So you don't believe that a person can pretend to be, and even convince themselves that they are true believers, while all along they were not? They may believe God existed, and that Christ died for their sins, yet not have the Spirit indwelling, no? After all, the devil believes and trembles.
Nobody has yet been able to show me how the Gospel is not the work of God alone, but that the spiritually dead must 'accept Christ' somehow, the very Christ with whom they are at enmity, whose obedience they are unable to submit to, the very ones who don't know the depths of the truth nor of who it is they are 'accepting' nor even what it took for God to save them, no concept of the horror and power of sin, no constant devotion, no spiritual ability apart from Christ --these are the ones God depends on tho make a firm, consistent, abiding choice of integrity before the Spirit of God can make them spiritually alive?
Sure, a person can pretend to be anything. A person can pretend to be a saved Christian but not be. In that case this person wasn't saved before they pretended and still not saved while pretending. Thus we have a person who was
not saved and still not saved.
But the issue is not about pretenders but about those who were truly saved but fell away, apsotates.
Salvation is not moneergistic or unconditional. Man has a role in his own salvation (Acts of the Apostles 2:40; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Corinthians 7:1; etc). Salvation requires that man CONDTIONALLY believe and CONDITITION CONTINUE to believe unto death.
Romans 10:17 there is no guarantee that a man who hears God word will even have faith. And those that do hear and have faith there is no guarantee they will continue to have faith. Men believe of their own volition therefore can stop believing by that same volition. God has NEVER put any responsibility or onus upon Himself to see to it that the believer will "persevere" therefore be impossible to fall from faith.
Instead God has put the responsibility upon the believer to keep himself in the faith:
2 Corinthians 13:5 "
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.
2 Peter 1:10 "Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
1 Coritnians 9:27 "But I
discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified"
Jude 1:24 "
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
It's the Christians role and responsibility (not God's) in his own salvation to examone himself, to give diligence, discipline himself, to keep himself.
1 Coritnians 15:2 "
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain"
Those Christians who do not examine themselves, do not give diligence, do not discipline themselves, etc will fall from faith and become lost therefore they would have "
believed in vain". A person who had never been saved/never really believed cannot have beleived in vain for they never have believed.
So the issue is NOT about those who never believed, were never saved but about those who actually did believe, saved but fall away therefore believed in vain.
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." 1 John 2:24. Again, if the Christian does not allow the word of God CONDITIONALLY CONTINUE within him whereby the Christian does not CONDITIONALLY CONTINUE to believe.....he will fall away, he will NOT continue in Christ.