“In John 6:64-66 some disciples went back and walked no more with Jesus. Jesus said He knew there were those who did not believe. How does this fit in with the eternal security of the Christian? It seems to be saying that those so-called disciples never believed.”

The Lord Jesus had just finished explaining that He was the “Bread of Life” (Jn. 6:48). Many of the Jews did not understand what He was talking about (Jn. 6:52) and many of the disciples that were following Him were offended at His words and complained about it:

“Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?” (John 6:60-61).

The disciples offended in John’s Gospel are like those the Lord spoke about in Matthew 13:21 where, during the seven-year Tribulation, we read:

“Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.”

During this terrible time of judgment on the earth, some will follow (“dureth”) for a while, but when trials and troubles come along, they will fall away (Lk. 8:13 cf. Matt. 13:21), proving they never believed (Jn. 6:64).

In the dispensation of grace, when someone believes the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), that person is eternally sealed (Eph. 1:13) even if not “following” the Lord’s instructions in His Word. Members of the Body of Christ do not have to “prove” salvation because it’s by God’s grace—not of works (Eph. 2:8-9). However, we should “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) and “as children of light” (Eph. 5:8) as a testimony to a lost and dying world.

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