I can't believe the news today...

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 8:28-9

Joshua Harris, former megachurch pastor and author of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” shocked the evangelical world this week by not only announcing on social media his divorce from his wife of twenty years, but also his divorce from Christianity. Harris said, “I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is deconstruction, the biblical phrase is falling away. By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian.” What happened? Harris is not the first famous Christian to renounce Christianity, nor will he be the last. One theological question that comes up in situations like this is “Can believers lose their faith?” The biblical answer is NO. The Bible is clear that no one can lose their salvation. R.C. Sproul said, “True Christians can have radical and serious falls but never total and final falls from grace.” In other words, if those who fall were genuinely Christian, they will eventually turn from their sin and repent. Who are genuine Christians? Making an outward profession is not the same as being a Christian. Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). If there is no repentance from a fallen “believer,” then let us remember 1 John 2:19 — “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” Are you born again? Be confident that to those who have been born again, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39b). As we affirm our faith in Jesus Christ, let us pray for Joshua Harris and all who are impacted by him. Let us pray for those who we personally know that have fallen from grace.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.