There are two things about Judas that apply to many professed Christians today. That would be as a follower, but not as a believer who acts accordingly. That’s really strange too when you think about Judas’ position. I mean he was right there with Jesus for three years. He personally witnessed Jesus’ character and the divine miracles He performed. And remember when Jesus sent His disciples out to proclaim the gospel and perform miracles themselves (Luke 9: 1-6)? That would have included Judas too!

But none of that made a difference to Judas. Judas was determined to love himself more than the Truth he saw before him. He would not change his course of greed and betrayal.

Some have said that Judas was in an unfair position because Jesus had said of Judas that “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). Their case is that since God knew Judas’ actions would occur “just as it is written,” he didn’t stand a chance of changing. Not true! We can see that the opportunity was always there for Judas to utilize his possession of choice.

God didn’t make Judas do what he did. God’s “just as it is written” was simply a matter of God’s omniscience. God knew from before the earth was formed that Judas would be with Christ, and He knew how Judas’ life would turn out. After all, pertaining to all things, God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46: 9-10).

I believe that Judas’ life ended in damnation (“Woe to the betrayal of the Son of Man. Better if he hadn’t been born,” and John 17: 12’s “While I [Jesus] was with them, I protected them [inner circle 12 disciples] and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”).

The fact that Judas returned the blood money to the accusers of Jesus, and that he hung himself, doesn’t prove that he repented and therefore was saved. It only proved remorse. Repentance would have been a change of heart and of mind that lead to Judas asking Jesus for forgiveness.