Unsaved

  When God picked Saul to be king, he selected a humble man (1 Sam 9:21). Saul was so meek that when Samuel went through the selection process, Saul hid behind the farm implements. Obviously, he did not feel worthy to be king. David eventually wrote, and Jesus repeated it when he said, “The meek shall inherit the Earth” (Psalm 37:11; Mat 5:5). Spiritually, the meek shall inherit the Kingdom of God, and also New Jerusalem when it returns to Earth.

  Meek Saul inherited kingship over Israel. God blessed him with the entire country. Originally, Saul was only a Benjamite, the smallest of the twelve tribes, but under him Israel became a nation in spite of Saul! Before long, Saul elevated himself from king to royal priest in Samuel’s absence. God had elevated Saul to king (step 1), then shortly Saul elevated himself to priest (step 2). When Saul began to rout the enemies of Israel, he failed to credit God, and had a monument made of himself (step 3 in his elevation of himself.) Like Dr. Frankenstein who created a monster who turned on him, Saul became a “beast” who turned on God!

  Saul was somewhat humbled and contrite, but it seemed that his humble nature had changed. He went from meekness to prideful over just a few years. We must remember that God changed Saul: “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man” (1 Sam 10:6). God would rebirth Saul and make him a new creature. Shortly, “The Spirit of God” came upon Saul (1 Sam 11:6). People would say today, “Saul got saved!”

  That is a misconception. Theologically speaking, neither was Saul regenerated. Saul’s attitude had changed from one not confident even in himself to trusting the Lord. It would have been better for Saul if he had remained meek than king! If Saul had been regenerated, his attitude would have been like Adam’s before his sin which was “very good” (Gen 1:31), in the image of God. Saul, according to scripture, surely was “born again” (John 3:7), but he was not “saved.” Even Arminian preachers use the term “saved” too loosely. Salvation is for those whose faith endures to their end: “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Mat 10:22).

  Firstly, Saul’s faith reverted to his own actions. He failed to follow orders in two significant blunders. He was hated, but not for God’s Name sake, but because of Saul’s name. Likewise, although a believer in the Lord, he failed to trust God and do God’s Will. King Saul was typical of many “Christians” today, and throughout history. If it could be, Saul was half-saved, but that is not possible. Christians are entirely saved if they endure to the end. Saul failed the endurance test.

Saul had contrition and confessed to Samuel, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Sam 15:24). Saul even sacrificed animals to the Lord, but at his own initiative, although he was told to destroy everything after the battle with Agag. Samuel told him:

Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Sam 15:22-23).

  Some would say that Saul only disappointed God and was rejected as king. However, Samuel pointed out that Saul’s sin was as witchcraft and his refusal to do God’s will as iniquity and idolatry. If Saul had been saved, then it seems that he became unsaved! Actually, unsaved is oxymoronic although Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as, “not absolved from eternal punishment,” and “not regenerated.” You may see the ambiguity here.

  “Regenerated” is a return to the generated or created state. Scripturally, no one can be regenerated but once: “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Heb 6:6). If regeneration equals salvation, then it would be impossible to be saved, unsaved, and saved again since salvation is only at death when steadfast Christians are saved from eternal punishment: “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Heb 3:14). Saul did not remain steadfast. It seems that Saul was not saved in the end!

  After God forbade it, Saul finally went to a medium to consult with a spirit posing as Samuel. Saul ended up trusting the medium and an apparition. (Note: I have explained before that the siting could not be Samuel, but an evil spirit posing as Samuel.) Obviously, King Saul elevated himself over God and was not saved from either the Philistines (representing the principalities of Satan) or from Satan himself! Although Saul had been “born again” by the grace of God, he still did not trust God for victory either in this life or into the next. Saul even died of his own initiative whether it was by the spear or sword.

  The point is that the Calvinistic doctrine of “preservation of the saints” (eternal security) does not fit this narrative. Some may say, “Well, that was in the Old Testament.” God’s Will is unchanging; what the Word, Jesus, said in the patriarchal days remains true in apostolic times and even until today. God did a work of grace with Saul. He changed him and stood by him. However, gradually Saul began to elevate himself over God. It was a slow process, perhaps forty-years, but in the end his narcissism was his demise, both physically and spiritually. Unlike David, Saul was not a man after God’s own heart, but a man after his own heart’s desire.