He is a prime example of a believer who fell away. That doesn’t mean he was saved. In fact, his actions tell us that he wasn’t.

For three years he followed the Lord with other believers and he appeared to be one of them. He probably thought of himself as a believer, at least in the beginning.  I don’t think he became a believer with the idea of ever turning against Jesus but somewhere along the line he became greedy. And that greed eventually became so strong that he became so open to do Satan’s bidding that the devil himself possessed him. And then he was so distressed over what he did that he went out and “hanged himself.”—-