Reprobate Silver

I want us to look into a matter that is a major controversy in the Body of Christ: “Can a saved person lose their salvation?” Now as ministers of the gospel, it is not acceptable to simply say yes, or no, without scriptural documentation to support your conclusion. Therefore, we will look at this matter from all points of view and render God’s heart and mind concerning it. We will begin our study with a very familiar scripture.

Hebrews 6:4-6

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.

Without needing a whole lot of deduction, verses four and five make it quite clear that Paul is speaking regarding those who have been born again. The inference here is that, if they should fall away, it would be impossible to renew, or restore them again to the faith. But notice what he says next; they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, or rather over and over again. Before we go any further, I think it would be good for us to clarify what is meant by, “if they should fall away.” Off the very top, this terminology is used in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonian Church.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Here the word falling means to depart, forsake or defect from truth. Therefore, one would have to have been walking in the truth, before he is able to defect or fall away from it. Now this “falling away,” is not a mere backsliding, in which such a one is able to repent by the confession of their sin and ask for forgiveness. It is much more than that. It is the falling away from the Body of Christ. You might be wondering what the difference is. Well, in a nutshell; the New Testament backslider is a born again saint who finds himself walking in sin; but has the ability to repent and receive forgiveness of his sins. But those who fall away are those who enter into apostasy; (which is a total abandonment of the faith). They do that which is against the Gospel. These are saints who make their ways, lifestyle or philosophy preeminent or superior to the Gospel. In other words, they worship their way, their mindset, etc. They are a dangerous force in the Body of Christ and God deals with them as such. They are rejected by God and become castaways or reprobate. The term reprobate comes from the word reprobare, from re- (expressing reversal) + probare ‘approve.’ Thus, reprobate is the reversal of that which was previously approved. The very first time we see the word reprobate used was in the Old Testament Jeremiah used it in his writings concerning the impending captivity of Israel.

Jeremiah 6:16-17

16. Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

17. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

The sound of the trumpet is a type of warning. The Lord will always warn His people of His impending judgment before He implements it. How many have been confronted of the evil of their ways and mindsets, but simply refuse to harken to the Word of God. The Body has become a household of hearers and not many doers of the Word of God. But there is a consequence for this behavior.

Jeremiah 6:18-19

18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

19. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it….

Right now a call is going out into the Body of Christ. It dares to insist that we look at what we call the Body of Christ; as opposed to what God regards as His Body. Have we harkened unto the Word and are we walking in the ways of God? Or, is it true that there is a Great Falling Away from the faith?

Jeremiah 6:20

To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me….

It is amazing how those who have rejected the Word of God (when it opposes what they want), can continue to worship, pray and even supposedly fast unto the Lord. But this is a waste of time and energy. The Lord is not receiving such praise or worship. It is corrupt, faulty, and impure. I see this as a great deception in the Body of Christ. How is it that one can know that they have rejected the Word of God as Law for their life, yet still pray and worship the very God they have rejected? There is something very wrong with this picture. It is truly distorted, but the distortion has been accepted as truth. This kind of deception can be dangerously irrevocable. To continue in such a lifestyle is to tempt God and do despite to the Holy Ghost.

Jeremiah 6:21

Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

Evil in the Body of Christ spreads like a cancer. It is injurious to the innocent souls who are often lead astray by it. It can gather traction quickly and become a heretic movement among the people of God. We have seen the damage The New Age Movement has done in the Body of Christ.

Jeremiah 6:27-30

27. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

28. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

29. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

30. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

Here we have the first use and definition of the word reprobate. The wicked are not spared (plucked away), the wrath of God. They are consumed in His fiery indignation. For those in the Body of Christ who are treading on dangerous ground, this is a warning. The Lord will reject you as He did in the days of old. He will give you over to the evil of your own mind. Such a mind He rejects and casts it away from Him. Reprobate silver has no value. It is good for nothing. The substance of it is consumed in the fire. Now let us move over to scripture in the New Testament.

2 Timothy 3:8

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

Now this is a very interesting passage; in that it enlists several elements that are worthy of discussion. First of all, Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned by name in the Old Testament. However, it is traditionally assumed that these are the magicians who withstood Moses at the throne of Pharaoh. If not, then they would have to be of the sect that opposed him in the wilderness, as did Korah. Either way, they are considered to be evil and those who resist the truth. That is the most important principle here; they resisted the truth. Therefore, the New Testament reprobate is even as they were, resisters of the truth. At some point in their walk, they crossed the line of demarcation. They put Christ to an open shame and trampled upon the righteousness of God. In this case, the deeds of the wicked have caused them to ‘fall away.’ Paul goes on to say that they were “reprobate concerning the faith.” Now this is another instance where we can see that to be reprobate, (which means cast-away, rejected, to throw back or to reverse approval), is to be discarded from the faith. This verse is a strict rendering of the meaning of reprobate. To be cast out of the faith, is to be permanently cut off from God.

Titus 1:16

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.