But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. (Ezek 18:24)
While commenting on this text, Jonathan Edwards wrote the following:
With respect to those texts in Ezekiel—that speak of a righteous man’s falling away from his righteousness-the doctrine of perseverance was not so fully revealed to make them wary . . . (Of the Perseverance of Saints, chapter VII § 20 in The Works of Jonathan Edwards [2 vols.; Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974], 2:601, emphasis added)
In other words, God engaged in divine deception during the Old Testament by allowing for believers, including the inspired authors of the Old Testament itself, to believe it was possible for a truly regenerated person to lose their salvation! Such is another example of how Reformed theology forces people to argue for a God who engages in divine deception.