Costello,<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]A question I have with this Calvinistic view is if those who fall away in this text were never born again in the first place, what's the point of the warning? If they are not saved to begin with, what are they going to lose by 'falling away'? What are they falling away from?</font><hr></blockquote><p>They’re falling away from the external church because they’ve never really had a genuine faith. There are those who appear to be believers, who share in the life of the church up to the moment of their apostasy. Without faith, closeness to God in the fellowship of His covenant people is no blessing; rather it subjects apostates to more severe judgment.<br><br>After sharing in all the external evidences of participation in the church through baptism, participation in the Lord’s Supper, and even experience with the gifts of the Holy Spirit they proved they were never truly born again.<br><br>The believer will make every effort to make their calling and election sure. (See 2 Peter 1:2-11)<br><br>There is a kind of falling away that is irreversible (I John 5:16). Christian salvation is final, and the decision to reject it, if made at a certain level, cannot be reversed. According to I John 2:19, anyone who made such a decision was not really a member of the household of faith, although they may have seemed to be. Judas Iscariot is the clearest example of someone who participated in the coming of the kingdom, but did not enter it. This warning is not to encourage speculation about whether others are irretrievably lost, but urges us to cling closely to the Savior ourselves.<br><br><br>Wes

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. - Isaac Watts