Salvation has one condition which is brought out simply in Acts 16:30-31, “and he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So, they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’” The man who asked this question was the chief jailor and he was in dead earnest when he asked what he had to do to be saved. The Apostle Paul and Silas gave him the only answer there is to that question, for one MUST BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior to be saved. The answer then to your question is: The Lord Jesus could not save Judas Iscariot because HE DID NOT BELIEVE on Jesus Christ. Before we take a closer look at Judas, I want to quote a few verses that bring out this same truth (that it is ONLY THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST that one can be saved).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES  IN HIM should not perish but have everlasting life…HE WHO BELIEVES  IN HIM is not condemned; but HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…HE WHO BELIEVES IN THE SON has everlasting life; and HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE THE SON shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:16, 18, 36). We could multiply verses which emphasize this truth; there is NO OTHER WAY to be saved. Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). Conversely, Jesus said in John 8:24, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for IF YOU DO NOT BLIEVE THAT I AM HE, you will die in your sins.”  We shall prove, in a minute, that Judas never believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but I wanted to show you that God loves the whole world and gave His Son to save those who believe, and Jesus Christ urged sinners to believe on Him for salvation. If men refuse to believe, God has no other way to save them and He must, in holiness, condemn them and they will die in their sins with God’s wrath upon them for all eternity.

Now let’s read about Judas in John 6:66-71, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life WE HAVE COME TO BELIEVE AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.” Peter had mistakenly included Judas as having believed on Jesus Christ and the Lord had to correct him. Judas was, from the very beginning, under the influence of the devil and would one day betray him. Though Judas had accompanied the Lord Jesus and the other apostles for over three years, he never believed in Jesus Christ and thus he never confessed him (as Peter did) as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Think of it, he heard Jesus preach the truth, live the truth, and perform miracles, yet HE NEVER BELIEVED! We learn elsewhere that he was the “treasurer” for the band of apostles and that HE WAS A THIEF. We read of this in John 12:4-6, “Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘’Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because HE WAS A THIEF, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” Eventually, Judas did betray the Lord for a measly thirty pieces of silver (see Matthew 26:14-16).

Let’s close this meditation reading of Judas in John chapter 13. When the Lord met with His 12 disciples to observe the Passover we read the following: “During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him…When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me…Jesus then answered, ‘That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.’ So when He had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’…So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night” (John 13:3, 21, 26-27, 30…NASB). Judas had been given every opportunity to abandon his plot to betray the Lord but he never repented of this sin and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. His thieving heart was unmoved and intent on betraying the Lord and after being exposed he went out to finish the deed of betraying the Lord. Later, he is referred to in the Lord’s prayer to His Father in John 17:12, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished BUT THE SON OF PERDITION, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” Judas is called “the son of perdition,” which means “he was destined to perish.” Why? Because HE NEVER BELIEVED ON JESUS CHRIST. Some believe he could never have believed since he had to betray the Lord to fulfill Scripture (see Psalm 41:9). But God did NOT prevent him from believing; rather, Christ chose him because he knew he was the one who would fulfill that scripture and by his own free will Judas chose to betray the Lord. Judas will be in hell forever, not because he “couldn’t believe” but because he “wouldn’t believe.”  (DO)  (657.3)