Paul Washer on False Professions of Faith

If a person professes faith in Christ and yet falls away or makes no progress in godliness, it does not mean that he has lost his salvation. It reveals that he was never truly converted." (1 John 2:19)
~ Paul Washer

I remembered the accusations that fly that Paul Washer teaches works salvation. I just believed it before because I have not taken things into context but the more I studied my beliefs, the more I realized I agreed with the perseverance of the saints. There are many people today who profess faith in Christ but there is really no progress in godliness and consistently falls away. It does not mean that salvation has been lost but rather the person was never truly converted to start with.

Anybody who goes against the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints really needs to check the Bible. It is really impossible to be a saved person and never to make any progress in godliness. A Christian may not be sinless but they sin less. There is no way that a true Christian would ever think that they really have a license to sin. Those who are saved by the grace of God will have that gratitude that they do not want to live their old lifestyle anymore. Even if a Christian is not sinlessly perfect but they cannot live like the rest of the world. To teach that true faith results to good works is not works salvation because it does not make good works the cause but it is rather the effect of salvation.

An example would be Judas Iscariot. Some false converts even believe that Judas Iscariot was saved even if John 17:12 shows that he was not even saved. Jesus said, "One of you is a devil." meaning an unsaved person. He supposedly made a profession of faith but he was never truly saved. The evidence was that he was consistently falling away. His suicide became a mark of that he was not even saved to start with. If he were truly saved, he would have asked Jesus to forgive him but even the very act of selling the Lord for 30 pieces of silver proved he was not saved. Christians may deny at one point they are Christians but they do not consistently fall away like Judas Iscariot did.