How do you know that Judas did not believe? What if he let his heart get caught up in greed and went to his downfall at the end, but believed in his heart and confessed with his heart as a disciple?
Listen: 86 Question 1
This is a very good question. Can we really know about Judas’ eternal fate? Let’s look at a few things we do know about this man. These are the words of the Lord Jesus concerning Judas in John 6:70-71, “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.” The Lord Jesus, who knows everyman’s heart, called Judas a devil. It is interesting to see that none of the other apostles seemed to know the true nature of Judas’ heart, but the Lord certainly did. The apostles had entrusted their funds to Judas for safe keeping. They must have trusted him. Of course, they realized later that Judas was a thief. In hind-sight, John wrote about Judas in John 12:6 where he said, “…he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.” Even when the Lord announced that one of his disciples would betray Him, no one mentioned that it was probably Judas. No, we read that they all questioned their own loyalty to the Lord. Matthew 26:21-22 says, “And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”
Let’s look at another remark the Lord made concerning Judas. In His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord spoke these words to His Father in John 17:12, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” Here, this one who was called a devil is now called the son of perdition. That term is only used one more time in the Bible and it’s in reference to Satan. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
The Lord in His prayer declared that this man, Judas, was lost. He said this was according to scripture. Probably the scripture that Jesus was referring to was Psalms 41:9 which says, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” This one who had travelled and labored with the Lord; this one who was a chosen disciple; this one who sat at the feet of the Lord lifted up his heel against the Lord. He betrayed Him because he did not believe on Him.
Can there be forgiveness for such a harsh betrayal? Of course, there can be forgiveness, but did Judas repent and put his faith in the Lord Jesus? No, he did not. From all the scriptural evidence we have, we can see that Judas was a devil, a thief, the son of perdition. He was lost according to John 17:12. We have another indication of Judas’ failure to repent and accept the Lord in Acts, chapter one. Here the eleven disciples were led of the Lord to choose an apostle to take Judas’ place after his suicide. We read in Acts 1:24-25, “And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” The Lord had said in John 14:2, “…I go to prepare a place for you.” Judas rejected the Lord, so he did not go to that place prepared for all redeemed believers. Instead he went to “his own place.” He went to a place of eternal judgment. (86.1)