Eternal Security: What about Judas?

“Judas is proof that a man can lose their standing with God—what about him?”

     Of all the people from the scriptures that we could point to as having lost his salvation, it would be Judas.  He was one of the 12 disciples that Jesus hand-picked.  He had a front row seat to Jesus’ ministry of healing and teaching, and he was also sent out two times to do ministry in Christ’s name.  The first time it was with the 12 and the second time was with the 70 (Luke Chapters 9 and 10).  In both cases Judas was paired with another disciple, and they were given authority to preach, to heal and to cast out demons in Jesus’ name.  If any of us had seen Judas he would have looked like a genuine follower (he, in fact was) of Christ as he worked miracles and preached the messages that Jesus instructed him.  And yet, Judas had a false faith, he was a follower but not a believer.  Notice what the scriptures say about him in John 6:70-72…

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve?  And yet one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray Him.

            Notice also what it says a few verses earlier…in verse 64

…But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.)

According to this passage Judas was an unbeliever!  Therefore, we cannot say that Judas was once a believer that lost his status as a believer, because these verses suggest that he was an unbeliever from the beginning.  Judas was among the twelve and doing the works along with the 12 and yet he was a “devil” the whole time.  His true colors finally came out, and so Judas was a disciple of Jesus and yet not a believer.