What Happens to Those Who Leave The Faith? A Defense Of Free Grace Theology

Paul the Apostle

Many Christians today hold the belief that anyone who abandons the faith is destined for eternal damnation in hell. In most denominations today, it is often asserted that such a person has either lost their salvation or was never truly saved in the first place. This assumption, however, arises from a misunderstanding of several key biblical warnings. These passages are frequently read as threats of eternal condemnation, when in reality they concern the loss of spiritual reward, temporal discipline, and the forfeiture of fellowship with God rather than salvation itself. 

However, in stark contrast to most views of salvation, Free Grace theology traditionally asserts that even those who fall into apostasy may be saved and enter heaven if they have once believed, and as I will demonstrate in this article, Scripture makes it clear that while apostasy is indeed possible, it does not result in the forfeiture of one’s salvation.

Biblical Evidence

Among the strongest evidences that Paul did not treat apostasy as something that can make you lose your standing in Christ is the Galatian church. That church was the recipient of Paul's letter to the Galatians, and as is evident within the letter, these Christians had fallen into a false gospel of works, as Paul states in Galatians 3:1 'O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?' The Galatians had been misled by false teachers into believing that salvation could be earned by keeping the Mosaic law, leading them to apostasy. Yet despite this, Paul unmistakably affirms their genuine salvation. In Galatians 3:2, he reminds them that they had received the Holy Spirit—clear evidence that they were true believers, not mere pretenders. Furthermore, in Galatians 6:1, Paul addresses them as “brethren,” a term he reserves exclusively for the saved, thus reaffirming their present standing in Christ. 

This is consistent with Paul's language elsewhere in his letters, such as 2 Timothy 2:13, where Paul writes 'If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.'. The "we" is obviously referring to Christians, as Paul was including himself in the group. Notice however, that Paul says that even in such cases, God will stay faithful to us. 

However, there are also multiple other examples which challenge the claim that apostates were never truly saved, as we see that King Solomon, the author of 3 Biblical books experienced apostasy, as 1 Kings 11:4 records his fall to paganism: 'For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.' While Reformed theology argues that this was merely a temporary apostasy, this still places multiple questions on the Reformed system, why would God allow temporary apostasy but not apostasy until the end of one's life? What if Solomon had died earlier, would that have proven him unsaved? If you interpret the Biblical warnings about apostasy to be about eternal damnation, where do you see an exception for temporal apostasy in those verses? 

Simply, it is explicitly clear from the Bible that apostasy is warned about, however it also explicitly affirms the doctrine of eternal security, as seen in Hebrews 13:5 'Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' and John 10:28 'And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' among many other verses. It would not make sense for Scripture to repeatedly warn against something that is impossible. Just as it would be absurd for a father to warn his son not to jump to the moon, a thing no human could do, so too, for God to warn against apostasy implies that falling away is a genuine possibility. The warnings, then, are meaningful because they address a real spiritual risk. But what about the warning passages themselves? The most commonly used one is Hebrews 6, which reads:

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:

8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

However, the warning can be understood through the agricultural parable which illustrates renewal through the burning. The field symbolizes a person who has become unfruitful, the thorns and briers representing bad fruits, and the burning signifies God’s corrective judgment. In ancient agriculture, farmers would burn unproductive fields so that they could later become fertile and produce a healthy crop. Similarly, divine judgment acts like the farmer’s burning: it enables the unfruitful or wayward individual to be restored and bear good fruit once more.

Thus, the “impossibility” of repentance mentioned in the passage should be understood as a human impossibility, these people would be beyond reach through outreach, leading to inevitable divine judgement. However, just like the burning of a field, this judgement enables the apostate to bear fruit again. This verse should not be understood as a threat of eternal damnation, but of temporal discipline.