“Don’t you think that would be an important thing to find out?”
It isn’t real high on my list.
When in college, I had a roommate who converted. He was filled with enthusiasm, and witnessed productively to several people. Perhaps 6 months later, he became a Buddhist...
The normal (for me) interpretation is that he was never saved at all, but was a false Christian. 1 John has, “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.”
But the heart is deceitful. During those 6 months, if you asked him, I am 100% certain he would have said ‘yes, I am a Christian’. Would he have been lying? To us, certainly, and quite possibly to himself.
Now, nearly 40 years have passed since my conversion. There was a period in my 20s where I was bitter about some Christians I had met, rarely went to church, and most looking at my actions would have put me in the “not a Christian” category.
I didn’t once doubt my salvation. God had started something in me, and would see it through to the finish. I eventually repented my bitterness (in truth, the problem was primarily with ME, not the other Christians) and have been somewhat more visibly ‘Christian’ in the years since. So my testimony would be in favor or eternal security.
However, what matters isn’t my testimony, but God’s. What does the scripture say? THAT is the measure of truth, not my feelings or my experience.
And while I can think of passages that support eternal security, I can think of others about needing to persevere to the end. Maybe if I was an introspective person, and inclined to probe my feelings, I would feel a compulsion to study it. But I’m the least introspective of people, I’ve never felt worried about my salvation, and I haven’t studied it - so I don’t want to commit.
I agree with you in that it’s far more productive simply to remain in Him and continue to grow by His work in us.
If somebody falls out of fellowship, they aren’t getting away with anything, they simply are placing themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time to perform by His Plan, so they simply are leaving a reward on the shelf, which they won’t inherit or be rewarded at the bema seat judgment.
We only have this life prior to the first death to grow in Christ, so that when He administers awards at the bema seat, we receive them for all eternity. I remember studying a doctrine on this note, where it is only prior to the first death, that our human spirit and soul is able to be cleansed and tested and produce works which are later rewarded at the bema seat. The consequences of those crowns are eternal, so it is in our best interest not to grieve the Holy Spirit or fail to abide in Him.
One thing I can consistently note about each and every sin I have ever committed or will commit, is that it was never done by remaining in Him. They always occur when I am out of fellowship. So a great mechanism to check ourselves when tempted, is to double check and make sure we are in fellowship with Him, and place things in His hands and decide and act through faith in Him. He’s always a winning solution.