Day #33

Read

Can you fall away from the Lord? Can a person who is saved become unsaved again? Think about this question as you read Romans 11-16.

Reflect

The natural branches described in chapter 11 verses 17-21 are the Israelites and the wild branches are the Gentiles. God has broken off some of the Israelites from His family tree. (Technically they broke themselves off by their disobedience.) Then God grafted in non-Jews. Those of us who are not Jews have been blessed with the opportunity to be part of God's family. But we should not be prideful about it, "for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either" (Romans 11:21). Just as some of the Jews have been broken off God's tree for their unbelief, we can also be broken off if we do not continue to grow receiving nourishment from the root. Is Paul saying you can fall away? He most certainly is. Some denominations falsely teach that once you are saved you cannot fall away from grace. What does the Bible say?

Romans 15:14 explains that we, as Christians, are competent to counsel (instruct, give direction to) one another. The church should be doing the counseling for its members. If you need counseling of any kind, seek spiritual counsel. Take your needs to the church. If you have a situation the leadership in your congregation does not feel comfortable with, they can direct you to others in our brotherhood trained to handle specialized problems. Some issues are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain requiring a chemical correction. That's a different situation. For those instances you may need to go outside the church, but for matters pertaining to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3), Christians should counsel Christians.