In what circumstances might God abandon me?

Matthew 28:18, 20Jesus came and told his disciples . . . “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 14:16“I [Jesus] will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.”

2 Corinthians 4:9We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

Hebrews 13:5God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

God promises to be present with us, in us, and beside us in all circumstances. No matter what we are facing, we can count on his loving presence.

2 Chronicles 15:2He [the prophet Azariah] went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.”

Psalm 78:56-62They kept testing and rebelling against God Most High. They did not obey his laws. They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow. They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols. When God heard them, he was very angry, and he completely rejected Israel. Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people. He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured; he surrendered his glory into enemy hands. He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword, because he was so angry with his own people—his special possession.

Jeremiah 7:13, 15“While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer . . . And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.”

Ezekiel 33:11“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”

God was patient and faithful with Israel, even when they blatantly rejected him. However, God gave Israel consequences for their disobedience—through war, through exile, and through enemy occupation. These consequences reminded Israel of their need for God and motivated them to repent. Even when God seemingly abandoned Israel to dark times, he did it out of a desire to restore his relationship with them. He “abandoned” them to face the consequences of their sin, but he never abandoned his covenant of love with them.

John 10:27-29“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”

Romans 8:33-38Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. . . . not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Ephesians 4:30Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

1 Peter 1:5Through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

1 John 2:19These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

Some Christians think that once someone becomes a believer, it is impossible for them to lose their belief and their salvation—after all, many verses describe God’s unfailing love and protection over believers and their salvation. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from him! In this view, those who claim to be Christians but later leave the faith are not true Christians to begin with. In other words, they never had a salvation that could be lost.

Romans 1:28-29Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness.

Romans 2:4Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Colossians 1:22-23This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Hebrews 3:12-14Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

James 5:19-20If someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

2 Peter 2:20-21When people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.

2 Peter 3:9He [the Lord] does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Some Christians believe it is possible for us to reject and abandon our faith, and by losing faith, lose our salvation. This view is based on verses like the ones above. The explanation goes something like this: Each of us was created out of God’s love and his desire to have a relationship with us. God will never stop loving us and will never abandon us. However, he does give us a free choice to love him or reject him. When we walk away from him, he will make repeated attempts to bring us back. But if we repeatedly reject him and intentionally close our hearts to him, there may come a point where he withdraws his presence and allows us to fully pursue the path we have chosen. No consequence is more terrible than the absence of God’s presence, and many theologians believe separation from God is the most fundamental aspect of hell. God does not desire this fate for anyone, and the Bible reminds us time and again of God’s patience and forgiveness toward Israel and toward us. Yet ultimately, God does not force us to love and obey him because forced love is not love at all. God wants us to choose him freely.

Psalm 51:16-17You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Luke 15:3-7So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”

Luke 15:18-20“‘I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

Romans 8:35-39Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

If you are afraid you have committed “the unforgiveable sin” and have rejected God forever, take comfort! The very fact that you have this fear shows that you have not rejected God entirely—you still long to come back to him. Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, God promises that he will not turn away someone with a repentant heart. Your heavenly Father has not abandoned you. He is seeking you out, calling you to return to him. When you do, he will run to meet you with open arms.