I'm not contradicting myself. Back then, I truly believed Biblical Christianity to be reality, and everything, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through salvation, was as real to me as it is to you. My deconversion did not happen overnight. It was a rather painful process that took over two years. At the end of it, my worldview had shifted and now I no longer believe. But what you are trying to do is take my current worldview and somehow retroactively attach it to my past views on reality so that they were somehow no longer genuine. At the time, they were genuine.

Now, I understand what your dilemma is, because while I may no longer believe in the Spirit, you do. So there is this issue now of this person claiming to have accepted Christ as their savior and having been filled with the Spirit, only now to be saying that they no longer believe in the Spirit. In my view, it can end there. But in your view, the Spirit still exists, so an explanation needs to be made.

The easy thing to do, which is what you are doing now, is to simply dismiss the person as ever being a genuine believer. That solves the problem rather easily. Except, it's just not true. I did have a genuine belief. And I am not the only person this has happened to. There are former pastors, missionaries, ministers, and others who have literally sacrificed their relationships, their posessions, and parts of themselves to stay right with Christ and who loved God and believed they were filled with the Holy Spirit who now no longer believe.

I guess you could just continue to ignore us and pretend we don't exist. Or you could ask what would it mean if we did exist. Does the Holy Spirit leave us, does it stay? According to the poll, most people believe it leaves us. Although for Calvinists, that's a tough sell due to their belief that the holy spirit never leaves us. It makes for an interesting discussion I suppose.

Do you still pray and ask for God to reveal Himself to you? Is there any major sin issue in your life that causes you to want to push Him away?

I backslid for a while and I was not following God like I should have been. I remember distinctly pushing Him away from me...I did not want to listen to Christian music or anything due to the conviction it would bring.

Ask yourself if you are holding a particular sin that is causing you disbelief, because sin will do that. If so, you need to give it up in order to restore your original relationship with God.

Quite often it will be a blatantly apparent sin like sexual immorality or something like that, but regardless if you are putting anything in front of God, you can cause yourself to disbelieve. You really love the sin and want it more than you want God in your life.

At any rate ask Him to show you what's going on.

Regarding whether God exists, true atheism is rare. It is apparent from the fact that something exists rather than nothing, that God exists. Even unbelievers will acknowledge this except for the extremely foolish. Something does not come into existence from nothing without a transcendent cause. And the Transcendent Cause shows incredible artistry and intelligence in the resulting creation. We also know that we are created with verbal ability, so it would be illogical that we would be created with this capacity, yet our creator would fail to communicate with us. The Bible is the only coherent communication that claims to have originated from a Transcendent Cause (some might suggest the Qur'an but I don't find it coherent and it is parasitical upon Judaism and Christianity).

 

[eternally-gratefull]

[TABLE="align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

nothing else needs to be said, this is full biblical response to the answer. John spoke of anti-christs, who once claimed to be part of the church, but now deny christ.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

And this doesn't indicate that they were not really saved. Johns Churches were doctrinal churches. He did not tickle ears.

Today is a great example for believers leaving true doctrine and going to some other place to have their ears tickled. It in no way indicates that they were not saved.

actually yes it does.

It says they were never of us, they were never saved, they may have walked with the body, as Judas walked with the 12. But they were never really a part of the body (saved)

 

[eternally-gratefull]

That doesn't necessarily speak to belief, I don't know, I guess the definition of the word "belong" there would be important to indicate what that verse is saying.

What I'm confused about though is how no longer believing can somehow nullify your previous belief? I mean, when you stop believing in Santa Claus, does that mean you never believed in Santa Claus? When people deconvert from Islam to Christianity or Atheism to Christianity, does that mean they were never truly Muslims or atheists?

the problem is in the words being used

Belief vs faith.

many believe in God. but never actually had faith in him, they can walk in this belief for years, and one day walk away and deny ever having believed in it. Their problem was they never trusted in God, trusted (were assured) in his grace and salvation, and truly experienced his love (because they were saved) if they did, they would never stop believing,

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Peters denial..........did he no longer believe or was he afraid of the persecution?

I think a believer can convince themselves and others that they no longer believe. But Christ saved them the moment they believed. Idiots are going to be stuck in their salvation whether they like it or not. I don't understand how a believer can think this way............but Jesus Christ tells us how He thinks about salvation........He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Peter denyd outwardly due to fear. He never stopped believing, there is a huge difference here. Proven by the fact peter did not remain in denial. Someone who has true faith may deny at one time die to fear. But the HS in them will not allow them to continually deny (let alone their new spiritual conscious)

 

[eternally-gratefull]

I guess the problem I have is, what makes that person's faith ingenuine all of a sudden?

I mean, if they truly believed in Jesus Christ as their savior - loved God, followed God, read His Word, prayed, fellowshipped with believers. If in their hearts, they viewed Christ as their master, their savior, their Lord. What makes them different from anybody else during that time? How exactly were they not saved? How exactly were they being deceived? Someone who would clearly be classified as being a Christian by any standard all of a sudden never was simply because they no longer believe. It just doesn't make sense.

I think scripture says it well.

A dog returns to his vomit.

One who has never come to true saving faith may look like a christian, act like a christian, believe some christian things, but he is still a dog. and eventually his true self will come out, and he will return to what he truely is (like a jew returning to law. or a pagan returning to paganism, or an athiest returning to atheism)

 

[ladylynn]

I can't help thinking that Peter's denial being pre-resurrection has some bearing on the matter.

Not only that, it was before Peter had the HolySpirit. This was a time of change from the old covenant to the new covenant. After Jesus rose from the dead, the "veil was rent in two" and access to the Father was given - no more curtain because they now had THEE Great High Priest JESUS! Also, Jesus prayed for Peter.

 

[crossnote]

Let me just ask you, do you not believe anyone on earth has ever deconverted from a genuine belief? I mean. Take a devout Muslim, who believed at one point with all his heart that Allah was the one true god and the Koran was the inspired word of god. Then, after being introduced to Christianity, he goes through a crisis of faith, and eventually leaves Islam to become a Christian. In your eyes, was this person never a genuine Muslim?



I'm not sure why you are having a hard time understanding this. At the time, I believed that it was happening to me. In fact, I knew it was happening to me. It was reality to me. Just like it is reality to you. You believe that the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. In fact, you believe it so strongly that you would go as far as to say that you know the Holy Spirit is living inside of you.

But if...and I'm just saying if...if God actually doesn't exist, then the Holy Spirit actually never existed and never dwelt inside of you, even if you believe it had. Do you see what I'm saying here?

I'm not contradicting myself. Back then, I truly believed Biblical Christianity to be reality, and everything, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through salvation, was as real to me as it is to you. My deconversion did not happen overnight. It was a rather painful process that took over two years. At the end of it, my worldview had shifted and now I no longer believe. But what you are trying to do is take my current worldview and somehow retroactively attach it to my past views on reality so that they were somehow no longer genuine. At the time, they were genuine.

Now, I understand what your dilemma is, because while I may no longer believe in the Spirit, you do. So there is this issue now of this person claiming to have accepted Christ as their savior and having been filled with the Spirit, only now to be saying that they no longer believe in the Spirit. In my view, it can end there. But in your view, the Spirit still exists, so an explanation needs to be made.

The easy thing to do, which is what you are doing now, is to simply dismiss the person as ever being a genuine believer. That solves the problem rather easily. Except, it's just not true. I did have a genuine belief. And I am not the only person this has happened to. There are former pastors, missionaries, ministers, and others who have literally sacrificed their relationships, their posessions, and parts of themselves to stay right with Christ and who loved God and believed they were filled with the Holy Spirit who now no longer believe.

I guess you could just continue to ignore us and pretend we don't exist. Or you could ask what would it mean if we did exist. Does the Holy Spirit leave us, does it stay? According to the poll, most people believe it leaves us. Although for Calvinists, that's a tough sell due to their belief that the holy spirit never leaves us. It makes for an interesting discussion I suppose.

I do understand. I had been through about 5 religions before the Lord got hold of my life. Your first paragraph is very revealing showing that it is nothing more than another religion. You have never been born again and need to seek Him not religion... End.

 

[ladylynn]

Thanks for that brotherly kindness but I chose to believe Jesus´:

1) Luk 21:19 In your patience (Hupomoné) ye shall win your souls. (Endurance)

2) Luk 24:48 Ye are witnesses (Martus) of these things. (Martyrs)

3) Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses (Martus) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Martyrs)

Easy or cheap Gospel forgets Christian martyrdom:

Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Jesus said other way.


I hope He would say this:

Mat 25:23 His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord.

PS

Eternal life in Hell or in heavens?

All of the Bible is Jesus words.,, not just what is printed in red.

 

[oikonomist]

Keep in mind, all beliefs need to be from the Bible. In the Bible, during the church age, there is no account of anyone who is said to be a believer in Christ who ceased to be one.

 

[Jimbone]

The way I personally see it, if someone has truly believed then they have been regenerated and filled with His Holy Spirit. This, in my experience, shatters the veil and “proves” to them God exist and is “REAL, REAL”, not justa “good idea”. Once this happens in a person, again in my experience, there is NO way to deny God is real from then on. You cannot KNOW God is real by His own hand and through His own Son, and then “unknow” the truth of Him later. Where I think the biggest misunderstanding comes in is understanding exactly what the Holy Spirit is and what it does whentruly saved. I was a false convert for 5 years and had no idea I wasn’t a real Christian during that time. I went to a church where His true word was preached, and later realized it was that truth that attracted me to it, but I was completely ignorant of what a Christian truly was. I went up to the alter, repeated the “prayer”, and was declared a Christian right then and there, I was also dunked under water a few months later for good measure, and yet I was NOT saved at all yet. See at this point I thought I was a Christian, I said I was Christian, but I can assure you I wasn’t a Christian and didn’t know Jesus at all, and could have easily walked away from it all with the first tragedy that the world threw at me.

Well that tragedy did end up coming along, but God didn’t let me go, He actually used it to pull me in for real this time. What had to happen is my pride had to be crushed, and I had to come to a place where I knew I couldn’t fix anything and could submit my will. At the time it happened I liked the “idea” of Jesus, but at this point didn’t even know if I wanted tobelieve in a God anymore, and I thought I was already a Christian too, and it wasn’t helping anything. Then I was saved, like a “road to Damascus”, all new man overnight type regeneration (praise His name). An overnight all new creature, veil ripping, I KNOW God’s real and Jesus is the ONLY way, indwelt by the Holy Spirit kind of conversion. There is NO WAY I could deny God anymore, not when I have been truly saved by His grace. So I think that any Christians that can stop believing, have not really been regenerated in the biblical sense, yet today’s society cannot stand to hear that at all. You are not allowed to talk about others salvation or if their conversions are legitimate. We are just like “if they say they love Jesus then they are a Christian". I think the whole “believing”part is SO much bigger and not as “easy” as today’s churches say for the mostpart. Believing Gods word in a world that has indoctrinated us to dismiss anything supernatural as nonsense from cradle to grave, and is nearly impossible to hear real truth, and in my opinion the fact that any of us are saved is a SUPER testament of His power and love. That said I agree whole heartedly that if someone walks away from Jesus they were never really His, and that once God has revealed Himself to us as individuals there is NO way to unbelieve it, at all.

 

[KennethC]

Well I looked through the thread and I did not see this clear cut passage given by the Apostle Paul:


Acts 20:28-31


28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.


Apostle Paul says here that disciples of Christ can be drawn away by false teachers, and they will not be spared if they leave the truth to follow after false doctrines. Paul seems to warn believers of false teachers and following them a lot, and here he clearly says warned day and night in tears. If Paul is warning in tears that seems to suggest that the danger of falling away from the faith is more severe then just lose of rewards.

 

[crossnote]

Let's say a person is truly saved and born again.
Let's also say he begins backsliding heading o so close to destruction.

Since God is not willing that any of His should perish, don't you think God will take that person 'home' before he reached that theoretical point of no return (eternally lost)? Or is your God too impotent or uncaring for His own?