In this theory, the argument is made that since the disciples were casting out devils and cleansing the lepers, healing the sick and raising the dead, that since "God doesn't normally give power to unconverted people to do that," the conclusion must be that the disciples were converted. Later, in this state of conversion, the disciples were caught up in the sin of pride, wondering who would be the greatest in Jesus' kingdom. Since Jesus did not cast them off and look for some new disciples but kept on loving and working and relating to them, even while they were sinning, they conclude that the disciples were still in a saving relationship, even while in sin. They equate conversion, acceptance and love with salvation. It is interesting that the word "normally" is used in the statement "God doesn't normally give power to unconverted people to do that," yet ignored when making the argument.

It is also taught that if our names are written in the book of life we have it made. Here is their reasoning. "When the seventy came back from their mission, rejoicing in the power to cast out devils, Jesus said, "But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). And John 3 says you can't even see the kingdom of heaven unless you are born again. So by inference we must accept the premise that the twelve disciples were converted." We are told that "we must accept the premise that the twelve disciples were converted" since they were performing miracles in Jesus' name and that doing so is proof of conversion. We are then told that "someone might say, "The problem with these disciples was that they were not converted." To this they emphatically reply, "Don't tell me that!"

They leave out what Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21-23 that, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

It is never acknowledged that even though Judas was one of the disciples and did what the rest of them were doing, he wasn't converted. "Judas . . . did not become transformed, and converted into a living branch through connection with the True Vine." 5BC 1138

"Jesus knew that Judas was defective in character, but notwithstanding this, He accepted him as one of the disciples, and gave him the same opportunities and privileges that He gave to the others whom He had chosen. Judas was left without excuse in the evil course he afterward pursued. Judas might have become a doer of the word, (converted) as were eventually Peter and James and John and the other disciples." TM 46

"In many respects he (Judas) acted as Christ's disciple. He manifested an interest in his work, and in a certain sense believed on him. But Christ read beneath the surface. He saw the true inwardness of the heart. He knew that Judas was not converted. He was not a true son of God. He had not lost something he once possessed. He had never experienced the soul cleansing, the change of character, that constitutes conversion." RH, October 5, 1897 par. 2

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Luke 22:31, 32

"Those present who remembered the part that Peter had acted at the trial of his Master, flattered themselves that he could now be intimidated by the threat of imprisonment and death. But the Peter who denied Christ in the hour of His greatest need was impulsive and self-confident, differing widely from the Peter who was brought before the Sanhedrin for examination. Since his fall he had been converted. He was no longer proud and boastful, but modest and self-distrustful. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and by the help of this power he was resolved to remove the stain of his apostasy by honoring the name he had once disowned." AA 62

"It was after Peter had been led to self-renunciation and entire reliance upon divine power, that he received his call to act as an undershepherd. Christ had said to Peter, before his denial of Him, " When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Luke 22:32. These words were significant of the wide and effectual work which this apostle was to do in the future for those who should come to the faith. For this work, Peter's own experience of sin and suffering and repentance had prepared him. Not until he had learned his weakness, could he know the believer's need of dependence on Christ. Amid the storm of temptation he had come to understand that man can walk safely only as in utter self-distrust he relies upon the Saviour." AA 515

"Peter's fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence led him to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was taken in the downward path, until he could deny his Master. Never can we safely put confidence in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation. Those who accept the Saviour, however sincere their conversion, should never be taught to say or to feel that they are saved." COL 155

They ignore the statement "By the king's examination of the guests at the feast is represented a work of judgment. The guests at the gospel feast are those who profess to serve God, those whose names are written in the book of life. But not all who profess to be Christians are true disciples. Before the final reward is given, it must be decided who are fitted to share the inheritance of the righteous. This decision must be made prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven; for when He comes, His reward is with Him, "to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. Before His coming, then, the character of every man's work will have been determined, and to every one of Christ's followers the reward will have been apportioned according to his deeds." COL 310

"In the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes place at a later period. . . . The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. . . . The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the service of God. " FLB 210

This makes it clear that you don't have to be converted or born again to have your name entered into the book of life. All you have to do is to "have entered the service of God" . Judas did that and in so doing was allowed to do what the other disciples were doing. In fact none of the disciples were converted when these miracles were done because we are told that "Judas might have become a doer of the word, as were eventually Peter and James and John and the other disciples." TM 46. God will use anyone who makes himself available whether or not they are converted.

The reason Jesus told the disciples, "But rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven", was because if their names weren't written in heaven they wouldn't even be considered candidates for eternal life, not that they were guaranteed eternal life. They were to rejoice because they had started down the road to salvation and if they continued to do so, not getting side-tracked, they would be considered as candidates for heaven - not that they had eternal life.

Being converted, born again, or having your name written in the book of life, doesn't give one assurance of salvation. Not even a righteous man can have that assurance. "When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: . . . he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; " Ezekiel 3:20

"The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin;" DA 555

We are not covered with Christ's robe of righteousness when we have unconfessed and unforsaken sin in our lives. We cannot be saved without the covering of Christ's righteousness.

"We cannot meet Christ in peace with one sin unrepented of, unconfessed, and unforsaken." RH, March 17, 1891 par. 5

"One sin unrepented of is enough to close the gates of heaven against you. It was because man could not be saved with one stain of sin upon him, that Jesus came to die on Calvary's cross. Your only hope is to look to Christ and live. He came to save to the uttermost all who came unto him; and he is fully able to do all that he has undertaken to do for you. He will lift us up from the degradation into which we have fallen because of sin." ST, March 17, 1890 par. 2

"Past faithfulness will not atone for one wrong act." PP 420 par. 3

"Communion with God imparts to the soul an intimate knowledge of his will. But many who profess the faith know not what true conversion is. They have no experience in communion with the Father through Jesus Christ, and have never felt the power of divine grace to sanctify the heart. Praying and sinning, sinning and praying, their lives are full of malice, deceit, envy, jealousy, and self-love. The prayers of this class are an abomination to God. True prayer engages the energies of the soul, and affects the life. He who thus pours out his wants before God feels the emptiness of everything else under heaven. "All my desire is before thee," said David, "and my groaning is not hid from thee." "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" "When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me." [PS. 38:9; 42:2, 4.]" GW (1892) 36

"There can be no true conversion without the giving up of sin, and the aggravating character of sin is not discerned." FW 24. This had not taken place in Peter's life prior to his denial of Christ. The experience of Peter illustrates that we are not truly converted until we realize our lost condition and our need for total dependence on Christ. Anything less than this is not true conversion but simply partial conversion. "Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of heaven, but they cannot enter there. Almost but not wholly saved, means to be not almost but wholly lost." COL 118

It is true, God forgives all sin - all sin that is confessed and forsaken. But God does not forgive sins that are not confessed and forsaken. And no matter how much God loves the sinner, God hates sin and He will not save anyone, not even a righteous man, with unconfessed sin in his life. There is no salvation in sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins not in them.

The promoters of this theory even acknowledged that when the disciples were walking with Jesus that they fell back from Him when they were in controversy. They also acknowledge that "we find it very uncomfortable being in the presence of Jesus when we are sinning". Is it because Jesus doesn't love us? No, it is because we have left Him spiritually and are going away from Him spiritually, not He going away from us. We are not in unity with Him. We have broken the relationship, not Him, and deep down we know it. We don't truly love Him, if we did we wouldn't sin. It is not God who breaks the relationship it is us.

Surprisingly, the promoters of this theory acknowledge that the disciples fell back from Jesus when they were in their controversy. But they stop there. Why? Obviously, the disciples found it uncomfortable [impossible] to continue being in the presence of Jesus when filled with selfishness and pride. They also acknowledge that "we find it very uncomfortable being in the presence of Jesus when we are sinning". Is this because Jesus doesn't love us? No, it is because we have left Him spiritually, broken the relationship, and deep down, we know it. We don't truly love Him - if we did, we wouldn't sin. It is not God who breaks the relationship, it is us.

"If ye love Me, Keep My commandments. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." John 14:15, 21

There is no salvation in known sin, continuing sin, habitual sin, cherished sin, persistent sin, presumptuous sin. There is no relationship, no fellowship, and no communion with God when we are partaking in sin. As they say, pride is the worst sin in God's eyes. Pride is what the disciples had and it is what brought about Lucifer's fall. The disciples ceased to fellowship and relate with Jesus when they were caught up in their dispute. They had to be restored to the relationship, and that could only happen when they acknowledged their sin and repented of it.

God loves us and wants to restore our broken relationship at once. Instead of following spurious doctrine leading to false security, let us find true comfort in statements like this. "We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And do not forget the words of Christ, "The Father himself loveth you." John 16:27. He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. All sin . . . may be overcome by the Holy Spirit's power. FLB 118

God can do nothing for us if we are not yielded to Him. If we believe we are saved in sin, we will not yield ourselves to Him to be cleansed from sin. God's unconditional love for us cannot be equated with salvation. If this were so, there would be unconditional salvation allowing everyone to be saved, and sin would continue forever.

" There are men who strive to be original, who are wise above what is written; therefore, their wisdom is foolishness. They discover wonderful things in advance, ideas which reveal that they are far behind in the comprehension of the divine will and purposes of God. In seeking to make plain or to unravel mysteries hid from ages from mortal man, they are like a man floundering about in the mud, unable to extricate himself and yet telling others how to get out of the muddy sea they themselves are in. This is a fit representation of the men who set themselves to correct the errors of the Bible. No man can improve the Bible by suggesting what the Lord meant to say or ought to have said." 1SM 16.

It is also interesting that those who promote this theory always have to include the disclaimer that they are not giving you license to sin. Why would they have to tell you this if they were not giving that license? Why do they think you may come to that conclusion? It becomes obvious that they are giving license to sin and know it, but are unwilling to acknowledge it, else they wouldn't give the disclaimer.

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." 1 John 3:3-10

John was very concerned that someone would come along and try to deceive the believers with a new doctrine related to this. So he writes it in no uncertain terms, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him". Simply, those who sin (willfully) aren't in relationship with Him.

Pride is the worst sin. It keeps us from acknowledging our sin. The unpardonable sin takes place when we come to the place where we no longer repent of our sins. It is pride that brings us to this place. It was pride that brought Satan to the same place. "He (Satan) nearly reached the decision to return; but pride forbade him. . . . He persistently defended his own course, and fully committed himself to the great controversy against his Maker." FLB 70. God will not forgive what we refuse to acknowledge and ask forgiveness for.

For, "When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: . . . he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; " Ezekiel 3:20

Don't forget, along with having our sins blotted from our record in heaven, and having our names entered in the Book of Life, we must also be born again, totally surrendered and committed to doing God's will. It is true, God does it all, but He can do nothing except as we willingly submit to Him doing it. In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus tells a story about a man who had an evil spirit cast out of him. This man failed to invite the Holy Spirit into his life. The evil spirit came back, found his heart empty, and re-entered bringing seven more spirits with him, even more wicked than himself. It is not enough to simply clean up the life. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to fill us, enabling us to live a Christ-like life.

There is no salvation in sin. Not even one!