Articles
The Point of No Return
Whether we realize it or not, each one of us has been given another day by the grace, mercy, and longsuffering of God. Peter noted this when writing about the certainty of Christ’s return, though it was not according to any man’s schedule or expectation. Though some would scoff at the idea because it had not happened when Peter wrote, Peter reminded them and all others, “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Pet. 3:5, 6), and then assured them, “But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7). God’s ‘delay’ in calling an end to all things was not because he ‘forgot’ or because He wasn’t keeping His word; it was because He is longsuffering.
Peter reveals to us, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9). He would later refer to this longsuffering and the fact we have another day and then admonish them to “consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (2 Pet. 3:15). Indeed, the ones who are still in their sins have yet another day and another opportunity to obey and enjoy the salvation that comes from God, and to not perish.
But one day, there will not be a ‘tomorrow.’ When that day comes and you have not obeyed the Lord, you have reached the point of no return; there will be no change in your eternal fate. While some may think so and hope so, and even a major religious denomination teaches it is possible, the Bible says differently.
Jesus Himself told the story of the rich man and Lazarus — the rich man who was “clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day,” and Lazarus, who was “full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:19-21). When both died and the rich man found himself in torments, he was able to see Abraham, and Lazarus being comforted, and asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him to bring the slightest bit of comfort, but was told by Abraham, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (Luke 16:22-26). As the writer of Hebrews noted, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27); after death, there is no change and no going back.
And, sadly, many still living today have likewise reached a ‘point of no return’ of their own making. These individuals have rejected God or turned away from Christ after initially obeying, and their eyes and hearts are set on the things of this world and following their own desires, rather than seeking to please the Lord. It is not just that they have rejected the Lord or turned away; it’s that their hearts have now become hardened against the truth, against God, and against His people. The heart has become so hardened against the truth that they no longer desire to hear it, and will no longer seek the path that leads to eternal life.
This is not a new development, either, for there have always been men whose hearts have hardened against God and the truth. How many times did Pharaoh see the unmatched power of God, yet hardened his heart again and again as he refused to let Israel go (Exod. 8:15, 32; Exod. 9:7, 34)? The Israelites themselves would be guilty of hardened hearts when in the wilderness (Psa. 95:8-10); and in the New Testament, some religious leaders were so opposed to Jesus because He was not the Christ they wanted Him to be that even when He cast out demons from a man who was “mute and demon-possessed,” they simply said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons,” though the people were amazed and wondered at who could have such power (Matt. 9:32-34). These same men and other religious leaders would later hear of Him raising Lazarus from the dead, but instead of glorifying God and acknowledging Him as the Christ and Son of God, they “gathered a council” and talked about what they should do to prevent others from following Jesus, ultimately deciding “to put Him to death” (John 11:47-53). Hardened hearts were a major factor in their decision.
It did not stop with Jesus, either. When the apostles began teaching the gospel and doing many powerful and undeniable miracles, the religious leaders once again sought to stop the spread of any talk of Jesus being the Christ, and on one occasion when a man who had been lame since birth was healed, they admitted they could not deny a great miracle was done, but decided only to threaten the apostles and forbid them from speaking of Jesus anymore (Acts 4:13-22). No acknowledgment that they must have had God’s approval and that the doctrine was true or the miracle was great; just denial and an attempt to silence. Hardened hearts, again, is the reason.
Jesus Himself would speak of the fact many would not want to hear the truth, and simply because it is not what they want to hear. He spoke of how “the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19, 20). Hearts hardened by the love for sin and evil will never stick around for the light of truth to reveal them for what they are.
So dangerous is this and the fact it may happen even to believers is this that the writer of Hebrews cited that Old Testament passage warning not to harden one’s heart as did the Israelites three times in a short space of that letter to the early disciples (Heb. 3:8, 15; Heb. 4:7). He would again warn them, “exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). Sin will deceive even believers, and it will lead some to turn back into the world (2 Pet. 2:18-21), using any and all excuses one can imagine as to why they do so.
Today, I sometimes run across some article or blog written by someone who has [in their words] ‘left the church’ because of hypocrisy or perceived inequities or too strong of a stance against certain sins — or whatever they decide is reason enough to cease serving the Lord and going back to the life of sin. But let us not be fooled, or fool ourselves; quite often, it is a hardened heart that is the root cause. Yes, that heart may have been hardened by the bad behavior of others who are supposed to be followers of Jesus, but the behavior of others and their shortcomings will by no means excuse me from my responsibility to faithfully follow the Lord.
Are you one who has rejected God from a hardened heart? Are you one who has left the Lord and gone back into the world because of a hardened heart? Would you admit it if it was true? Don’t keep going down that road, for it will eventually reach the point of no return. — Steven Harper
