Warnings in the Bible against falling away: Hebrews 3:12-15 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you

an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Salvation can be lost:

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. Calvinists make this specific description into a general description. If we look at v. 18, "they" refers to the antichrists. What John was simply saying was that this specific group (the antichrists) who had left the church are not really part of the Church. He is not saying that this is true to ALL who had left the church. The term "antichrists" in the epistles of John is applied specifically to the false teachers. They are called "deceivers" in 2 Jn. 1:7 and they teach that Jesus is not the Christ (1 Jn. 1:18), that he is not from God (4:3), and he did not come in the flesh (2 Jn 1:7). The following commentaries apply also the antichrists to the false teachers: The New International Commentary on the NT: "John regarded the false teachers of his day as being possessed by the spirit of the Antichrist, whose own coming still lay in the future." The Anchor Bible Commentary: "The writer reinterprets tradition (of the Antichrist) to associate the false teachers with ultimate evil."

The International Critical Commentary: "The many false teachers are actual manifestations of the Antichrist." UBS Translator's Handbook: "In the preceding clause antichrist (in the singular) referred to a figure that will come at the end of time, as such not a part of ordinary life. In the present clause the same term is used in the plural with reference to the false teachers, persons whom John and his readers were encountering every day." I notice something in 1 Jn 2:19. The Greek literally says "they came out from us ( ) but not they were from us ( ) for if they were from us ( ) they would have remained/continued with us ( ) but *they went out or they spread false teachings+ so that they may be manifested/revealed/shown that all *of them+ are not from us ( ). *Those in brackets are not in the Greek].

Notice the use of the same preposition in this passage, which can denote "origin" (see the BAGD Lexicon). It is very possible that what John is saying is that these people who departed from the church, that are now spreading false teachings, are not from them, i.e. the church did not send or appoint them. For if their authority came from them they would have remained or continued with them. But their spreading of false teachings reveals that they were not appointed by them. I'm not pushing this interpretation; this is something that I would like to look at more deeply. I.H. Marshall (The New International Commentary on the NT) recognizes the ambiguity of in 1 John 2:19. See one of his footnotes on this passage. John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. Isn't that clear that they are protected in God's hand because as Jesus said "they listen to my voice ... and they follow me" (v. 27)? As long as we continue in faith, as evidenced by our following Jesus, we need not fear that we will perish or be snatched out of our Fathers hand. If we stop following Jesus, we are no longer His sheep. Starting with v. 14. Jesus said, "I am the door; if any one enters by me,he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." What's the condition to be saved? He must enter the Door. And once a person enters the Door he becomes Jesus' sheep: "he will go in and out and find pasture". What characterizes those who belong to the fold? "My sheep listen (keep listening [akousin]) to my voice ... and they follow (keep following [akolouthousin]) me" (v. 27) ---that's continuing in the faith. And because they continue in the faith, they are safe in God's hand. This is echoed in John 15:4, 6 "Remain in me AND I will remain in you ... If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." It is clear that those who will not remain can be snatched out of God's hand and thrown into the fire.

The Greek "oudeis" (or "ouks tis" in v. 27) can be a negative reference to an event or circumstance; it can be rendered "nothing". Even if we take the Greek as "no one", that word is not necessarily inclusive. When God promised his people, "NO ONE will harm you," that doesn't say they can't harm themselves.