Can an Elect Person Fall Away Forever?
1) Direct Answer
No. An elect person cannot fall away forever. The true seed may stumble, but God brings them back. The elect are kept by God and will be presented faultless.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice… I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand… My Father… is greater than all” (John 10:27-30). If they “never perish,” then final falling away is impossible.
- The Scripture says those whom God foreknew He predestinated, called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:29-30). Notice the chain is unbroken—from foreknowledge to glory. Then it adds that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:35-39).
- We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:4,13-14). A seal unto the day of redemption is not a seal for a season.
- “If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). That shows it is not possible to finally deceive or lose the elect.
- “Being born again… by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Incorruptible seed does not die out.
- “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him” (1 John 3:9). The life in the soul cannot deny the Word. The outward man may fail; the inner man holds to God.
- God chastens every son He receives (Hebrews 12:5-11). He corrects His own; He does not cast them away.
- The prodigal was a son while away and a son when restored (Luke 15). He was not made a pig; he was a sheep out of place, brought home again.
- Those who depart and never return reveal they were never of us (1 John 2:19).
Revelation shows the Bride standing victorious, not lost: a countless, washed, overcoming people (Revelation 7:9-17) and seated to reign (Revelation 20:4). That is preservation, not perdition.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Eternal life cannot be temporary. If it can be lost forever, it was never eternal.
- If the elect could finally fall, then Christ would lose a part of His Body and a name written from the foundation would be erased. But Jesus said, “they shall never perish.”
- The life of God in the soul believes the Word. The outside may slip, but the Seed inside will call for the Word, and the Father will bring that child back.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice: it’s not a license to sin; it’s a promise that the true seed will be kept holy. The Bride will be there. God finishes what He starts.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-28
Now let me tell you, I was shocked. How could I not be? Here were two men, one of which was a real believer and the other was a sinful impersonator. YET BOTH WERE MANIFESTING GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. I was troubled by this confusion. I left the meeting to seek God for the answer. I went alone to a secret place and there with my Bible I prayed and waited on God for the answer. Not knowing just what portion of Scripture to read I casually opened the Bible to some place in Matthew. I read for a while and then laid the Bib...
Questions and Answers
61-0112 §90
And then fall away, see, and they're... To renew themselves, go back again to repentance, go on back to preach repentance instead of that which He said the first place. Let us... You know, about laying again the foundation of dead works to repentance, and so forth. "We will, God willing," you see. See, "We'll do that. We'll go back and lay this foundation back then," but go back unto repentance themselves, to repent of it, for ever being up there. "I'm sorry I was ever up there," and count the blood of the covenant...
My Redeemer liveth
55-0410S §41
...hered. May Thy Holy Spirit rest upon each one. Be Thou with us through the coming service, Lord. And may the Holy Ghost come into our midst this morning and heal every sick person that's in the building. Grant it, Lord. May the people go away from here, to remember this Easter forever. Grant it, Lord. And may the great powers, may the great Angels that rolled away the stone on Easter morning, may they stand present today, to roll away every stone of doubt, every fear, every discord. Take it from the hearts of the p...
Believest thou this?
60-0402 §48
He said, "Because I live, you live also. Believest thou this?" He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Believest thou this? I believe the Holy Ghost is right here now. Believest thou this? I believe He'll fill us with His presence. Believest thou this? I believe the Holy Ghost wants to pour His presence out, heal all the sick, make all the people who hasn't got the Holy Ghost be filled. Believest thou this? Do you believe with all your heart? Let's stand to our feet and give Him praise. I believe He'll fall ri...
Where has thy strength gone, Samson?
59-0702 §20
We are not looking for these things of the world. And when the Spirit of God comes into a person, it changes them. It motivates you... The life that's in you motivates you. And what's the matter with the church today, it's become too worldly. What we need is the Holy Ghost in the human being, in the heart. It'll take the new birth to do that: change that person, making him or her a new creature. In darkest of Africa, when I seen women standing there stark naked as they came into the world, and when the Holy Ghost c...