“Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is the Devil!”
—John 6:70
Judas Iscariot is a name that will live in infamy. And ever since he betrayed Christ, difficult questions have arisen. Was he truly a disciple? Was he saved? This chapter is going to deal with these and other questions. But first, let’s consider some basic truths about Christianity, starting with eternal life.
Solomon himself said God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), but it is hard for our finite minds to truly fathom the reality of eternity—something that lasts not for a time, or a season, but forever.
Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). This is a statement of his eternal nature as God—that he has existed even before the incarnation and even before Abraham was born. Moreover, it is a statement of his eternal existence. And he is the only one in the universe who can make that claim.
That said, since the moment we were conceived, we became eternal beings. Our souls will live eternally. The only question is, will we experience eternal life with God or eternal separation from the presence of God’s blessing known as eternal death, or hell? Both are eternal places, but with a qualitatively different experience.
Undoubtedly, the book of the Bible that speaks the most about eternal life is the gospel of John. Jesus, on more than one occasion, made many promises about the nature of eternal life and the gift that is for everyone who believes in him. Perhaps one of my favorite quotes from Jesus is: “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).
Here Jesus says that not only do we receive the promise of eternal life, we actually move from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life. And further, in the next verse he expands that life to the promise of a future resurrected life as well. So both spiritually and one day physically, all who believe in him will have life, and not just any life, but eternal life in the fullest sense! Jesus will see to this personally: “For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).
Amazing! Something supernatural happens to believers when they genuinely repent of their sins and place their faith and trust in Jesus to save them from their sins. Paul, in one of his speeches in the book of Acts, states that Christ sent him to the Gentiles to preach the gospel in order “to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified” (Acts 26:18).
Many spiritual realities are explained in this passage. The gospel has power to open our eyes, and saving faith will bring believers from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, as well as forgiveness of sins and an inheritance from God. These are no small truths. In fact, they are some of the most profound promises ever given to the believer in Christ.
Paul elsewhere explained that Christ “has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Colossians 1:13).
Putting these ideas together, we are transferred from the realm of darkness to light and from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God. We are now citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), sealed by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and adopted children of God (Ephesians 1:5), who receive every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). The list of identity-shaping blessings and undeniably rich promises given to the true believer is monumental.
Jesus provided assurance that those who are his sheep will hear his voice and follow him. They will be given the promise of eternal life and will never perish, and no one will be able to “snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).
So the evidence is overwhelming that those who are truly born again cannot be “unborn again,” and those who are given the Spirit are sealed by the Spirit and have the assurance that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ESV).
Our salvation is a gift of God, who has promised that it will be eternal in nature, never to be lost or taken away. Therefore, we can have assurance that our salvation is secure. It is a gift that will never be revoked or taken back, and Jesus has placed his reputation on it and made it clear that the Spirit’s job is to bring it to completion.
But what about people who at one time or another have professed to believe in Christ, who may have even seemed to display overwhelming evidence of spiritual fruit, but for some reason or another have completely abandoned Christ, rejected the faith, and walked away in seeming unbelief?
How could this happen if they were truly saved? Have they somehow lost their salvation? Is it possible they have been snatched out of Jesus’ hand, so to speak? If so, what does this say about Jesus’ promise?
This is undoubtedly a very serious and difficult issue to consider, especially when the person who has seemingly walked away from the faith is a family member, perhaps a son or a daughter, or even someone you respected who at one time served as your pastor or spiritual leader. Yes, there are times when life can deal us shockingly unexpected and unforeseen blows.
The apostle John knew the heartrending realities of this when there were people in the early church who were at one time professing Christ and walking in the way of discipleship, but eventually abandoned the faith, walked away from the church, and embraced false teachings. And some of them were teachers in the church! The conclusion he wanted the church to come to was this:
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.
1 John 2:19 ESV
John essentially says a true believer will persevere and remain in the faith, but if this does not happen, we may conclude that they never were genuinely saved to begin with. As hard as this may seem, it happens, and perhaps the definitive example of this is found in the Gospels with the story of the man they eventually called the Betrayer, Judas Iscariot.
Judas was one of the chosen twelve that Jesus had personally called to be by his side. Because of this, many assume that in order to be such a close follower of Jesus, Judas must have been a true believer with saving faith. He was a part of the group in Matthew 10 that was sent out to preach the gospel and who was also given authority over evil spirits, sickness, and disease (vv. 1–4).1
Does this mean, then, as some have erroneously suggested, that a true follower of Christ could actually receive salvation and then lose it by choosing to walk away? As we know, Judas eventually walked away and betrayed Jesus, selling him into the hands of the chief priests and officers for thirty pieces of silver (the price of a slave). There could be no worse abandonment than that.
I remember, as a child growing up, that there was a leader in my home church who suggested to me the story of Judas Iscariot was definitive evidence that someone could lose their salvation. As a kid, the thought of this horrified me and made me feel insecure about the whole thing.
I remember thinking, Could this happen to me? Could I be saved one moment and then sin in another and lose my salvation? How would I know if I lost it? Would I feel God leave me? And if so, would I have to accept Christ all over again, and how many times would I have to do this, since I tend to sin every day?
These might seem like silly questions, but I assure you this was where my brain went. It got so bad, I used to think that if I was ever in a car accident, somehow right before impact I would ask Jesus into my heart once again just in case I didn’t survive. That way I would have a clean slate right before my heart stopped and know I was saved. What a low and diminished view of God’s grace that was.
Let me assure you, this line of thinking is not from God, and is not biblical for all the reasons discussed earlier in this chapter. What then do we do with the story of Judas? How do we categorize this “disciple,” who at one time followed Jesus, but eventually betrayed him and later took his own life?
First, let me make this clear, Judas was not a true believer in Christ. Even though he was chosen to be a part of Jesus’ original twelve, this did not guarantee he was a man of saving faith in Christ. Many who followed Christ at one time walked away. In John 6, Jesus said some rather difficult things, including,
Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him.
vv. 54–56
Jesus was not speaking literally here, but rather figuratively and metaphorically about his impending death on the cross. It was this sacrificial death on the cross that the Jews would have to accept in order to receive the gift of eternal life. But for them, this was too difficult to understand and certainly too difficult to accept, since many of them had a militaristic and political image of what a Messiah should be.
Notice what happened next. John says, “From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him” (John 6:66).
Many walked away. And Jesus knew many were offended and that there were many of them who did not truly believe. What is astounding is what Jesus said to the rest of his followers:
Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? . . . The Spirit is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray Him.)
vv. 61–64
If this were not enough evidence to convince us, then maybe what Jesus said next will. He asked the twelve whether they wanted to go away too, and Peter spoke up: “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!” (John 6:68–69).
Of course, Peter included all twelve disciples in that statement, but what he didn’t know was what Jesus was now going to make clear. Jesus responded to Peter’s statement by making an earth-shattering statement of his own: “‘Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is the Devil!’” Then the gospel writer John explained, “He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray Him” (John 6:70–71).
Some translations have Jesus saying, “One of you is a devil.” Either way, whether Jesus called Judas a devil, or figuratively speaking called him the Devil himself is beside the point. The point is, this Judas was not a true follower of Jesus—he was completely lost, taken captive by Satan, and was destined to betray Jesus.
Now, some may say, “Wait a minute! Didn’t Jesus turn to Peter at one point and say, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ and essentially call the future leader of the church ‘the devil’ as well (Mark 8:31–33)? How then is Peter not lost just as Judas was?”
The difference is that Jesus was rebuking Peter, who was vehemently rebuking Jesus for any idea that he was going to Jerusalem to die on some cross. Peter never wanted to let his beloved Messiah suffer such a fate. And what Jesus heard was “Satan’s agenda” behind such an ignorant statement.
That’s why Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan,” to let Peter know his understanding was so far off from God’s will that it was not God’s concerns he was thinking about, but man’s, and ultimately Satan’s agenda.
But there is a difference in Peter’s ignorantly asserting man’s agenda (which would coincide with Satan’s plans to usurp God’s will) versus actually being called a devil, who would completely walk away and betray him for good like Judas did. The former is a foolish and ignorant momentary mistake; the latter is a purposeful and willful rejection of Jesus that will go all the way to the end in death. Peter made mistakes, but he loved Jesus, and the rest of his life proved that beyond a doubt. The same cannot be said for Judas.
So Jesus called Judas a devil, and John called him a betrayer, essentially a tool of Satan. That hardly sounds like a commendation for a true believer. But further evidence of Judas’s spiritual state is seen in the last moments with Jesus’ disciples before his crucifixion while he was eating with them at the Last Supper. In John 13, Jesus once again announces his betrayer while eating the Passover with his disciples, and once again it is Judas.
Further, in the course of the chapter, we see Judas as the one who was deemed “unclean” by Jesus, meaning not spiritually washed (13:11). Additionally, it was Judas who was said to be possessed by Satan (13:27) as he left to betray Jesus, as he was destined to do. And clearly it was Judas that Jesus was referring to when he was praying to the Father and talked about the “son of destruction,” the one follower of his twelve who was “lost” (17:12).
None of these terms could be used of a true believer and follower of Christ. Believers are not destined for destruction and are not lost—in fact, we are the “found ones” who have been rescued by our Savior.
Judas was a thief who was full of greed and jealousy (John 12:4–6), causing Jesus to say, “Woe to that man by whom He is betrayed” (Luke 22:22). His guilt did not lead him to true repentance and faith but to suicide (Matthew 27:5).2 He gives no evidence of believing and trusting in Jesus as the Messiah who would save him.
Judas does not give us enough evidence to suggest that he was ever a true believer in Jesus Christ. In fact, the way Jesus talks about him and the narrative description of his actions and character suggest the very opposite. Therefore, the story of Judas could never be used as evidence that a true believer could lose their salvation. The very idea of losing something that God designed to be eternal is a contradiction.
The preponderance of evidence throughout Scripture is that a true believer’s salvation is secure. Though God is the only one who truly knows the heart, we are told to be fruit inspectors, taking stock of even our own lives to see whether we are walking in the faith.
We need not worry or be concerned that the gift we were given and the new life we have been promised will ever be lost or taken away. God is faithful to his promises. His character and reputation depend on it. Indeed, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).
So this story is a sad one, but it’s not a believer’s story. It is the sad story of a man who walked with Jesus but never truly believed, and I am saddened that many people who sit in church are on the same path. May we truly preach the gospel of God’s grace and preach repentance and faith, so that those who hear and follow the Shepherd’s voice can rest assured that they have crossed over from death to life, from darkness to light, and are eternally secure.