Is An Atheist Today Who Claimed To Be A Christian Yesterday Saved?

1st Corinthians 15:1-2, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Is an atheist today who claimed to be a Christian yesterday saved? The resounding answer is, No! Respectfully, contrary to what pastors' Ralph Yankee Arnold and Thomas Cucuzza falsely teach, there are no atheist believers. I love and appreciate these dear men of God, who both preach the truth of a free grace plan of salvation. That being said, I humbly disagree with them that a person who previously professed faith in Christ, but no longer professes faith in Jesus years later, is saved. I contend biblically that they were never saved at all; and that what might have been erroneously called “faith” was mere lip service.

The Bible teaches that to enter into God's Kingdom we must be born again (John 3:1-7). The new birth is as irreversible as the first birth. Someone who is born physically (of water Jesus said, flesh) cannot stop breathing or they will die. Likewise, a Christian cannot just stop believing. To give you Scriptural proof of what I am saying, please consider 1st Corinthians 15:1-2, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Carefully notice the Apostle Paul's warning, “if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” That simply means if at any point in the future you go astray from the Christian faith, it just shews that you were not saved at all. It also means that whatever philosophy you are trusting in that is not a free grace Gospel cannot saved you. Paul is NOT teaching that you can lose God's free gift of salvation. If saved, always saved. Paul's warning to those who have “believed in vain” simply means that if you put your faith in “another gospel” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4) you have never been born again and still need to be saved before it is too late. All unbelievers who die in their sins go to burn in Hell forever.

This is why God inspired the Apostle John to pen the Epistle of 1st John, to help individual professed believers "know" (1st John 5:13) that we are saved. This is because many people who profess to be a "Christian" in fact have never actually been born again. They've merely been going through the outward motions of living the Christian life, like the people did in Matthew 7:21-23. John emphasizes the truth that whosoever denies that Jesus is the Christ is definitely not saved. What saith the Scripture? ...

1st John 2:21-24, “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 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.”

Any preacher who foolishly teaches that there are saved unbelievers, because they formerly professed faith in Christ long ago, are deceivers. You just read it for yourself that anyone who denies Jesus is the Christ is a liar! How then can any preacher foolishly claim that these “liars” who deny Christ are saved? I think not. We know that Peter denied knowing Christ, but it is very clear from the Scripture that he never actually denied Christ. There's a big difference!

I believe there is such a thing as being familiar with the facts of the Gospel, but not actually trusting Christ as one's personal Savior. Many false prophets exploit the Gospel to sucker money from gullible people, but they don't believe a word of the Gospel. Judas was one of Jesus' very apostles, yet he went to Hell in his sin of unbelief. Judas heard the Gospel. Judas met the Savior. Yet, he didn't believe as Peter did, when Peter confessed that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the Christ (Matthew 16:16).

Peter denied Jesus in the Bible, but it is plain to see from the story that it was only superficial due to fear. Peter never stopped believing that Jesus was who He claimed be, God in the flesh (John 10:33).

John the Baptist became discouraged while in prison and sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were truly the promised Messiah, or should they look for another. Jesus told John's disciples to go tell him the dead were being raised, the blind made to see, et cetera. I personally don't think John ever doubted Jesus for one second. I think he was simply discouraged.

But I'm talking about when someone who used to profess faith in Christ now claims to be an atheist or an unbeliever. According to Paul in 1st Corinthians 15:2 that person was never saved to begin with. We KNOW that the new birth is irreversible, irrevocable and permanent. To say that a professed atheist is saved because 10 years ago he went to church and said he was a Christian is preposterous.

Granted, God alone knows a person's heart. A man could lie and say that he is an atheist for a number of reasons, but if he believes on Christ in his heart he is saved. Peter denied knowing Christ publicly, but we also know that he lied to them. Peter did in fact know and trust the dear Savior.

Paul had started several churches in Galatia. He preached unto them a free grace Gospel. Afterwards, while on another missionary journey, he received word that the Galatian churches had become corrupted by a Judaist cult which required keeping the law to be saved (Galatians 1:6-9, 3:1-3, 6:7).

It is plain to see that some of the churchgoers in Galatia had never truly been born again at all. They heard Paul preach a clear and concise Gospel message the first time he was present, but later on they followed after "another gospel," which very thing Paul was very concerned might happen to the church at Corinth (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4).

We see this same evil happening everywhere in churches today. The Devil's fallacies of wrong repentance, Calvinism and Lordship Salvation have crept into most churches today, including so-called "Independent Fundamentalist Baptist" churches, which have actually STOPPED being Christian fundamentalists, because they no longer believe a free grace Gospel (but are in denial and still say they do). The Devil is a beautiful liar.

So, to answer your question directly, if someone claimed to be a Christian a month ago, but now denies knowing Christ as their personal Savior, they were never saved at all. They merely were familiar with some Christian principles, or joined a Christian organization, or had lived the Christian life for a time; but they have never been born again.

We see this very thing in Matthew 7:21-23. These unfortunate sinners boasted to Christ of having served Him loyally, doing "many wonderful works" all in Jesus' name, but the dear Savior denied knowing them as His sheep. They served Christ, but never relied solely upon Him for salvation (John 6:40). Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again, and that is what we see happening in 99% of churches today. Religion never saved anybody! Respectfully, contrary to what pastors' Ralph Yankee Arnold and Thomas Cucuzza falsely teach, there are no atheist believers.

I humbly disagree that a person who walks away from salvation in unbelief is saved. I agree that salvation cannot be lost. I agree that you don't have to remain faithful to get to Heaven. I agree that salvation is permanent. But the inspired Holy Bible says in 1st John 2:19 that if someone leaves the church it is because “they were not of us” (i.e., they were never saved to begin with). That doesn't mean someone who becomes disgruntled and leaves a church is not saved. Nor does it mean that someone who doesn't go to church is not saved. In my humble opinion, I believe this Scripture passage is referring to people who once professed faith in Christ, but then left the faith and no longer profess Christianity. They were never saved at all according to 1st Corinthians 15:2.

I am NOT a Calvinist. I reject all 5 tenets of Calvinism. I do not believe in the perseverance of the believer to be saved, which would constitute works for salvation. I do however believe in the perseverance of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Hebrews 13:5). If saved, always saved. I kindly reject the idea that someone is saved who formerly claimed to be a Christian, but now openly denies faith in Jesus Christ. They may have once ascribed to some philosophies of Christianity, joined a Christian organization, or lived the outward Christian life (Matthew 7:21-23), but they were never born again.

Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. Those unsaved religious people all profess to be Christians, but they are not. So, it is not surprising that 10 or 20 years later some of them turn away from the Christian scene.