Was Judas saved? What is the reality of true conversion and false conversion? Are there people who will claim Jesus and still live in sin? how does this tie into the story and reality of the life of Judas? This was actually a great conversation I had with someone that led to multiple areas of study for me. And eventually I kept coming back to this specific topic of the doctrine called Regeneration, Born again, that lays it all to rest. Why? Because the whole story of Judas needs to be given and seen. His life gives us the account of someone who never experienced faith from head to heart and it connecting. What happens when we only seek one specific incident or action in scripture we can easily twist and turn it to make us feel better or make sin okay. What I want to do is take you through the full account of Judas and as we go lay foundation for the doctrine of regeneration. Then we end with the doctrine of Atonement and how the blood of Christ is perfect even in a world that is not from John 10:11, 14.
The account of Judas:
Jesus choose the twelve from the crowd to be disciples (Mark 3:14,19)
We see that Judas was the one in charge of the groups money (John 13:29)
Then as interactions and situations unfold in Christs public ministry we learn more about Judas such as that he was a thief who stole from the group (John 12:6), a liar (John 12:3) and greedy (Matthew 26:14)
With such an outward expression of sinfulness that was unrepentant. we see the foundation for someone who outwardly was living the motions, but inwardly was unchanged. We are then told that because of how indwelt in sin Judas was that Satan could simply enter into and work through Judas to plot and pull off the capture and killing of Jesus (Luke 22:3-6)
Now come the final piece of vital details, when one is truly saved and converted to Christ when remorse for sin takes place it leads to repentance. yet, for Judas when remorse hit it led to self-preservation and self saving that ended with him falling to suicide. (Matthew 27:3-5)
So now that we have the life and path of Judas, how does the doctrine of regeneration and atonement fill in the information for us to assess that he was not saved and we should be very concerned with the genuineness of peoples faith around us and ourselves.
This is what leads us to the reality of the doctrines of Regeneration and atonement. The reality of regeneration is to split it up into two aspects of the same event of being born again. we see regeneration and conversion, regeneration being the root of our whole being transformed by Christ and conversion being the fruit of the Holy Spirit actively working in us. We see in that unless we are converted and become like teachable like children, then we will not enter the kingdom (Matthew 18:3). Another account of this truth is Jesus and the rich young ruler in where Christ states that unless you are born again of spirit then you will not enter the kingdom (john 3). The moment we surrender our lives to Christ, meaning we relinquish all control and are made new by the spirit, we experience a regeneration of a broken heart to one that yearns from Christ. from there we are converted and convicted to live differently, act lovingly and seek just ways in life (Micah 6:8).
This is also the doctrine that throws any works based, social justice type gospel out of the window. For we do good because of God’s love and mercy making us good. It is not that we do good to achieve love and mercy. So we can tell by the path and outwardly fruits of Judas that He was not saved, nor did he have a plan secretly kept with him and Jesus. Too many people on social media or even in cults that twist scripture have tried using hidden “revelations” from God or Jesus as tools to manipulate others or justify why they can commit pure sin. There was no hidden treaty or pledge made, for the way Jesus spoke of Judas and it to not be true, would then make Jesus a liar and slanderer, both of which He can not be.
We see that if there is the reality of true conversion and regeneration then there must be a false side too. this is where we see Jesus talking about the narrow gate and not all who claim “Lord, Lord” will enter (Matthew 7:21). We see this with the reality of the Pharisees and men/ women like Judas, they outwardly are around the right people and “Do” the right things yet inwardly are dead.
For someone who is truly saved and born again when sin in their lives occur, and it will this side of heaven, they are broken and repent. for someone who is not truly saved or born again they are broken and seek self help and self preservation. Many people in their sinfulness will try and abuse scripture and Jesus for personal gain, we saw Judas constantly doing things out of sinfulness and greed towards those who were truly surrendering to Jesus. So now you ask, “on what grounds do you have to make the claim that He was unrepentant and not saved?”. Well I make these claims on scripture, that we can tell a good tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:15-20), so we can do with people. A saved heart produces the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We see that false teachers and false believers who are motivated by sin to justify their sin via twisting scripture produce bad fruit aka more sin. While true regenerated people being set free from sin and now slaves to Christ bear fruit of sanctification and eventually eternal life (Romans 6:22).
Judas did not show fruit or root, yet he walked with Jesus, witnessed miracles, heard the parables, and experienced others become regenerated. Unless one is born again he will not see the kingdom, no amount of good work, right friends or proper locations will do anything. Judas was the prime example of how important it is that salvation is individual in nature, powered only by Jesus and completed solely through the Holy Spirit regenerating us. We can not bank of our parents salvation, or baby baptism or emotional decision that is lacking solid head truth with it. Then did Jesus fail Judas? did Jesus fail at the mission He was sent to earth as a baby for? No way, He completed it perfectly. That is what takes us to the next part of the Atonement.
We find this Atonement doctrine in the claim of John 10:11, 14. “I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
I always love going to the original language, which in all the claims in John are in Greek. There are three major words in this claim that I want to examine; Good, shepherd, life. Good in Greek is the word Kalos which means beautiful, honest, worthy, and Chiefly good. Shepherd in Greek is the word Poimen which stands for literal shepherd or pastor. Lastly, Life, in Greek has three different wordings that are used differently in scripture. The one in this verse and context is Psuche which means breath/ spirit divinely. The other two which are important later on are; Zoe which is referring to lifetime, and Pneuma which is more for humanity’s spirit.
Now that we have focused on those keywords it brings to light the reality of this claim. First, the context behind all this is that verses 1-5 are the parable of the sheepfold and gate, verses 6-10 Jesus explains the parable, then 11-13 Jesus gives the role of a shepherd, and ends with 14-18 as the attributes of the shepherd. We see the second half of this chapter (vs. 11-18) bring to light to Jesus’s descent from eternity, dismissal of false claims, to the elect/ true Israel, and the reality of atonement. When reading through here we find the context teaching us on key doctrinal ideas that are in the areas of atonement and Christology leading to regeneration.
The beauty of John 10 is that it is a direct hyperlink to the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 34. Ezekiel tells us that the Lord God is our true shepherd over any earthly one, that God would establish a true shepherd through David and the princes as foreshadow of Christ, and that God would rescue His true flock while judging all who “claim” to be in it. The flow with Ezekiel is verse 11 tells us that God is the true shepherd, verse 24 is the king David foreshadow, and 22-23 are about God rescuing His true flock. This all leads us to the theological construct of Atonement. We see that between John 10 and Ezekiel 34 that Jesus is the ultimate shepherd that is God who became flesh as true king/ shepherd to His true people. This brings us to the topic of “Limited Atonement”.
To begin this topic of atonement is to first define it for us. Atonement is the reparation of a wrong or injury. Limited atonement which states that the blood of Christ is fully sufficient for all humanity, by made efficient in the elect of those it was fulfilled in. The reality of Limited atonement within scripture is a glimmering strand of theological beauty that brings us hope. The strand begins with the Proto-Evangelium or first gospel found in Genesis 3:15.
Within Genesis 3:15 we see that from the seed of the woman, the head of the serpent would be crushed. This leads to the messianic prophecies of Isaiah, specifically in chapter 56:1-8. These verses explain how salvation and a savior will come to bring the true seed and lineage of God’s people back home to Zion. These links then bridge to the New Testament in Matthew’s gospel in chapter 1:21-23. The angel appeared and claimed that the virgin’s child would be called Immanuel or “God among us” and that He would “save HIS people from THEIR sins”. This idea then culminates with our claim and in the passages of John 10:16-17. We see that the true shepherd will call back to himself out of the darkness and sin His true flock which was the remnant that was constantly saved from exile to the ones called in by the spirit through the Holy Ghost to all be His sheep.
All of this culminates into the picture of how even in a complete deprived world due to the fall of Adam and Eve, we have hope. In Genesis three a fully just God had all rights to eliminate humanity and start over. But He did not, in His beautiful sovereignty, we see that he had already set forth a rescue mission to retrieve the lineage of the women. That not only is He a just and righteous God but a loving and merciful one. Instead of global condemnation, God sent His Son, the true shepherd, into this world to save it. And by His unmerited grace or irresistible grace, those born again would be granted to Jesus by the father. This concept is prominent in John 6:64-65. The doctrine of Limited Atonement is actually our tie into the Christology that this passage so vibrantly displays.
We see back in Exodus 33 that God speaks to Moses stating “That I will be gracious to whom I am gracious and merciful to those that I am merciful.”. This is a set up for the reality we find about the suffering servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. If we see that humanity was excluded from eternity with God pretty quickly, it only makes sense that a merciful God that is also just, will by grace alone brings back His true people. This brings us assurance in our salvation because we realize that our salvation is completely at the end of God through Christ who comes and rescues us as granted by the father. The only aspect we bring to salvation is that of our sin nature and corrupt will, which is why, like dumb lost sheep, we need our shepherd to come to get us and call us home.
Our Good Shepherd does not make mistakes or miss a single sheep. Yes, people are going to hell because of their sinfulness, and yes the blood of Jesus is still perfect in its spilling. How? We realize that Limited atonement opens our eyes to the ridiculous grace that Jesus brought with Him from His descent into humanity for the sheep that His father will grant to him from eternity past. Just ponder how beautiful that saving grace is to those who hear it when we realize none of us truly deserve it? Not only does Jesus not mess up, but through this is bringing humanity back in Himself to the co-rulership that humanity was meant to have in the garden.
Jesus commissions us all in Matthew 28 to go and preach the gospel. why is this? Because God was setting up for us like HE does so much in the text, a mini example of a big reality. The true shepherd, Jesus, came to spread light in the darkness of man and guide His sheep home. He then tells us that now that we are sheep with the light to go out and point the other lost sheep back to the source. Now that we have covered the example of Judas, and the doctrines of regeneration and atonement, how do you evaluate your current stance with Jesus? have you truly surrendered or are you just manipulating the Christian life to your own benefit?
Relentless¥Servant 