“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:12-14, ESV).

The warning is clear and undeniable. Christians can develop “an evil, unbelieving heart” that leads them to “fall away from the living God.” Despite this clear language, theologians have convinced multitudes that it is false, arguing instead that the Bible teaches “once saved, always saved.” The fact that a Christian can “fall away from the living God” does not indict God’s power to save (“the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save,” Isa. 59:1). Instead, it shows that Christians must be vigilant against sin (“your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,” Isa. 59:2). Truly, God’s grace is greater than sin. Still, God’s grace does not remove one’s free will to “abhor what is evil” and “cling to what is good” (Rom. 12:9). Do not be deceived by sin; it hardens your heart against God and His truth (Heb. 3:13). Be steadfast in your faith to the end, reject sin, and obey righteousness.